More than 3,000 athletes from around the world plunged into the Hudson early Sunday morning to compete in the 10th Annual Nautica New York City Triathlon. The race consists of a 1-mile swim between 99th and 81st Streets, a 25-mile bike loop along the Henry Hudson Parkway, and a 5-mile run through Central Park. The swim is widely considered to be the easy part of the race owing to the Hudson’s strong southward current.
While the 31-mile course may seem like the province of superhumans to those of us at the couch-potato-to-5K end of the fitness spectrum, the event has become so popular among aspiring triathlete champions that event organizers will adopt a NY Marathon-style lottery for those looking to compete in next year’s race.
This year’s top winners – Czech Olympian Filip Ospaly who finished in 1:46:28, and second-time pro women’s champ Rebeccah Wassner of NYC who ran home in 2:00:25 – both scored $8,000 cash prizes. Wassner’s twin sister Laurel, the world’s only pro triathlete cancer survivor, took second place in 2:02:16. I daresay a handful of determined contenders is still running.
Parks On Fire (California Burning Mix) used courtesy of Dj Rkod/cc Mixter
