New Shoreham, RI
Saturday, August 1, 2026
It had been 9 years since I last participated in the Block Island Triathlon. Back then, you could sign up the day before and get in, but times have changed. Last year, I tried to get in, but it had sold out a few weeks ahead of the event. So this year, my friend Tommy 5K and I tried to get in almost two months early, but alas it was already sold out. I e-mailed the race director, who added me to the manual waiting list and said I was pretty high on the list, and Tommy did the same.
Fast forward to six days before the race, when having heard nothing again since early June, we each got a phone call that we were in!
Race day, I got up at the ungodly (for me) hour of 4am, ate my usual pre-race breakfast of oatmeal, granola, and berries, and headed to Tom's house to pick him up on the way. Everything was pre-loaded in the car the day before, including my bike rack and bike. We parked in the state lot because it is among, if not, the cheapest, and had plenty of time boarding the ferry before it left. I got a bagel with cream cheese and coffee on board the 6am slow ferry, which was a special ferry running just for the triathlon. We saw and caught up with a few other Westerly triathletes we know, including Mark Burbelo and Dan Lathrop, as well as Bruno Trombino and his son Joe.
The 1-hour ferry ride was smooth, and after disembarking at Old Harbor, Block Island, we used the visitor restrooms and casually rode the mile out to the town beach on Corn Neck Road for the start. We were both surprised that the vast majority of triathletes seemed to be walking with their bikes for the mile to the start, but I'm not sure why, and didn't want to add a mile of walking pre-event.
Since we rode and the majority walked, we beat the majority to check-in, and thus there were practically no lines for check-in or body marking, and we were quickly off to setup in transition. I would be starting in Wave 10 (of 10) waves today.
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| Very fast and easy check in early the morning of the race |
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| My simple transition setup, with my bike lined up under my bib number (#480) on the rack. |
I changed out of my street clothes into my tri suit, and then Tom and I went for a mile warm-up run heading north on Corn Neck Road. Slow and easy 8-minute pace. When we finished, the transition area looked very different, as in much more crowded, and especially so in my area:
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| This was wrong and rude on so many fronts, including that the person's bike wasn't even in the right spot for his/her bib number, and that they just rudely put their bike wheel right on top of my towel and gear. |
We still had plenty of time, and rather than throw a temper tantrum or get upset, I simply moved my bike to the outside of the bar, the furthest it could be, and then I moved my towel and gear on the outside (to the right of) my bike to give myself a little more space.
The swim: As I mentioned, I'm in the 10th of 10 waves, each one separated by one minute, with an additional three minutes between the last women's wave and the first men's wave. So I watch the women's waves, and then take the opportunity in the lull to get into the water with my wetsuit and just get a little acclimated, especially as the swim is by far my weakest leg.
When Wave 8 starts, I get in line, as that means just two minutes to my start. The countdown, the whistle, and we're off: a short dash through the sand to and around a red flag in the sand, and then a beeline for the water. The course is very short. As usual, I get kicked, hit, and run into some swimmers, but I'm used to it now and not fazed. I just alter course slightly and continue on. After rounding the first buoy, I start swimming again only to quickly literally hit a ... boat? What the heck? Oh, I see the problem. I am between a swimmer in distress and the rescue boat coming to help him. I work my way around the front of the boat and continue on to the next buoy.
Just when I think my own swimming form is bad, I see people doing the backstroke, treading water, etc. The rest of the short swim (about 300 yards today) fortunately is without any further issue, and I have quickly reached the shore and am running out while taking off my cap, goggles, and unzipping my wetsuit.
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| Photos by Jennifer Brightman |
Swim time: 7:14 (310 out of 440)
The bike: After a long T1 (swimming and transitions are something I'm just not fast at), it's time for the bike. The traffic is stopped on Corn Neck Road in both directions, as we cross the road coming out of the beach parking lot (transition area). Sure, it's a small island, without a lot of traffic, but on a beautiful mid-morning in prime tourist season in August, with the police stopping traffic and no alternate options to get to and from the north light, it gets pretty clogged up!
This is a 2-loop 12-mile course, and I wonder if this is the limiter that is forcing a cap on the number of participants in the tri. The entire time I had bikes around me, and sometimes cars coming close, so I had to be uber vigilant. Nonetheless, I only had one person pass me the whole time, and I believe that the was the lead female starting her 2nd loop as I was starting my 1st. Perhaps that was because of my start pretty far back between being in the last wave and also being a slow swimmer, because there were certainly plenty of faster bikers than me, but they never passed me.
Bike time: 41:40 (78 of 440)
The run: We knew it was going to be high tide today (actually, credit to Tommy for letting me know ahead of time), and so it really wasn't a surprise to us when the RD announced that the beach run was being cut short today, as that was the same experience we've had in previous editions when coincidentally occurring at high tide. About 1/2 mile was cut off, meaning the usual run of about 4 1/4 miles was 3 3/4 today. The result was not optimal, as the sand was sharply sloped up from the water's edge, and then there was a very narrow footpath to run on and avoid sharp slope on the water side and soft sand on the land side.
When I was going from the start, runners were coming back at me on my left, and with many wearing shoes they were reluctant (or refused) to run in the shallow water even just ankle deep. Not once, but twice, I collided with runners coming at me because they refused to give room.
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| One advantage of running barefoot is you can just run straight lines through the water (from Jennifer Brightman) |
After the 1st (southern) turnaround, running barefoot up towards Mansion Beach, I just ran at the water's edge barely into the water to give myself room, especially because I was quickly passing runner after runner (again, due to starting in the last wave, plus being a back-of-the-pack swimmer). Initially, I was counting the runners as I passed them, but after 100, I stopped or maybe just lost count. Approaching the northern turn-around at Mansion Beach, I saw a huge American flag and thought that would be the turnaround point. But as I got closer, I saw that would not be the case! At lunch later on, Tommy related that he had the same experience. It wasn't too longer after that when I did reach the actual turnaround, and headed back to the beach pavilion and finish. Other than the sometimes awkward slope running, I felt good all the way to the finish.
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| Just before the finish, from Jennifer Brightman |
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| Right at the finish! (from Shara Bousquet) (Note clock reflecting start of 1st wave, mine started 13 minutes later) |
Run time: 27:27 (6 out of 440)
Full triathlon time: 1:20:58 (1st of 15 in age group!, 34th out of 440 overall) Full results here
Pretty psyched with both a 1st age group finish, as well as top 10% overall finish. To be clear, Block Island Tri is not a super competitive one, but you race who shows up, and I did!
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| Really fun day out on Block Island, where Tom also won his age group! |
Fun rest of the day decompressing with friends Tommy and Shara and their three daughters. Finished up the day catching up with BI Sport Shop owners Jim and Marion Ortel, before boarding the high speed ferry back to the mainland.
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| Pigging out on an ice cream sundae post-race. It was a delicious indulgence! |
