This is a funny little tri. I was not impressed with the premise – I don’t want to celebrate Columbus and his colonization. And the tee shirts with a picture of a boat(Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria?) and people running, biking, and swimming next to it were a little bizarre. My workout buddy and I pretended that the athletes were all fleeing from the Mayflower. That said, it was a tiny but nice race(about 60 people). The most unusual thing about it: the race started at 1:30pm! And the vibe is friendly and community-oriented. There were novices and experts racing together. The swim is short; everyone started together and the water was grimy with algae near the shore. The water is really cold – you need a wetsuit. The bike and run routes go out on a country road with some traffic, and they are extremely flat and fast. Im 2009 there were a bunch of races happening at the same time – a marathon, a half marathon, a 10K, a 5K, and a duathlon. And the sprint tri, of course(swim 300 meters, bike 13 miles, run 3 miles). Make sure you know which way you’re going out of the park – some people went the wrong direction and lost time. Have fun and enjoy the last days of the tri season here – the medals were very cool!
