Patriot Triathlon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

David L.
Meredith, NH

  (08-04-2009)

"The Patriot Triathlon is a very well run event. The atomosphere is great and the people behind it do an amazing job.
The disappointment for me, this year, was the swim. It was very short. In addition, the bike is a 58 mile, 2 loop course while the run is a 1 loop 13.1 course.
I would love to see this race turn into a true 1/2 iron distance race, making sure the course distances are correct. Second, I would really enjoy a two loop run course, not only for runner but for spectators.
This is a great first time race for anyone wanting to move up in distances."

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2009

David C.
Durham, NH

  (07-13-2009)

"Well run race for one that isn't that old. The roads are in decent shape though the scenery seemed a little monotonous. Several long straightaways on the run made for a mental challenge but traffic was low.

It seemed like there were more aid stations this year than last. And, they stocked Hammer products which I always love!

Great post race food and music!

One complaint was with some of the racers going like a train drafting. "

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2009

Brandon W.
New York, NY

  (06-22-2009)

"Yesterday, June 20, 2009 was the Patriot Triathlon in East Freetown, Massachusetts, produced by Sun Multisport Events. I was a member of the relay team, The Revenge of Shrekilocks, along with my brother-in-law, Adam (run leg) and his best friend, Harrison (bike leg).

The weather report for the day had been changing throughout the week, and the night before we got the good news that any rain would most likely hold off until around 3 pm. Team Shrekilocks met up at the race check in at 6pm on Friday at Cathedral Camp (race site), where we got some decent schwag and headed off to dinner. After a great, if not slow meal at The Pasta Bowl, we all headed back my sister-in-law's parent's house in nearby Mattapoisett.

My alarm was set for 5 am, and I popped right out of bed. I usually have a hard time sleeping before any race, but for whatever reason, I slept like a log. We were out the door by 5:50 am, and on our way to the race.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the wide open layout of the transition area. In race past, I have become accustomed to some rather cramped racks and such, but there was no less than 15 feet between rows of racks and often times more. We had plenty of time to set up being that our wave began at 7:30 am, and at about 7:15, we all headed over to the swim start in Long Pond.

Our wave included; relays, aquabike, clydesdale and athena racers, which numbered probably about 30 (give or take). It was an "in the water" start, which was great in my opinion because it allowed me to walk in to about waist deep so that I could start swimming right away rather than having to deal with any running/jumping into the water. I managed to get myself to the front of the wave (in my shiny, new Xterra Vortex 3 sleeveless wetsuit) and the start went off without a hitch.

There were some swimmer-looking guys that I was a bit concerned about, but I passed them pretty quickly. I got out of any pack and on my own out in front pretty quickly. Then, at about the half-way point, as I rounded a buoy, someone came up on my left. Now, at about this time, I had begun to pass people from the other waves and I thought that this was just someone else I was passing and had missed seeing. Then I noticed that I wasn't gaining any ground on this person! I looked and saw that they had on the same cap color that I did, as well as...PINK GOGGLES!!! There was a chick keeping right up with me!! Now, not that I am incapable of having my ass hand to me by a woman, but I was just not expecting it from my wave! So, I decided to just pace with her and I believe she decided to do the same. We stayed side-by-side until the turn back in toward the beach. We came up on someone from an earlier wave, and she went to the inside, right next to the buoy and I wound up getting bounced way out to the right. I had to pause for a second and make sure I hadn't been thrown too far off course (which I kind of had) and during that little pause, the other swimmer gained about a body length on me.

At some point, as we made our way back in toward the beach, she crossed behind me and began to go wide right. Again, I paused to make sure I was on course, which I was, and decided that she was veering way off. As I hit the beach, I didn't look back and hauled some serious ass around the transition area to the swim entrance. One thing I thought was nice, was that the timing pad, which picks up your chip and thereby your swim time, was right by the water's edge. This was nice because it gives you a more accurate idea of your swim time. I have been in races, where the timing mat was about 100+ yards from the water!!

As I ran through the pathway that was set up to funnel swimmers to the transition, I had to kind of cram myself around some people that were taking up a LOT of the path. I got to the transition, found my rack almost immediately and made the switch-off to Harrison. About the time Harrison was heading out, someone behind me asked if it was me who was first out of the water (for our wave). Turns out, it was the woman who had been pacing me. Her name was Tracy and she was so very nice. We got to speak for a long while and I gave/give her unlimited kudos on the swim that she turned in!!

My goal for the swim was to be the fastest swimmer in the race, a goal which I made to myself but didn't share with anyone other than my team. I did not accomplish that goal. My swim time was 18:32 which was fourth fastest, the fastest time being 18:09. I must admit, I am a bit annoyed by this fact, but I can't rewind time and push it now!! That being said, I do not believe that the swim was a true half-Ironman swim distance. Especially since the fastest swim time last year was 27:58. I mean, I would be happy if I went that distance in 18:32, but being realistic, I would also then have some sort of record!

After changing into dry clothes, I went down to the bike course to wait for Harrison to come around on the first loop of a two-loop course. Prior to the race he had been downplaying (in my opinion) what his pace would be. He called this "expectation management". So, we expected him to show up at maybe about an hour and a half from the time he left. Instead he came riding by at an hour and twenty-three minutes!! His total time on the bike was 2:47:06 (58 miles, so more than a half-iron!!), with an average speed of 20.8 miles per hour (we'll call it 21!). As a matter of fact, Harrison came running into the transition area so fast that he almost crumpled from his legs cramping, and at the same time had an insanely fast transition time of thirty-one seconds!!

Before his run leg, Adam, my brother-in-law, had to pee about 4 times inside of 30 minutes! I don't blame him, seeing as before my swim, I went to pee and by the time I had walked directly from the porta-john to the swim start, I had to go again. Due to some significant humidity and heat, he decided to run in just his compression shirt rather than that, plus a tech-tee over top. He also made good use of my hat that was courtesy of Newton Running. We couldn't see Adam at any point on the course, but we knew that he would be in at approximately one hour, forty-five minutes from his start. Sure enough, Adam's run time was 1:45:00!! It took a minute for him to be able to talk (as it did for all of us!!), but when he did, he was very satisfied with his run (as were we all!!!).

Our total time was 4 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds (4:52:24). Now, while we were hanging around and gathering our belongings after the race, results began to go up. We saw that we had come in fourth place (not bad out of 11 teams!!) and decided to head out to grab some food. Later that night, I checked to see if official results had been posted. It turns out, due to a 4 minute penalty by the third place team, we had bee bumped into third place!!! We're not sure if we get an award or anything, but we should!!

As for the event itself; it was very well run. The check in was smooth and all the staff had most of the answers to any questions, and if they didn't, then they knew who to ask. The transition are was AMAZING!!, It was more wide open and comfortable than any I have ever been in. The water was perfect and the waves had just enough people to be competitive, but not crowded. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend the Patriot Triathlon. We have even begun talking about plans to come back next year!!"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

David C.
Durham, NH

  (05-29-2009)

"For a newer 1/2 iron distance race I was impressed with the participation and crowd support. I'm glad they moved the race date earlier in the year and off of the July 4th holiday.

Lake swim was nice. Bike course was relatively flat with overall decent road conditions. Run was also nice with adequate aid stations."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008