Race Report: Gulf Coast Triathlon

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Hello all,

Just got back from the Gulfcoast Triathlon.  It was my first time racing in the Panama City 70.3 distance race.  The conditions for the swim could not have been better.  The wind was maybe blowing around 3 to 4 mph at the start and there were no big waves to speak of.  This was the second time I swam in the Gulf for a race and it was beautiful both times.  It was setup as a rectangle course with six buoys out and six buoys back.  At the turn around the water got pretty deep and stayed clear and there were hundreds of fish to look at as you swam by.  There were no large jellyfish although they did have some very small jellies that I swam through like a cloud.  Being a wetsuit legal race I felt some minor itching on my face, my only exposed body part, but it was nothing to worry about.

The wind picked up a little for the bike.  It seemed like we never really got a tall wind, as the wind was whipping around a little.  The course is an out and back ride that includes a bridge and two “fingers” to ride down to make up some mileage from the old bike course that was lost to some construction.  The roads are next to perfect for riding with no real areas of bad concrete.  We had a lane coned off on the highway for the ride out, but rode with open traffic on the ride back in.  The traffic was not heavy so there was no issue there.  We crossed through two main intersections and the police handled traffic perfectly each time for me and the surrounding riders.

The run was also an out and back run that turned around through a park.  The sun was shining and the course has very little to no shade, as it was advertised.  The temperature was not that hot, but the sun got to me as the run went on.  The start and finish was at the Boardwalk Hotel/Condos.  They did a great job for the race which included a breakfast on Friday morning, a pasta dinner Friday evening, and pretty good Expo with a variety of goodies.  The race Swag was interesting as they had boxes and boxes of toiletries they were giving away.  It included razors, shaving cream, shampoo, conditioner, and some other beatification items that I can’t identify and would never use.

I heard from some of the volunteers that they were short handed on the course.  I will tell I would have never known that.  I thanked as many volunteers as I could during the race and I would still like to say thank you.  The volunteers went above and beyond to make sure we had water, ice water, ice, sponges, pretzels, coke, Gatorade, cold Gatorade, etc.  I would definitely recommend this race and advise to prepare for the hot summer run.  I was able to bring my wife, three kids, and a mooching first cousin.  All had a fun time.  This is a great race and venue for friends and family to watch and relax at the pools or the beach.

Have fun and good luck with your next race!

Joe Paul “lil joe”