Thousands of triathletes make their escape from Alcatraz.
Thousands from near, far grind away at ‘best triathlon in world’
Jennifer Romm shielded her eyes from the morning sunlight and stared off into the San Francisco Bay in search of her daughter. A helium balloon with the word “Congratulations” swayed in the breeze beside her.
Her daughter, Olivia Kayye, was one of the youngest competitors in a sea of 2,000 people braving the icy water Sunday morning from Alcatraz Island to the shoreline of Marina Green in the 38th annual Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco.
As the first competitors started trickling out of the water and raced the half-mile block toward the bicycles waiting for them, Romm continued scanning the shoreline.
“It’s a huge moment,” Romm said of her 18-year-old daughter. “She’s graduating next week. She actually had to get a special excuse from her teachers to rearrange her tests so that she could do this race. This is a milestone for her.”
Suddenly, without warning, Romm’s eyes grew wide as she squealed and pointed at the water, “I think that’s my daughter,” she said. “Yes, that’s Olivia.”
Romm jumped down from the stone ledge at Marina Green and, carrying a pink sign with Olivia’s name in black letters, took off running toward the bicycles.
“As soon as they undid the caution tape from the boat, someone pushed me forward to the edge and I just jumped in immediately,” Kayye said after the race. “I just got to get it over with. There’s no time to be scared.”
“I just jumped in
immediately. I just
got to get it over with.
There’s no time
to be scared.”
Olivia Kayye of Chapel Hill, N.C., about her first Escape
From Alcatraz triathlon
Her daughter waited patiently, Romm said, until her 18th birthday in April to be able to sign up for the race. Together, they traveled from Chapel Hill, N.C., so that Kayye, who started swimming at the age of 5, could fulfill one of her dreams. A dream she’s had since her dad, a four-time competitor in the race, told her it’s the “best triathlon in the world,” Kayye said.
“I’m really excited for her. I didn’t even recognize her,” Romm said, catching her breath after getting a glimpse of her daughter running to grab her bicycle. “She was one of the first people out.”
Still left for Kayye to complete was an 18-mile bike ride through the Presidio and an 8-mile run along the shoreline of the Golden Gate Promenade to Baker Beach and up the dreaded 400-step sand ladder before returning to the finish line at Marina Green. The sand ladder wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, she said, thanks to the ropes along the sides of it.
Nearly two hours after Kayye dived into the water, Ben Kanute, 25, of Phoenix finished first for the second year in a row in 2 hours and 49 seconds.
“The whole race is just a grind,” Kanute said, who planned to board a flight just hours later to the United Kingdom for another race. “I love that about this race.”
The strong current in the water, the hilly bike ride and the run through the sandy beach all made the race that much more challenging, Kanute added.
Sarah Haskins, 37, of St. Louis, Mo., was the first woman to complete the race, in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 46 seconds.
Not long after Kanute crossed the finish line, Kevin Collington, 33, of Boulder, Colo., skidded to a stop and finished sixth among the men.
Collington was scheduled to race the Ironman Triathlon in his hometown next weekend and normally, he said, he wouldn’t schedule two big races so close to each other. But this year, he couldn’t miss the Escape From Alcatraz for one very special reason: It was his 64-year-old mother’s first time racing.
“This is the hardest race she’s done in her life,” Collington said, dripping with sweat. “My dad is here somewhere. He can’t hold the camera steady so I have to go find him, otherwise the photo will be blurry.”
Collington’s mother and Kayye weren’t the only firsttimers in the race. Leslie Lewis, 47, traveled from Austin, Texas, to brave the San Francisco terrain for the first time.
In the past five years, Lewis — a mother of four — received her college degree, signed up for her first triathlon, learned to play the bass guitar and joined a rock band, said her aunt, Joanne Wilson.
“It’s incredible,” Wilson said. “She’s just doing things I never dreamed that she would do. I’m so proud of her. I can’t believe she’s doing this.”
Like Wilson and so many other family members cheering for their athletes, Kayye’s father, mother and sister were waiting patiently at the finish line. As Kayye crossed the line, she said, she searched for one thing only, her medal.
“And then I got a bottle of water, and I chugged the entire thing and then I was like, wow, I really need to pee,” Kayye said, who will start at Pepperdine University in the fall and will be part of the swim team.
Back at her hotel, Kayye said she plans to spend the remainder of her trip getting acquainted with a few of the Bay Area’s more recognizable food brands before returning to Chapel Hill.
“The thing I was looking forward to the most (during the race) is eating some Ghirardelli chocolate drinks or a milkshake,” she said. “Maybe some In-N-Out too.”