It was my first time racing in Bracebridge and I decided to make it a triathlon double header! Thankfully, the longer Olympic race would be on the Saturday, and the shorter sprint on the Sunday.
Saturday Olympic
We were very fortunate to be able to stay at our friends’ cottage in the Gravenhurst area, meaning just a 45 minute drive on race morning. Nevertheless, we had a way-too-early 4:45 alarm wake-up, with a 5:30 AM departure time to make sure we got one of the limited on-site parking spots at Annie Williams Park.
I pumped my tires up, and as I removed the pump, the tip of my tube broke off. Uh oh. I knew I wouldn’t be able to pump that tire up again, but I wasn’t sure whether it would keep the air in for the race… so I headed over to Vélofix (one of the Multisport Canada race series sponsors on site) and Sean assured me that it would be fine, but that I should swing by after the race so they could change my tube. Thankfully, once the race started I completely forgot about it!
1500m swim
For this race athletes started in 5 second increments, seeded based on predicted finishing time (for the entire race). My start time was 8:15:50, with Alasdair 10 minutes ahead of me. There was a race clock at the swim start, which people were supposed to use to make sure they were ready to start at their assigned time – this is when their official race time would start. But some people either weren’t paying attention or were very confused. It didn’t take long before things went sideways. I heard someone say loudly, “They are running behind.” I took this to mean that they were still going in order (I was bib #192) and they would get to me eventually. However, I stayed close so I could hear what was going on. Then I heard one of the volunteers (?) say that a bunch of people would have to start at the end because they missed their time. I was in the water along the dock, in a line getting closer to the start when I heard the Race Director call “194”. I said, “I’m 192! Coming!” So I skipped past a bunch of people and started about 10 seconds after my assigned time. From there, the swim was pretty straightforward, down the right side of the river, across, and back the other side then across. I had no issues on the swim, but could have been a little straighter.
I got myself ready to bike and ran out of transition and up a gravel hill to the pavement.
40k bike
Alasdair had warned me that this was a hilly bike course, but I didn’t realize I’d have to get up out of the saddle multiple times to get up hills. It was a 2 lap course, so the steep hill we climbed in both directions had to be done twice. In between the laps there was a short loop through the park, which confused me because I wasn’t aware of it before the race and said to the volunteer “But I’m not done yet!” because I thought he was sending me to the finish. He assured me it was all good, and it was. The road was rough in some places with construction underway. However, the rough spots were obvious and it was possible to avoid any issues. The rough road did mean that I had to be careful about when I chose to eat and drink on the bike. Because it was a hot day I wanted to be sure to hydrate, and I managed to drink a full bottle of Nuun while riding. I saw Alasdair 3 times on the bike, with him slowly increasing his lead on me. Because there weren’t any portapotties in transition, I stopped at one just outside transition.
10k run
At the start of the run I was relieved that it didn’t feel as hot as I thought it would, but that changed over the course of the race. The route was hillier than I expected it to be, though the only steep hill was the first one out of the park. I saw Alasdair when I was at the 3k mark (and he was at 7k). I essentially ran aid station to aid station, walking through each one while pouring a cup of water on my head and neck and drinking another one. I found it hard to force myself to run faster/more.
When I was running down the final hill to the finish line a woman joked to another athlete about tucking and rolling down the hill – instead, she did a cartwheel and then ran to the finish line!
We stayed to cheer on the last finishers, and then for $10 (the cost of the tube) Vélofix changed my front tube.
Race stats:
- Time: 3:32:05 (7/9 women 45-49, 35/61 women, 117/187 all athletes)
- 1500m swim: 42:40 (2:50 min/100m)
- 40k bike: 1:32:25 (25.97 km/h)
- 10k run: 1:12:46 (7:16 min/km)
Sunday sprint
Once again we had an early start to the day, but this time weather was on our minds – there was a thunderstorm watch for most of the day. I hoped the thunderstorms would stay away! There were lots of bats flying around the cottage as we were heading out, and then we spotted a small fox on the way to the race.
My start time was 8:19:30, with Alasdair 12 minutes ahead this time.
750m swim
The start was way better organized for the sprint, with the race staff loudly announcing bib numbers to keep things under control! I began the swim under overcast skies. My swim felt stronger and straighter, and while I had no issues on the swim, I did encounter much more congestion than during the Olympic race. It was lightly raining when I exited the water.
20k bike
Having done the Olympic race the day before, I knew what was in store for me for the sprint race – one lap of the same course. This time though they moved the run up the gravel to the side so we ran up grass instead – way better! I didn’t notice any rain on the bike. I pushed harder, including up the hills. On the first big hill I passed at least 5 people who were walking up it. At some point I saw Alasdair as he went by the other way.
5k run
With a lower temperature and a shorter race overall, my goal was to push harder on the run and not walk at all. In fact I decided not to stop at any of the aid stations for water, and to just keep running! I saw Alasdair before the 1k point (4k for him). I cheered for many runners – those passing me and those behind.
And just like that, the sprint was done! I was happy with how my race went. I was 1 1/2 km/h faster on the bike and a full minute per km faster on the run than in the Olympic race the day before.
I eventually checked the race results, and was shocked to see that I had finished 3/8 women in my age group! I’ve never been on the podium for a triathlon other than a couple of try a tris!
Race stats:
- Time: 1:40:05
- 750m swim: 21:24 (2:51 min/km)
- 20k bike: 43:31 (27.58 km/h)
- 5k run: 31:23 (6:16 min/km)
After the sprint Alasdair did the try a tri for a 3 triathlon weekend!
We stayed to cheer on the very last finisher of the try a tri, and then headed for home!
Bracebridge, we’ll be back!
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The volunteers at the food tent were amazing, bringing us food and drinks while we waited in line for our Stoked Oats (the oats were slowing things down a bit). We stayed to watch the awards, and were so impressed by the 77 and 81 year old men called up for 1st and 2nd place in the 75+ category. And then Steve Fleck, the announcer, decided to give the 81 year old 1st place in the 80+ category – he deserved it! The two men stood on the 1st place podium together for a picture.
Later during the draw prizes, I won a gift certificate for a(nother) pair of Rudy Sunglasses! Woohoo!
I highly recommend this race, but if you want to do it, you need to register early – it sells out quickly!
Race stats:
It was a gorgeous day for a run – a high of +4C and lots of sun, with just a little snow on the ground.
With about 10 minutes to go before the race start, we were given the maps, and were able to plan our routes. The race would start with the 1st box, so right away, people started running in multiple directions, since we didn’t all have to find the same controls, and could do these in any order. I decided to head for the bridge across the creek first, figuring that it would be easy to find. The navigation itself wasn’t hard, but actually getting there was a little dicey! We had to descend a steep, icy slope. I decided to slide down the steepest part on my backside! By the time I reached the bottom, my gloved hands were covered in burrs. I didn’t bother trying to get them off, because I would have had to take my gloves off to do so, and I was wearing a compass on my left thumb and my SI (timing) stick on my right middle finger.
I quickly found control C, and then headed for D, which wasn’t too far away. It was during this section that I realized I wasn’t able to turn my head! My ponytail was a mass of burrs, and was stuck to my running jacket! I showed another racer as he ran by, and he told me that he had scissors in his pocket! Ha! From then on I had to lift my ponytail off my coat when it got stuck.
After finding D, I crossed the bridge again, figuring it would be easy to hug the shore to find B, and then A. It was – and no compass required.
Next, everyone had to find controls 1 to 7. This section was urban orienteering – controls were close to buildings, and were easy to find. Suffering from a cold, I was rather lacking in the cardio department – running was harder than usual!
After control 7, we entered the 2nd box. I didn’t have a firm plan for this section, other than aiming to find the easiest controls possible! I decided to start with b, and saw a deer running across a field in the process. Next I climbed down a steep hill to find a, cleverly hidden so that you couldn’t see it until you got quite close. At this point, I decided to do c because it wasn’t too far away, and the contour lines weren’t very close together, meaning that the hill I had to climb wouldn’t be too steep! This was the only point in the race where I actually used my compass. I re-climbed the hill to a, and ran along a path and roadway until I cut behind a building and easily found g.
From there, I had to find 8, which I had seen earlier but completely forgot about – it would have been faster to find the second time had I remembered exactly where I had seen it! Control 9 is the only one that gave me trouble. I overshot it, and had to backtrack. Almost as soon as I left 9 I could see 10, so that one was probably the easiest to find! From there it was a “sprint” to the finish line. I felt like I was running quickly (based only on my cardio… or lack thereof) but I’m sure I wasn’t going very fast at all! I reached the finish in 58:07, covering around 6.7 km.
Race stats:
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