The Donner Lake Triathlon was on Sunday July 19th. The same week of my dad’s 60th birthday! My parents had rented a cabin in Tahoe for the week and my dad and brother were planning on doing the triathlon on Sunday.This was a perfect! I stayed the night Saturday to celebrate my dad’s birthday and we were able to get to Donner quickly to watch the triathlon on Sunday.
My dad and brother have been doing triathlons for a few years now, but this was the first time I had the opportunity to watch one. The sprint triathlon started first, 1/4 mile swim, 6 mile bike and a 2 mile run. My crazy friend, Anya signed up for this one earlier in the week without owning a wet suit or rode bike. She was able to borrow a wet suit and used her mountain bike. She ended up really enjoying the race and has already signed up for another this fall.
After the sprint swimmers were finished they let the International Distance participants begin. My brother started first and then my dad’s heat followed 10 minutes later. This was a 1 mike swim, 24.8 mile bike, and a 6.5 mile run around the lake. The swim looked crazy. They were so far out there and you could barely see the markers let alone the arms coming in and out of the water.
Once the swim was finished they were off to the transition area to get ready for the bike. Participants were changing slower that I had expected and I can see how people could save a lot of time here by having the right system down.
The bike portions was straight up a hill and then back downhill. Not something that I would feel comfortable with. Once finished with the bike they had a quicker transition just to drop off their bike and change shoes.
A few friends and I were able to run around the lake to watch and cheer as the runners came. I was a nice perspective to see what it would be like at the front of the pack. I was tired just from running in the heat and I didn’t even bike or swim prior so I can’t imagine how everyone else was feeling. The triathlon was actually pretty exciting to watch, but not enough for me to sign up for one.
After the race we celebrated with a bbq and swim in the lake. Great job Dad, Jason and Anya!
