Cascade Lake Sprint

On Sunday, May 31, I finished the Cascade Lake Triathlon in Hampstead, MD. The race was organized by Piranha Sports, which also runs the Diamond in the Rough and Diamondman events. This sprint distance race consisted of a 500M Swim, a 24K Bike and a 5K Run.

I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and drive a little over an hour to make the 7 a.m. start time. I have found that it is a good idea to show up to race sites about an hour early to account for traffic, packet pickup, body marking and bathroom lines. I don’t need to leave time for a shower because taking a shower before participating in an athletic event is a pointless gesture.


During most of the drive it was raining lightly and I even saw some flashes of lightning in the distance. However, by the time I reached Hampstead, located in north-central Maryland, the weather was almost clear. By the time the race ended the sky was completely clear.

The swim took place in a small yet surprisingly clear lake. There were water slides, but we were not allowed to use them to begin the race. The water temp was measured at 71 degrees (and it is a pretty solid estimate that the air temp was 60 at the beginning of the race at 7, and about 80 by noon). Once again, I found myself as one of the few competitors without a wetsuit. I hear they make you swim faster, so I may begin saving up for one. I was able to finish the 500M swim in 11:39. The bike was a 24K loop. It was an extremely hilly course that went mainly through farmland and occasionally woods. I finished the bike in 53:50. The 5K Run was a 2-loop out-and-back, which ended with a long, steep hill. Not many people sprinted to the finish line of this race. My 5K time was 25:27.


Overall, I finished in 1:33:10, which was good enough to place 9th of 25 in my age group and 90th of 348 overall. See the complete results.

After the race sandwiches and drinks were available, and llamas and sheep ran through the parking area. On my drive home, I stopped at a Shell station for gas – the usual post-race shenanigans that follow most triathlons.