My Blog

After great success in Nassau, the organizers of the 242 Colour Run have now committed to hosting the event in Freeport and Abaco before the year’s end. On December 8^th, the colourful race will be held in Freeport, and on December 28^th the event will take place in Abaco.

The inaugural event in Nassau on July 13^th drew 333 participants, along with dozens of volunteers and spectators. The five kilometre course started and finished at Montagu Foreshore and had five colour stations. As the participants ran and walked through the course, they were bombarded with food-grade powders in Flash Caribbean Breeze Blue, Flamingo Pink, Bahamian Yellow, Sun Burnt Orange and Key Lime Green.

The event was not timed, and participants were encouraged to have as much fun as they liked – ranging from outrageous costumes to body paint. All of the participants were covered in colour after the initial “colour toss”, a pre-race ritual where each participant throws a handful of coloured powder into the air, creating a giant cloud of colour.

The Nassau event had individuals and groups as large as 25 participate in the event. Friends of all ages, as well as families, corporations, service groups, church groups and many more organizations took part. The Rotary Club of East Nassau and the Rotaract Club of East Nassau, as well as BAARK, a non-profit organization dedicated to dog and cat spay/neuter programs and education projects, were all beneficiaries of the event.

The Freeport event will take place at the Garden of the Groves. The trails and roads in the area will provide a unique course and a great staging area for the race. The event will take place in the early morning and a post-event gala will be held at the Garden of the Groves.

The Abaco event, the third and final 242 Colour Run in 2013, will take place in Hope Town. The atmosphere is set for a colourful race, with participants already excited about the event. Local Rotary clubs are set to benefit from and assist with both races.

Participants in the 242 Colour Run events are encouraged to walk, run, skip, hop or jump through the course –the race is not competitive and persons are encouraged to come out and enjoy the camaraderie and fun that ensues.

Participants can follow the event on Facebook or on the website, www.run242.com, for further details as they are released. Registration for both events will open soon, both online and at local venues to be announced.

The 2013 Potcakeman Triathlon timing was sponsored by Purina pet foods, produced by BAARK!,  a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a better life for dogs (and cats) throughout the Bahamas.

We provided the RFID timing services for around 200 athletes in the Triathlons – ranging from kids to adults.  The 750m swim, 21km bike, and 5km run was challenging enough – but mother nature threw a curve ball in with some wet weather, and choppy seas.  A couple of athletes withdrew from the swim, but the majority managed to finish the swim and the course despite the weather.

We used the Chronotrack RFID tri-tag, coupled with the Chronotrack disposable tri-strap.  The relays utilised an exchangeable neoprene strap, allowing them to pass off and reattach the tri tag to each member of the relay.  We had

We had over a 96% read rate, the majority of misses were at the swim exit, where the entrance to the transition area was a bit wider and didn’t force athletes over our line.  This is where the most misses occur in triathlons – we have new side-mounted readers, Chronotrack Flashpoints, coming in which will virtually eliminate these missed reads.

Using the rest of the data collected, we were able to estimate the few missed times for the swim and ended up with a 99.5% read-rate.  The 4 missed times left were due to a relay team not reading at the swim exit – and then the cyclist holding the chip in his hand vs attaching to his ankle.  We were unable to recover any of their splits – once the run was started and the tag properly fixed, we were able to read their run and overall time.

Please contact us if you would like to use our race services at your event!  lee@raceprompt.com

The 2013 Great Abaco Family Fitness Weekend turned out even greater than I could have imagined!

About a week before the event I started getting nervous, as many participants were signing up at the last minute and three days before the event there was a surge of registrations.  We had enough spots for 200 persons, however the triathlon turned out to be insanely popular!  We ended up having to Fedex (from Hawaii) additional triathlon straps for the Chronotrack Tri Tags, but we managed to accommodate everyone!

For the 1-mile Open Water Swim, along the innately beautiful Treasure Cay beach, we grew from 5 participants to 30!  That’s a 6-fold increase!  The winner from 2012 was present to reclaim his title in 2013, and we hope to see Peta in 2014 again!

The next day we had the Sprint & Olympic triathlons – which grew from a combined total of 18 entrants (including 3 per relay) to 60 participants!  That’s a 333% increase!  We had to setup extra bike racks and manage transition a bit differently, but we now know how to handle the larger crowd at the Coco Beach Bar parking lot, and look forward to hosting an even bigger and more exciting 2014 triathlon event!  We even had a 10-year old girl complete the Sprint triathlon, finishing at the same time as our Olympic champion, Simon Lowe!

The kids’ race was AWESOME!  Toni managed to get the kids fired up with an impromptu dance/stretch/spaz session and we had 30 kids run a mile!  Some took it seriously while others had a ball and ran every which way, they all had fun!

The 5k/10k was the one that worried me the most in terms of the registrations – especially the late registrations on the morning of the race.  While we did have a few, we weren’t inundated and managed to have a respectable 70 persons enter the combined events.   We did not time the walkers last year, but in terms of runners we had 24, I’d say we doubled that.

Overall I was very pleased with the event – a bit more preparation in terms of speeches, courses, and volunteers and I think we will be a strong event.  Treasure Cay was SOLD OUT of rooms, and they have already booked us out 50 rooms for next year, as 45 were directly attributed to our event.  If you’re planning on visiting on March 21-23rd, 2014 – I’d recommend you book your room soon!

Thanks to everyone that came out and supported – volunteers, sponsors, spectators, staff, and of course participants!  A special thank you to Sabine, Ray, Avis, and the rest of the Treasure Cay Staff, as well as the TC Fire Department and the RBPF.   Thanks to Jason, Toni, and Jen for dealing with me and getting me through the event – I’m sure by the end of the event I had run my own marathon!

The 2013 Great Abaco Family Fitness Weekend is now open for registration. Registration details are available at the event website www.GAFFW.com or by contacting the Ministry of Tourism in Marsh Harbour.

 The weekend-long event will be held from March 22-24^th at the Treasure Cay Beach, Marina, & Golf Resort. The weekend starts off with a 1-mile open water swim on Friday, a Sprint & Olympic triathlon on Saturday followed by a kids’ 1-mile run, and a 5k/10k fun run/walk on Sunday.

 Planning for the second instance of the event has been taking place over the past year and the organizers look forward to having a larger, fun-filled, family oriented event.

 Last years event brought around 75 participants and dozens more volunteers and spectators. This year there has been keen interest both locally and abroad, with a large group from Freeport planning to compete as well as a good base of athletes out of Nassau. Abaconians are expected to provide strong competition yet again, as the inaugural event was successful and well-received throughout the archipelago.

 Last year local triathletes Simon Lowe and his father Greg Lowe were slated to compete head-to-head in the Olympic triathlon, but due to an injury Simon had to watch from the sidelines. This year they both plan on returning and Greg will defend his title against his son and the other competitors.

 The first two online registrations were both women, one from Freeport and the other from South Carolina. The event is geared towards both locals and visitors alike. Treasure Cay has one of the most scenic ocean swims available and it was ranked one of the top ten beaches in the world by Caribbean Travel & Life.

 The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Treasure Cay Resort & Marina, and Damianos/Sotheby’s International Realty have again joined as the main sponsors. All of the sponsors’ support of the event is immensely appreciated, along with all the hard work and support of the volunteers, friends and family.

 This year Bahamas Ferries has a trip running from Nassau to Abaco for the event, leaving Friday morning and returning Sunday afternoon. Those interested are asked to contact Bahamas Ferries directly to book their transportation.

I’ve been so busy organizing this event that I have forgot to link to it from here!  Not like anyone reads it but hey it adds google points and stuff.

www.GAFFW.com

Join us March 23-25th 2012

1 Mile Open Water Swim
Sprint/Olympic Triathlons
Kids 1-Mile Fun Run
5k/10k Fun Run/Walk

Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

The UWC Triathlon Bahamas was held on September 25th, 2011. Team LASER (Lee Adam & Sarah’s Expeditious Relay) represented the Bahamas with a strong contingency consisting of myself on the swim, Adam on the bike, and Sarah on the run.

We arrived on site a bit after 6:30 to find a long line for body marking. Apparently one marker is enough to check everyone in and give them their timing chips. At 7:30am (official start time) there was still a long line and we weren’t marked until around 7:40. I did a quick warmup swim at around 8 since there was still no sign or mention of a start. Around 8:15 they started making announcements (I think this was a pre-race meeting?) and everyone lined up and started. The first wave was the individuals, the second the relay entrants. I started strong, with two others around me. One dropped back after a bit, and the other (a young guy, 15 maybe?) pulled ahead as we separated and started weaving through the individuals who had only started 3 minutes ahead of us.

Upon nearing the water exit, I noticed the pack seemed to be going for the start line, which wasn’t the same as the exit. This wasn’t clearly marked or explained, and from what I hear several people missed this and had to swim or run the beach.

I exited the water and ran up to transition, passing off to Adam. Adam took off for the bike loops and I hung around for a bit then headed up to the loop to watch the bikers. The first were just passing as I arrived, and several turned in after the first loop only to be redirected out to do two loops. At one point a gas delivery truck came barreling down the race course barely missing riders and spectators alike. A few minutes later the first bikers came in and passed off to their runners or transitioned into the run.

The run, from what I hear, was mucky! Right out of transition was a large puddle of water from the rainstorm that morning. A portion of the run was rerouted to the beach over many obstacles to avoid muddy/wet areas.

As I was standing at the finish waiting for the finish, Simon, the main contender, ran up behind me and asked me where to finish! I pointed him to the finish line in front of me, and he had to run around to get back on the course! Apparently the course was not marked and the volunteer pointed him and those behind him (about 4 I believe) down the road instead of back along the path! They took a completely wrong course and were lucky to make it back to the finish before the others. Simon ended up crossing first and the others soon behind him.

Sarah crossed the line with an amazing finish and ended our relay for the triathlon!

Team LASER ended up 13th overall with a swim of 12:42, a bike of 35:40, and a run of 24:19. Total time (including transitions) was 1:13:40.

I am not sure how much faith to put in the timing, because the run was definitely short at about 2.9 miles. The swim was more than 750m in my opinion, and I’m not sure on the bike. The timing results were sporadic as they posted, missing some splits and combining some bike/runs. I would hope the backup video was compared to everyone’s result, but that doesn’t help with our relay splits!

I haven’t seen many photos posted, but I will post them as soon as I can! Unfortunately no media was present and the newspaper even used a stock photos for Simon’s picture.

Jeff posted some photos of the event here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103916794642035984172/UWCTriathlonBahamas