Alcatraz Adventure

Local triathletes venture out West to 'escape from Alcatraz '

BY DAVID QUICK
The Post and Courier

It's not as hard as an Ironman triathlon or the 100-mile Assault on Mount Mitchell, says one veteran of those grueling events, but Sunday's Accenture Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco was the toughest middle distance endurance event she's participated in.

"The whole course is hard," said Jana Glover of Charleston , of the course that starts with a plunge from a boat near the infamous Alcatraz prison and into the cold water of San Francisco Bay , which was a numbing 54 degrees last weekend.

Glover and fellow local triathlete Chuck Hooker, 50, of James Island, were among the only two known locals to participate in this year's Escape from Alcatraz, which includes a 1.5-mile swim, 18-mile bike and an 8-mile run. And even though nearly 1,600 finished the event, Glover and Hooker came across the finish within two minutes of each other.

Glover, 40, came in at 3 hours, 15 minutes, 36 seconds and finished 13th out of 53 in the women's 40-44 age group. Hooker, 50, finished in 3:17:09 for 27th out of 60 in the men's 50-54 age group. Both Glover and Hooker won entry into the Escape via lottery and were among 1,000 first-time participants.

The Escape features not only cold water, but 1,800 wetsuit-clad triathletes hurriedly jumping into the bay, which contains sharks and sea lions, some decent chop and, in the case of last Sunday, some fog. Sound fun?

"It freaked me out," said Glover of the fog, which left her and hundreds of others unable to spot buildings as a guide to the shore. "I'm numb from the cold. I can't see where I'm going and all around me are confused swimmers."

But she found her way and upon exiting the bay, encountered a crowd of cheering people and a half-mile run to the bike transition. "The bike was literally 18 miles of hills. There were five climbs, one of which I had to stand up (on the bike) the whole way. But it was a beautiful ride."

The run wasn't any easier and the notorious "Sand Ladder" -a 400-stair, log staircase up a cliff - was smack dab in the middle of it. "The run was so hard. I kept thinking to myself, 'What the (heck's) next?' "

Glover was accompanied to the race by her husband, John, who had tried to qualify for Alcatraz, despite not being entirely sure he wanted to do it. Now he's ready to try, too. "It was awesome," John said. "Being here and watching it fires you up."

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