Alcatraz – Escape From The Rock

Great experience. Not to happy about the boat ride, but my bad on that part. Probably bring ginger gum before hand. Otherwise the place was great and very enjoyable.

Great event! Volunteered this year, but plan on doing the race next year. Fun distance, and challenging makes for a bucket-​list kinda event.

Triathletes,
I believe people are confusing Escape From The Rock and Escape From Alcatraz. These are two separate events. Typically, Escape From Alcatraz is held in June and it’s a triathlon. Escape From The Rock is a duathlon held in August.
I think most of the reviews here are for Escape From Alcatraz. Whichever race you chose, you should be a confident swimmer. You don’t have to be particularly fast, but you need to feel confident and strong in the water.
I participated in Escape from Alcatraz in June 2014. It was a memorable experience and I will definitely do it again. My rating is for Escape from Alcatraz and I hope to do Escape From The Rock next year.

The experience is always different from the other side of the fence. Inside scoop from a volunteer and hopeful 2013 racer :)
There’s a huge production happening behind the scenes just to make this one very popular race a success. Sure, they hire a corporate of experienced organizers but without volunteers, this will be more challenging than the 1.5 alcatraz swim, the 18 mile presidio hill bike or the 8 mile sand ladder and back run.
Volunteers get a t-​shirt, water and lunch for their time. You also increase your chances in the lottery for next year’s race. And of course… a big You’re AWESOME!
You look for people willing to give up their long snooze on a weekend is just step one. And believe me, I never knew how hard it is to find volunteers. Special respect for those who do.
Larry Deckel was this year’s volunteer organizer and I thought he did a superb job. This is such a stressful job but he never seem to break even a drop of sweat. I was really excited to be part of his crew.
He encouraged those of us who signed up early to spread out the word on helping out. If you signed up as one of the volunteer leaders, you have more special responsibilities and Larry made sure we knew every single detail of it. His interaction with everyone was pleasant.
I came in a lot early on race day so I was able to help a little bit at the volunteer tent. It’s amazing how many questions athletes have or how many thing they’ve forgotten to bring. It must have been a relief is to find someone who can give you answers or direct you to someone who has the answer. Go volunteers!
I was stationed at two different areas but stayed at the transition aid station most of the time. It required a deal but this was also a great spot. Once the athletes started coming from the swim portion, you never seem to stop handing out water or Cytomax to them. Thank god we had enough people to make sure no athlete waits. We were on the go from the first swimmer in to the last runner out, and for most of us our energy never faded.
Aside from seeing Andy Potts twice, Go Andy!, we saw the inspirational triathletes up close. The older racers, a woman with no legs or these 2 big ladies who were bottom of the pack but did not care, they were having fun and finishing is what matters.
I always thank volunteers when I’m the one racing and now I know how it feels to be appreciated. Racers thank your volunteers, they make sure you have a good race.

This tri is fantastic! The distances were perfect (not too easy, not too difficult). They mentioned that they’re doing a longer distance next year and I’m definitely signing up again!
It was a great production… they quickly and efficiently transported those people who got pushed to the right of the aq park entrance to the left side of the entrance so that we could continue swimming. Everything was organized and there’s no lottery to get in! It was an absolutely perfect day too! Who doesn’t want to run, swim and bike in SF?

I’ve done Alcatraz three times over the past 9 years and it is a great race to have fun at. The entire process is well organized along with a spectacular course from swimming from just off the island, biking along the coast into Golden Gate Park, then running to Baker Beach and up the daunting «Sand Ladder».
The one drawback is that unless you are a superstar swimmer, you must concede that you are there for the experience rather than a stellar time. Putting the amount of people onto the bike course they do, there are some bottle necks which cause some serious frustration.
Bonus points go to really cool schwag just for registering and a very well supported course along the way with other tri clubs and organizations cheering you on at every turn of the run.
If you are lucky enough to get into the lottery and want to blow the cash I’d recommend doing it once.

Didn’t know we could review Triathlons on Unilocal!Woohoo! Anyway:
Race tips: I’m from SoCal and hate ocean swimming period. So how did I train for the 55 degree swim? I took cold showers for a month. Also converted to 6:00a.m outdoor pool workouts. The first 5 mins in that bay water is really rough. You won’t feel your hands, face, or feet. Have faith and don’t panic. So longs as you keep swimming you WILL warm up, sort of. The worse thing to do is panic and stop swimming.
And for infinite undulating hills of SF? Drop 10lbs and make hill climbing the basis of your training régime. No joke. The bike leg contains very steep hairpin turns in addition to all the inclines. The run is beautiful. However, you go through baker beach where you must run in the sand for awhile. Plus the infamous sand ladder that will melt your quads. Distance and hill training, very very important.
This is one of the best triathlons I have ever raced. Well funded, awesome scenic route, and what better obstacles than cold ass choppy water, hills, and hills, and hills.
It’s great to do this once in your life, maybe twice, and thats it. Why? because it’s a $ 400 olympic distance triathlon. Waaay overpriced.
However, you get the honor and prestige of escaping from the infamous Alcatraz.

Great venue, OK race, Horribly priced
Costing more than an ironman race in alot of countries
Did this race once but can’t justify the HUGE price and the thought of the HUGE profits made by this company, for a repeat performance
How many houses in Pacific Grove does this dude have to own???
Worth doing once, but if you have more money than you need, do it again

I did this back in 2007 as my first Triathlon and have been in love with San Francisco and the sport ever since. Amazing course, very challenging for an Olympic distance, and viewed unparalleled by any other race I’ve seen. Everything is well organized and overall a great experience. The only downside is the cost, it seems to increase each year and may be prohibitive to some athletes.

I did the bike leg of this race last year as part of a corporate challenge relay. I loved it and had a lot of fun, but, despite the fact that this race is very well-​run, there are some inherent issues that will prevent me from returning for the foreseeable future.
1. Cost. I received free entry to the race. There is absolutely no way I would pay $ 300 to enter AS A RELAY MEMBER. Yeah, they were asking for $ 900/​team. No Chance. I’m not bitter because I totally understand it – it costs a lot to put on this race because of the ferry, road closures, etc. and people want to race in SF because it’s an awesome venue. High supply + high demand = high prices. I guess I just fall below that demand curve. This year I’ve basically got a choice between racing this as part of a team and racing the first Triple T California — a 3-​day stage race. I’ll take the 3 days and get my money’s worth.
2. It’s crowded. Roads are segmented into very narrow parts at times, especially on the downhill by the cliffhouse. As a serious competitor, it’s REALLY annoying to have to deal with traffic going downhill (or anywhere for that matter). Fortunately, the swimmer on my relay did well, allowing me to ride with the pros and out of traffic. Had our wave started later, though, I would have had to wade through a sea of weekend warriors, which would have slowed me down by at least 6 or 7 minutes.
3. It’s more fun to watch. As a local, I’d much rather find a spot near the transition area and watch the pros. Actually, there are a bunch of great spectator spots on this course. Top of the sand ladder would certainly be great. As part of a relay, I finished before the top pros. It was awesome to see Andy Potts (my idol) cross the finish line in first palce. If you watch, you can also spend some time at the expo, which is always killer.
Don’t let my review prevent you from doing this race. If you don’t care about the steep entry fee, it’s probably worth doing once. That said, make sure you are in shape, because the course is tough. I couldn’t even tell which portion was the hardest because they were all so challenging. If you are doing Team in Training or something and you are planning to do this as your first triathlon, think twice. If you still think you can handle it… think a third time.

I did this race in 2007 and yes, it’s a great race. But $ 400 for entry this year? I got a slot thru the 1^st round lottery and after much consideration, decided to boycott. Was $ 300 in 2007, $ 320 in 2008, $ 400 in 2009. Wow, man, that’s some serious inflation.
They keep filling the slots, guess what people, they keep raising the price. I’d rather support Escape From the Rock, which is essentially the same course for WAY less cha-​ching.

Great home town event. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for most of my life and I’ve never had a view of the City like I did when I jumped off that boat. It’s somewhat surreal. Since we train here, we know how cold the water is, and we can train the course at anytime which gives us a huge advantage!
The course itself isn’t that difficult, but the hometown support is excellent and the novelty of the race in and of itself is worth the price.

I’v dreamed of swimming from Alcatraz to SF for several years now. This past Sunday morning, I finally realized my dream, and completely enjoyed it. I’ve done several open water swims in the past, and by comparison Alcatraz was both easier and funner. Other swim require participants to navigate around several bright orange inflated buoys. The Catfish swim I did last month made you round 8 bu0ys. Another swim I did last year in Napa, the buoy unmoored itself, throwing off myself and other swimmers. Annoying. Safe to say, I don’t care for buoys much. Alcatraz has only one buoy, and that’s the one on the back of the boat that leads the swimmers to San Francisco’s aquatic park. It’s a straight course, in other words, from the Rock to San Francisco.
The previous reviewer was right to suggest jumping off the boat as early as possible. Once you’re in the water, you must swim about 50 meters to the actual start line (a group of kayakers bunched together). They don’t wait for everyone to get to the start line before blowing the start horn, so if you’re one of the last to get off the boat, you’ll be losing several minutes off of your time.
The tide is slack for the swim, so it’s true you don’t need to sight left of aquatic park to compensate for start of the ebbtide. I could be wrong, but I felt myself being carried eastward by a slight flow tide. At any rate, the water is relatively tide free immediately around the Rock. Once you get out to the middle area, about a third to SF, the water roughens up and you begin to rise and fall. The rolling roller coaster of a ride begins. Indeed, I myself love this feeling. I love how it makes me feels like I’m one with the water, how it makes me feel both insignificant yet fully alive. As I pulled through the green salty sea with each stroke, I closed my eyes for a few moments in the middle of the bay and immersed my little soul to tje immensity Nature’s baptism.
That’s when I felt something brush up against my body. Slightly discombobulating, given my present poetic communion with the bay. My first thought: Was that a seal that just bumped me? I looked down into the shadowy green mire but saw not a peep of marine life. A water bottle perhaps, or just flotsam? Driftwood? A rubber duckie? A dead seagull? An organic peach? Hmm. Could have been manythings. I let the thought slide off my mind and continued on toward the city.
As I neared the open to aquatic park, my left calf cramped. Bummer. I had to swim with that leg flexed for a minut or two. I think a kayaker noticed something was amis, for I saw him out of my eye’s corner look over and kind of turn toward me out. No way, man! I swam limpingly, my left food like an ill designed keel, until the cramp passed. I made it to the opening into aquatic park. Yes! Not much further. As I passed the concrete barrier, I looked up and saw a small group of seagulls on the it’s top ledge looking down at me with looks that I can only interpret as puzzled bewilderment. As long as you’re not an albatross, and I’m not an Ancient Mariner:
And a good south wind sprung up behind ;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner’s hollo !
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine ;
Whiles all the night, through fog-​smoke white,
Glimmered the white Moon-​shine.‘
About 100 meters from the finish, I began my finishing kick, as I wanted naturally to finish strong. As with most finish lines, hordes of spectators gather to watch, so you don’t want to come in looking like a wimp, to put it plainly. II started to swim hard and kick with renewed– cranked the outboard motor to full throttle. Is that my right calf beginning to cramp? Oh damn, not now! Bummer. Oh well, life in the big bay.
Instead of finishing with brilliance and grandeur ala Phelps in the 100meter fly final, I finished like, well, like Roland Cabral, sport rec swimmer & delusional amateur extraordinaire. But hey, it’s all good. I finished. What’s more, I achieved my goal, to finish in under an hour. I finally realized my dream of escaping from the Rock, & I’m rather proud of myself, if I don’t say so myself.
An end note: My friend who swam with me solved the mystery of the discombobulating bump. While swimming, he eyed several hovering jellyfish in the water. That’s mos defs what I bumped into, something solid enough to notice but also soft enough to not cause sudden panic. So indeed I learned that jellyfish lurk in the bay, along with bottom feeding leopard sharks, one of which got lost and ended up dazed and confused in aquatic park a few months back. I’ve never seen people swim for shore as fast as that morning!
A final endnote: Condolences to the family of the fellow who died 100 yards from the finish. I read that he was about to break the record for the fastest swim in the 60 and over age group. May he rest in peace with angelic jellyfish.

The course begins with a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to the Aquatic park, where you drop your wetsuit off and grab your shoes and make the mostly flat 2.5 mile dash to your bike. The bike starts with an almost immediate and pretty steep climb to where you’ll be doing your hill repeats (47.1mph race top speed, so we’re talking steep). 3 loops and 13 miles later you return to transition and head out on the 6 mile run. And what a run it is! Not unlike the bike course, the run begins with an abrupt and steep run up the side of a mountain (stairs). It wanders up and down a bit and then dumps you back down on baker beach, where the turn around is. The beach was a mixture of firm (wet) sand, smooth stones (think river rock) and thick as molasses dry sand. After the ¾ mile? run on the beach you hit the sand ladder, which was definitely memorable. It was bad, but not horrendous (300 — 400 sandy stairs, depending on who you ask). At the top you end up back on the narrow trail (part of the bike course) and repeat the run in the opposite direction. The old WWII ruins, the coastline, the view – all spectacular. And even though the course was pretty tough I still managed a far faster pace than I anticipated.
The finish line came pretty abruptly (this was the shortest race I’ve done in over a year, so I paced myself a bit too much and ended up thinking, «that’s it? I want more!»)
With a couple of exceptions, this was the best race course I’ve been on (ok, XTerra REAL was more fun, but 2x as difficult).
If you’re ever planning to do this race, here are things to watch out for:
1) Be first off the boat unless you want the race to start without you. Pick a seat close to the exit. Not doing so cost me several minutes.
2) Scope out parking the day BEFORE. A lot of people parked in one hour zones – or worse – bus loading zones. The signs were small and at 5:30 am, all parking looks choice. (Sunday Meters are enforced in this part of the city.)
3) Envirosports selects a particular day when currents are mild, so you don’t need to point left as much as some people will say. Swim directly toward the two ‘twin’ buildings (aquatic park), and be prepared to adjust left while you battle some weird currents as you get to the aquatic park ‘entrance’ (roughly ~7 min. out? at a 2 min/​100m pace.)
4) Be prepared to announce yourself as loudly as humanely possible during the bike course – and be prepared for ⁹⁄₁₀ people to be deaf. This is a 3 loop course, so you’ll be passing people (or will be passed) with massive speed differentials. I saw some scary things… people slamming on their brakes when they didn’t have to slow for a turn, people passing on the right, a group of friends riding four abreast, and people swerving all over the place without regard for passing cyclists. (The swim is NOT the most dangerous part of this course!)
5) Transitions. Don’t leave your running shoes (or your race number) with your bike. I saw one poor woman ‘running’ her two and a half miles barefoot with sandy feet. Ouch. Mine were bloody from sand damage with my shoes on. Drop your shoes in the morning at Aquatic park along with a bag marked with your number/​name (for your wetsuit). They’ll bring your bag to the finish line for you. Racking your bike: you come in through the main bay and exit through the main bay, so put your bike as close as possible to there. A volunteer told me we run in through the side and out through the bay, so I racked my bike close to the «in» which turned out to be the worst possible spot.
6) Look around during the race – there were no parts that weren’t spectacular. Can’t wait for next year!

On June 8, 2008, 2000 crazy people jumped off a boat by Alcatraz and started swimming towards the shore. Once reaching land, they ran 1 km so they could ride their bicycles up and down hills for 18 miles. As if that wasn’t enough, it was decided to run 8 miles down to Baker Beach, up Sand Ladder and back… AND IT WAS AWESOME!
This race is very well put together, the support is second to none, and the schwag is pretty cool (love my new EFA bag). It was the most intense swim start I’ve done as you jump off the boat and better start swimming right away as people behind you are also doing the same thing. The course is very challenging but living in the Bay area helped me as I got to train on it and knew every turn and hill. The way to get into this race is a lottery unless you’re ridiculously fast and have won other races. If you have dreams of running the Boston marathon, walking the Great Wall of China, doing an ultra-​marathon, doing Ironman Hawaii… then add Escape From Alcatraz to your list.

I competed in this event last Sunday and it was an amazing experience. I would even rate it as one of the most spirtual events of my I life. Driving yourself to fatigue, pushing your limits and being surrounded by nature is completely awesome. I highly recommend putting it on your list of things to either participate in or go and watch. The race is well organized and the course is simply amazing.
I don’t agree with Erin that the water was calm, but the current sure was strong and fast.

This is a review from someone who’s entered the lottery for the past two years and still hasn’t gotten in. So you might call my 3 stars sour grapes :-) My 3 stars are for the difficulty of getting in.
I just want to point out that the «other» Alcatraz triathlon, the Envirosports ALCATRAZ TRIATHLON™ «ESCAPE FROM THE ROCK”™ is essentially the same course, and there’s no qualifying and no lottery, you just pays your money and you gets your number. There is a cut-​off though, so register early. Envirosports has been running this «other» Alcatraz tri for almost 30 years. They just haven’t gone mega-​corporate with the accompany mega-​corporate bucks and worldwide headlines like the Accenture-​sponsored tri.

Its a fun triathlon, but before you go in, you absolutely have to take an open water training course here in SF with either Swim Art (Leslie Thomas), Gary Emich, or Water World Swim (Pedro Ordenes). They’ll teach you how to do sighting and navigation in SF Bay between Alcatraz & the SF landing points.
DO NOT TRUST THE NAVIGATION GIVEN BY THE KAYAKERS. The kayakers that help out that day tell you which way to swim based on what they would do in a kayak. Kayaks are much faster & more capable of handling the current than a person is. Many of them are also not native to SF, so they have no idea who tricky the currents between Alcatraz & Aquatic Park. While we were waiting at Alcatraz to begin swimming they told us that the directions given by the organizers were excessive, that they were overcompensating for the x-​currents.
I and a dozen other swimmers listened to the kayakers and got blown past the Aquatic Park entrance due to the current.

Pretty awesome. Weather sucked though — gray gloom over everything.
I guess the amount of corporate sponsorship is off-​putting to me (there is another grassroots-​organized tri called AlcaTRI Escape from the Rock), but it reflects the high profile of the event. If I can’t get into this race next year, maybe I can scare up a relay team from employees at my company. Along with Bay to Breakers this is one of my favorite things about San Francisco.

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
1.5-mile swim, 1-​mile run, 18-​mile bike, 8-​mile run
This triathlon extravaganza is so hard to get into, that participating in this race makes you one of the elite. (That’s what I tell myself all the time).
Here are the categories
Pro/​Elite– Lightning fast you routinely win events and are trying (starving) to make a living where you need calories to race effectively. You wish your sponsor were Jelly Belly. To enter you need a shitload of $$ and a card that says you’re special.
Individual Age Group
Qualifying-​Ninja fast you have paid tons of cashola to enter other specific events and have placed top in your age group division. (This is where they mark your age on your ass, your arm and your calf so that others can point at you and say s/he’s so old). Then to enter you need a shitload of $$ (and you think you’re special).
Random drawing– Smack talker extraordinaire, you are filled with desire to flagellate yourself over a course where you have no hope of doing anything except survive. You need to be one of the fortunate few chosen to pay a shitload of $$ and aware enough notice that you were selected to register. You know you’re slow but you’re in it for the smack. You can’t wait to cap on the dorks who signed up for «Escape from the Rock» coz they didn’t get into the «real» Escape. Compared to them, you’re special.
Relay
Because you can’t hack the course– you can’t swim, you’re directionally challenged, just not good at finishing anything dammit. This is a good face saving alternative. It’s not as cool among those in the know, coz we know that you wussed out. As a team you add up to something approaching special. Make sure to omit the word «relay» in order to smack impressively about your race.