K-TOWN RACE REVIEW

it is monday morning, on the august long weekend. the sun is hazy on quiet kingston streets in the early a.m. we are walking back to the hotel, from the waterfront park, past the antique steam engine (filled with spider webs) and well aged stone buildings housing secret courtyards.  my four year old daughter is perched on my shoulders singing (the full lyrics) to jamaica farewell, because she is so impressed that we are actually in "kingston town". "are we in another country daddy?", she asks.

 as anyone who travels to races with their family can attest to; finding all the right ingredients in order to acheive the elusive ideal of family holiday/race can be a real challenge. it all came together for me in kingston this past weekend, as the above paragraph testifies.

beautiful kingston

 sunday was the 31st running of the k-town triathlon, making it one of the oldest races in north america and quite deserving of the title "classic". the race has a rich history and was once one of the more important ones in the north american calendar. past champions include simon whitfield, mike neill and tereza macel.  the race was recently acquired by http://www.multisportcanada.com/, and i am happy to say that nothing that makes this race great has changed. they did eliminate the bike check on saturday, which removes a layer of stress and hassle and makes the whole experience even better.  john salt, the new race director, has an obvious respect for the race's heritage, and, has actually taken steps to make it even more appealing: nice, big finisher medals, a live band at the finish, free photos you can download from facebook, and, perhaps the nicest touch, a personal handshake from the race director himself as you cross the line. i really like some of these new directions that john is taking with his races and it most certainly does make for a better racing experience.

a scenic yet challenging swim course

the long course race consists of a 2km swim, 56 k bike, and 15 k run, making it sort of an even ground for short and long course racers alike. it is a perfect tune up race for a full or half IM and provides a good, honest workout combined with some great scenery. the swim is an in-water start that can be choppy, and in years past was a bit of a puzzle to sight on the way back to the pier. i was happy to see additional buoys for sighting on the way back this year, another great addition by the multi-sport canada crew. the bike is rolling hills, along scenic country roads. the roads were in good shape for 95% of the course, with a few bumpy stretches. you are sharing with cars, and you need to be careful, as there were a few times cars made somewhat risky passes, crossing the center line of the narrow highway. you need to stick to the right and be mindful of what is going on. the run is an out and back which follows the waterfront trail; scenic the whole way, and with a few hills in the middle to make it sufficiently challenging.

this is where transition is set up

the atmosphere in transition is really nice. the race basically takes over the small water-front park, and ontario street for several blocks, with its festive atmosphere of live music, sidewalk patios and nice restaurants. it really is one of the nicer finishing chutes i have ever done.

me heading out onto the run

so, for the racer, this race has everything you could ask for: well organized, historical, beautiful, challenging, long enough to justify a bit of a road trip and a great overall experience. so, we have one half of what makes for a great triathlon family trip. what about the other half?

kingston is a nice, small, clean, picturesque town that suits everything from a young family to a couple looking for a romantic getaway. first, it is small enough to make getting around on foot not only possible, but a pleasure. there is a nice balance between having a variety of appealing restaurants and bars, without it being over-whelming. you can easily feel like you have a good handle on the place in a short time, and that makes it stress free in a way that a much larger city cannot be. in a similar vein, it is both a retirement community and a university town, so it is at once peaceful yet filled with culture, interesting shops, coffee houses and great bars and restaurants. wandering through the square behind city hall, one could easily feel that you are in europe.

we were particularly blown away by the quality of the food at http://www.tangonuevo.ca/ where we had a wonderful post race meal. the food really was a cut above what we were expecting, and out-rivaled some of our favourite tapas places in Toronto. plus it was accessible for our rather large troop of husband, wife, grand-ma and two kids with double stroller. kudos to tango neuvo. i would go back to kingston to eat there. we also scored particularly good wood oven pizza at http://www.woodenheads.com/ and fanstastic gelato at http://www.miogelato.ca/.  (all of this post-race of course).

so, in sum, i completely enjoyed my weekend in kingston, and so did my family. john salt has taken an already great race and made a few small improvements. the town itself is a major attraction and certainly one of the nicest settings i have ever seen for an urban triathlon. i will most definitely be back to race k-town in the future and i would recommend it to any of my two triathlon friends.

donde esta los tapas?