The Pocono Olympic triathlon, put on by Kinetic Multisport, would be the first race for me and my wife of the 2022 race season. I have always wanted to try this race, but it never worked out with my schedule. The race venue is based at Lake Wallenpaupack High School in Hawley, PA. This area holds a special place in my heart since my family owned a vacation home nearby for most of my childhood into my high school years. We used to have a boat on Lake Wallenpaupack, which broke down frequently, and spent a lot of time on the Lake. It would be fun to reacquaint myself with the area again.
We rented a hotel room at East Shore Lodging via AirBnB which is right across the street from the dike, which I always call the dam. The large window of our unit provided a killer view of the lake and was right on the run and bike course. The sunsets were awesome! It was also about a half mile walk or bike to the transition area at the high school.
We headed up to the high school after arriving on Friday and checked in for the event. It was quick and painless. We got a very cool t-shirt and some nice bike socks as swag which I thought was pretty unique (the socks that is). After finishing up check-in, we loaded up the bike course on the RideWithGps app and drove the course. It was well worth the time which we would truly realize when we actually ride the course for the race. There is a doozy of a climb at the middle of the bike course, but more on that later.
We ran most of the run course the night before the race to check it out and do a little shake out run. It was a bit shocking how many different surface types were included in this run. Packed dirt and stones, loose stone parking lot, paved and cambered road shoulder, canvas covered dirt trail, playground wood chips, grass, mulch. You name it, it had it! I immediately ruled out any kind of fast run for this race. It was more about surviving it without twisting an ankle. Was not looking forward to that.
The night before the race we just ate in the room to keep things simple. We just heated up some stuff we brought from home in the microwave. The room had a nice table to sit at and eat while enjoying the beautiful view of the lake. There was also an ice cream shop behind our room which was very tempting but we never did go there even after the race.
We had a good nights sleep and was up around 4:30-5AM the next morning. Had some coffee and my usual race morning big muffin(s). We then finished packing up our stuff, jumped on our bikes and rode up the road to the transition area at the high school. It took all of about 3 minutes. Transition was pretty busy already when we arrived and we had to search for some available spots to rack our bikes. I found a spot in the middle near the outside fence. The guy next to me was spread out way more than he should have been but I didn’t need as much room.
We finished setting up, put our wetsuits on and headed out of transition just as it closed. We then sauntered down the steep path down the hill by the football field to shore of Lake Wallenpaupack (Wally for short). The path was stones but the race organizer, Kinetic Multisports, had put carpets and mats down most of the way up it. It was still a little rough walking with bare feet. Many people stashed sandals and old sneakers down at the bottom. Everyone lined roughly in order of how fast they thought they swim. I managed to get into the water off to the side for a quick warm-up and a pee. After the national anthem, they started funneling into the water one at a time with the elites first.
The Swim
The swim started just past the football field down a very steep hill to the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack (Wally for short). We sauntered down to the swim start with the rest of the herd. I walked into the water a bit until I reached a decent swim death and did slight dive in. The water was a perfect temperature, roughly around 70 deg F. I wore my sleeveless wetsuit which was a good choice. The first 200-300 meters for me are always a little rough to get into a rhythm, but I took it easy and settled into a decent pace. At least I thought I did.
The swim course is a 2 loop rectangular counter-clockwise swim . Everyone was spread out pretty well and I didn’t have much issue with other traffic. I was pretty surprised that my watch time(shore to shore) was about 29 minutes(1:54/100yds). I felt like I swam faster than that. I can swim 1:45 pace consistently in the pool, but in open water with a wetsuit I am around 10 secs slower per 100yds. It baffles me.
Not sure where the race timer mat was but my official swim time was 2 minutes slower than my time from shore to shore. I did forget to hit the start button entering the water, but it was only 10-15 secs in. Exiting the swim, I headed up the very steep path to transition. I basically walked up it until I got to flatter ground and then jogged to my bike the rest of the way. Not a great transition at 4 minutes, but this was just a warm-up race for me anyway,
The Bike
Heading out of transition you make a sharp right turn onto Route 6. We then follow Route 6 mostly downhill with a few rises for about 2 miles before making a left turn onto Kimbles Road. Kimbles Road drop pretty quickly and has a few sharp, winding turns. There was guy that crashed into the woods as I went through this area, so make sure watch your speed through here if you are not a good bike handler.
Kimble Road is a little lumpy but nets total downhill before crossing the bridge over the Lackawaxen(“Lacky”) River after 3.3 miles(5.5 from start). Once you cross the bridge shift down into your small chainring to prepare for a very steep, but short little climb before a very sharp right turn onto Towpath Road.
You will then follow Towpath Road for the next ~8 miles. This stretch is flat and beautiful!! Get into a nice cruising gear here, settle into a nice speed and enjoy the fabulous view as you meander along the Lacky. It should be nice and shady in here too if it is a sunny day. The road mostly good, but a little rough in places. Keep an eye out for some small potholes here and there. The race folks did mark most of them. Enjoy every inch of this before the pain ensues after. 🙂
At exactly 14 miles into the 29 mile course, you will make a right turn over another bridge crossing the Lacky again onto Rowland Road. The road immediately shoots up after crossing the railroad tracks on the other side of the river. The next 1.8 miles average a 7.8% grade and max out at almost 14% in places. It is rated a category 3 climb. It is a doozy. The first 4/10’s of a mile are around 6% average with a max of 9.5% before leveling out a little bit. The next 6/10’s of a mile mellow out a bit 2.6% average grade and maxing out at 5.8%. Try to collect yourself here and prepare for the next section.
The next mile of the Rowland Road Climb averages 9% grade and hits 11.6% in places. It is freakin’ steep. Get into your easiest gear and spin. There was carnage all over this hill during the race. People were stopped on the side, walking their bikes and one guy ahead of me just lost all momentum and fell over before he could get his feet out of the clips. It is a tough climb for sure! I made up the whole climb without any issue. I was really questioning whether I was going to make it on the last 200 yards at the top. My cadence had dropped down into the 40’s at this point.
The next 4.3 miles provide some recovery with mostly downhill grades netting ~300′ of elevation loss. Take this time to hydrate, eat and recover a bit by spinning out the lactate from your legs. While that is the worst of the climbing, unless you are doing the Half(ugh!), you are not done climbing yet.
After turning right onto Route 6 again, the first mile is a steady 3% grade. There will be traffic on the road here so try to stay in the wide shoulder. There is not much shade here also so that sun will be on your back. You then have a nice long downhill section before hitting a couple more shorter climbs at mile 21.5 for the next mile. The next 2 miles starting at mile 2.5 are nice downhill cruise before hitting another gradual climb(2-3% avg) for the next 3/4 – 1 mile at mile 24.3. At mile 25.3 you will top out followed by a nice 1.3 mile downhill section which takes you back to Kimble Road where you turned left early in the course completing the loop.
The final 2.5 miles to the finish are a gradual uphill of about 1.5% grade. Remember that nice cruise you had downhill in the beginning of the bike? Well what goes down must come up again. There is a little kicker of a hill right before you make the left back to the transition in the high school parking lot. Once Route 6 merges with Route 507 at the dam/dike, the car traffic will get a little congested. Stay to the left and aware of the cars along side you. You will need to merge across traffic into the middle turning lane as you approach the high school, so keep an eye behind you to lock for an opening in the cars behind you.
The bike course is long and hard. 29 miles with 1800-1900′ feet of elevation gain. Not for the faint of heart. To give some context, my next race is Ironman 70.3 Musselman in the Finger Lakes of New York, which has around 1500′ of elevation gain over 56 miles. As hard as it was, I really enjoyed this bike course. It had fun fast stretches, beautiful scenery and tough hard climbs. It really gave you a sense of accomplishment.
I finished the bike course in a little over 1:39 ending up 2nd in my 50-54 age group. I had never ridden this course before I had no actual result to compare to. I did create a race plan on Best Bike Split that gave me some idea of what I should expect. I input a Intensity Factor of .78(78% of my FTP) for the expected intensity for the race. As you can see below, the BBS plan was spot on for the average speed and finish time. However wattage wise it was way off. My actual Intensity Factor was .84, which is much higher than I was planning on. Normalized Power was 10 watts higher and average power was 12 watts lower than BBS’s prediction. This could be partly due to my higher Variability Index than what BSS would prefer me to maintain. This says I was less consistent with pacing than what BBS would expect me to be.
The Run
You will exit T2 at the opposite end of transition, closest to the football field, make a hard right paralleling the stands through the parking lot (asphalt). You then run down a flight of steps then make a hard left then a right onto the spongy rubber track. Leaving the track through fence is the first aid station followed by a blacktop section along the back of the school. You will then a slight rise then cut into the grass and down a VERY steep grass bank. I felt like my feet were going to slide out and fall my ass each time I ran through here. Once safely down the bank, you will run a flat section through grass and eventually hit the woods. The wooded section turned into a very winding gravel (small stones) path through the woods which made its way downhill to the swim start area. There are occasional large rocks and roots sticking up, so watch your footing there here.
Once past the swim start the path gradually goes slightly uphill again with camber to your right. The path is very narrow here too and you will encounter two-way traffic here with the other runners coming back on the loop. You are now in the Wilsonville campground property adjacent to the high school. Once in the campground the leafy dirt trail descends down to the lake a bit, crosses a stone boat lauch area then cut across a flat picnic area for the campground. The first section you have a choice between loose, medium sized loose stones or soft mulch. Neither was great, but the mulch wound up being the better choice as it got packed down quicker than the stones. The stones were very loose and gave way under foot. The formerly grassy area underneath was wet and muddy which was the reason for the toppings.
The picnic then turned to muddy, soft grass then large playground wood chips before cutting through a narrow fence gate. After the gate it became packed sand path as it flanked the beach area. Here is where the 2nd aid station was setup. After passing the aid station, we meandered through another wooded section with mud, rocks, roots and some old burlap before cutting up a gradual uphill stone path with branches overhanging which made the narrow path even narrower for two-way traffic. It was really tight through here.
Once up the bushy path, it opened up with a small asphalt parking area for the dam/dike. The dike was packed dirt and stone which was pretty easy to run on. Once across the dam there was a paced winding path through the woods then across either a loose stone parking area or heavily cambered, paved shoulder of Route 507(with traffic and other runners too.). Eventually you will get up onto the road shoulder and run down to the turnaround just past the Tanglewood Lodge property before the turnaround. Once around the turnaround it would be backtracking all way back to the steep uphill path from the swim start and making a left up it. Once up the steep trail you would make a left onto the backside of the track and repeat the whole loop again. On the second loop you would then head to the right on the track and head to the finish line.
My legs felt pretty good starting out on the run. The obstacle course style run course had me a bit perplexed though. However, as I was approaching the first mile aid station of the course, I could feel guts starting to gurgle a bit. Ugh. It was coming on quickly too and was starting to question whether I could hold it or not. As I approached the first aid station, I spotted a porta-potty just up another path around 25 feet away. I made a b-line for it and was hoping no one was in it. Score! the green was showing on the handle. I quickly evacuated whatever was causing me distress in about 2 minutes. Unfortunately, that would significantly hamper my run time.
The next kilometer after my potty break was a little sluggish getting back up to speed as I wound through the woods and up the narrow bush-lined path. Once up on the dam I was able to pick the pace a bit to around a 8:37/mi pace which was flat and eventually got onto the road too. That was short-lived as I eventually settled back into a 9-9:30/mi pace for most of the race except for the stretch across the dam and on the road. Both laps I averaged 8:37/mi for this section.
My official finish time was 1:00:04, which ranked me 5th in my age group for the run. The 2-minute pit stop would not have changed that placing anyway since the next fastest runner was still 0:55:43.
Post-Race
My triathlon friend Nikki was also racing this race. She was gaining on me quickly on the run, but I managed to hold her off. She finished right behind me though and we chatted a bit while I waited from my wife, Denise, to finish. Denise came by on the track and we cheered her on as she headed out on her second lap.
I had never done this race before and with the odd distance and hard course on the bike, it is not worth comparing this race to any others. My time didn’t mean much to me, but the race really did give you a sense of accomplishment. It was a hard course for sure. It is what I imagine something like Escape from Alcatraz or Wildflower to be like.
Denise finally came into finish, and we headed up to transition, packed up our stuff and rode our bikes down the street to the motel. We had a few snacks and relaxed a bit. It was time to head to the Lake Wallenpaupack Brewing Company for some grub. While Denise was in the shower, I turned on my phone and there was a bunch of text messages for my live results. I opened the results and to my amazement I finished 2nd in my age group! I never even thought about looking at my results while I was waiting for Denise to finish. Fortunately, I ranked 2nd in my swim and bike for the age group which gave me enough buffer to finish 2nd overall for the Men’s 50 to 54 age group.
I yelled to Denise in the bathroom that I finished 2nd in my AG. I then looked up her results and she finished 1st in her age group! LOL! By this time we had already missed the awards presentation, so we headed back to the high school again on our way to the brew pub to get our awards. They fumbled around trying to find our awards for a bit but then found them and we had are own awards ceremony. Denise proceeded to rub her 1st place finish in my face for the rest of the day.
We had a really good lunch at the Lake Wallenpaupack Brewing Company and their beers were very good. There was a bunch of triathletes there, but the place is huge and can handle a lot of people. The Largemouth IPA was my favorite. For dinner we headed over to Native in Honesdale which was really good. For breakfast the next morning we went to the Settlers Inn in Hawley for breakfast. The Settlers is pretty hoighty-toighty and there breakfast was really top notch. On our way home the next day we drove through Tanglewood Lake community to see my family’s old vacation home we called the “Doe House”. Of course, there was a doe feeding on the property too.
