Naples Triathlon: Paradise Coast International Triathlon, 9/22/13

This is a review regarding an Olympic distance triathlon set to take place in Naples, FL 9/22/13. It was well-written, with lots of detail. I hope you find it helpful. Special thanks to Erik, a triathlete who lives in Naples & will be competing in this one.

Here's the race organizer's website.

Here is the low down on the Olympic tri course in Naples at Sugden park:  The start/finish line and transition area is nicer than most venues with good free parking and really nice bleachers for friends and family to hang out in comfort at the finish line.  The transition area specifically is paved so no worries about mud or wet grass.  For the swim, it’s a lake and pretty nice.  Its an old, deep, rock quarry which obviously breaks into the aquifer making the water temp somewhat cool, especially when the surface gets churned up after the first wave. (certainly it is cooler than the Gulf!... but won’t be wetsuit legal, so get any brilliant… I mean, ‘buoyant’ ideas)  The bike is obviously pancake flat, with exception of a couple of extremely small bridges in the ritzy neighborhoods, but it has a lot of turns, curves and cross streets, so it may be confusing (even to locals) if the organizers don’t have enough marshals to direct you… and it cuts across a few major highways… so be sure to have good breaks and watch for cars  (this organization does not have many volunteers and cops stopping traffic like the non-profits do and they don’t have any closed roads… usually).  Then, for the run, let’s call it the “economically diverse run”.  It cuts through differing types of neighborhoods from rough to ritzy out and back, but you may find your biggest encouragement will come from the rough parts because the gated community is no doubt full of head scratchers who care less about a triathlon.  In any case, it will be lonely out there until you reach the last quarter mile and finish to a cheering crowd in the grandstands.

Lastly, this organization usually lacks on post race yummies, so BYO food and drinks.

"The Mother of Another"

“The Mother of Another….”

A group of twenty-somethings gathered in a mountain town for a wedding. Joy and anticipation fill the air. Stories began, all kinds of stories: adventurous, scary, light-hearted. A young man reaches deep to tell a story about the brother he misses. Close friends know the brother’s been dead for years. The story recounts fond memories of the outdoors they loved: fishing, mile-long bicycle wheelies, 4-wheeling, and an old beat up Ford truck that muscled through the woods & sprayed mud everywhere in its wake. When the story ends… a brief hush falls upon the group until the air is once again alive with memories of the next storyteller. The brother though, slips away noticed only by one. He is hoping not to betray a sadness that is welling within. In the shadows of the setting sun, the tears that begin to form are private…spotted only by the one. She’s the “mother of another”. She sees the signs of sadness and her heart goes out to the brother who’s distanced himself from his friends. A sob, a shudder of sorrow threatens to spasm upon his back. All this, she takes in. Then, without hesitation, she has him wrapped up tightly in her arms. They don’t really know one another. And yet, in this offering of comfort, the brother’s sorrow bursts forth fully, uncontained and unabashed. Until tonight, he’d said little about the brother he missed so much. Tonight, the good memories and the sadness of loss, met head on. The mother said nothing, only squeezed him tightly & gently patted his back. For a moment, he was lost and broken, until “the mother of another” shared the medicine that almost always cures everything… the touch of loving kindness.