Toughman Half Iron - Recap from the Bike Course

As my knee injury earlier this summer caused me to pull out of my last few races this year, I decided to help my friend Rich and I worked the bike course for the Toughman Half Iron triathlon this past Sunday.  I've know Rich for a number of years, and train with his tri club.  Rich is also the race director of the Toughman triathlon, and the mastermind behind it's inception 3 years ago.

It was a little tough mentally on Saturday as we were out marking the bike course - putting up signage and chalk-painting the roads.  I had a few moments where I would think back to last year (when I raced the Toughman) and would think that I should be home resting and hydrating.  But, alas, not this year.

So, Sunday morning my wife JL and I headed out early to our section of the bike course and awaited the other volunteers so that I could assign duties and positions along our section of the bike course.  It was really a perfect day for racing.   Cool.  Overcast.  Dry.  Really just about idyllic conditions.  My volunteers started to arrive and once we were all gathered I went over the key points that were covered in the race captains meeting the previous day: What corners were going to be troublesome, where traffic was going to be an issue, and what corners we would have police assistance. 

I sent everyone on their way, and JL and I waited with another volunteer at our section for the race to get underway.  We were located at about the 24-25 mile mark of the bike course.  I had a sheet of the estimated arrival times for the leaders, both overall and for the subsequent waves, and as the time for the estimated arrival of the leaders came upon us, we split up and headed to our stations. 

Here came the leaders.  Damn….these guys were really moving.  The leader came by and I barely saw him as I stopped cars from coming out of a parking area and waved him through.  He was just a blur with the sound of his disk wheel announcing his arrival.  The gent in 2nd place at the time came through a few minutes later and was really dropping the hammer as well.  Ah, to hold a Pro Card and to be able to devote more time to training!

Then, things got nutty.  As the bulk of the athletes came through it was an hour-plus of constant activity.  Cars and traffic (not everyone as understanding as I would have liked) were getting thick.  We were stationed just outside a popular deli - a favorite oasis for us on long rides.  But also apparently a favorite early Sunday morning stop for coffee and a New York Times.  When I said that people weren't always as understanding as I would have preferred, I wasn't kidding.  A few people, when I asked if they could park across the street instead of in the parking area directly in front to avoid delays and for the safety of the athletes, looked at me as if I'd asked them to chop off one of their hands.  Upon their departure they were quick to spin their tires and spit gravel up as they departed to show what a massive inconvenience the extra 2 minutes had cost them.  No matter.  The primary objective was the safety of the athletes and that's what drove every action that morning.

In the end, even circling our section of the course behind the sag-wagon to pick up signs was fun.  We got back to the race site and were able to see some of our friends who had raced (a couple nice finishes, including a first place AG win for my good friend K.C.) and had a chat with our friend Rich - who finally looked much more relaxed as his 3rd year of Toughman was shaping up to the biggest and best so far.

Bottom line: If you're an athlete and you compete in running, triathlons, bike races, whatever…..you need to volunteer for some local races.  Not just for the fact that it's good to pay back the effort that others have put in so that we can race safely, but for the fact that it's actually a fun and rewarding experience.  I can't tell you how many athletes, while zipping by at 20+ mph would give a quick "thanks" as they went by.  Even one of the top 10 through my zone gave me a thumbs up as he screamed past.  It's important to realize that races of any size can't go on without volunteers.

A final congrats to my friend Rich.  The Westchester Toughman was a great success, again. 

Helping a Brother Out (Sub-plot: Scoring Some Long Run Karma)

We were just getting ready to head out of town for the Labor Day weekend - my wife was out running a couple of last minute errands and I was, well, sitting around doing pretty much nothing.  I ran early with the usual crew (thankfully, the knee is feeling pretty good, so I'm thinking I'm back in the saddle so to speak) and was just relaxing.

When JL (my wife) got home, she said that there's a guy in running gear on the side  of the main road a few blocks away.  He's on his mobile phone and had his thumb out while he was running trying to hitch a ride. 

JL said that she stopped and asked him if he was okay....  His response was that he was a pilot, staying a couple of towns away, and got a call that he was to depart earlier than anticipated.  He had about 5 miles to go to get back to his hotel and he was trying to get a cab or have the hotel send a shuttle.  JL wasn't 100% comfortable just picking him up and giving him a lift by herself (smart girl) and he said he understood.  She told him that she'd tell me what was going on.

I grabbed my keys, jumped in the car, and found him about a mile further on.  He was really moving, He had his cell phone to his ear (still trying to arrange a car or pickup) and looked to be almost in full stride.  I honked, pulled over, and when I looked in the rear view mirror the look of relief on his face was apparent.

The car must have looked like a safe haven for him.  He was wearing tri-shorts, Fuel Belt and a tri top.  Our car has USA Triathlon stickers and Giant Bikes stickers in the back window, and my time trial bike was mounted on the bike rack for our weekend away.

He was very thankful, but was apprehensive of getting in the car as he was pretty sweaty, (it was pretty humid).  I told him to just jump in and not worry about it, this car has seen much worse on race weekends.  Turns out Alex is a pilot for private clients, and the client du jour was looking to leave about 3 hours earlier that they originally planned. He was in a jam and as he usually doesn't stay down this far away from the Westchester County airport he didn't know the area well enough to know cab companies, etc. 

He was 6 miles into a 12 mile run - training for Ironman 70.3 Branson - and with his flight schedule (7 days on, 7 days off) he does what he can while on the road.   He asked about a couple local races - including the Toughman Half Iron triathlon.  As my friend Rich is the race director for this race I gave him my best marketing pitch for him to do it next year.

Anyway, I got him to the hotel as quickly as possible.  Nothing really exciting about this morning except that it made me remember that it's important to give a little good karma back when you can.