The Urban Epic Triathlon, properly referred to as the Zone Urban Epic to honor the title sponsor, gets underway this Saturday, July 26 at 9:00AM along Portland, Maine’s waterfront. Coming three weeks earlier in the calendar than last year, the Urban Epic builds upon its 2007 debut with some improvements to the course.
One of the big issues at Urban Epic last year was the swim course, which had to be rerouted at the last minute due to safety concerns. The resulting course took swimmers near a sand bar, hanging up some of the participants. This year the swim starts on the other side of Macworth Island. “There are no shallow spots on the swim course,” says Will Thomas of Tri-Maine, the Urban Epic race organizer. “It’s a straight course that measures 1.2 miles to shore. There will be a current like last year, so it will sweep to the left, taking swimmers straight into East End Beach.”
Participants should note that the swim is LONGER than the 1.5K (1500 meters) noted on the web site. “There’s no way this is a 1-mile swim,” said Katie Payson, the women’s winner of the inaugural Urban Epic. “We swam the course last Tuesday, and it took nearly 40 minutes to complete.” Normally, a 1-mile open water swim like this would take 25-30 minutes for a competitive swimmer.
Swimmes will exit the water at East End Beach. Then instead of running uphill to T1, Urban Epic racers will run along a newly opened path. “It will be a flat run to the transition area at the Portland Company Complex,” says Thomas.
The bike course takes off the same as last year but takes participant though Payson Park. Everything else on the 40K Urban Epic bike course remains the same, including a tough hill at the end on Walnut Street.
The 10K run is also improved over last year. Instead of heading out Fore Street, the run will begin along the bike path taking triathletes down a small hill. Athletes will then climbing to the beginning of the Eastern Promenade where it then resumes the same course as last year.
For the official Urban Epic website, click here.
Comments