Conscious Choice: The Chicago Triathlon

October 2002 | Midwest Biking

The Chicago Triathlon

by Floyd and Tobi Mittleman

It’s a nice cool October day, but let’s look back on a warm and beautiful Sunday in August. It’s the twentieth annual Mrs. T’s Chicago Triathlon. From Randolph Street on the north to the museum campus on the south the lakefront is filled with people.

A triathlon, for those who don’t know, is a swim/bike/run racing event. The Chicago triathlon is one of the largest in the world. Some participants are professional triathletes, but others — people like Derek Moore, for example — simply find the event challenging. We spoke with Derek about his motivation and training and we felt that his story was worth telling.

The Chicago Triathlon is divided into two separate events — the sprint and the international. The sprint consists of a half-mile swim, a 13-mile bike race, and a 3-mile run. (These are approximate values; at the event all distances are measured in meters.) The international consists of a 1-mile swim, a 24-mile bike race, and a 6-mile run. The triathletes are started in waves of about 150 competitors each. There were 7,000 contestants this year.

Swimmers entered the 66-degree water in Monroe Harbor near the south end, and the sprinters headed north to Monroe Street. The internationals headed south toward the museum campus and then turned north to the "swim out" at Monroe Street. As we watched swimmers leave the water we were almost certain that others would not make the last few feet of the swim. We were amazed to think that they still had to bike and run. Once out of the water they ran to get their bikes, stripping off their wet suits along the way. Bikers headed from the bike park at Randolph Street and the lake (the transition area) north to Foster Avenue and back. The sprinters did one loop and the internationals did two. When they arrived back at the transition area they left their bikes and ran south to the museum campus (the sprinters) or to about 31st Street (the internationals) then back to the finish line on Columbus Drive at Balbo.

As there are professionals involved in the competition we surmised that most of the triathletes were simply trying to finish and perhaps to improve on previous times. Derek Moore is a Londoner who now lives in Chicago. He has competed in triathlons in London; this was his second Mrs. T’s event. He swims, bikes, and runs all year long, and he felt that he was in pretty good shape to compete in the international this year (last year he was a sprinter). We spoke to him the day after the race and he reported that he was in good shape with only a few aches and pains. He plans to compete here again next summer but to keep in shape he will travel to Australia in November to compete in the Sidney Triathlon. He does five-mile runs throughout the year and traveled to Lake Tahoe in June to compete in a 100-mile bike race. He also swims regularly.

The winning time in the international was 1 hour, 48 minutes, and 21 seconds. How did they measure the time so accurately? Each competitor wears an ankle band containing a small chip (the "Champion Chip") that records the time precisely. They’re on an electronic mat as they enter the water, when they leave the water, when they start their run to the transition area, when they get to their bikes, and so on. Each competitor’s time is totaled automatically by the chip. Derek performed the international in 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 18 seconds. Unfortunately he can’t compare his time to last year since he did the sprint last time, but he feels that he did much better overall this year. We wish him the best of luck as he travels to Australia for the Sidney Triathlon.

As we enter the fall season, there is no excuse to stop riding, running, or swimming — whether you’re thinking about a triathlon for next summer or not. And, here is some good news culled from the summer 2002 issue of the League of American Bicyclists Journal. The efforts of Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) previously led to formation of a House Bike Caucus that now has 115 members. The good news is that Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) have agreed to co-chair a Senate Bike Caucus. They only have nine members at present, but it appears that at least some members of the Senate have finally recognized the fact that many benefits can accrue from encouraging cycling.

So you’re not going to do a triathlon next year. That’s no excuse! Get out your bike, ride safely, and stay healthy.

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