anybody done alcatraz? - Triathlon Week

talisha · 10-09-2004, 05:39 PM

I am considering doing Florida's Great Escape triathlon which is a qualifier for Alcatraz. I have done sprint distance for 2 years and have recently done my first olympic distance. I have a swimming background. Can anyone tell me what it's like, give any pointers, have any words of encouragement/discouragement?

**daphne** · 10-10-2004, 06:30 PM

I raced Escape from Alcatraz this year. It is a great race, one of my favourites. Overall, it is a moderate/difficult race. Here is the rundown:

The swim is considered difficult because of the SF Bay currents. The greatest tip is to practice sighting and do some open water practice swims a month before the race. You have to know where to sight the first 200 yards, then then next 300 yards, so on and so forth. The currents move you faster than you swim so DO NOT consider sighting from the start towards to swim finish or you will end up under the Golden Gate Bridge and then who knows where. There are books out that talk about swimming from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I found them very helpful. Jumping from the ferry is tricky also. After I jumped in and before I even came up back the surface of the water a jerk decided to jump on top of me. I won't tell you what happened afterwards. Anyways..if you survive the jump, and reach the beach..avoid slipping on the stairs. Then, you will reach the swim transition area where you can take your wetsuit off and put on your running shoes for a 3/4 mile run to the main transition area. Some pros and others opt to run barefoot with half their wetsuit off. I opted out again from running barefeet because I did not wanted to risk having any sharp object getting on my feet.

The bike course is ranked moderate. There are rolling hills which are nothing too extreme. The views are amazing so even if you are pushing hard it is still a gorgeous place. The thing about the bike course is that most people do not respect it. There are lots of little hidden inclines that without the proper hill training it can get most out your legs and leave you out most of the run. There can be some heavy winds reaching the ocean as well. IMO-the Cliff House hill is the hardest hill, once at the top and you think you are done, you make a sharp right turn only to be faced with a very sharp and short hill. Overall, the bike is a good challenge, so I would add some hill work and speed work in your training. Most amateaurs finish between 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes on average.

The run is a beast on its own mainly because of the Baker Beach sand ladder. The 200+ steps on sand are very challenging. The run is considered difficult. It is an 8.2 mile course. The first 1.5 miles you run on a flat trail area, which is great for transitioning your legs from Bike to Run. The next 2 miles are hilly, with a combination of stairs and sharp hills, flat and narrow trail runs. At Mile 4 there is a sharp downhill that takes you to Baker Beach. You run there for half a mile and the you start ascending the sand ladder. After you reach the top there is another incline for a few yards, and after mile 5 it is downhill and flat until the finish. I trained a lot on the actual course, which helped me a lot.

As far as entering into the race, qualifying is one way only if you plan on finishing in the top 3-5 spots. I am not really sure of the qualification criteria. I know a lot of people though who got a spot through the lottery. So, I would suggest you throw your name in the lottery as well.

It is a great race..I am sure you will love it.

D.

talisha · 10-10-2004, 06:45 PM

Thanks for the great info! I'm going to try my luck with the lottery. Only the top two in age group qualify. What the hell... :)