Queens Biathlon Race Report - Jason

My fifth race of the year was the Queens Biathlon on May 16th.  I’ve wanted to do this race since I watched Rico do it in 2005.  Now with my brother living in Queens, this was the perfect opportunity to try this race.  The course is a 3 mile run followed by 18 miles on the Cross Island Expressway and wrapping up with a repeat of the run course.  Here is a map of the bike course:

Weather was ideal for racing with temperatures in the upper 50s, rising to the low 60s with increasing amounts of sun.  Winds were northwesterly which meant a headwind on the way out on the bike and tailwind on the way back.

 

Some shots of setting up in transition and waiting for the starting gun:

   

The run course leaves down a steep incline for the first 1/3 mile then heads onto the old Vanderbilt Highway which is now a rail trail. 

This is crucial, as unlike other rail trails it was not flat.  The course steadily built elevation to the turnaround.

 

My first run was pretty good, averaging under my target pace at 8:43/mile. 

Here are some shots in T1 (the guy in green was DQ’d for using headphones):

Now it was time to fire up the engine for the part of the race I was really looking forward to – the bike on the Cross Island Expressway.  It’s really incredible that they are able to close down an entire highway in NYC.

 

Heading out:

I really drilled it on the bike as hard as I could.  It was a struggle to keep it over 20mph into the wind, but I was able to maintain closer to 25mph on the way back.  You can see this by the big increases in the blue line on each lap.  It was a two loop course with a half mile hill that gains about 175 vertical feet.  I made up a lot of time on other competitors on the hill and I also continued my streak of not being passed on the bike.  I averaged nearly 20.6 mph which was fastest in my age group.

Heading into T2:

Now it was going to be about holding on for the second run.  These shots are leaving T2 and heading down the steep hill – this really put the burn on the quads after the bike.

I tried to settle into a rhythm as quickly as possible and with the exception of the uphills I was able to keep a steady pace. 

Crossing the finish line:

 

Considering the amount of running in duathlons, I have to be happy with a top 10 place in my age group and the fastest bike split. 

 

Thanks to Brandon for coming out to support and take pictures.

 

Final stats:

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Rank	AG %	Overall Rank	Overall %
# Entries				19		148
Run 1	26:40.2	3 miles	8:43/mile	13	68%	98	66%
T1	0:59.6			7	37%	46	31%
Bike	52:29.4	18 miles	20.57 mph	1	5%	22	15%
T2	0:47.2			8	42%	35	24%
Run 2	27:46.7	3 miles	9:13/mile	12	63%	85	57%
TOTAL	1:48:38.7			10	53%	58	39%