Boom Town Triathlon

I raced in the "Boom Town Triathlon" in Rose City, Texas this past November. Rose City is a tiny town outside the not-so-big city of Beaumont in southeast Texas. About 100 miles east of Houston. The event was a sprint distance triathlon including a half-mile swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run.

This race was so much fun! I did the Trilogy Triathlon in Austin the weekend before and in comparison the Boom Town was much more interesting... For one thing the location of the event was in a trailer park off IH 10 in what I've heard referred to as the armpit of Texas. The run was through thick piney woods complete with Spanish moss, cypress knees and swamps. The bike route winds its way through Vidor, TX where they say it takes six people to equal a full set of teeth. And there were rumors of hungry alligators with a taste for swim caps and speedos. Now that's exciting! But I'm from this area of Texas and none of this stuff scares me. Maria, my usual partner for this sort of adventure, told me I was on my own on this one.

As it got closer to race day I started wondering if they were actually going to go through with it. None of my family from the vicinity had heard anything about it and I hadn't gotten a conformation from my online registration. But I showed up the morning of the event and the bike racks were up, the course was mapped out and there were volunteers helping to get racers registered and marked. The event was small, there were only 15 or so women and not many more men. Maybe 50 participants total. The big question was whether or not to wear a wetsuit. I chose to wear one but there were others that went without.

Somehow everybody seemed real easygoing and not too intense. All this added up to a relaxed and enjoyable race. The course could have been marked better but other than that, the event went smoothly. I finished 3rd overall (for women) and 1st in my age group. I'm not telling anybody there were only three women in my age group.

I'm sure I have a very different view of what makes a race worth doing. Alligators, deep piney woods and trailer parks probably don't do it for everybody. I'm racing for fitness, fun and a little adventure. If I get too wrapped up in finish and transition times I won't enjoy it so much. This is the kind of race I want to do again. I've got my eyes out for more first year (or fairly new), small town (preferably far from big cities) events. I found out about this one on Active.com. Here's some other races that fit this description:

Athens YMCA 2001 Triathlon: Athens, TX March 10, 2001
Hey, Athens is the black-eyed pea capital of the World!
Wet & Wild Triathlon, 3rd Annual: Corpus Christi March 10, 2001
Try Paris 2001: Paris, Texas April 21, 2001

E-mail me if you hear of any others, they don't have to be in Texas or have alligators.

The transition area was teeny. But it turned out to be just enough space for the 50 or so participants.

The women's winner is the girl on the right. She's only 13! I told her I was old enough to be her mom and she should have listened when asked her to slow down.

This is the woman that beat me, she came in 2nd overall for women. She is training for the Ironman in May.