Race Coverage

"No More Excuses"...

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 00:10

By Brad Mitchell (obsessivetripulsive.weebly.com)

ROOKIE EXPERIENCE RACE REPORT - Dawn arrived in Rochester on Sunday with the faint but unmistakable sound of grossly under inflated knobby tires rolling into Foster Arends park. There was a new nervous excitement in the air as 30 first-time triathletes arrived, most of them right on the 6:30am suggested arrival time. Like the rest of us they will learn to arrive before transition opens at 5:30am and spend two hours lining up shoes, squeezing tires, catching up with friends and discovering that it really is possible to have a productive porta-pottie visit nine times in less than two hours.

Rochesterfest sprint was the first Rookie Tri Experience offered by Final Stretch. It is an attempt to attract new athletes to the sport and offer a welcoming start to what is probably a life-changing day for...

many people. Life stories and journeys to this point were varied. Two athletes had recently lost over 120 pounds and this race was the next step. Some of the athletes were pairs of good friends who had essentially dared each other to give it a crack. There were many proud families who were also being initiated into this multi-sport day.

Participants could register in the sprint as a rookie for free. There was a special rookie transition area with body marking, a rookie start wave and 5 local triathletes to offer support, advice and encouragement. Leading up to the race, local club TriRochester and locally owned specialty running store TerraLoco hosted free information evenings that included a transition set-up, discussion and Q&A.

We all remember the deer-in-headlights first tri experience and the nervous anticipation was electric as mentors assisted in the finer points of transition mat size and arrangement, body glide placement and where we get on our bikes. There was a long wait until 8:45am and it was getting warm. Five minutes before transition closed, the race announcer relaxed the group with an entertaining pep-talk about entering the triathlon family and the emphasis on having fun and making new friends. READ MORE