Why does this race sell out year after year after year? There were 1300 participants this year and I'm sure if there was space for 2000, it would be sold out as well.
First of all, it has a long history with legendary names like Dave Scott and Lance Armstrong, but it also has what every business longs for...awesome word of mouth marketing.
If you ask most any triathlete about River Cities, chances are the first words will be 'Wow! The packet is awesome. You have to do the race for the great stuff in the packet!'. The 25th Anniversary of River Cities was no exception.
Quick rundown of the packet:
- Triathlon bag with new "RCT" logo (in the very hot color of yellow)
- Asics running "camel back" bag
- Blue Brooks "Dri Fit" type T-Shirt with new RCT logo
- Pair of "Oakley type" sunglasses
- Pair of nice running socks
- Pair of red trimmed flip flops with RCT logo
- Lexan plastic mixing mug with "Endless Summer" triathlon logo
- Red RCT logo hat with velcro adjustment strap in back
- Cool poster of Endless Summer (see photo above)
- Clif bar
- Clif shot
The race course is a 1/2 mile swim, a 30k bike and 5k run at Cypress Lake Park, which is about 20 minutes Northeast of Shreveport.
This year wasn't near as hot as 2004 due to thunderstorms that rolled through Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning at race time was probably around 80/82 degrees.
The race was suppose to start at 8am, but the first wave got started around 820a due to the number of people waiting to get into the park.
Not only is the packet great for this race, but it is one of my favorite races because of the post race activities and volunteers. Lots of massage tables, free beer, loads of food and this year a chance to win a brand new Honda Element. Also, I think we had over 70 from our triathlon club, Dallas Athletes, in town as well for the event and that is always is a good time cheering on our own.
Every participant that crossed the finish line got to pull out a numbered ball. If your ball had a smiley face on it, you now had a 1 in 140 chance to win the Element (I had one of these!). After the last participant finished the race, those that had smiley face balls gathered around the Element and they pulled 10 numbers from the remaining 140 (my number wasn't called...dang).
Those 10 people got a key and the one that started the car won it! The 9th person to try the key won.
Awesome volunteers throughout the event and all of the sponsors generally seemed to have a great time talking to everyone. According to the information packet, athletes from 22 states were participating (ok, who flew in from Hawaii?).
So, set your calendars for next year and be sure to register early...you know it will sell out again in hours.
As far as my results; I was pleased. I had a goal time of 1 hour and 35 minutes and was able to post a 1:32:11. Beat last year's time by over 5 minutes. I was pleased to average 23.9 mph on the bike and to get my 5k speed to an average of 7:12/mile.
[link] to overall results
[link] to age group results
[photos] I took at the event via cellphone
[photos] via Curt Leonard's Kodak Share (sub. required)
[link] to Shreveport Times article (8/8/05)
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tags: river cities triathlon | triathlon
