Escape From Alcatraz Race Report

Wow! Alcatraz is simply an incredible race in one of the most beautiful and scenic urban venues anywhere. While San Francisco is known for it's cold summers and foggy mornings, the weather for the 2008 Accenture Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon couldn't have been better--mid-70's, lots of sunshine, and clear blue skies!


Kyra, Liya, and I all stayed with Kyra's sister and brother in-law Mike in their beautiful condo in Pacific Heights. Between all my tri-gear and the baby stuff we totally took over their place (thanks guys)!

I awoke early on race day and rode the short 1.5 miles to the transition area to setup my gear. After getting everything situated, I boarded one of the many buses and we headed to the Embarcadero where all 1500+ athletes boarded the San Francisco Belle for the ride out to Alcatraz. After some maneuvering to ensure the boat was in the proper position, the pros started and then all of the age groupers followed like lemmings jumping off a cliff! With the strong 3.5 mph current, by the time you jumped in the water you were instantly 10 feet or so from the side of the boat.

The swim was amazing and very fast with the current pulling us along through the choppy water. I pushed it on the bike (HR was over 85% a lot) and was worried about overdoing it, but probably could have gone out harder had I known the course better. The bike course was beautiful as it went past the Golden Gate bridge, past Baker Beach, and into Golden Gate Park.
I had a stomach cramp during the first couple miles of the run and even walked for a bit to try and work it out. It finally went away as I approached the first climb...not sure if it was the Cytomax which I wasn't used to or what as I haven't had a stitch like that in a long time. The infamous sand ladder was a long steep climb up a sand dune lined with telephone poles linked together with rope. There is a wire railing along both sides of the ladder that you can use to pull yourself up as you go. It was fairly crowded when I approached so I just walked up it along with most of the other athletes. The rest of the run had incredibly scenic views and some fast downhills where I really got rolling. I felt good at the end and finished strong amidst a cheering crowd of spectators.I finished in 2:41:42 which was good enough for 34th place (top 20%) out of 203 athletes in the Men's 30 - 34 age group. I'd highly recommend this race to anyone and hope to do it again in the future!