This morning I completed the first in a series of three (actually four) sprint distance triathlons at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, Florida. If you don’t know, Key Biscayne is just south of Miami Beach. The distance was a very short .25 mile swim (ocean), 10 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. The swim was fast due to currents and waves. The bike ride was mostly flat, save for the up and over and back up and over the Rickenbacker Causeway. The run was totally flat going through Crandon Park. I believe the field was limited to 800.
At 6:30am, it was 80F, humid, and no breeze except for right on the beach. It was mostly sunny, and thankfully, the waves were nowhere near what my last two ocean swims had. We started in waves, separated by 5 minutes. This was great as it took most people only 7-8 minutes to complete the swim! I managed 8:54 – there were some slow guys holding me up.
Heading down the causeway at nearly 35 miles per hour, I saw a fire truck. On the other side were two (that I saw) men who had crashed. I didn’t see any blood or mangled limbs, but they weren’t doing much. I think it’s a requirement of the FD for them to hold still until they are checked out. After the race, I heard someone mention that some idiotic woman caused another crash on the other side of the causeway when her wheel hit someone else’s. That’s odd to me because in non-drafting races, they shouldn’t be that close. Then again, a lot of the people I see in these races don’t know the rules. To make matters worse, a small lane of the same causeway was “coned” off so that Saturday bicyclists could use their regular route. This confuses many athletes who think it’s the racing lane. I know, because it happened to me two years ago in another tri. After crossing in front of a line of bikes to get into this lane, another athlete called me a “Fucking Moron” as he zipped by. BTW, I was nowhere near any of them and would not have caused an accident.
The run here was uneventful except for some silly woman who, not an athlete, but someone going to the park/beach, drove her car onto the foot paths all the way to a picnic table. She was following the signs that said “left” and “right” which were intended to tell runners where to go. She wasn’t even a senior, which really shocked me.
Okay, this was a great race for first-timers and experienced tri-athletes. I have already singed up for race #2 next month.
Stats: .25 mile swim in 8:54, (no T1 time as their timer was broke), 10 mile bike in 39:13, T2 in 3:31, and 3.1 mile run in 33:58. I finished 31 out of 37 in my age group (M45-49) and 521 out of 649 overall.
I live in Orlando, Florida and participate in marathons and triathlons.
