Bad Weekend for a Triathlon

Diagram of the oil spill. A view from the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

So I spent my birthday Wednesday evening at a volunteer's meeting for the upcoming Treasure Island Tri. There was pizza and sodas afterwards and lots of friends in attendance so really it was like a regular b-day party. If I was 8 it would have been perfect:) Turns out that it was also Meredith's b-day. She's one of the Tri-California people, the organization who puts on the race. I've volunteered for enough Tri-California events that these guys have become friends.

We went into the meeting knowing about the accident that caused the oil spill but as far as we knew the race was still on. Initial reports stated that only 140 gallons of oil leaked into the bay but we found out after the meeting, during the evening news, that it was more like 58,000 gallons. Quite a big jump from the initial estimate. A container ship had hit one of the supporting towers of the Oakland Bay Bridge, rupturing one of it's fuel tanks. The oil traveled North and West, then out the Golden Gate Bridge, soiling beaches along the way. Once outside the Golden Gate it continued North soiling more of Marin's coast.

For the report at SFGate, click here.

So the swim has been canceled for the triathlon but the race will still go on. It's now a duathlon, a bike and run. I'll be there all weekend. Saturday AM is the Olympic distance race and the Pro race at noon - folks will get a good look at the really fast guys. Sunday is the Sprint distance event. This time I'm working at the finish line food tent. We are serving pasta, salad, water and who knows what else. I always try to do different jobs at these races. I hope it's a good day despite the race being shortened. At least in our club no one's been bitchin or complainin. People have been cognizant of the fact that there is more at stake here.

Shout out to my friends doing PCTR's Stinson Beach 50k. I wanted to do that race but I found out it was the same weekend as this triathlon.