RACE REPORT FOR ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (BY NOEL DILLON)

And so it came to pass, six months of hard training in the seas, roads and sand dunes. It was all geared for June 04, 2006, Escape from Alcatraz.

The seas around Dunmore East in Co. Waterford were a good training ground for the cold swelled waters that were awaiting in San Francisco Bay. So too were the hills around Carrick on Suir and the undulating running routes around Portlaw and Tramore.

My brother (Liam) and I awoke in San Jose at 3.30am to set out on the 1 hour drive to Marina Green in San Francisco. Transition opened at 5am so we were keen to get there and get set up. Dawn broke over the city skyline as we approached and the butterflies were working overtime. Having parked the car, we noticed that the Transition area was already filling fast as we approached it at 5am. The collection of bikes was awesome, carbon frames and disc wheels galore. In the midst of all of this, it was heartening to see a fellow 'amateur' racking his bike beside me. He held up his timing chip and asked me what it was for. First I smiled (relieved that I wasn't racking beside a pro) and then kindly filled him in with details. He told me he was nervous, that there was so much that could go wrong today. I told him to relax, that it would all be ok. He then asked me if I was a professional. I really don't know how he could have thought this and I then explained that if I completed the 1.5 mile swim in under an hour, I'd be happy. We were good company for each other!

Liam and I strolled over to view the calm water in the Bay and glanced over at the old 'Rock' off in the distance. This was where Al Capone and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly were sheltered from society all those years ago, but right now, my own thoughts were of the punishment (slagging) I'd receive from my friends back home if I didn't escape. I had told so many people that I was doing this race.

We boarded the bus from Transition at 6.30am and were taken to Pier 3 well in time for ferry departure at 7.15am. The ferry, 'Mary Belle', departed on time and a nervous cheer from all 1600 competitors greeted the departure. I glanced around and noticed that a fellow Irish competitor, Niall Heffernan, was sitting just alongside us on the ferry. We exchanged our thoughts and talked about how the moment of truth was arriving fast after all those months of training. As the ferry circled the 'Rock', a large queue for the toilet cubicles had developed. The national anthem was sounding at this point and it honestly seemed that more people were holding their bladders than holding their hearts!

Two minutes to race start, I said good luck to Liam and Niall and edged over to the side of the ferry. I glanced across the Bay and spotted my target, a tall block of apartments. The race director had advised me at the race briefing the day before, that as a slow swimmer, I should aim for this apartment block for the first 30 minutes and the currents would then help me along towards the swim exit. I had one last look at this target and then noticed the swell in the water. Before I had time to get nervous, I decided to go for it and just jumped!

The nerves just vanished the second I jumped. My first impression was that the water was warm, much warmer than my training pad in the Irish Sea....and so off I went in the general direction of that apartment block. Little did the inhabitants of those apartments know that their residence was my primary focus for a full 30 minutes whilst they lay asleep! The swim was going good all this time and after 30 minutes, I decided to think about turning towards the swim exit at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

At the race briefing the day before, all participants were advised to take a 10 second break to just look around the bay and to realise where we were. Before heading for the Yacht club, I took this 10 second 'time out'. The only thing I realised at this point was that a thick fog was descending and when I looked up further to see where the Yacht club was, I could barely see it!....I kept swimming in that general direction only to realise on two occasions that I was being taken off course by the currents and at one point, I was actually swimming back towards the 'Rock'. Now the fame of the currents around Alcatraz was beginning to make sense. I then decided just to keep focus on the swimmers around me and to follow them....this worked out well and soon the red roof of the Yacht club came into sight through the dense morning fog....200 metres later, I climbed the narrow steps onto shore. I made it! 53 minutes and 45 seconds after taking the plunge!

Our cousins (Marie and Dan) were there to greet us and what a lovely sight it was to see them. I think they were actually relieved at first to see myself and Liam set foot on the old 'terra firma' and then they grew in excitement and urged us on. (Thanks Guys!).

The one mile run to Transition was actually enjoyable. Hordes of bikers were exiting at Transition and at this point, I realised I was well down the field, actually in 1380th position as I later found out.

I set off in pursuit on the 18 mile cycle on my modest 'Trek 1000' and was glad to realise that I was feeling good on the bike. Five long Category 3 climbs lay in store and quite honestly, the training on the hills around Carrick on Suir was paying off. The thrill of actually passing people on the bike took the mind off whatever pain the legs were experiencing...Liam was just a few minutes behind at this point and he too said that once he started passing some people that he was 'rocking'...The bike ride through the streets of San Fransisco was a blast, but the fog was obscuring all the views of the city that we had seen the day before whilst driving the course. (A big thanks to Gary and Anne for this guided tour).

The last climb was made easier by the sight of Marie and Dan at the side of the road, urging us along...Once this last hill was out of the way, it was free wheeling all the way back to Transition and onto the 8 mile run...

The first two miles of the run were flat and a cool breeze blew in from the bay. The coolness of this was very, very welcome and now the only hurdle to overcome was the steep hills on miles 3 to 6 of the run, culminating in the dreaded 400 step Sand Ladder. I had trained on a hill called 'Calvary' back home in Portlaw Woods and this training was now paying off...I got to mile 6 in one piece and now the Sand Ladder was approaching. 100 metres before the Sand Ladder, a fellow competitor passed me and said that this Sand Ladder was 'all in the head'. I then noticed that he stopped after 6 steps and walked the rest of the way up. I felt like saying that it was actually 'all in the legs'!. I managed to just about keep running up the Sand Ladder (thanks to the training in Calvary) and Marie and Dan were waiting at the top for us. They were such troopers all day and we 'high fived' at this point.

All that remained now was the two mile run to the finish....along this way, I caught up with Niall and we were delighted to see each other...we ran to the finish together and at the finishing straight, Niall's wife (Barbara) threw us the tricolour. We proudly carried it over the line in a time of 3hr 14mins (700th position), with Liam putting in a strong run finish to come home in 3hrs 20mins.

We escaped!

 

 

HOME - NEWS - MEMBERS - TRAINING

LINKS - 2006 REVIEW - FEEDBACK - CONTACT US

 

(c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO WATERFORD TRIATHLON CLUB - LAST UPDATED ON 15 FEB @ 21:00 GMT