Part IV The Run

The run started with a nice flat stretch along the beach for about a 1/4 mile before it started up some wooden steps. I started running up the steps but they were too short to properly keep my pace. I found that it was easier and faster to just walk up these steps. As I climbed with several other people we saw finishers number three and four cruising on down. They looked pretty intense and somewhat tired. The top of the steps lead to a dirt trail. This trail wound through the trees for a minute or so and then led across a wooden bridge with some more steps. This bridge was very narrow and I had to move over to allow some of the oncoming runners to get by. After another climb the trail opened up into a clearing where there was an aid station with several volunteers. I grabbed a cup of water and walked for a moment while I downed the whole cup. After thanking the volunteer and dumping the cup in a garbage bin (the race was kept very clean of debris) I continued on the trail. After a few more turns through the trees I reached the top of the climb. The brush on the right side overlooking the ocean faded away and I almost stopped running as I looked out onto the vista. It was gorgeous! The top of the Golden Gate bridge was on my right below me was a four or five hundred foot drop to the beach below where I could see waves washing up on the shore. To the left was wide open ocean with a glimpse of some of the shoreline much further down the peninsula. It was beautiful and gave me a lift knowing that I had been able to a view most tourist never get to see. Soon the trail joined the road where the competitors still on the bike course were riding. The trail was very narrow and we were forced to run single file. I had to pause again to let several oncoming runners to pass by. Then on the side of the road I spied Michelle. I was feeling great and I called out to her while giving her the thumbs up. She called out that she would meet me at the top of the sandladder. With another wave and a comment about how beautiful the view was I said goodbye. Now the trail split off from the road and began the long descent to the beach below. There was a volunteer here calling out numbers. I realized that she was giving us our current place in the race. She told me that I was in 208th place. I knew that there were around 500 to 600 people in the race so this put me in the top half. Awesome! Not only was I having a blast but I was also doing pretty good. I now planned to try and catch 8 more people and finish in the top 200. By this time I had slowly caught up with several runners and as the trail widened I contemplated passing them. I kept my leg speed high and my strides short to handle the steep downhill and soon passed on by the first runner. As I neared the beach the next runner veered off to the right I noticed that the ribbons marking the course led to the left so I called out to him. He realized his mistake and thanked me but by that time I had already made the turn and was by him.

After one more short hill I arrived on the beach. More correctly I should say that I plowed into the beach. The sand was very soft and each I lost a lot of traction trying to plow through it. I immediately headed for the firmer sand closer to the waves that were breaking onto the shore. Having just passed several runners I was again pumped and powered my way down the shore keeping just out of reach of the breaking waves as they washed up the beach. The beach was a little over a quarter or a mile long so I was able to see a string of runners going out and returning. I looked for more people to pass and saw that they were a good distance ahead. With no one to pass I began to look for the 'infamous' sandladder. The sandladder would lead off of the beach forcing the runners to climb over 400 log and sand steps straight up the face of the hills we had been climbing throughout the race. I wasn't sure where it was but I knew I must be close since I was on the beach. Strangely I didn't see it as the trail left the edge of the shore and headed back inland. As I looked ahead I didn't see any likely places for it nearby. I was a little puzzled but soon had to concentrate on climbing up some more wooden steps leading off of the beach. I was able to take two steps at a time on these stairs and quickly got past them as well as another runner. The trail then led through a metal gate onto a regular street into a charming neighborhood. The houses were impeccably maintained and I could see some people outside doing yard work. After one block the road turned and headed uphill again. At this point a couple riding mountain bikes slowly passed by me. I also saw a number of people returning including the man with only one leg. He was flying downhill on his crutches and actually passed some of the runners near him. I wasn't sure how he finished the bike or managed the beach but he was doing amazing. I cheered him on as I passed and then looked ahead to see if I could pass anyone myself.

As I continued the climb the houses became more sparse and it looked like I was heading into another park. The climb became a little steeper and I noticed that I was keeping up with the two mountain bikers who were just ahead. In fact I was slowly gaining on them. After about half a mile I began to worry about Michelle. She was planning on meeting me at the sandladder and if it was still ahead that meant that I would have to finish this hill head back down and them climb up another one. If the mountain bikers beside me were barely keeping ahead of me Michelle would also have a hard time catching up. I worried that she would get too tired out trying to keep track of me. I wasn't sure what to do so I targeted a runner ahead and decided that I would pass him. I sped up a little and soon I was passing the cyclists beside me I grinned as I greeted them. They said 'hello' back and I kept on going. I passed an aid station where I grabbed another cup of water and slowed to drink it. I lost a little ground on the runner ahead but was quickly back in the chase. All of the sudden the runner I was chasing stopped, turned around and began coming back towards me. He said something to me about turning back as he passed by and I was confused. Had I gone in the wrong direction? Had he just realized it? At that point I clued into what he had been saying. He was telling me that the turnaround was just ahead. As I looked up I saw a couple of volunteers I sped back up and gave them high fives as I stopped and turned to head for home.

Coming back down I was able to see runners that were behind me instead of in front. This inspired me to speed up a little to stay ahead. I also realized that this meant that the sandladder was somewhere on the opposite side of the beach close to where I had last seen Michelle. This meant that she would not have needed to go very far. This made me happy and I got a big grin as I thought about how much fun I was having and how good it would be to see her at the top of the sandladder. With my indecision at the turnaround I had lost some ground on the runner just ahead of me so again I resolved to catch up to him. I stepped up my pace and began to reel him in. I saw him stop at the aid station and I figured that I could make up some ground. However instead of starting to run again he remained stopped and bent over a little. As I passed by I encouraged him to keep on going and I looked for the next runner to pass. I was having such a good time by this point that I made a point of encouraging all of the runners still heading up the hill. Most responded with a grin and word of thanks. As I reentered the nice subdivision I spied another runner that I figured I could pass. I was gaining on him pretty easily and then just as he reached the gate leading back to the beach he stopped to stretch his legs. I had passed another runner! All my incline work on the treadmill seemed to be paying off as my legs were still feeling strong after all the hills. I now began to get really pumped for the sandladder. I began to think to myself saying 'Bring it on!' I was ready for it. I had heard stories about how hard the ladder was after all of the running. Many people walked up it or used the handrails to pull themselves up. My goal was to run it, in fact I wanted to crush it! I took the wooden steps back down to the beach two at a time and soon was churning my way across the beach. This time I could see the line of runners ahead going past the hill where I had entered the beach from. The closest was a long ways off but I figured that I could catch him by the time I hit the ladder. I greeted some more runners that were still heading towards the turnaround. I was getting psyched for the ladder. Soon I passed the hill where I had entered the beach and as I went past I got my first glimpse of the ladder. I could see a stream of people slowly mounting the steps. They looked like they were just shuffling along. With renewed vigor I attacked the remaining beach and reached the bottom of the ladder just behind several other runners. With my arms pumping I ran up the first few steps quickly passing the closest runners. My breathing became laboured but my legs still felt pretty good. As I passed another runner I began to slow. My arms kept pumping but I was now running every other step. I neared the runner that I had chased across the beach and the two of us passed on either side of another runner. By this point I was puffing like a steam engine but my legs were still churning and my arms were going like pistons. As sand began to cover all of the log steps I eased past my competitor and powered my way on up. As the slope lessened I looked up and saw an aid station at the top and my wife. I called out to her and returned to concentrate on the final few steps. With great exuberance I hit the top as I called out to Michelle saying that I had just crushed the sandladder! She hopped onto her bike and began to follow me up the hill. She paced me until the trail left the side of the road where she left saying that she would see me at the finish. I was still feeling the effect of my climb and one or two runners cruised on by. I slowly got back onto my pace and decided that I wouldn't allow anyone else to pass. I soon reached the top of the trail and with one last look over the escarpment began my final descent to the finish.

With all of the curves on the trail I couldn't see very far ahead. The only runners I saw were those just starting the run coming in the opposite direction. These people were looking very tired and I tried to encourage them. I figured that I was still feeling pretty good so I kept trying to keep up the pace. Soon I neared the final aid station. As I entered the clearing I glimpsed another runner just leaving the area. I felt good so I skipped the water and thanked the volunteers. I decided that I had to catch that one last runner. I increased my leg speed and was bounding down the hill underneath the Golden Gate bridge. Soon I reached the final wooden steps I had walked up at the start and took them as fast as I could. I reached the bottom to some cheers from several volunteers who told me there was just a quarter of a mile left. I pumped my fist and began my final drive. I saw the runner just in front of me. He looked like a deer in some headlights. This time the headlights were mine. I surged on by and began my sprint to the finish. There was a huge crowd waiting at the transition building and I tried to speed up but realized my legs just didn't have much more in me. A quick glance back made sure that no one was about to pass. I poured it on for the final few metres anyway and cruised into the finish with an awesome run time of 1:05 for a total time of 3:28:30 under my goal of three and a half hours and good enough for 193rd place. I paused at the end of the chute as they took my timing tag and gave me a finishers medal. I wandered for around looking for Michelle with a huge grin on my face. After a few moments she found me and gave me a hug. I had finished Alcatraz! No actually I had conquered Alcatraz! In the local vernacular I had 'rocked' the 'Rock'! In short I was totally pumped. This had been one totally awesome race that I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cool triathlon to do.

Part V Post Race

After the race was over Michelle and I wandered around a little while I recovered and downed a lot of water. I also grabbed some free gatorade power bars and some other free goodies. All too quickly it was time to head for the airport. In order to make our flight we had a lot to get done so I quickly went into the transition area and grabbed by bike and wetsuit and Michelle and I slowly biked our way back to Aquatic park where our adventure had begun. Once we got there she returned her rental bike while I packed my stuff into the car. 15 minutes later we were headed back towards the hotel.

At the hotel I quickly showered and then took apart my bike. Thanks to watching it taken apart by a pro I was able to dissasemble it without to much difficulty. We checked out and then headed back to the race site to see if there were any results. By the time we arrived pretty much everyone was gone. We talked to the race directors wife for a few minutes and then headed to the grocery store for some munchies to eat on our way back to the airport. After fighting a lot of traffic to get out of San Francisco we finally hit the airport just over an hour early and managed to get our stuff checked in for the flight. After a few worries about being bumped off the flight (Flying non rev has its down side) we were able to get on home. Even after we got home the Ultimate weekend continued as we hit every light coming back from the airport and were home before midnight. A fitting end to what was an awesome Ultimate weekend escape!