Race Day: Come and See Us!

It's finally here!

The Nautica NYC Triathlon date is finally upon us: this Sunday, July 18, 2010. We're excited as all get-out!

If you are in or around the NYC area and would like to come watch us do this thing on Sunday morning, we would love to see you. Seeing friendly & familiar faces cheering along the way will make a big impact on us!

For starters, the the NYC Triathlon people have put together a fantastic, really informative Spectator Guide, which you can download here. But here are some answers to important questions:

Where can you see us? The Spectator Guide lists locations where you can watch us for the swim and the bike if you want...but we're starting the swim between 6:30 and 7:30 AM and you'll never find us in our identical wetsuits, goggles and swim caps, and we'll (hopefully) be going by on the bike portion rather quickly, so you may want to skip these and wait to see us during the run. We run along West 72nd Street from Riverside Dr. into Central Park, so anywhere along West 72nd is a great place to catch us. (Plus, we'll still be relatively fresh!) From there, feel free to catch us at any other point in Central Park during the run, especially further north where there are likely to be a few less spectators than around 72nd. The map is enclosed in the Guide, but 90th and 5th is probably also a great place to catch up with us.

When can you see us? This is a little tricky; we don't have exact length times for each portion, we start at different times, and Jason is dealing with a foot injury that may leave him slower than usual. We also haven't done this before so we can't be sure of how long it's going to take us to transition from each individual portion. You should be able to catch both of us if you are on West 72nd Street by 9:15 AM. Jessica should be coming by at around 9:30 and Jason should be coming by at around 10:30. Again, these are very rough estimates and they could be wrong, but if you're on West 72nd by 9:15, it's unlikely you will miss us.

How do you spot us? There will be a lot of people in the purple Team In Training colors, but we're sure you'll be able to pick us out. Just scream our names LOUDLY so we hear you and can stop over for a wave and a (sweaty) hug. And cheer loudly for others, too, especially Team in Training triathletes! ("GO TEAM!" is the standard TNT battle cry.) As our friend Sarah says:

DON'T be apathetic in your cheering--a slow clap and a halfhearted cheer is a big eff-you to runners. DO make colorful, encouraging signs and lots of noise...just generally attempt to distract us from the pain for a few happy moments!

Here's what Jess plans on wearing, modeled beautifully at our Coney Island open-water swim last week:


And here's what Jason plans on wearing. (He may or may not have a mohawk on race day.)


How do you get in contact with us? We won't have our cell phones with us as we race. However, Jason's mother Marion is a good person to call to arrange getting together the day of the race, and we'll try to text her at transition areas if possible so she knows when to expect us. Her cell is (917) 837-2695. Backup cell: Gary at (516) 770-1101.

Can we hang after the race? Most definitely! There's a "Family Reunion" area by Naumburg Bandshell, mid-park between 68th - 72nd Streets. There should be signs, and if not, ask a staffer! We will be calling Marion from a call center as soon as we're done. And we'll be having a small celebration from 3 - 5 PM at our friend Raz's apartment -- you can either e-mail one of us this week for the address, or contact Marion on the day of the event.

Any other questions? Shoot us an e-mail or phone call (by Friday, please -- we hope to be off the grid by Saturday morning).

As always, thank you for your support and good wishes. We hope to see you on Sunday!