Subaru Triathlon Jericho Beach July 11-12, 2009

Subaru West Coast Triathlon Series Race - Vancouver July 12, 2009

My most recent volunteer event was working as a volunteer for the the Triathlon held this past weekend at Jericho/Locarno Beach on the west side of Vancouver.

On Saturday I helped with registration and with marking the running course.

My task on Sunday will be as a bike escort for the runners in both the Sprint and Half Iron course - the Sprint is a 5KM loop around the race sight utilizating the trails in nearby Jericho Beach Park and then escort the second place women's runner around two loops of the full 10km course.

But before they can run we have to mark out the course - so I met some of the other riders and race officials and set off on our bikes to mark the course - in the old days you used chalk to line the course - now they use flour - not toxic and disapates fairly quickly.

The first image here is of the start finished line just west of the Jericho Sailing center - it is also the entry point for the swimmers into the waters of Burrard Inlet.

Check in booth for the participants.

This is the entrance/exit to the bike transition point - this is where I will await the second place women's runner to leave her bike and start the final leg of the Triathlon - the first three runners in Men's and Women's half iron will have a bike escort the entire way - we don't stay with the runner if someone laps them - we stay with the second place runner and indicate to the booth every km if there has been any change in the positions - this year the first three postions did not change. The girl that I escorted is from Hawaii and was considered one of the favorites - she set a personal best on this course - here's a link to her blog and her thoughts on the event and her effort.

http://http//breeweehawaii.blogspot.com/2009/07/vancouver-half-ironman.html

Volunteer check tent - there was a variety of sandwiches and treats for the workers.

Another view of the Volunteer tent.

Here we are lining one of the marshall points - we use old water bottles to dispense the flour.

This fancy art work is actually the turn around point at the end of the beach at Spanish Banks - about 5km from the start.

More of the crew at the turn around point. While we did this marking more official signage would be put up the morning of the race.

All participants must check in their bikes the night before the race - this is the transition point.

After leading the sprint runners around the course I had a few minutes to spare so snapped these two images of participants in the bike transition area.

The runners are given a slot to mount their bikes - the elite runners/bikers will have a place closest to the entrance/exit points so that they can make a fast transition.

This was a fun filled event that I hope to be able to do again next year - unlike most races this events isn't always held on the same weekend each year - because it uses the ocean for the swim event it needs to reply on high tides because at low tide the area around the course can have upwards of a km of sand before you reach water.

That's if for the volunteer events for the time being as I can now start to turn my attention to getting things ready for my week long hiking trip in the Rockies and my week long cruise to Alaska.

Cheers

Dennis