Cincinnati Triathlon 2013

The Cincinnati triathlon is a fun and well-organized event.  It has a sprint distance and an Olympic distance offering, and I recommend it to anyone in the area.  We took it on as a family outing, with my daughter running and winning the sprint distance, and two of my sons and a future-daughter-in-law and me doing the olympic distance.

Registration was available the day before or the morning of, but parking was a real issue the day before so I recommend checking in in the morning if you can.  We were there in the pre-dawn darkness and had plenty of time to unpack, set up, and stretch.

The race was not crowded, and it should have been.  I think the reason is that most people were afraid of swimming in the Ohio river.  The universal reaction of anyone hearing the swim was in the river was "There's no way I would swim there!"  I don't know if there were even any native Cincinnatians in the race.  Too bad, because the water was clear in my hand and tasted fine.  There was no gasoline taste and only minimal debris like logs and branches.  No rashes or sore throat afterwards either, so I think the water quality was high.

The bike course was on the Columbia parkway, a big multi-lane highway by the river which was entirely closed for the race.  I'm surprised they did this, but it made for an awesome bike leg.  There was one very steep hill near the baseball stadium, and some of the racers were surprised in their big gear and had to dismount and walk.  We all managed to power up it, but it wasn't easy.  My personal bike leg was fast in the beginning but I flagged near the end and ran out of juice.  My usual goal is to let no one pass me.  One guy did early on and I tried to reel him in but failed.  Another guy passed me after the first loop, and we went back and forth for several miles.  Finally he passed me for good, and then a few others did too.  If there had been more time I might have ground to a halt entirely.

The run was my favorite part of the course.  It was a two loop course over the Purple People Bridge and through a riverside park which was pretty and shaded.  The finish line was still a welcome sight, and the surprise for us was that three of our team won podium positions.

The Cincinnati triathlon is a fun and well organized event.  I recommend it to anyone.