Cassadagaman 70.3

Mark Wilson has been putting on races all across New York but this was the first 70.3 among his race offerings. With all other 70.3 races pushed to 2021, I decided to scratch the racing itch and go to the shores of Lake Erie for an early September half Iron. I felt undertrained (which was also a reality) but knew I’d go slow and just do the race to get out there and have some fun. I slept in my car the night before the race at Lake Erie State Park and had a 15 minute drive to Cassadaga, NY to set up my transition area. I missed this process. I missed race mornings and the feeling being around other triathletes. We were a small but resilient group of racers and this was a new experience for me. I’m typically at 70.3 races with a few thousand participants but loved the feeling of being among a smaller group.

The water was warmer than the air so the warm up swim was welcomed but the clearing of the water and pre-race directives were bone chilling. Once the race started, the swim was faster than I expected given the lack of time in the water this year. The double loop bike course had a gorgeous climb to give a view of Lake Erie but with some rain, I only got to see the view on one of the two loops. There was about 4,000 feet of climbing on the bike leg and somewhere around 900 feet of gain on the run. The run was a glorified walk for me knowing I have two more events coming up in the next two weeks. It was one of my slowest 70.3 races (my PR is 5:45) but certainly one of my most satisfying given the thought that 2020 would be a wash for racing. Find details on next year’s race here.