It's been a long week since the race, but I thought I should get a few thoughts down about the race. The Madison race is one of three multi-sport races that I'm involved in- I set up the bike course for Brian's Beachside Boogie and just got back from packet-stuffing for Hammerfest, where I'll be setting up transition with some other people Saturday.
When we set up the Madison transition Saturday there was a lot of talk about what to do if we had miserable weather, which was the forecast, and we decided that we do a short (1.1/1.2 mile) run out behind the parking area if the swim was cancelled due to the rough weather.
On race day, I didn't get there until 6AM, so I missed the period of time where the water was rough and the decision to cancel the swim.
I spent that hour chalk-spraying the first and last quarters of the run (the rest was on a field), trying to get cars moved, and finally, doing the bike safety talk a few minutes before the race.
Once the race started, I headed out on the course with my mountain bike-it was raining lightly as I hit the first volunteer areas- some of them were still waiting in their cars and I was yelling 'they're coming'. The first men from the elite wave overtook me in about ten minutes and from that point I kind of rode back and forth on the course, stopping to help a few people who had issues, talking to volunteers and doing some very minimal repositioning (they mostly know what they are doing after so many years), and pretty soon, it was pouring rain, Lake Placid style. That only lasted a few moments.
I came in right at the back of the pack and cleared the way through the runners for the last woman, then went out to the first turn on the run course and helped out there.
I have to say that the athletes were very understanding about the format change and also very good-natured about the rain, the humidity (100% at least) and the whole day went really well.
The guy that should get a special pat on the back is Steve Surprise. With the race director out of town, the Jaycees leaned on Steve for advice and he did a great job tying a lot of things together. Way to go, Steve
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