Bermuda Triangle Challenge 2010
By Jennifer Clark
The Bermuda Triangle Challenge (BTC) is a series of 3 races in 3 days. Friday night at 6:30 there is a mile run, Saturday morning a 10k and Sunday morning your choice of half marathon or marathon, Bermuda in January has iffy weather. The day we got here it was 50 degrees with 25-30 knot winds and rain and hail. Saturday morning it was clear sunny 70 with a 5 knot wind. It’s very English and not at all Caribbean. There is a lot to see and do., history, art, caves, beaches, fishing and eating and drinking. The public transportation is moderately priced and pretty reliable. The taxis are really expensive. You can’t rent a car, but you can rent a motorscooter or a bike, If your racing,,go for the scooter. It’s windy and hilly a bike could wear you out. Thi island is completely built up with little remaining open space and narrow winding roads. The water is just like home.
The weekend is kicked off with a cocktail reception by one of the big sponsors Bacardi. Bermuda is the home of Bacardi International. The rum was flowing. The elite athletes are invited and they mingled and talked with everyone. The bartenders were entertaining and they had a goodly amount of food. Those invited are running for money in their respective events. It’s very international, There are many charity teams here as well. The real highlight of the mile…is all the kids are running for points for their schools. They compete in individual heats and can they run! Folks are lined up 4 deep along the run watching their relatives and cheering them on.
The mile wasn’t the best organized or the worst. You have loads of people in a ½ mile area. You head out downhill then do a 180 turn around the “birdcage”, head uphill past the start ( once the last person passes the next heat starts) then run around a monument- another 180 turn and back down to the finish line. This is along Front Street the main drag…it’s all lit up and people were lined up 3 and 4 deep most of the way. The elite athletes run last and there’s a super incredible purse for the first one to break 4:00- I think it will be awhile with the wind and hill and sharp turns, they’ll need to run sub 3:45 on a track, It was fun to watch them turn on the afterburners. The best time was 4:11. All the fellows run sun3:55 regularly…Kenya, Ethiopia etc….The highlight was waiting in the bullpen with the other athletes in your heat. They are from all over and every shape and size. Everyone was great and the neat thing is you’ll be seeing them again,,,and again, and again. So,,,once you find someone who runs like you…you have a running partner for the 10 K and the marathon…a really wonderful thing.
The 10K starts and ends at the National Sports Stadium, There are loads of real toilets and changing rooms. Everyone congregated in the infield or the track and folks you met the night before were quickly around. Conversation was easy..you could start with where are you from ? and go from there. The course is hilly, ala our own marathon except the hill like Easley is not as long, Folks are lined up and cheering all along the 6.2 mile loop. There are magnificent views of the ocean and prime real estate. The road is lined with hibiscus, oleander and other flowers and palm trees, There were 2 water and Gatorade stops with toilets at mile 2,5 and 4.5, Each mile is marked and the clock is shown and running at the 5k. The course is beautiful and challenging. This year there were 700 runners, then walkers, wheelchair and about 20 elite athletes. The entire last mile is uphill. They had good snacks and drinks afterwards.
The marathon starts early. There are a couple sets of restrooms. The bag drop. Personal drink,snack drop are in a ferry terminal. The race started promptly and begins with a slight uphill. There were some portapotties around the course but they were set aways off, be thinking add a quarter mile and up or down a hill to use one. The first lap the lane was closed to traffic and there were spectators everywhere. There were ample water stops-every 2 miles with water or Gatorade or your personal stuff if you told them where to put it. The second lap the lane was open to traffic and it was occasionally scary with vehicles passing It’s very hilly equal to our own marathon but with temperatures in the 60’s and low humidity. Mile 11-13 and 23-25 are all uphill and really steep at times there is another long steep one you do twice equal to Easley around mile 4/17 but there’s a beautiful cathedral near the top and it inspires prayer, the view from the top is incredible! The downhills became punishing and you looked forward to going up the 2nd loop. The finish line was well managed and there were snacks, drinks, coffee, cocoa at the bag drop. They had live bands before the 2 mi hill and at the start/finish. I highly recommend an mp3 player as the marathon was capped this year at 100 and you were alone most of the time and most of the spectators had retired to the finish line or simply went to church or back home.
Later that evening they have the awards ceremony. The awards are given out by the equivalent of the President of the USA. Bermuda is an independent British Commonwealth and their President is called a Govenor and he is knighted. This was really interesting. Meanwhile if you win anything you hear.”representing Ethiopa… or for the Russian federation” It was surprising to hear my name representing the USA..God knows I would have trained harder if I really had thought I was doing that!I would also have dressed up-yes, there were folks there in suit and tie and cocktail dress…jeans and my t-shirt felt very out of place. 10 minutes faster and I would have been in prize money- ( that’s what happens with portapotty stops!) top 2 in age group and top 5 overall get considerable money. 5th overall woman is 500- I had a terrible run but others had worse so I was 3rd in my age group ( of 18)and 2nd in the Challenge ( of 15). After the awards there is a live band for dancing, heavy hor derves free water and soda and a bar…as a winner I got free drinks all night if I wanted them…for you that drink this could be the best prize!
This was my first marathon in 9 years and doing the challenge wasn’t the best idea but sure was fun. I feel better about my time knowing folks who regularly run 3:15 to 3:45 were running 4:15 and 4:45 that did the challenge. I’ve never run Big Sur but they said the hills were similar, The challenge is one, You think you are taking it easy on the mile and 10K but you wake up and find your quads are sore and stiff from all the hills and you feel like you should be recovering from a long run and now you’re running the main race. Of the 90 who began the full challenge only 57 completed it. The marathon was capped at 100. The half was capped at 300. There was no cap on the 10K 700 started and 647 finished or the mile and there is a HUGE purse for the mile not including the kids( they were a different category but sure brought out the fans) 262 regular folk ran the mile. So you speedy folk could really bring home some cash! It’s a fun race. I’d highly recommend staying in downtown Hamilton or at the host hotel as getting around can be difficult. No need to exchange money the Bermuda dollar and US dollar are the same and US cash and credit cards are used everywhere. It is fun, there’s a great international flavor. If you do the challenge you will have 4 t shirts and 4 medals so leave some extra room in your suitcase! The best part was seeing the same people and making new friends over 3-4 days with people from all over. The ocean temp was 60 degrees…not good for swimming ( well I was comfy in my 7mm wetsuit with hood , gloves and boots as I went snorkeling 3 times and cave swimming ) but you will have the beaches totally to yourself.