Last Friday, the Hamilton community came together for the annual Hamtrek triathlon. Athletes of all abilities competing across 525 yards of swimming, nine miles of biking and five kilometers of running. Most people writing about Hamtrek will tell you how hard they trained and the satisfaction of victory. That is not what this is. I participated in Hamtrek as a complete amateur as a biker and I had a great time. What I’m more concerned about is the physical course of the race. If you did not get a chance to participate this year, here’s a walkthrough of what you can expect next year.

Part 1: The Swim

Lacking a clean, properly sized body of water, the swim portion of the race is held in Bristol Pool. Participants swim twenty-one lengths of the pool equating to roughly 525 yards. When I was there, the thing that stood out the most was the heat. The amount of people in the crowd and moisture in the air created a very humid room. Again, I’m not a swimmer, but if you are, it’s a completely different experience to the rest of the race. As a runner and a biker, you spend a lot of time out on your own on that trail. There are the occasional spectator, and Hamtrek volunteer but you have the space to focus on the task at hand. Swimmers do not have that luxury. The room reverberates the sound right on top of you, there are spectators screaming everywhere, there are three swimmers to a lane and the next heat is warming up right on top of you. Also, you’re in the same spot for the whole portion rather than seeing the landscape change around you as with the other portions of the competition. If you can handle all that, once your laps are done, you exit the pool, go across the lawn and reach the Dunham Lot.

Part 2: The Bike

This was my section of the race. If you choose not to use a spin bike, you grab your bike from the rack, and the race is back on. You take off from Dunham Lot and turn right onto G Road. Then another right onto Valley View Road, flanked by beautiful fields as you descend two sizable hills. After a quick turn onto Norton, there’s another right onto Campus Road via a daunting hill. Turn right onto College Hill Road and then do it all over again. The real struggle here is knowing the course. Those downhill runs are nice to chill on but you’re going to need that momentum once you hit the harder slopes. I made that mistake on my first lap but corrected the error on my second. Definitely scout the field before the big day. Otherwise, you’ll be left puffing trying to make your way back to campus.

Part 3: The Run

Finally, the five kilometer run to finish off the competition. Upon exiting Dunham Lot, runners run through the track toward the back field, around the tennis courts and a circle around the baseball fields, followed by a large loop around the entirety of the back field. Finally, runners loop back around to the start of the course, finishing in a sprint on the track. For teams, the same advice applies from the bike. There are no mile markers, so you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to pacing yourself. Again, study the course before you get out there. Especially as a solo competitor, it is very easy to gun it after the bike thinking this is the end when there are still 20+ minutes of pain left.

Stick to these tips and you could find yourself becoming the next Hamtrek champion. If not, you’ll still have lifelong memories of that time you almost beat your Econ professor at cycling.