Mid May 2023

Introduction

A Return to Somewhat Normal

The Puerto Rico Ironman was held in San Juan again this year, on March 25, 2023. About 500 atheletes competed. They began to arrive three or four days earlier, and could be seen running, biking and swimming as they did their final preparations. The event consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike leg, and finishes with a 13.2 mile run. I live close to the the swim area and the park where the bike and run events begin and end. I’ll share some of my images of the event in this post, as well as a short description of the activities.

Preparations

The preparations begin a few days before the event. The swim course is marked by buoys, the bike storage area is put together, lanes are marked, volunteers are trained.

Buoys in the Condado Lagoon mark the swim course. The swimmers enter the water to the right and swim down and back keeping the buoys to their right.

The swimmers pass under the highway bridge and proceed to the end of the swim course.

Volunteers construct a ramp. The swimmers will leave the water via the ramp and make their way to the bike sorage area where they will begin the bike leg.

Volunteers also construct bike racks. The atheletes will leave their bikes here the night before the event. They’ll get their bikes here after the swim and leave them here after the bike leg as they start the run.

Race officials and volunteers mark runnng lanes with pylons and tape. The course takes the runners into and out of Old San Juan twice.

Race officials place signs at key points. This sign marks the line where riders can mount their bikes and begin the bike leg.

Volunteers, race officials, and onlookers have to eat. A couple of food trucks are brought in to meet that need.

On the Saturday afternoon before the race, the atheletes bring their bikes and running shoes to the bike racks. This is where they transition from the swim to the bike, and then the bike to the run.

The Start

On Sunday morning, the atheletes gather at the swim start. They are grouped in time blocks – the fastest swimmers in the first group, the second fastest in the next, and so on. After some pre-race ceremonies (the Puerto Rican and US anthems, a greeting from the mayor of San Juan), the swim event begins. Three atheletes enter the water every five seconds and begin their swim.

The swim start area before the start.

Note the ankle straps. These contain a chip which records times as the atheletes pass through various check points.

The atheletes strike various poses as they get ready to enter the water.

I caught some of the swimmers in the warm light of the tropical sunrise.

The Swim

I have always had a hard time photographing swimmers. I suppose I could do better with a wet suit, scuba gear, and an underwater camera but that’s not about to happen. So here are some images to give you a feel for the event.

The swimmers go into the water just to the left of this image, with three starting every five seconds. They should keep the pylons to their right as the proceed. It seems some swimmers will need guidance from the volunteers in kayaks along the course.

By the way, the start changed from previous years. Then groups of 40 to 50 swimmers would go onto the water, with groups starting every five minutes. I suspect the new start process eliminates a lot of kicking and clawing in the group starts.

One of the early swim starters.

The swimmers leave the water via the ramp and make their way to the bike paddock. The water in the lagoon is warm, about 78 F.

The Swim-Bike Transition

After leaving the water, the atheletes run about a quarter of a mile to the bike paddock. There they don their biking regalia and proceed to the Mount line to start the bike leg.

Some of the competitors have a pair of running shoes stashed just as they exit the ramp.

Other atheletes run barefoot to the bike paddock.

Another barefoot transitioner.

Once in the bike paddock, the atheletes don their biking gear, grab their bikes, and head to the Mount line. This is one of the early swim finishers.

The Bike Leg

After the swim and the transition, the atheletes race along a flat, 56 mile course to Dorado and back. I watch them as they leave the park and as they return. I find the bike leg the most interesting to photograph so I’ll share several of my images.

Leaving the Park

Jan Flores is just past the Mount line. Note he has his shoes clipped to his pedals – he’ll fasten them as he starts his ride. This US athelete finished in 5 hours and 21 minutes.

These riders are beginning to accelerate as they leave the park.

The bikers transition to city streets as they leave the park. They have to slow down for an ess curve just as they get onto the city streets.

Isabel Cody of the US enters the city streets. She finished in just over 7 hours.

Elizabeth Martinez of Puerto Rico begins the bike leg. She competed in the F 55-59 age group and finished in six hours and 50 minutes.

Michael Garcia of the US is heading for Dorado. He finished in six hours and 50 minutes.

The US athelete Paul Hartman competed in the M 55-59 age group. He finished in just over 8 hours.

The rider on the left is wearing a white band on her right wrist. That identfies her as a member of a relay team, specifically Team Hillsthrills of the USA. They finished in just under six and a half hours. Rider 404 is Daniel Reinheimer of the US, competing in the M 55-59 group. He finished in just over 7 hours.

Returning from Dorado

Afet waiting a bit, I can catch some of the riders coming back into the park as they finish the bike leg.

The riders slow down as the get to the Dismount line. Then they run their bikes to the paddock and get ready for the run.

The Bike Run Transition

Jessica Gozalez of Puerto Rico finishes the bike leg. Competing in the F 40-44 group, she finished in 5:19:44.

Javier Hernandez of Puerto Rico runs barefoot to the bike paddock to prepare to the run. He finished in 5:34.

Nicki Leo (US) and Alfredo Gonzalez (PR) transition to the run. Nicki finished in 5:17:25 (first in her group of F 50-54) while Alfredo came in at 5:54.

Oscar Otero of the US finished in 5:32.

The Run

The atheletes run from the park into and then back from Old San Juan. They repeat the course twice before finishing. So there is a constant stream of runners along the city streets into and out of Old San Juan.

I must say I find the runners hard to photograph. By this time, the sun is high and the lighting is harsh. In addition, they all look like they are in agony. So I’ll share just a few images of the runners.

Victor Torres of Puerto Rico begins the run. He finished in 5:48.

Volunteers assist the runners as they first enter the course.

Anne Jackson of the US begins the run. She finished in 6:20.

This runner is close to finishing the first leg into and out of Old San Juan. In a short distance, he’ll reverse course and start his second leg into the walled city.

Final Thoughts

Although I’ve watched the event for several years now, I don’t understand all the details. For example, it is pretty clear that the timing of the swim event begins when a swimmer enters the water. I did not notice but I suspect there is a chip reader device that records the time when an athelete begins his/her swim. But exactly where does the swim event end? When the simmers go up the ramp? When they reach the bike paddock? At the Mount line as the bike leg begins?

I examined the timings for some of the finishers. The winner, Javier Figueroa of Puerto Rico, finished in a recorded time of 4:09:45. He did the swim in 26:30, the bike in 2:13:37, and the run in 1:25:29. If I add up the times for the indivudual events, they total 4:05:36. I figure the missing 4 minutes were used in the transitions. So the three events are timed discretely, with the times in the transitions added to the total.

I was also curious as to which of the three events determined the race leaders. I scanned the results for the first 20 finishers to see what I could find. Fabian Roman (PR) had the fastest swim of the top 20, at 25:50. Rafael Ramon Franco, also of PR, was slowest, at 37:00. In the bike event, the overall winner, Javier Figueroa, had the fastest time, at 2:13:37, although Aurimas Sabalis of the US was a close second at 2:15:39. Of the top 20 finishers, Diego Rodriguez of PR was slowest at 2:35.

For the run, Javier Figueroa, the overall winner, was again fastest, at 1:25:29, while Aurimas Sabalis was slowest at 1:46:52.

So what does all this mean? The bike and the run are more important that the swim. This makes sense when you think about it – the swim is of the shortest duration and it is more diffcult to build a time advantage in that event. The two longer events allow the eventual winners to dominate and build significant time advantages.

Advice

That leaves me with a final thought, offered as advice to Ironman competitors.

You swim, you get wet.
You run, you make sweat.
To make Ironman dough
Make bike like hell go
And run to win, not show.

Click here to see the offical Ironman website, with the announcement for the 2024 event.