Julie, Bev and I (and about 200ish others) did the Moss Park Sprint on Saturday. We were up at 4AM and out the door about 5:10 so it was still dark when we got to Moss Park. On the drive in to the park, a deer crossed the road in front of us but we didn't hit it, so I think that's a good omen. That deer's friend was a bit smarter and waited on the side of the road until we passed to make a run for it. Finding your way around in the woods at a race site you've never been to when you are still half-asleep is fun. I need to remember to bring my headlamp to the next race so we can see.

The swim was a triangle route and the second buoy was a buoy you'd use on your boat not the big, visible inflatable triangles you're used to seeing. From the shore it was almost invisible. Luckily, in the water it was much easier to see and they posted a boat nearby to help with sighting. As we were waiting for the swim start, the announcer announced three minutes until the horn. Next thing I know, I hear "three, two, one" followed by the horn. I wasn't the only one caught off guard so the start was a bit slow with most everyone still putting their goggles on while walking in the water. I got a good line on the inside and most of the swimmers that were slower than me were off to the outside so I didn't have but a couple people that I had to pass to get free of the chaos. I felt good during the swim and tried to catch my breath but still keep a descent pace on the long jog to the transition area.

In T1 I spent more time than I should have getting the dirt and grass off my feet so I was a bit slow. I hopped on the bike and got up to speed and kept a steady pace throughout. At one point, a group of four people drafting of each other passed by. I was tempted to ask them if this race was draft legal but figured it would be better to just keep doing my thing and not worry about them but try to pass them on the run. The bike course was nice with only a couple cars and no bad road hazards.

T2 went off without a hitch and I started the run in the pace I wanted to try to hold since I have a hard time speeding up once I get settled in during a race. The run was nice since it was on hard packed dirt roads with pine trees all around for shade. I missed the mile marks so I didn't have any idea how fast I was going or how much longer I had to run. I passed more people than passed me on the run and felt like I was doing a good job keeping my pace up. The course was only 2.75 miles, but it felt longer. At the end, we ran through a grass trail to get to the finish and it looked just like the scene from Meatballs where Rudy "the Rabbit" is running.

After the race, we hung around for the results and found that Bev and I both took third in our age groups. Third only got you a medal that looked a bit cheesier than the participant medals with a barely-legible badge stuck to the back to tell you what it was for. That's fine by me since I hate keeping things like that since I don't really have any place to put them. One of the funnier moments was when we were standing at the finish after the race and the announcer was announcing that the My First Triathlon was starting and if you were doing that race, it was "time to strap it on". Sophomoric humor is even better when you've been up since 4AM and just got done with a race. Of course, the rest of the day and on our ride on Sunday, we were telling each other to strap it on. Julie thought he was referring to putting on your chip ankle band. I only hope that is what it was.

The event was run by Buttar and I've heard people complain about them in the past that the courses were either short, long, or mismarked. We didn't have any problems at all and I'll definitely do this race again. The photography was done by Gray Quetti Photography and these are the first race photos I've seen that were actually worthy buying. I wish more events used them. Here's the photos I took.

My stats:
Overall time: 1:15:06
AG Place: 3 of 6

Swim: 14:25
Swim AG Place: 2nd

T1a (beach to transition area): 2:16
T1a AG Place: 4th

T1b: 1:49
T1b AG Place: 3rd

Bike: 35:31
Bike Pace: 20.99 MPH
Bike AG Place: 4th

T2: 0:52
T2 AG Place: 4th

Run: 20:10
Run Pace: 7:20 min/mile
Run AG Place: 2nd