What HOT?

Most people do a double take when I tell them I am producing 24 Hours of Triathlon. Triathletes and other endurance athlete’s get it right away, but Dick and Jane Weekend Warrior (not the Jim Cary Dick & Jane type, although he would be a blast to have on course) get a quizzical look and raise one eyebrow asking for details. My original idea was to hold an Olympic distance tri with endlessly repeated swim-bike-run legs, the relay team / solos with the most number of accumulated legs the winners. Seems simple yes? Actually, no.

As we started developing the race rules and format, I found out that to be certified by USA Tritahlon (for insurance requirements and credibility), to get permitting AND to have a fun, rewarding, challenging, doable race format was, well challenging.

Swimming and riding at night poses some unusual hurdles. For example, bike lights are required by law, and of course for safety. The swim has to be extremely well lit and we needed to somehow keep track of swimmers in the gollom. I imagined a bunch of green chem lights bobbing around in circles like a school of swimmers with frinkin lasers on their heads.

The idea of night swimming became academic once we started getting permit approvals and working with the police. We also faced some interesting challenges with the bike course, both of which I’ll discuss later.