Race Result

Racer:	Andy Sheldon
Race:	Rumpass in Bumpass Sprint
Date:	Sunday, April 18, 2010
Location:	Bumpass, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Male 55 - 59
Time:	1:37:41
Overall Place:	316 / 504
Age Group Place:	9 / 11
Comment:	A good start to the season

Race Report:

This is the earliest I have ever been in a triathlon. I was concerned about the cold but it turned out to not be a factor.

Start time was a nice civilized 10am. I got there at 8, registered and set up and waited for an hour and a half. That was fine. Setup was running the race and they were efficient as usual.

The air temp at the start was about 50 and the water temp was about 65. I wore a full wet suit and a neoprene cap and had no problem with the cold. The start was delayed 3 minutes because one of the people in the first group was having a medical problem and had to be pulled from the water so the EMTs can help him. For the start, we treaded water until the horn. It didn't take me too long to get into a rhythm and swim comfortably. The water was choppy which surprised me since we were in a lake (Lake Anna). I guess the breeze was causing that. The course was a big rectangle. The turns were marked by yellow triangular buoys which were easy to spot except for the end. In fact, my only criticism of the whole event was that the end of the swim course was hard to spot. They needed a really large inflatable something at the end. Anyway, I did the 750m in 18:42 which is much better than my past performances (thanks to Cindy Eckart).

Transition was slow...4:06. I don't know why except that I took a moment to put on a long sleeve T shirt for the bike ride.

The bike course was easy. No difficult climbs. I did the 12 miles in 45:42 which is about 16 mph average. That is also better than my past.

Second transition was slow too...2:29.

The beginning and end of the 5k run was about 1/2 mile of trail running. And the trail had a lot of obstacles and crevices. All of the obstacles were painted orange. So, given that 1/3 of the run was on trails, I'm happy with my time of 26:44, about 8 1/2 min/mile.

Overall, I'm pleased with the whole event. It was a good time.