Mothers Day Triathlon and Duathlon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Amy I.
Montesano, WA

  (04-01-2010)

"This was my first Triathlon EVER. This is an EXCELLENT race for a first time triathlete! Mainly because of the course. The swim is SUPER short (200 m), the bike is flat and fast, and the run is also mainly flat out and back.
I decided to make this my first triathlon because of the short swim. I thought I'd try out a race with a short swim because swimming was my biggest weakness. Funny story:
This triathlon is on Mother's Day, which is in May. Here in Coastal Western WA, water temps aren't really warm by May, but I thought, oh well, I can take it, it won't be that cold. (I had yet to do an open water swim practice). When I showed up to the race, I thought, Hmm...everyone, and I mean everyone, has a wetsuit, but me. Oh well, I'll beat them in T1 because I won't have to take off my wetsuit. Then I got my feet wet as I was waiting for the gun to go off. WOW...Brr. The race coordinator said that the water temps were in the low 50's. I didn't warm up in the water at all, I just stood there until the gun went off. Once in the water I was an instant popsicle, I couldn't even put my face in the water. My swim only lasted about 4 and a half minutes, but any longer, and I think I would have gotten hypothermia. I lost all my advatage in T1 by not having to take off my wetsuit because my fingers were so frozen, I couldn't tie my shoes.
After that the rest of the course and race were GREAT, so my biggest piece of advice is even though wetsuits are not required, WEAR ONE. It is COLD in May here. This is also where I do my open water swimming in the summer, and the water temps get up to 80 so, if you have a race here later in the year, you'd be fine with no wetsuit.

This race is also really small, only about 30 people when I did it, so another good reason to make this a first timer for a lot of people. It is also at a City Park, so there are PLENTY of restrooms."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009