Bridgeland Triathlon
8/9/2009Coach Palaian definitely put on a great event. The 1st Annual Bridgeland Tri is a must do for Houston area triathletes as a first time tri or as a repeat for next year. Aaron Palaian from OnUrLeft Sports was the race director for the event. You could tell his team put a lot of effort into organizing a great race and lining up the sponsors needed to support the event. I can see OnUrLeft Sports becoming the new force for triathlon events in the Houston area in the upcoming year. The Bridgeland community in Cypress also provided the optimum conditions for a triathlon. The lake swim was set up well and marked appropriately. As Aaron says: "keep the buoys and cones ONURLEFT". Benjamin Proko, Aaron's partner in crime, was the mastermind on the event distance. All three legs of the triathlon were exactly 1/8 the distance of a full ironman. The swim was a 482 m swim in the community lake. The lake bottom didn't seem to be too messy or stir up too much dirt like I have seen at other tris. The swim start was well marked and swim finish easy to egress with only a very short distance to the transition area. The bike leg of the triathlon was very well monitored by local police. I didn't see or hear of any problems with traffic being a problem at bike intersections. The bike leg was flat and straight with only 2 u-turns. Just the right amount of turns to keep an eye on your age group competitors. The last U-turn came only a few miles from the finish. Just enough time to "hit it hard" on the last straight for the fast finish. Distance from the bike mount/dismount area to the transition area wasn't bad and provided plenty of room to jump on the bike without bumping into anyone. The run leg was probably the best of I've seen. The shaded trails provided just enough shade in the heat of the day to keep you from overheating. The run leg was also flat but was pretty challenging with the twists and turns of the trails. Still it was great to get off the asphault and run on some soft trail surfaces. The fiinish line set up was provided by Luke's Locker, another strong supporter of the running and triathlon community. Thanks to Lukes Locker. The post race party was excellent. Plenty of Michelob Ultra for all. Awards were unique. I got first in my age group (45-49) and 17th overall at the event. I still need to work on my swim as usual.
Overall time was 1:13:07. Best leg is the run where I ran a 6:53 pace. Bridgeland Triathlon is a must do for next year. This is one to definitely put on your race calendar. Major Event Sponsors for this event were:
Memorial Herman Sports Medicine
HEB
Luke's Locker
Finish Line Sports
Bicycle World
Michelob Ultra
Chris Blume DDS
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