Folsom Olympic Distance Triathlon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Marlene S.
Redwood City, CA

  (08-20-2010)

"Another exciting race in Folsom this year! The 2009 Folsom race last year marked my first podium finish and this year I had a repeat podium finish of 3rd place in a very competitive field of ladies. As part of the podium finish, I received a gift certificate for a pair of Scott shoes, which I am very excited about trying out and a cute triathlon necklace. As a bonus, they had a ladies pushup contest during the awards ceremony to compete for the raffle prize of a Blue Seventy wetsuit. I was able to outlast all of the ladies and win! It will make a great ebay auction. "

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2010

Marlene S.
Redwood City, CA

  (08-13-2009)

"Check out my full review @ http://www.accentfitness.net/accent-fitness/2009/08/2009-fol som-olympic-distance-triathlon-bike-course-2009-folsom-olymp ic-distance-triathlon-run-course.html

Participating the Folsom Olympic Distance Triathlon was one of the best overall weekend experience I have had. My weekend adventure started as a typical Saturday AM with my participation in 1.5 hour master swim class @ PAC. After that, it was home to pack and then off to drive into the central of the state to Folsom. Packet pickup was held at a bike store near historic downtown Folsom, which is actually quite a cute area. Pickup was very well organized and I was got my stuff in no time. Next, I went out to scout out the bike route. It was somewhat challenging to figure it out based on the limited map and description on the USA Productions website but I did manage with the help of both my iPhone GPS and car navigational system to figure out the roads. I knew I couldn\'t scope out the run course without actually running or walking it so there was nothing I could do to prepare for that. For the swim, I saw the lake so that\'s about all I needed to know.

I stayed overnight at the Rancho Cordova Marriott which was the hotel that USA Productions offered a group rate discount. It was a very nice hotel and I can a great short stay. It was located less than 5 miles from the race start area so it was easy to wake up at 5am, check out, go to starbucks and still be at transition area by 5:45am. There was plenty of parking in a huge lot and the bike racks where only a very short walk from the parking lot, which is nice. There were also plenty of bike races. I chose a spot which was right next to the bike in. Other people chose to be right near the bike out/run out. I guess it\'s all personal perference as to where you want to be to minimize your transition times.

I was super excited to try out my new 2XU:V1 wetsuit. It fit so nice and snug..I didn\'t feel extra water pooling up like in my previous wetsuit, which was too big for me. We had a floating swim start and this was actually the first USA Production events that I attended this year that actually started on time!! I was totally expected the start to be delayed but the first wave was off and going exactly at 7AM. The ladies <39 were off at 7:08AM. I do like earlier wave start time for women vs. the Tri-California events when all of the male waves go first and out in 15 minute intevals..leaving the first women\'s wave to start nearly 1.5 hours after race start.

The swim in Lake Natoma was very comfortable. Not too cold but not too warm that you would get hot in your wetsuit. The only challenge on the swim was the sun rising and glaring in your face for the first two buoys as we headed east. But once we looped around, it was an easy swim.

Bike portion of the course was nice but could have use some more directions. The bike out portion consisted of riding on a trail for several minutes to reach the main road. But the trail was mapped so I started to worry that I was completely going the wrong way. As soon as I saw another bike in front of me, I felt better but it still made me uneasy. Being one of the faster swimmers, there are not a ton of people out on the bike course yet so I think its natual to want to be sure that you are going the correct direction!

Most of the roads on the bike course were not closed to all traffic. We had cones placed along the left side of the road for both riding in and riding out, since the course was one big loop. Portions of the small side roads were completed closed to traffic so they were more spacious and open, which was nice. While I was riding with all of the guys, I passed one guy and he told me that he thought I was in third for the women. I thought this was great to hear since I really have no way of knowing where I was at. I know I passed one woman on the bike early on but since that point, everyone I passed or I got passed by was a guy. I made one mistake coming back in that I missed the turn back into onto that feeder trail. Luckily, there was a worker who hollered at me and I was able to flip around quickly and get back on the trail.

Last but not least was the run. With the knowledge that I may be in 3rd place, I knew I had to stay strong. Still, the run is always a mental challenge for me, especially those first 2 miles. I was worry about the heat and hills, as were described on the USA Productions website. But both factors ended up to be non-issues. The temperature was mild and definitely too early for any real heat to be annoying. And as for hills, there was barely anything noticable. When I review the Garmin GPS results, you can see elevation changes from 0 to 200ft but it was basically mini rolling hills. I guess I compare all hills to the Avia Wildflower Triathlon in May... now those are some hills!

I held my race pace steady on the run...in the last mile, I got passed by two women who were in the 35-39 age group. When I finally arrived to the finish line, they announced that I had come in 3rd place in my age group. I was totally stoked! I was hoping for top 10 so this was definitely a treat! I didn\'t come believe it though until they posted the official results because a lot of inconsistencies can happen with these timing chips and results. And even after they posted results, I still didn\'t fully believe it since they often re-post results with changes. So it was not until my name was called during the awards ceremony and I went up on the stage to receive my medal that I knew it was for real and for good!"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009