(6-6-06) Submitted by Kirk Rose - Mid-Valley residents, Michelle Mills of Keizer, Bill Rupp of Salem, Kirk Rose of Albany and Jim Gulaskey of Lebanon Escape from Alcatraz! Sunday June 5th. Four am in the morning the four arise and plan their escape. Preparations are made, appropriate dress is donned and transitional gear is put in place. They are ready...well not quite.
5:00 am, bikes are racked, wet suits are zipped up, running and cycling shoes are laid out with helmet, energy bars and drink. Next step, off to the sternwheeler which sets sail at 7:15 (or so they say) for the trip to THE ROCK. Eight o'clock arrives and the pro's are sent off followed by 1500 age group athletes as fast as they can jump from the boat. Alcatraz is only 100 yds off the starboard side of the boat. They hit the water and gasp as the true temperature hits them in the face, a balmy 55 degrees... Okay, only 1.5 miles to shore with the current pushing them out to sea with each stroke, the water is a little choppy and the swells about two feet, but all in all, not too bad. Sighting is a little rough with the swells and so many bodies in the water at once.
All four survive the swim and make land in about 40-50 minutes. Next they remove (as fast as possible) the wetsuits they have donned for the occasion, put some temporary use shoes on and run 1/2 mile to their bikes. T1, as it is called (transition one) is the place to put on bike shoes a helmet and get ready for the 18 miles of hills, some a grade of 23 percent and lots of rough pavement. They are off!
Roughly five miles into the bike the pro athletes are witnessed whizzing by on the return trip. The age groupers continue on their trek dodging other cyclist, climbing hill after hill with sharp descents, 90 degree corners and other dangers amongst the fog that has now settled on the course. Whew, nobody was hurt or had a flat on the bike and they are back to T2 (transition two), now you are getting it.
Off with the bike helmet and shoes and on with the hat, bib number and running shoes, they are off. It is only eight miles, but two sets of stairs one known only as 'The Sand Ladder' (just a mere 400 stairs) two challenging hills and about a mile of sand running make it somewhat daunting. Dodging other runners, bushes, trudging thru the sand, ducking under the ledge into the tunnel, climbing the stairs and hitting the beach for the final two miles as the sun comes out and it gets hot is all part of the day. Three hours or so after the ordeal had begun THE ESCAPE is complete! What a great way to spend ones day.
Results of the Mid-Valley Foursome
Bill Rupp Male 2:59:06 - 64th of 223 men 40-49
Kirk Rose Male 3:04:02 - 7th of 42 men 55-59
Michelle Mills 3:09:04 - 14th of 94 women 35-39
Jim Gulaskey 3:17:05 runner up of 20 - 60-64 men who completed the event
Northwest Finishers
Nicholas Atkeson
Darrin Beek
Mike Bresson
David Burford
John Coffey
Michael Corrigan
Stephen Dilly
Maureen Eger
Hortense Everett
Rose Feliciano
Ed Goodman
John Grimme
Stuart Grundison
Joseph Gulaskey
Meredith Han
Karen LeFebre
Abby Majercik
Lewis McCoy
Rod McDowell
Jeanne McFall
Michelle Mills
Frank Mitchem
Edward Muelhaupt
Scott Muir
Jennifer Nerison-Morton
Wes Nichols
Mike Pritchard
Mike Rogoway
Kirk Rose
Bill Rupp
Lori Sabado
Elliot Schaffer
Michael Schimpf
Eric Schoen
Michael Schweiner
Michael Sinkula
Timothy Stone
Gregory Tollefson
Rick Trachok
Sean Truchard
Keith Walton
Jason Wix
Complete results and race information can be found at www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com.
