Submitted by Dave Miceli.
Name: Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon
Time: 2hr 11min 45sec
Place: 14th overall
The Maumee Bay Triathlon is looked about 20min northeast of Toledo. This race is put together by hfpracing.com and it always seems to draw a very large and competitive field. They offer many options for the racer including a duathlon, sprint and Olympic triathlons and even a woman’s only triathlon race. The venue is at Maumee State Park which offers camping and numerous activities for one to do with family/friends both pre and post race.
The swim is in Maumee Bay and it always seems to be flat and at a very comfortable temperature. The water is murky which makes for some bumper swimmer action as it is very crowded, in particular on the first loop when you have both sprint and Olympic athletes in the water. The swim is one rectangular loop for the sprint race and two loops for the Olympic distance athletes. Athlete waves at this race are spaced at approximately four minutes apart so there is not much waiting around once the race begins.
Upon exiting the swim, you run about 100meters into transition. The racks are numbered but this is one transition where you must make a strong mental note of your rack as it can be a bit confusing with small numbers on the racks and no numbers on your bike (hfp has minimal stuff at the race which means only one body marked number – no bike number and no bib). On to the bike course and you will usually find some wind and zero hills – this is a bike PR course if you go after it. The race is one bike loop for the sprint and two for the Olympic athletes. A huge improvement this year was brand new blacktop in the park entrance/exit areas as in the past this was incredibly bumpy/rough.
The run portion of the race is flat overall although there can be some extremely small grades at times. It is a very spectator friendly run which passes the transition area three times. The run is one out-n-back and is half exposed to the sun and half through the woods although the entire run is on pavement. There are four aid stations which serve water and Heed products. The run takes place entirely within the park with only one significant turn – another PR type of run if the legs allow it.
Maumee Bay is a very good experience overall. The race is well directed and the course is simply fast. One of the greatest features of this race is that it allows for great competition and is very well represented by the Northeast Ohio triathlon community. Its always a blast to catch up with old friends/faces while burning through the calories at the same time.