Here are a lot of photos from Rev3 Cedar Point Half and Full Iron race this past weekend. It was their first year holding this event, and they did a dang good job!
We got to Ohio on Friday afternoon, met a lot of my wife’s EvoTri teammates for supper at a pub in Cleveland, and then drove to Sandusky that evening.
I had the pleasure of sharing a room with these 2 babes:
Pharmie and Rural Girl (and TriSaraTops stayed with us Saturday night too)
Saturday, we went to check out Lake Erie and the transition area. Stu and the Rev3 people were going to do a profile on
Team EvoTri to show on the Jumbo-tron by the finish line during the race. So the whole team was interviewed:
Pharmie being interviewed by Stu
Robby being interviewed with a lot of the team in the background
It was cute how Charlie’s girls came running over to watch their dad be interviewed
Getting some video of the team riding with pro triathlete Sam Warriner
JP, Sam, and Stu
Chris, Rural Girl, Stu, Robby, and JP
Then we headed down the beach to check out the lake. Robby, Rural Girl, and Pharmie were going to head out for a practice swim. It was a bit choppier than they would have liked:
Pharmie at Lake Eire
Robby skipping (like a girl) over the waves
Dolphin-diving though the waves
Coming back in
As I was standing on the shore waiting for them, Beth Shutt came walking by on the beach! We chatted for a while, and I was ready to watch her have a speedy, speedy race the next day! (And she DID! Keep reading...)
Later in the day, they all went to get their bikes set up in transition. Here’s Pharmie and Rural Girl heading out of transition after parking their bikes:
A sign along a narrow road just outside of the park that
I thought should be placed on the race course. ;)
They had a team meeting in the late afternoon, and I used that time to go for my long run. I did nearly 11 miles, with the middle miles getting faster and faster (as
Coach Jen prescribed). After a few miles of WU, I did miles of
6:22, 6:25, 6:12, 5:52, and 5:47. I was hashed. But it was a solid run, and my heel felt GREAT! My injuries have been staying in check!
Because I’d be sharing a room with 3 wonderful women that night, I figured I’d better NOT let my swassy, stanky shorts ruin a good night’s sleep. So I wedged them outside of the window, between the window and the screen:
You’re welcome Rural Girl, TriSaraTops, and Pharmie! ;)
We all got up and got dressed. I changed into my “cheering outfit:”
Yep, that’s a shirt with a hotdog giving 2 thumbs-up
On the shuttle to transition
Final set-up
David Thompson (DKT), a pro triathlete from St. Paul, was racing his first Iron Distance race at Rev3. It was fun to cheer on a local pro out there.
Out of the water in 3rd, with 4th and 5th right on his tail
Starting the bike
Heading through T2 (with a camera hot on his tail) in second place
DKT ended up finishing his
first Iron Distance race in 8:36:40, and that was good for 3rd overall! On top of that,
he WON the Rev3 Series (along with Sam Warriner who you saw above)!!
Click here to read my Examiner article about DKT’s race and to see more photos of him at work out there. Congrats David!
Anyway... I had a box of Krispy Kremes with me at the race start, and I asked if anyone wanted one. Robby said it was “just a fun race” for him, so he KILLED a donut a few minutes before starting his Half Iron race:
Best. Photo. Ever.
Charlie, Chris, Robby, TriSaraTops, Pharmie, and Rural Girl
Guys ready to start. Chris and Robby are in the front row to the right.
Just before the ladies start
Pharmie, TriSaraTops, and Rural Girl all heading into the lake
Robby out of the water with the 5th fastest swim split!
Chris heading into T1
Pharmie out of the water
Pharmie running past
Starting the bike
After a few minutes, transition was empty. I grabbed some food, chatted with some people who recognized me (that was happening ALL weekend and it was super fun!), and stretched out my sore / tired legs from my run the day before. Before long, the first guy was back in off the bike. A second guy was right on his tail, and
he was wearing an EvoTri jersey. IT WAS JP!! HE WAS IN T2 WITH THE LEADER OF THE RACE!
The first 2 guys back from the bike. JP is the one to the right.
JP FLYING out to start the run in second place!
Beth Schutt (who I meet on the beach the day before) hitting the run in second!
I was watching Pharmie’s splits. She wanted to go sub-6 for the first time ever. She had done 6:06 on a short course last year, and she was hoping to get under that at this race. I saw her come into transition, and she would be able to run a 2:12 half marathon and still get in under 6! And I knew she had that in her!!
Just like a pro, she had a camera in her face all of T2! Awesome!
Trying to (awkwardly) get her number and hat on at the same time
Running out of T2
Starting the run as I was shouting “You can run a 2:10 and still break 6!!”
I watched all of
Team EvoTri start the run. First place came running back into the park, and JP wasn’t far behind!
JP took second overall in 4:27:03!
JP and Chris after finishing. JP got 2nd and Chris got 5th!
Finisher’s medals
Beth taking the WIN!! Congrats Beth!
“Mama Simmons” finishing well under 5 hours as the 4th female!
Robby finishing!
Rural Girl finishing with a smile!
TriSaraTops finishing with her son
I was anxiously looking at my watch as I was standing by the finish line. I saw Pharmie’s 5:50 finishing time come and go. I actually timed someone to see how long it took them to get from where I could first see them to the finish line. It was just over a minute. So I needed to see Pharmie off in the distance SOON! I was getting nervous. I ALWAYS get nervous standing at the finish line of one of her races.
But after just a few seconds, I saw her EvoTri jersey off in the distance!!
She had her PR! I was getting a little misty-eyed as she was coming down the chute:
We got cleaned up, and then headed out to grab a bite before enjoying the amusement park. (The park was opened for athletes and families, and the lines were non-existent!!)
Helping frail, fragile,
and old Rural Girl to Famous Dave’s
Robby and Pharmie bookin’ it to the next ride before the park closed
Before riding Magnum (that’s what she said) for the first time.
We were able to hop on again right away when it’s normally a 1-3 hour line!
E-Speed’s photo of us. I’m pointing to my new “Sheriff Steve” badge!
Robby, E-Speed, Emily, Pharmie, and I all rode the Raptor, Top Thrill Dragster (120 mph in under 2 seconds!!!), and the Magnum (twice), and that only took about 40 minutes. Normally we’d have to stand in line for longer than that to just ride one! Then we headed back to the finish line area to check on some of the Full Iron finishers:
Finish line and Jumbo-Tron that shows a photo of each finisher
2 people hitting the finish line
(True, I didn’t race it, but I’ve raced enough to have a sense of how it all came together out there.)
- The Half Iron event was great! Lots of hype, a fun finish line, and a great atmosphere.
- I was around to hear volunteers being given their jobs (like when I was hanging out near transition during the swim and while everyone was on the bike), and the “head volunteers” and the “regular volunteers” were all GREAT. Looking at the help they had out there, you’d NEVER guess this was a first year event.
- Because the Full Iron was so small, the finish line was really quiet in the later evening. This is where an Ironman sanctiond event has a Rev3 event beat. But if Rev3 gains in popularity in the next year or 2, watch out Ironman!
- My biggest criticism for the race was the finish line area. I was in an area that was blocked off from the park, and there
wasn’t a single bathroom or porta-potty in that area. I was there watching 4:30 finishers though 6:00+ finishers, and I had to “hold it” because I didn’t have time to head back down the beach, trek along the lake for a 1/4 mile (walking in shoes in sand SUCKS), back up the beach, and into the transition area to use a porta-potty there. That’s a 15:00 trek (round trip), and I can’t leave the finish line for that long when I’m cheering on so many people. And what about families with kids in that area? They’d have to make a long, sandy walk whenever Billy says “Mommy, I’ve gotta go poop.” That was poor planning on Rev3’s part. (As soon as Pharmie had caught her breath a little, I said I needed to sprint back to transition to do my business.) And not to mention the area that I was in was only about 5 feet wide for about 60 feet, and in some places it got quite narrower. I can’t tell you how many “traffic jams” I saw with senior citizens or mom’s with strollers trying to make it through this long narrow area. If anyone from Rev3 is reading, here are my suggestions:
1. Put some potties in the finisher's area in the "park" side and the "beach" side.
2. Bleachers. The finisher's chute needs a place for spectators to take a load off. It's a long day for everyone out there.
3. Move the chute 5 feet more into the park. Give the spectators more room on the "beach" side.
All that being said, I'd LOVE to do one of Rev3's Half Iron events. Great race! Fun people! Well put together overall!Finally, here are links to blogs of those people I've mentioned above:
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Pharmie: my lovely wife. (She gave her thoughts of Rev3 on her blog.)
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Robby B: speedy swimmer and doughnut lover. (He burped doughnuts for the entire race.)
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TriSara Tops: set a major PR and finished with her son.
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Stu: Simply Stu. Fun dude to hang out with.
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Rural Girl: 2nd in AG and put up with me all weekend.
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Charlie: his daughter's love him.
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JP: second overall! What a beast.
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Sweet: 5th overall - amazing!
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David Thompson: local pro triathlete (who used my photos in his blog post) who took 3rd in the Iron race!
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Beth Schutt: first female!
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Mama Simmons: 4th female and finished with a smile.
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E-Speed: roller-coaster buddy.
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Eric: finished his day with a doughnut.
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