By Glen Scholz The wish to race at Alcatraz all started years ago. After seeing the race on TV and reading about how tough it was, I just had to do it. Fast-forward many years and Heidi (Kylie) bought me an entry to the Alcatraz lottery, as a Father’s Day present, (the only way to enter the race apart from a few qualifying races mostly in the USA). Kylie mentioned that she had also entered herself in the lottery. Never did we think that we would both get in, but it turned out that we did! GETTING AND STAYING THERE Kylie researched this and it was cheaper and easier for us to fly DarwinBrisbane-Los Angeles-San Francisco. It was about a 13hr flight Brisbane to LAX, then around an hour to San Francisco. We booked with Virgin Australia but the USA flights were operated by Delta Airline. We arrived on the Friday morning before the race, maybe a day too late but it wasn’t too bad with the time difference. We had accommodation booked on Lombard Street in the Chelsea Motor Inn, which turned out to be the perfect spot located just 500-600m easy walk to transition (no hills!!!). There were lots of places to eat, get coffee and catch the local bus to the Fisherman’s Wharf and the city. There was a Safeway about a 1k walk away, also no hills. (Anywhere flat was appreciated with a pram). There are many places along Lombard Street to stay but nothing any closer to the bay. The hotel was basic but had everything we needed. They told us on check-in that no bikes were allowed in the rooms. We were too tired at this point to argue, but later in the day and following days we saw plenty of bikes there and we kept ours in the room rather than the bike rack in the garage! PRE RACE Friday we walked down to suss out the transition location and there wasn’t much around, just a few barriers and tents waiting to be put up. It was overcast, foggy and cold around 60oF (15oC).

Saturday morning I decided we had to get in the water so we weren’t in for a big surprise on race day. I donned the wetsuit, neoprene cap (thanks Stu) and booties (these are all allowed in the race). The shock of the 14 odd degree water was just that, so I just dove in. The worst was the cold on the face and don’t get me wrong it was cold on the feet and hands too. After around 10 minutes you kind of start to get used to the cold on your hands and feet but the face is still a shock. After I swam Kylie decided she better follow suit, and after the initial shock of the water she agreed it got better. Heidi was asleep and didn’t have a wetsuit, cap or booties so she missed out on this swim. I tell you now we are so glad we went for that swim even though it was short and sharp. The current is very strong so we didn’t swim out off the beach very far at all (swim exit). After grabbing a hot coffee, we walked back to transition discussing if we should have an extra transition at swim exit (as it is a about a 800m run into T1, it’s all path just a few meters of dirt) but with the booties on we thought this would be fine. Lots of people do put on shoes and take off the wetsuits at swim exit but we decided it would be quicker and easier to exit the water and run straight into T1 as per normal. We thought since many people get changed etc at swim exit then there would be less people to wrestle in T1 and also it would give our bodies a chance to defrost and get our fingers and hands working so we could get our wetsuits off. This turned out to be the best option (and what most of the pros did), A quick ride on the start of the course confirmed to me what I already knew - very hilly, also got a look at the start of the run and the first set of stairs. RACE DAY Race day came around and we were up and on our way to transition around 4:30am. We had a babysitter who came to our hotel so Heidi could stay warm and have extra sleep. We went in, racked our bikes, set up gear and walked around one last time. (It will all make sense why we were up so early for a 7:30 start). Once we had finished in transition we all had to board the buses to head down to the wharf. We were on one of the first buses and arrived at the wharf around 0530. From there we donned our wetsuits and dropped off our bags with our warm clothes in it for after the race.

We boarded the boat and waited for about an hour before we headed out towards Alcatraz. We were glad we got on early so we got a good seat with a backrest otherwise you get stuck in the middle like sardines. We also ended up with a front row view of someone doing a very enthusiastic warm up on the outside deck, the guy next to us pointed out it was pro Andy Potts who went on to win the race!

The boat made its way out about a 15min trip then placed itself next to Alcatraz. The National Anthem was played then it was on!!!! The swim as we found out was probably the most technical part of the race, which is different to swimming from point A to point B. Once the gun goes they said we all had to be in the water in 7 min, with 2000 competitors that works out like 4-5 people per second which wasn’t as bad as it sounds. So we exited the doors, wished each other a good race and JUMPED!

Wow it was cold and now the plan was to swim away from the boat so as no one would jump on me, then paused to get my breath whilst swimming breaststroke, then take off. Well that didn’t happen as soon as I hit the water I was off! So the first part of the swim you leave the boat and you head almost 45 degrees to where you should be to get across what they call the RIVER. People say depends how strong of a swimmer you are depends on the angle you swim to start with because of the strength of the current. Some people have a time they allocate to swim in that direction. As we had not swam this before we just cuffed it. I swam towards two big apartment blocks to start with then just when I felt I had gotten far enough I switch to two big building on the wharf with red roofs. Then again I just swam till I thought it felt right, then I switched to the Arts centre with a big dome roof. I spent most of the swim aiming at this. Then again just swimming on my gut feel once I had a good close view of the sailing club (just next to the swim exit beach) I swam at it then I could sight the beach I aimed for the east end of it (the closest end). I ran the 100m to the other end of the beach and across the swim exit mat. The run at the end was good because it was most important not to have the current push you past the exit before you get to shore. The swim overall was actually what I was dreading most, but turned out to be a really good swim. The water was very cold but once I got going it was very nice to swim in. It was rough because of the wind and swell and that made for some interesting sighting and berating but added to the fun. Then it was out of the water and down to T1, as I passed the extra transition at swim exit I was glad we chose not to take that option. The run to T1 was good to get some blood flow back to the feet and hands. I left my wetsuit on till almost all the way back to T1. In and out of T1 in what felt like a lifetime it ended up being 7:40 from swim exit, keep in mind we had also decided to put on a bike jersey, gloves and arm warmers as the outside temp wasn’t much better than the water and it was windy. The bike started flat but with a headwind for the first 3 kms or so, then the climb 100m up to the level of the Golden Gate Bridge. From there we wound our way through some hilly streets and out to the park where we looped around and turned back to follow the same route back into T2. There were a few steep hills like first gear grinding up and the rest were medium size. We chose to take road bikes and I had put small aero bars on. We were glad of that choice as if you weren’t climbing you were descending and if you weren’t doing that you were passing or turning or just dodging potholes and cracks in the road, a lot of people choose tri bike and that

would be fine but I very rarely saw people using their aero bars at all, as it is very technical. I ended up riding with a few other guys as it turned out I climbed faster than them but they descended faster than me so we ended up finishing together. There were no officials on the course (that I noticed anyway) but in saying that I also didn’t see any drafting even though you could of very easily, think that comes down to how technical it was. The last 3 kms into T2 were flat again, and fast with a tail wind. This time transition was a bit quicker. Out onto the run the first 3 kms of the run paralleled the bike (this is about how long it took to get feeling back in my feet again) and where the bike went up the first hill so did the run. But the run went up its first lot of stairs; these were wooden stairs and even. Once at the top of them it was on paths and tracks winding through the lovely coast of San Francisco Bay with great views of the Bridge and beaches. We passed the top of the SAND LADDER and wound our way down to the beach. Once on the beach (was about a 1km beach run all up) ran to the turn around then heading for the SAND LADDER.. I reached the bottom of the ladder, looked up and I couldn’t see the top. Its 400 steps of pine logs in the sand with wire handrails, then it turns into a sand hill all the way to the top, you also get a time for this portion. Once I started, I ran the first few then realised that I wasn’t moving any faster than the others walking so I walked, which after about 20 steps was the only thing I could do as everyone else was walking. Once I reached the end of the stairs and got some room I ran the rest of the way to the top of the Sand Ladder, (3.09 minutes). From there the run continues backup to the highest point of the course. From there it was all down hill back down the same path you had just climbed.

I then hit the bottom of the final staircase and it was flat all the way home down along the edge of the bay. The crowds along here were big, in saying that they were big all over the course, like Noosa big or Ironman. The run to the finish line was great, the last 800m or so from where the swim exit was so full of cheering crowd, then I popped into the finish chute the feeling wasn’t like ironman but the atmosphere was, apart from the carpet (this finish chute just had lush grass). I crossed the line in 2:56.08. This I was happy with as I wanted to break that three hour mark. I ticked off all my goals in the race except one, I wanted to have a shorter run time than ride time but missed out on that one. After finishing I waited for Kylie who finished about 10 minutes later. Despite the large field we had seen each other early in the swim, in T1 and when I went past her on the bike. We collected our bikes and spun back to the hotel to be reunited with our little girl. Overall the experience was amazing and a very tough race but the best fun. Would I do it again? - In a heartbeat, and yes I would recommend it to anyone that wanted something a little different and challenging. Thanks to Daryl for the different training - all that skipping and step ups helped, also thanks to Robyn because we all know behind a good man is a great woman, thanks for the photo shoot that was a bit different. Thanks to Mandy for all the early morning Heidi sitting. Thanks to Heidi for being an absolute trooper with flights, time zones and sitters. But most of all thanks to my amazing fiancée for doing most of the organising for the trip, and for being there to enjoy this amazing iconic race with me.