It\u2019s about tide!\u00a0<\/p>\n
After two years of dormancy, the city\u2019s only swim-bike-run event \u2014 now called the Big Apple Triathlon<\/a> \u2014 will make a comeback Saturday with some 1,300 endurance enthusiasts expected to jump in (to the Hudson, that is).\u00a0<\/p>\n If all goes to plan, athletes taking on the longest distance will stroke nearly a mile up the shoreline before riding 25 miles along the West Side Highway and striding 6.2 miles into and around Central Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n The race, formerly known as the New York City Triathlon, has been around since 2001. But its recent history is notoriously choppy, soured by scheduling snafus and weather woes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe every edition since 2017, we either had to shorten the run, shorten the bike or cancel the swim,\u201d former race director Alex De Gracia of Life Time told the Post. (His organization sold the race in 2023.)<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s triathlon is back, two years after the former organizers gave it up because of many issues. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n In 2019, for example, the then-summer spectacle was nixed due to extreme heat. In 2021 and 2023, water quality concerns shuttered the swim and rerouted athletes to a run-bike-run. In 2022, a forecast in the 90s slashed the bike and run distances by at least half.<\/p>\n And, before 2024\u2019s race even opened to registrants, organizers threw in the towel. While they\u2019d tried to skirt scorching temps by moving the production to the fall, they and the city couldn\u2019t land on a viable date. Local triathletes moved on.\u00a0<\/p>\n But now, under the direction of yet another organizer, Alpha Win<\/a>, and with an early fall date, the starting gun will sound again. And competitors \u2014 about half of whom are coming from outside the city and most of whom paid between $350 and $625 for the honor \u2014 hope this time\u2019s the charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was super excited when I heard about it; I loved the New York City Triathlon,\u201d said Matt Stern, a 32-year-old attorney in Manhattan who raced in 2023 and calls the course \u201cepic.\u201d \u201cI think it\u2019s amazing to be able to swim, bike and run in the city. You train here every day, so to actually be able to race here is awesome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Why tri?\u00a0<\/p>\n A triathlon is any race featuring a swim, bike and run, usually in that order so athletes enter the water fresh, not fatigued. The shortest such feats, or \u201csprints,\u201d often net out at 16 miles. The best-known long-course tri \u2014 an Ironman \u2014 covers 140.6 miles, including, famously, a marathon.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Saturday, participants will swim, bike and run around Manhattan, with several different race lengths. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n The city\u2019s competition has long been an \u201cOlympic\u201d race, or basically double the length of a sprint. But this year\u2019s production offers \u201ca distance for everyone\u201d \u2014 Alpha Win\u2019s motto \u2014 including a sprint, relay, aquabike (swim-bike) and duathlon (run-bike-run).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople associate the name \u2018triathlon\u2019 with Ironman, and they think, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s some crazy goal,\u2019\u201d Stern said. \u201cBut I think triathlon is really accessible for a lot of people.\u201d He got hooked three years ago after joining his cousin for a sprint in Montauk. Back then, he could barely swim. Now, he\u2019s an Ironman finisher and member of the Empire Tri Club<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fun to be able to push yourself, see what you can do, how far you can take yourself, how fast you can go,\u201d Stern said. \u201cAnd the community around you is what makes it really special.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Matt Stern, pictured above racing in an Ironman, is excited that the New York City triathlon is back. Courtesy of Matt Stern<\/p>\n The sport attracts \u201cnot just your elite, very, very fit-looking people; it\u2019s certainly a diversified group,\u201d added Tommy Struzzieri, the CEO and race director of Alpha Win, which is based in Saugerties, New York, and has produced over 200 races since 2010. \u201cThat\u2019s why I love standing at the finish line.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But to get there in Gotham, a lot has to go right.\u00a0<\/p>\n First, there\u2019s the weather. \u201cRacing in the northeast has a very limited window,\u201d said Joel Volterra, a triathlon coach with TriLife NYC<\/a> and one of this year\u2019s competitors. In spring, the water\u2019s too cold. In summer, the air can be too hot. In fall, the unlikely but real threat of hurricanes looms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, there\u2019s the city calendar. Just try finding a weekend day during that window that doesn\u2019t have the local government tied up with a protest, parade, presidential visit or a playoff game.\u00a0<\/p>\n The triathlon was previously held over the summer, and some years proved too hot. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n Plus, unlike races pretty much anywhere else \u2014 where safe cycling doesn\u2019t mean siphoning off a crosstown artery in Manhattan\u2019s most populous ZIP code and where securing a swim doesn\u2019t dictate a call to the Coast Guard \u2014 a multisport operation in the Big Apple requires the blessing of city, state and federal authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got DOT, you\u2019ve got Parks, you\u2019ve got police, you\u2019ve got emergency services \u2026 you\u2019ve got Riverside Park and Central Park, you\u2019ve got all the community boards that are affected,\u201d Volterra said. \u201cSo it\u2019s any one of those things or a bad weather event [that] can derail it.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s something in the water \u2014 or is there?\u00a0<\/p>\n And yes, there is the Hudson. But before we talk trash, let\u2019s talk tides.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are concerns about water quality in the Hudson. The tide cycles can be tricky. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people think of a river, they think of a river moving in one direction. That\u2019s not what happens in the Hudson,\u201d said Deanne Draeger, founder of Urban Swim<\/a>, which hosts open-water swims around the city and advocates for more accessible waterways.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rather, what happens in the Hudson \u2014 technically a \u201ctidal estuary\u201d \u2014 is a series of \u201ctide cycles,\u201d Draeger added. \u201cIt\u2019s constantly flowing north and south, and north and south again. So that\u2019s one of the most important things planners have to take into account.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As such, this year\u2019s swim route heads north to help participants go with the literal flow. Man-made barges mark the leg\u2019s start and end.\u00a0<\/p>\n A \u201csafety flotilla\u201d including 60 lifeguards on paddle boards, FDNY and NYPD boats and other vessels staffed with paramedics and rescue divers will shield the lane from marine traffic and save, if necessary, swimmers in distress.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe every edition since 2017, we either had to shorten the run, shorten the bike or cancel the swim,\u201d former race director Alex De Gracia of Life Time told the Post. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n The Big Apple Tri is \u201cone of the fastest swims [in the sport], but that doesn\u2019t mean we think every athlete is going to be 100% comfortable jumping in the Hudson,\u201d Struzzieri said. \u201cSo we have to be prepared for all parts of that process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, a self-proclaimed beginner triathlete sought comfort from Reddit<\/a> after signing up for this year\u2019s challenge: \u201cI\u2019m training well for the swim and I\u2019ve done a bit of open water practice but I am not sure that I am really mentally committed to swimming in the Hudson.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But despite its radioactive reputation, the river often tests safe enough for swimming, Draeger said. Decades of wastewater improvements and federal regulations have drastically reduced pollution and cut \u201cfecal coliform bacteria\u201d in the New York Harbor by 95% since 1970, one 2007 report<\/a> showed.\u00a0<\/p>\n The forecast and water quality are looking good for this weekend\u2019s race. Courtesy of Life Time<\/p>\n