Chasing Lance Armstrong on a bicycle is one thing but try keeping up with him in the water, on the bike and on foot!? That's exactly what I was tasked with on Sunday, February 12th in Panama City, Panama at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Panama triathlon.
The swim was a point to point adventure spanning 1.2 miles in the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Panama Canal. As a videographer and photographer I had to be quick on my feet to stay within lens shot of Lance. After capturing the first 15 seconds of the swim on video I serpentined my way through hundreds of age group athletes waiting their turn on the pier. I then uploaded a video from earlier in the morning, grabbed a 2-way radio and hustled my way to the swim exit.
Most all the men took under 20 minutes to complete the 1.2 mile swim course. It must be noted that the participants were swimming with the current so times were much faster than normal. I arrived with about 4 minutes to spare. Lance exited with the second pack.
Once out of the water all the athletes had to run about 50 yards or so to their bike racks. It could have been shorter, it could have been longer, I was pretty focused on chasing Lance Armstrong. I must have looked like a madman running behind with a video camera in my hand with my backpack flopping all over the place.
The professionals were allowed to ride their bikes through transition, which was about 1,000 feet long. Once on the bike course it was 56 miles under the hot and unrelenting sunshine of Central America. The views were spectacular for everyone as they rode over the Bridge of the Americas, which connects Central and South America. There were a number of climbs and descents which made for fast times although it was a little windy.
The only way I was able to cover the bike portion was hopping on the back of a motorcycle. My drive spoke little to no English so communicating my need to reach the lead pack was challenging at first. At one point my helmet fell off because of how fast we were going. I think it was a combination of the speed and wind conditions. The driver I must say was very safe. We followed the lead men for about 30 minutes before turning back.
Once back from the bike, everyone racked their bikes then set out on a 13.1 mile run. The run consisted of two loops on a flat and open sidewalk pathway. There's was a mini entourage of spectators on bicycles tracking Lance's every stride. People were either taking pictures or photos. The spectators never interfered with the athletes but did cause some congestion on the roadway that paralleled the run course. To make it to the finish line everyone needed to complete a 400 meter loop around the interior of an old military compound courtyard. I followed the runners for the first 6 miles of the run then made my way back to the finish line, on foot.
Lance Armstrong had an amazing day for any professional triathlete racing at the 70.3 distance. Lance finished the day off with a 19:22 swim, 2:10:18 bike and a 1:17:01 half marathon. Lance crossed the line in 3:50:55. The difference between the first place winner, Bevan Docherty and Lance Armstrong, only 32 seconds.
Enjoy the slideshow.
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