Some Comments about the Perth Triathlon

Here is a write-up that was posted on "TriRudy" by one of the participants in the Triathlon this past Sunday. It is great to see that your hard work in volunteering and baking was greatly appreciated!

PERTH TRIATHLON 2015   (TriRudy Race Reports)

Never written a race report before so my goal will be to not make it all about me. Perth Triathlon 2015 in support of the Perth Stingrays! I went down to a cottage near sharbot lake the night before with an awesome group of 15 guys and girls from uOttawa Triathlon, and well nobody got much sleep. Between the rain pounding on the hot tin roof and two of us staying up having a couple "fin du mondes" into the late hours of the night 5amcame quick! All cleaned up at the cottage and cars packed by 6:15 we were off towards Perth, as bikes were required in transitions by 7:15 and a mandatory athletes meeting at 7:20. Well we just made it, and so did 120 other triathletes! The RD Was excited and grateful to have so many people show up despite 8 degree weather, and a 20km wind coming down from the north east! There were many different clubs, teams and experience levels who showed up, but a significant showing was seen from Ottawa clubs such as Julia Aimers Team Triumph, Greg Kealeys Bytown Storm Youth Development Squad and my own uOttawa Triathlon Team. Full disclosure I have connections to all these teams having trained with Julia, volunteer with Greg and will now be moving on from the uottawa team. Everybody stayed neatly huddled indoors away from the cold until the race started promptly at 7:30. The race details: Two distances, the double (1k, 32, 6) or the single (500m, 16, 3). The format: Waves of 10 athletes started promptly at 7:30 with the double distance going first followed by the single in descending order based on swim times. I was there representing uOttawa, and we had all our athletes competing in the single as our formal club championship race! I was lucky to be placed in a late heat and was able to coach the majority of my athletes during their swims and cheer on every athlete who edited the pool before I had to start my own race! I must say the crowd of 100 sounded pretty loud as athletes exited the water and were cheered forth into the cold and gloomy bike course! Things ran smoothly from heat to heat without delay, and it was nice to have a warm up lane available to athletes who were waiting for later heats! The swim: The water temp was 81 degrees. Pretty good for a non competition pool, I heard from some people that the temperature was deliberately lowered for the race. So thank you to the RD! Things went well for the teams and we he counters giving our athletes a hand so they didn't get lost in the count of their laps. This is really helpful by the way! I'm not going to talk about my race specifically because it doesn't really matter. Out onto the bike. Ya it was cold, it was wet, and the wind from the northeast felt like a cross wind on the way out and a head wind on the way back. At least it was flat. Many people chose to put on jackets or long sleeves before their ride to keep the cold away however this considerably lengthened some transition times and acted like a sail in the wind (from what I hear). My recommendation in a short race with less than ideal conditions: apply more rule #7 - harden the #%$& up. The course was not closed but drivers were respectful and kept their distance, much appreciated! I saw lots of athletes tramping the pedals and not giving in to the wind, so at least some heeded the call of Rule #7. The run. Flat and fast out and back. Here the cold was a blessing, you could really add more cowbell to your run and not overheat, many times the case during summer! The uottawa team was fantastic as we weathered the cold until the last athlete was in, making sure everyone felt the success of their efforts! Congratulations everyone! Post Race: Really if you got this far in my race report then you will now learn the secret of Perth Triathlon. The post race food is a potluck and each athlete is encouraged to bring an item. There were all types of salads and dessert goodies, some fantastic protein balls, and wild rice/grain salad. Second secret of Perth triathlon: the overall and age group prizes. 1st: Homemade Pie 2nd: enormous baked cookie 3rd: a plate of fudge! Perth Triathlon really knows the way to a triathletes heart - it's through their stomach. Results for uOttawa 2nd overall, 3rd overall, 5 overall 1st, 2nd 3rd AG 20-29 Male 1st, 2nd, 3rd AG 20-29 female 3rd AG under 19 male Overall: This race was well organized, had stellar atmosphere and amazing post race food. For the cost and it's proximity to Ottawa. It is a great option for an early season race, work in your transitions and do a gear check for any longer distance tri's that are on your schedule. 4/5 stars!