Marble Falls Triathlon on July 21 showcases scenery and difficulty of city course
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — All great things come in threes. At least that’s what triathletes might think when it comes to their sport.
Triathlons feature swimming, biking and running all mashed together into one competition. And hundreds of competitors will descend upon Marble Falls on July 21 for one of the best venues in the state for triathlons.
“In all the feedback we get back, the athletes keep telling us they love this venue,” said Marble Falls Triathlon founder and race director Mario Gonzales. “It’s not an easy course by any means with the hills out on (Texas) 71. But the competitors just love it.”
The Marble Falls Triathlon marks its 13th anniversary this year. Gonzales, a city of Austin firefighter and longtime athlete, first thought of hosting a triathlon when he and his family moved to Marble Falls more than a decade ago. As he drove north on U.S. 281, came over the hill south of town and started across the Lake Marble Falls bridge, Gonzales saw great place to stage a triathlon.
For the first 11 years, Gonzales stuck with one triathlon distance, called an intermediate: a one-kilometer swim in Lake Marble Falls followed by a 23-mile bike ride and capped off with a 4.4-mile run. The distance, though challenging, drew hundreds of competitors each year. But with the rise of the “sprint” triathlon in the sport, Gonzales added one to the Marble Falls event last year.
This race features a 500-meter swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a two-mile run.
The competitors start at 7 a.m. with the intermediate distance with the sprint athletes hitting the water at 7:30 a.m. The sprint distance fits within the intermediate race.
“It’s like having a race within a race,” Gonzales said.
The sprint distance has opened up triathlons to people who might otherwise steer clear of the three-discipline sport. Gonzales said training for longer races requires quite a bit of time. But shorter-distance training fits in better with the average person’s schedule.
“We’ve seen an explosion in the number of people competing in triathlons, and I think it’s because they’re realizing they have the time to train for some of these sprint events,” Gonzales said. “They still have to train, but it doesn’t require the time commitment longer events do.”
Gonzales fielded requests for several years about shortening the Marble Falls Triathlon distance, but he stuck with the intermediate distance.
“We set out to be one that challenges people, but not to overchallenge them,” he said. “But it is a tough course. It’s probably not something you’d want to do for your first race, though we do get some first-time triathletes.”
The sprint distance inclusion allows for athletes new to triathlons to test their meddle without overdoing it but keeps the course challenging for more experienced competitors.
Gonzales said he expects between 350 and 400 competitors for the 2013 event. The triathlon starts at Lakeside Park on Buena Vista Drive. Athletes complete the swim before heading out on their bicycles.
The bike ride takes competitors south on U.S. 281 before going on Texas 71. They return to Lakeside Park to complete the run.
During the run, competitors head through Johnson Park and the Pecan Valley neighborhood before finishing in Lakeside Park. The triathlon usually wraps up before noon. The course doesn’t require any traffic shutdowns, but organizers do ask that motorists be aware of bike traffic on 281 and 71 as well as runners in the Pecan Valley neighborhood.
Despite the summer heat, Gonzales said popularity for the Marble Falls Triathlon remains strong.
“It’s probably one of the longest running triathlons in Texas,” he said.
Spectators are always welcome. One place to watch the triathlon is in Lakeside Park near the transition area.
Go to www.marblefallstri.com for more information. Email Gonzales at rpmsports@nctv.com to volunteer.
daniel@thepicayune.com