Downtown streets were closed on Labor Day morning for the 10th annual TriRock Austin. This triathlon attracted about 1400 competitors, many from Austin and the surrounding communities. The event started at 7 AM, and roads remained closed until around noon.

For the first time in at least a year, Lady Bird Lake was clean enough to swim in. (Swim portions of the past several triathlons had been canceled due to high bacteria levels from recent storms.) That Olympic distance of 1500 miles looked extremely challenging.

Race participants left their bikes at Auditorium Shores on Sunday when they registered. The bike route went up and down Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez. The Olympic bike distance was three loops around the course, for a total of 24.8 miles.

The run course went south of the lake along Riverside Drive and Barton Creek Road. The Olympic run distance was 10K (6.2 miles) or two loops around the course.

The First Street Bridge was a good place to watch all three parts of the race: swim, bike, and run.

I was busy watching the bikers and missed seeing the exciting finish for the Men’s Olympic distance. Nathan Poland won the Olympic division with a time of 2:05:43.88. Second place went to Pablo Gomez, who ended with 2:05.46.38. I waited at the finish line for another 20 minutes afterwards, but never did see any women complete the race.

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