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| Post Race Photo |
On Sunday, Owen and I participated in the annual Boardwalk Triathlon in Philipsburg. This is the largest event of the year, with over 100 competitors, including several from other islands. We got a group of 4 other students to race with us, most were first time triathletes. There was a delicious pasta dinner the night before at the restaurant on the boardwalk that was hosting the event. The next morning we arrived at the transition area to begin setting up around 6:30am. We were fortunate enough to have another racer bring our rental bikes in his truck for us, since 5 bikes in 2 cars wasn't going to happen. There is quite the community among the racers on island, you begin to see the same people at every race and they are very friendly and helpful. I think it has been a great way for us to get connected on the island beyond the medical school, and I know it has been a great community for me to explore racing in.
Back to the details of the race. At 7am the Olympic triathlon started. Owen was the only one who did this distance. It was a 1500 M Swim, 40 K Bike, 10 K Run. His bike was mostly crazy hills, but he still did a great job. He placed 3rd for his age group in the Olympic. The rest of us did the Sprint distances of 750 M Swim, 20 K Bike, 5 K Run. The three of us girls all placed for our age group in the Sprint, I took 3rd. After the race we had brunch provided by the same restaurant and then the awards ceremony. We each took home a hand crafted and painted mug, I'll post pictures of that once I pick it up from TriSports (the sports store).
Overall it was a great time. My goals in order were to finish/cross the line still standing and to come in at 2 hours. I accomplished the first and almost the second with a final time of 2 hours 6 minutes (I actually looked at the wrong clock on my last lap of the run and thought I was already over 2 hours so I didn't push it, oh well). Owen finished with a final time of 3 hours 28 minutes. I will post more pictures if we can get them, from the race and podium, and the mugs, here are just a couple for now.
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| AUC racers |
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| Transition area (after the race) and the restaurant that hosted |
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| We all placed for our age group (© Ange Eugène Eliazord) |
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| © Ange Eugène Eliazord |
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| Owen place for his age group (© Ange Eugène Eliazord) |
After arriving, we grabbed a quick breakfast and rented a car and toured around the island a bit. We stopped by a few beaches looking for snorkeling, but the waves were too rough everywhere. Eventually we stopped for lunch at a local burger joint. It was good but very expensive! After lunch we tried one more beach. It was still pretty rough but Owen and Sean went out anyway, since we did bring all the snorkel gear with us. Alie and I napped on the beach while getting blasted with sand the whole time. After a little while, the weather turned so we headed back to town. It then poured! We hung out in a covered shopping area for a while then braved the rain and shopped a little. After that we headed back to the ferry to head home. All in all it was a great day, even though the weather wasn't great. St Barths has a much better feel to it than St Maarten. It is clean, safe, well maintained and just plain nicer. It was a good birthday trip!
