Santa Cruz Triathlon
Karen and I competed in the Santa Cruz Olympic distance triathlon this year. With her foot surgery this past winter, our race schedule in 2013 has been rather light. We did, however, get in this one race. Excitingly, the race was in John’s and Kira’s town. In fact, we were able to stay at their place and walk to the start line. I have to say, this is the way to go. Race morning was the most relaxed morning I’ve experienced for a race day.
The course was an Olympic distance, which is to say it is a 1.5k (.9 mile) swim, 40k (26 mile) bike, and a 10k (6 mile) run. A good time is under 3 hours. A solidly competitive time is under 2:30 hours. A division winning time is just under 2 hours. For the swim, the race was in the ocean, looping out and around the Santa Cruz municipal pier. The bike course extended north from town to the small village of Davinport, and back. The run proceeded along the very scenic bluff between the boardwalk and Natural Bridges State Park. The weather was mild and still, making for ideal conditions.
Both Karen and I had not competed in this distance race since 2011, when we completed the Black Butte Triathlon. Both of us dropped significant amounts of time from our previous personal record. Karen finished in an impressive sub-3 hour time, placing 12th in her age group. I finished in just under 2 and a half, placing 17th in my age group.
Considering we have family in Santa Cruz, and it was a fun race, we’ll likely keep it on the race schedule for future years.