T-minus 32 days

August 16th, 2007. I wrote Sea Isle's Mayor, Len Desiderio, on this date, proposing the idea of a Sea Isle triathlon. Now we have 32 days to go. Where did the time go? Things continue to progress. From a race director's seat, job duties switch from marketing the race and filling the registration list, to more of an operational one. We have 271 racers signed up-- yes, 21 people signed up in the last six days-- so I am very confident we will hit 300+. In fact, we will probably inch towards 350. The city has not cut us off and we have a very large transition area, which will accomodate our racers with plenty of room to spare.

From an operational perspective, I just put the finishing touches on the race manual. 18 pages...wow! I am lucky to have two people to lean on when writing this paper-- Chuck Brodsky, who is behind The Nation's Triathlon and has a ton of experience-- and my father-in-law, Gerry Quinlan, who was a logistics manager for Verizon before retiring (and he still retains his keen eye for details). Gerry is a Sea Isle resident and has saved me countless trips to the beach. These two guys have helped me get this off the ground. Thanks, guys!

Details, details...I think I have put together a solid course. The swim is what it is-- 400m in the ocean. The real key here is protecting the athletes by providing plenty of lifeguards and lobbying for some back-up...like the Coast Guard. They will have a boat on the scene, which is very reassuring. (And, no, it is not going to be cold...Sea Isle water temperature is 56 today and will only go up...expect high 60s!).

The bike course is the trickest venue because of traffic control. The city has been kind enough to close Pleasure and Landis (southbound) Avenues, but there are other concerns: 30+ cross streets to block, five 90 degree turns, four "s" curves, and lots of parked cars. Obviously, we will need to have a good number of volunteers (70+ so far) and educate our athletes about the twists & turns. On the positive note-- bikers will enjoy the very long straight aways-- almost 9 miles of straight riding. I have been to some races where they force you to do a 180 degree turn on each lap (Philly Tri, Wildwood Tri)-- not fun and SLOW. I estimate the bike course contains more than 9 miles of flat, laser straight road (Landis, 79th-42nd, is going to break speed records).

Finally, the run. This has been the easiest to organize-- a 3.1 mile, out and back course on the hard sand. No traffic to worry about, only the occassional, washed up jellyfish.

All in all, I would have to say, a race director should be required to particpate in 5-10 triathlons before starting their own race. I have tried to eliminate any concern for the racer and put on a bodacious (did i really just use that word) venue for you athletes!

Have any suggestions? Add a comment to the blog!