Allow me to start this month’s At The Races column with a profile, if I may.  The following is a graph of the complete elevation profile for the Blackwater Eagleman Triathlon:
 
 

SWIM                                      BIKE                                 RUN
 
Have people told you this race is flat?  They’ve lied.  It’s beyond flat.  It’s flatter than flat.  It’s so flat, even the wind knows that once it leaves the Choptank River behind it need not change direction until it hits the Beltway.  That’s what gives this race its unmistakable character – the wide-open spaces of the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge.  It’s where many Ironman dreams go, and only a few come out intact.
 
Race Date – June 9, 2002.  First wave heads off at 7:00am. 
 
On Saturday you’ll need to head to Sailwinds Park (just a block off the bridge you drive across when you come to Cambridge) for two important matters: (1) You’ll need to get your bike inspected by the good people from Trispeed Multisport (and so does everyone else, so be patient, and make sure you’ve got those end plugs!), (2) You’ll need to attend the mandatory Pre-Race meeting at 6:30pm.   This is where you’ll get the breakdown of the 25 Ironman Qualifying slots if that’s what you’re after (as well as the 30 Ironman North America slots for IM-USA, IM-Wisconsin, and IM-Florida), so you’d better make a point to be there – Race Director Rob Vigorito never disappoints those who attend!
 
Get a good nights sleep, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.  Then, hydrate some more.  Think “copious and clear.”  You’ll be glad you did, trust me.  I’ve raced against this course 4 times, and never felt that I’d had enough water in my system.  Maybe you can’t ever be hydrated enough for this one, but it can’t hurt to try.
 
Pre-Race / Transition Area:
The transition area is located at Great Marsh Park (at the end of Somerset Road) and it opens at 5:00am.  There is limited parking within the park, and unless you don’t mind a longer walk from the side-streets of the surrounding community it’s best to be there early.  I’ve had to walk as much as ¾ mile (2001) for getting there more than an hour and a half before the start, so with 1500 athletes expected to attend the race this year, be early!
 
A new change for 2002 – just like the Columbia Triathlon, there will be individual reserved spots on the bike racks.   This solves the problem of folks getting there early and setting up spaces greater than they need, which usually leaves about 4” of space for the last 100 people as they show up.  Be sure to thank Vigo for this one – it’ll help lots of you race morning!
 
I mentioned the potential for 1500 athletes competing in the above paragraph, and if you haven’t been in a transition area before with this many bikes and racks before, you should really take the time to get in a good walk-through before you head down to the start.  There are no landmarks at all in this transition area, and I mean none.  No trees, no poles, no nothing.  Just 130 identical A-Frame racks with bikes that look just like yours. 
 
Count racks.  Get a helium balloon with your name on it.  Hire skywriters to do a flyover at the right time.  If you don’t, be ready to add some serious time to your T1 as you run up and down the aisles like a chicken stuck with a wetsuit half off while you try and remember where you parked.  The walk from the bike racks to swim check-in will take about 5 minutes, so give yourself 10 minutes or so to be safe once you’re ready to go.
 
One more thing:  Before you head off to that swim start, have you put on some sunblock?  I don’t care if it’s cloudy – don’t you think about leaving that spot until you’ve found a friend (or someone you can tolerate at least) to slather on the SPF 30 on EVERYTHING.  This is another tip from your Uncle Bob gleaned from years of getting torched by the Blackwater.  Any spot you skip will probably remain tan until November, and that includes your race numbers!
 
The Swim:
I’ll be honest here – the swim at the Eagleman is not going to be one of your better ½ IM swims.  Only once in my four tries have the tidal currents in the Choptank River been in the favor of the athletes.  All of the other times we’ve dealt with cross currents, head currents, and wind, wind, wind.  This is a challenging swim, but remember: It’s challenging for everyone.  Keep your wits about you and don’t let the conditions beat you. 
 
NOTE: The swim course will be set up race-morning.  Vigo will take a look at the tides, the conditions, the currents, and make sure the course is as fair as possible right then and there.  The course may even be positioned on the other side of the boat ramp (the finishing point) from previous years so that the current is hitting swimmers from the back and side, taking advantage of a new beach head and jetty that were built last summer.  
 
Right now, all options are being considered to make this swim the best it can be in the conditions that day.   My comments below are based on last-years layout – but it’s best that you show up early (again!) and take a good look at how things are laid out.
 
Assuming that things stay the same as they were in 2001: The start is about 60 yards from shore, but it’ll shallow enough for you to stand.  You’ll probably end up running, wading, or dolphining the first 200 yards (the Choptank got its name for the waves that can develop in its long shallows), so don’t pull a hamstring!  Once you get settled in you’ll head about 400 yards to the first buoy and then take a right turn onto the long back stretch where you’ll spend the next ¾ mile.  Twice (in 1997 and 2001) this stretch was interrupted by a brief run on a sandbar where the water was less than 2 feet deep for about 50 yards.  I don’t know if it’ll be there this year, but if you see everyone ahead of you standing up?  Run, run, and run!
 
Take this stretch on one buoy at a time.  It’ll seem very long – be patient.  A double buoy will mark the final right turn for home, so keep on keeping on – you’ll get there eventually!  When you do make that turn, head for the dock.  DON’T head for the radio antenna you’ll see – that’s off to the right of the swim finish and will guide you off course. 
 
The boat ramp at Great Marsh Park marks the welcome end of the swim, but don’t stand up until you get there!  The last few feet before the ramp don’t have a firm bottom – it’s more of a cold and bottomless muck that you’ll sink into with alarming speed (another tip from your Uncle Bob), so swim until that hand touches concrete, then get up and go!
 
T1 – Swim to Bike:
As you run up from the boat ramp, the Cambridge Fire Department will be there with the big hoses a’ spraying to rinse off those that don’t want to carry the salt water onto the bike.  Be sure to close your eyes if you wear contacts and you run into the hoses (trust me, yet again.  That would be 2000’s lesson).  The run out is flat, but it can be long depending on where you’re racked. 
 
Another change for this year – carpeting on the run out:  No more muddy cleats!  However, if you somehow happen to miss the carpeting, make sure you tap those cleats out on the pavement for a few steps to clean them out.  Toppling over with goopy cleats is embarrassing (that would be 1999’s lesson for me).
 
The Bike:
How flat is Blackwater?  Anyone who has asked me has heard this story (so all of you that know me, skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don’t want to be bored again).  In 1997 at the 8-mile mark, my bike split a rear derailleur cable.  The unrestrained derailleur jumped up to the 12-tooth cog to stay for the rest of the race.   I pulled over to the side of the road to consider what to do, but then rode on.  What else could I do?  I rode 48 miles stuck in a 53x12, and finished with a 2:30:35 bike split – a PR for the ½ IM bike split I wouldn’t touch for 2 years!
 
The challenge of the Eagleman doesn’t come from the terrain; it comes from the lack of terrain.  There are no hills to give you a chance to change your rhythm, so you’ll be down in the bars turning over the same gear for mile after mile.  There are only 9 major turns in 56 miles, so those who can concentrate best will be the ones that ride this course well.   
 
The course will be marked in 5-mile increments, so you’ll be getting a sense of your progress fairly regularly along the way.
 
After 30 miles or so, it’s easy to allow your concentration to waver – so you’ll have to work to stay focused.  Take “standing” breaks every 10 minutes or so:  Shift up a gear or two, move your hands to the drops or cowhorns, and stand up for 20-30 seconds.  Try and chase down the bike ahead of you.  Play mental games to stay involved.  It’s easy to get lulled into a trance and drift out of your HR zone, so if you feel that happening stand up and go hard for a few seconds to wake yourself up!
 
If there is wind, you may have your hands full with the invisible hills of Eagleman.  In 2001 the field fought swirling winds all day long that gave us the illusion of a 360-degree headwind for 56 miles.  This is more the norm then the exception, so just like the swim, don’t let the conditions beat you.  Everyone out there is fighting the same wind, so just gear down and stay aero through the gusts – you’ll get through it.
 
Along the way, you should also keep the fluids coming as fast as you can manage.  There are 10 aid stations on the bike (all heavily manned – there are over 750 Volunteers signed up already, so you’d best thank them along the way!), so top off whenever you think you should, and then top off again.  As the sun slowly rises in the sky while you knock down the miles to T2, drinking early will be a sure investment for your run. 
 
T2 – Bike to Run:
You’ll roll back down Somerset to Great Marsh Park, and by now only 13.1 miles will be between you and the finish of the Eagleman.  Take the last few seconds to get down in that little ring and spin the legs down – surely they will have been in the 53 or 56 for over 2 hours and will appreciate a little love before the run!
 
Assuming you can find your spot and don’t get lost in the transition area for the second time in the same race (a gem of a lesson from 2001), rack up, change those shoes, and get a move on – the most epic part of your day is about to begin.
 
The Run:
As you leave T2 there will be Clif Shots if you want them, as well as water and Gatorade.  There will be water, Gatorade, and Pepsi at each and every aid station along the way, but you should drink up as you leave – really.  For the next 13.1 miles there is no shade, period.  None.  Don’t even bother looking; you’ll waste your time.   The only shade you’ll see will be coming of the mile-marker signs (new this year!) at the side of the road counting up your progress from 1 to 13.
 
You will head out along the waterfront looking out over the swim course you covered almost three-some hours earlier. There might be a slight breeze off the water (but that would only mean that you survived a windy bike, natch). You will pass some spectacular waterfront houses (they’ll have shade but somehow, you won’t), including the former home of Annie Oakley. 
 
To be honest, I have run past her house 8 times (heading out and coming in) and I’ve never actually remembered to look up and see it.  If you notice it, drop me a line and let me know if it’s nice, where it is, and what it looks like.
 
You will turn away from the waterfront and head inland a bit on Bayview Road and then whatever breeze you might have felt off the water will fade.  It is now that you will know what it takes to beat the Blackwater.  As you head out of town on Glasgow Street to Route 343 (the same road you took on the early and late miles of the bike) the sun could really start to send a message here if it’s a clear day, so drink every chance you get and keep moving forward.   Be sure to keep your head up here, as you’ll be sharing the shoulder with incoming runners from the early waves and they’ll be hauling the mail for sure.
 
I don’t know a single human being that has ever told me they’ve felt good along this stretch, so if you’re starting to feel the miles and the heat, don’t worry – you’re right where you should be!
 
When you come up to the “Y” junction where the bike course goes left you’ll stay to the right and head down Horn Point Road towards the turn-around.  I have never been to Hawaii so I have no real experience there, but this section of the Eagleman has always been my personal “Natural Energy Lab”, for I always found the next 4 miles to be the hardest of the race.  You can see for about a mile down the road, there is still no shade, and there will probably be a long stream of people from earlier waves headed home while you’re still headed out.  Mentally, it’s just plain mean and draining.
 
Even worse – There’s a golf course off to the right, and that always drove me nuts.  Maybe it was because I was hot and tired while the golfers always looked cool and relaxed.  (Then again maybe it was just their pants, but I digress).  When you finally get to the turn-around at mile 6.55 there will be bananas, more water, more Gatorade, Pepsi, or you can grab a Clif Shot and know that every step from here will take you one step closer to home.  You’re almost there!
 
You’ll retrace your exact outbound steps on the way home, so you’ll see friends still behind you the way friends ahead saw you before the turn-around.  The miles come slowly so just keep moving and keep drinking!  Soon you’ll be back on Glasgow Street with the blue water of the Choptank in sight, almost home.  When you make the final right turn along the waterfront on Bellevue you might start to hear the music at the finish line, and you can almost feel it!
 
Let it pull you in – according to Race Director Vigo when asked about the new finish line setup this year, he simply replied, “Think KONA. That is all I will say.”  
 
Finishing the Blackwater Eagleman is a tremendous accomplishment.  If you’ve got what it takes you might be one of the blessed few to take home an Ironman slot from one of the toughest qualifying races in the country.  Even if you aren’t planning on following the Road to Kona, just finishing the 70.3 miles in the refuge are worth a few weeks of bragging rights to your training mates for sure – Good Luck to all of you!
 
Bob Mina is the monthly columnist for Xtri.com – The Home of Draft Free Triathlon Coverage on the web.  If you were offended, bored, or put off by any of the above material, whatever you do don’t go to http://www.xtri.com and click on the link for “Hurricane Bob” on or about the last Tuesday of every month.  He can also be reached at bob@bobmina.com - complaints are welcome; compliments are encouraged.