Not Just the Drafting Police

 Amy Bevilacqua takes the tape

I'm still trying to catch back up on sleep after my long Sunday (which started at 3:15am) but I wanted to quickly recap my morning at the Aquaphor New York City Triathlon.  

As I've written before, my desire to officiate has more to do with trying to help others than it does penalizing violators.  That's not to say I don't believe in enforcing the rules, I most certainly do.  The USAT rules are intended to promote fairness (and safety) in their events and are an important part of triathlons.  When I am officiating and witness rule violations it is my duty to enforce them; I've yet to report a violation and I can honestly say I am not looking forward to it.  

So far my experience officiating has been rewarding in that I've had the opportunity to support other athletes.  Sunday's race was no different.  In addition to answering a few questions throughout the morning in transition, I was lucky enough to be in transition as several female athletes prepared to exit after the swim and begin their bike rides.  Unfortunately for these ladies they had left their tires fully inflated through the night and were the recipient of race day flat tires (which they didn't discover until the race had begun).  While one athlete was calm and confident about changing her tire, the same can not be said for the others.  As a race official I was unable to physically provide assistance with the repair; however, I was able to help walk them through the process.  After quickly calming the women down, "don't worry this is all part of T1, it won't affect your bike time," I methodically talked them through each step of changing the flat tire.  My help was genuinely appreciated and I felt good about being there for these racers.

Aside from the flats, my day was relatively uneventful.  Due to the size of the race the majority of officiating energy is spent on the pro athletes and the elite age groupers.  Watching over all 3,000 participants would be extremely difficult, if not impossible (and even unsafe).  My role was to watch the para-triathletes on the swim exit and then to ride my bike out onto the run course shortly after the first group of pros began the run.  My presence on the run course helped provide visibility for the USAT but I was also there so that I could enforce any penalties on the pros which were unable to be administered during the bike (pro athletes must be "stood down" for 60 seconds when a violation is committed, unlike age groupers who simply receive a time penalty after the race).  Luckily I didn't have to enforce any penalties and instead was treated to a 6-mile bike ride around the hilly north loop of Central Park.  I began riding after the seventh or eighth pro and one-by-one made my way to the leader of the race.  Then I went ahead to the finish line to convene with the other officials.  There we recapped the race as the leaders approached. 

Being stationed at the finish line as the winner entered the chute was a first for me and was pretty cool to see.  It certainly provided a different prospective on racing.  After the race I hung around NYC for a bit and then headed home to Long Island.  My trip back was less than ideal (taking well over two hours) and by the time I made it home I was thoroughly exhausted, but I still had a brick workout to do.  I took a short break for some R & R with the Wife, had a cup of java and then proceeded to have a downright awesome workout.  I thought for sure I was out of energy but I must have summoned some from the race earlier that morning.  I had a strong, quick bike ride and followed it up with a fast paced run.  I definitely have some built up race energy going on so I'm glad to be only a few weeks out from my first triathlon of the year.

Oh, and one more thing: Happy 35th Birthday to my Sis!

Putting on the Zebra Stripes

Putting my desire to race on the shelf for three more weeks, tomorrow I will be a USAT official (my first of two races as a Category 4 official) at the Aquaphor New York City Triathlon.  Despite the title of the post I will not be wearing the traditional black and white referee uniform (which is reserved for the head referee) instead I'll be sporting a bright red USAT polo and navy hat.  After an afternoon of meetings and athlete briefings I am ready for a good night's rest before an early (even by my standards) awakening.  

My role tomorrow will be to help officiate the Para-triathlete (PT) division and to enforce any penalties on the Elite division which were not able to be enforced during the bike.  Scanning the room at the PT briefing left me awestruck.  I was surrounded by athletes with a variety of impairments who clearly live life with a glass half full.  Instead of letting their disabilities hold them back, they rise up and take on challenges that many able-bodied folks don't even consider attempting.  Along with their handlers (who are able to assist in specific activities during the race but can't help move them along) they will swim 1500 meters, bike 40 km, and run 10km.  I made a mental note to learn more about the handlers and find out what it takes to work with a PT athlete. The next meeting was for the Elite athletes where the USAT head referee spent some time detailing the rules which are particular to their division.  

My Morning as a USAT Race Official

On race morning at the Miami Speed Triathlon I unknowingly broke the rules by taking my bike out of transition for a spin around the parking lot.  In my final preperations I was trying to ensure that my saddle was adjusted properly; the previous day I'd been messing around with it and it had slid on the rails over night.  The head official called me out and let me know I needed to get my bike back in to transition and get off it immediately.  This was only my third race and even now I am still a bundle of nerves on race day; I admit to being less than courteous to the official, albeit he was only doing his job.  

I didn't think anything of it at the time, but later on after I'd finished I realized how much I appreciated his demeanor, in spite of the attitude I likely threw his way.  After the race I sought him out and offered a sincere apology for my behavior; he graciously accepted and we each went on our way.  At the next couple of events I raced in I continued to run into the same official.  Not that we had a history, we said hello each time and even exchanged in some small talk.  

I mention all of this to explain the reason that when the South Florida Hammerheads (tri-training group) forwarded a message from USAT looking for anyone interested in becoming a race official, I replied yes.  While it wasn't something I'd thought about doing, the email reminded me of my recent positive experience with a USAT official.

On Saturday (12/3/11), at the Miami Marine Stadium, I joined about 6 others for a 3-hr clinic on becoming a race official.  I'd read the rulebook cover to cover and completed the agonizing fill-in-the-blank quiz.  The clinic's instructor armed us with the ins and outs of officiating and prepared us for the next day: our first of three volunteer efforts as a category 4 official.

My USAT Certified Official's SWAG

Sunday morning I arrived at the Marine Stadium for the 2575 Triathlon at 5:30am along with about 400 participants setting up their transition areas.  I'd wanted to go to this particular race anyway to root on fellow Loco Carlos (who I train with and with whom I took some shared swim lessons), and officiating gave me another reason to be there.  Donning my red USAT shirt (fyi, people with red hair rarely choose red shirts!) and blue hat, I didn't know what to expect (despite the thorough clinic the previous day).  

I spent the early part of the morning walking around transition checking for bar ends and proper transition set-ups.  Looking all official in my uniform I was approached by several athletes with a variety of questions about the race.  Shockingly I had the answers to all and was able to provide the necessary help.  I even spotted a few athletes having issues putting their wetsuits on, and, while I am far from an expert, I've had the advice of others to help me get on.  Only 8 months ago I was the one with all the questions and now I was answering them; it was a great feeling to be able to help the athletes along and their thanks were always enthusiastic and sincere.  

The rest of the day was pretty easy.  We watched the swim start and the swim exit of the Elites and then hooked up with the motorcycle drivers who would help us patrol the bike course.  I'll admit that I wasn't thrilled at the idea of getting on another man's Harley.  Having my own, I am much more comfortable as a driver (preferably with my wife's arms wrapped around me) than sitting behind a dude that I'd just met.  Bill turned out to be a real nice guy though and we took our cruise along the bike route as most riders were wrapping up their ride.

I scanned for violations (not because I wanted to, but because it was my job for the day) like drafting, blocking, illegal passing, etc., and only found one culprit.  I could tell he was drafting and put him on the clock to make sure it was for more than 15 seconds.  When the stopwatch got to 25 seconds I began to write down the violation info.  Black trek, red helmet, drafting for 25 seconds, race number!  WAIT, WHERE WAS HIS RACE NUMBER?  Turns out this guy was drafting big time, but, guess what?  You're permitted to draft when you are out on a Sunday ride with your buddy!  I'll bet he got a good rise out of watching me taking down all his info only to realize that he wasn't even racing.

In the end, I enjoyed the officiating experience and will definately be looking to help out at some more events.  And, lastly, Kudos to Carlos and Rafael for their strong showings despite an absolutely hellacious wind.