I had such a blast racing the 10-part Battle of Waterloo triathlon for my first time in 2021 that knew I had to do it again in the future. When the July 30 date was announced for this year’s race I registered right away. The crazy adventure race is such a massive undertaking that Epic Races hosts it every other year. I call it crazy because it involves running, biking, and swimming 42 miles in the area of the Waterloo Recreation Area and carrying the necessary gear throughout the adventure. Here’s what the race entails:

It’s a great event for people who have fun doing a traditional triathlon of swimming, biking, and running and want to make it even more challenging! While transitions can be viewed as the fourth discipline in the sport of triathlon, that’s especially true in this race. It’s important to really think through the logistics of transitioning between each stage and know what gear will be required. I use checklists to make sure I remember everything for normal triathlons. As I prepared for this race, I had so many notes that it felt like I was studying for a test!

Following a week’s worth of heat, humidity, storms, and air quality issues, we lucked out with a great morning in the mid-60s. The race started and finished by Portage Lake at the Waterloo State Recreation Area, which is about half an hour west of Ann Arbor.

Since I successfully completed this race a couple years ago, I didn’t have too many nerves going into it this time. As soon as the 2021 race was over I started to think about what I’d tweak to make it go more smoothly in the future. I had used a swim buoy that converted into a backpack which worked well enough, but I didn’t like how I wasted a bunch of time clipping and unclipping the backpack straps and the waist tether between the swim and run segments. I wanted something with a more secure fit during the run because the buoy bounced too much and it annoyed me. I browsed through the race photos to see how others did it and thought about a better method over the past couple of years. 

I’m the type of person who over packs because I want to be prepared for anything. That approach doesn’t make it easy for me to transition quickly in this kind of race. I wish I could race more minimally like some of the athletes. The fastest people stuff their shoes in the back of their jerseys for the swim and just go! Then there’s me with my buoy that was big enough to hold my socks, shoes, a little towel for my feet, a hat, sunglasses, extra goggles, and a running vest with a couple of flasks for hydration. Far from minimal!

Instead of using the buoy backpack, this time I squeezed a buoy into the back of a Camelbak running vest while I ran and biked. Sometimes I struggled to fit the buoy into the tight pocket but it worked. The vest was snug and didn’t bounce, plus it had pockets for my drinks and some chews.

Once the 7:30 start time rolled around on race day, I was ready to go!

We started with a quick run through a parking lot and onto the trails that came out to 1.5 miles on my watch and took me 13:11. A solid run helped me get a little bit of a head start that I knew I would lose during the bike segment.

After the run, I put my helmet and running vest on in transition and started the ride less than a minute later.

I made the same questionable decision that I did for the Ann Arbor Triathlon a couple weeks earlier and opted to use my mountain bike for the race. The problem with the mountain bike is that it’s heavier and slower. Most people aim for the lightest weight and skinniest tires they can get and I went for the polar opposite. I made that choice because I hated the first bike segment of this race SO much last time. Some of the roads were in such poor shape that I rattled around uncomfortably for a good chunk of the ride. I even had to get off of my bike twice to go collect my bottle from the road when bumps launched it out of my bottle cage that was obviously too loose. I told myself that the next time I did this race I would bring my mountain bike…so I did! I learned during the pre-race Zoom meeting that the first bike course would actually be six miles shorter this time because of the poor road conditions. It’s too bad the roads continue to deteriorate without getting fixed, but I was relieved that the ride shouldn’t be as rough.

We rode the rolling roads out in the country and it was a nice ride. More enjoyable than last time! I was thankful for my mountain bike in a few stretches where it was a little rough. I wasn’t as thankful for it during one climb when I felt like I could barely get moving. I think I need to toughen up and try to feel more secure on the bike because everyone else managed to cope with their thinner tires somehow. Most of the roads were okay so maybe next time I’ll switch back to my lighter bike.

I ate my third Picky Bar of the morning during the ride in hopes of maintaining enough calories for the long adventure ahead. I drank the electrolyte mix in my bottle as well to stay hydrated. I finished 14.5 miles on the bike in 52:35, which was around 16.6 mph. Not so bad for being on a mountain bike I suppose, but I’m sure I exerted more effort than I needed to by using it. As usual, a whole bunch of people caught up and passed me!

We came to the transition area where we could leave our bikes and helmets for the majority of the race while we rotated between swimming and running for the next six legs. Since I biked in my running shoes it was a breeze for me to quickly run nearly a quarter mile down to the beach. Between my run to the beach and taking time to swap to my swim gear, I spent just under five minutes transitioning from the bike to the swim.

It was a bit cloudy at the start of the morning and there was fog coming off the water. The water was warmer than the air and it made for a nice swim across Clear Lake.

I should have inflated my buoy more because I was very aware of the weight that I was dragging behind me. I know that slowed me down and I got through just under half a mile of swimming in 18:06.

It helped that there was a nice area with some chairs set up to make the transition to running easier.

Then it was time to run on dirt roads and trails to get to the next lake. I really enjoyed running on the trails but some of the dirt roads had pretty tiring climbs! My watch came up with just over 3.5 miles which I did in 31:53. I spent about 3:30 transitioning to my swim gear and then it was time to take on Mill Lake.

Mill Lake is not a lake where any reasonable person would swim. It’s filled with weeds and lily pads and is not inviting at all! I survived it a couple years ago so I knew I could manage again. Somehow it seemed worse than I had remembered this time though. Lifeguards in kayaks helped direct us where to go to avoid the thickest sections. There weren’t many clear sections anywhere though! At least I did a better job of inflating my buoy so that didn’t add an additional challenge. I knew that breaststroke worked best for me last time because it was smart to stay as close to the surface of the water as possible. Still, I snagged weeds with every stroke and my usually strong breaststroke kick felt worthless as it seemed like my legs were just sinking. For someone who is a pretty decent swimmer, I started to worry a bit! I also thought about people who say they don’t like swimming in lakes because of weeds and other things in the water. This lake is DEFINITELY not for them!

I came across Alise from Epic Races in one of the kayaks and chatted with her for a moment. That was possible to do since I was essentially treading water at that point. She was awesomely supportive and shot some photos and video of the struggle. I loved getting to see how ridiculous I looked trying to swim through that. After I passed her I thought about how all of us are clearly insane. As someone said when I finally got out of the water, that’s why it’s called the “battle” – it’s not easy!

That swim was supposed to be around a quarter mile long and it took me 13:46. I probably racked up additional time with my slow exit from the water. It was pretty rocky when it was shallow enough to stand up and I couldn’t exactly run out of the water.

At that point I ended the first half of my Garmin recording. The watch will not record 10 legs as a part of one activity so I split it into five and five. Some of the timing might be a little off because we didn’t actually cross timing mats along the way and there was a time or two when I finished a swim and realized I didn’t hit my watch until a minute or two into transition. I also missed tracking a few minutes between the first and second halves as I saved the first activity and got the second one started. It didn’t have to be totally accurate but I wanted to give myself a rough idea of how it played out.

The run from Mill Lake to Crooked Lake was supposed to be around 3.4 miles and my Garmin came up with 2.8. Since we were on trails it’s possible that my watch wasn’t totally accurate. It was another run that had a couple of challenging climbs. I seemed to get into a routine of seeing the same people in transition where they moved faster than me then I’d catch up during the run. I grabbed a quick cup of water at a couple of aid stations but I was self-sufficient for the most part and kept moving. It worked well having my electrolyte drinks in my running vest and I ate some Clif Bloks every now and then.

When I got to a downhill stretch of the trail that was especially rocky and a little tricky to navigate, I remembered that I’d pop out at Crooked Lake soon. It was time for the final swim which would be much nicer than the swim through the lily pads! It was also the longest swim of the day – around .7 miles.

At that point it had turned into a beautiful day and I enjoyed looking at puffy clouds and waterfront homes during the swim. However, I was a bit too lax about jumping right into the swim without doing a leak check to see if I had secured my goggles tightly enough. They started to leak shortly after I started the swim but I wasn’t going to stop and try to fix them. Instead, I was annoyed by water getting into my eyes which probably wasn’t ideal since I wear contacts. I would have enjoyed the swim a lot more without that issue! The water was calm and felt great. At least I could still spot the buoys but I was a little thrown off at the end because I couldn’t tell where we finished. Most of the swims started and ended at random spots where there wasn’t exactly a big beach. I was lucky that someone was in front of me so I could see where they went. It also helped when I spotted one of the photographers in the water. He gave me a heads up not to trip on a branch that was in the water!

I finished the Crooked Lake swim in 27:03. My transition took close to four minutes and the next run had more hilly dirt roads to battle. The hills certainly wore on me throughout the day. I realized that even though I struggled with the climbs, I’m a strong runner and it may have helped me build some distance from others who weren’t quite as strong at running.

I knew that we’d run through the gravel pit during this run and I was on the lookout for photographer Greg Sadler. He took some really cool photos there last time.

At least the stretch through the gravel pit was nice and flat. It definitely provided the opportunity for some unique race photos!

I remembered that things would get tough as soon as I passed the photo opportunity. There’s a steep climb to get out of the gravel pit and it’s pretty miserable. I saw a guy nearing the top of the climb and he was walking. That reminded me that it’s okay to walk. I would exert so much energy trying to run without making much headway anyway. As I walked my way to the top I was relieved that I didn’t see anyone coming behind me. When I got out to the dirt road there was another tough climb. My legs were pretty tired by that point of the race which didn’t make it any easier. While I was frustrated by some of the climbs earlier in the race, after swimming through the lily pads I told myself that I couldn’t complain about hills anymore. Nothing was as bad as that swim!

Greg had told me that I was doing great and might be in the top five women. I didn’t realize I was doing that well and it gave me a little extra motivation. I hoped that if I was struggling with the hills, maybe they slowed other people down even more. I got through that run of about 3.5 miles in 35:10.

The run took us back to the transition point where we had left our bikes. A bunch of drummers were playing both times we were there and it was a nice touch to get us fired up. I quickly put my hat in the back pocket of my running vest, put my helmet on, and ran the bike out to the spot where we could mount.

I had 5.6 miles left to get back to the park for the final run. It wasn’t going to be easy though – my legs were pretty shot when I got on my bike and it was a slow struggle for a minute. I knew I wasn’t going to be one of the top finishers but I was hoping that I could maintain whatever lead I had over the women behind me since the bike is where I always lose ground. A few guys passed but I don’t think any women did. I finished the ride in 20:43, averaging around 16.3 mph.

I ran my bike into the transition area where I swapped my helmet for a hat, grabbed my race belt with my bib, and shed my running vest so I wouldn’t carry any extra weight for the last 1.5 miles. I pushed hard for that final run which was nearly the same route as our first run. I knew I was nearly done and it was time to give everything that I had left! I completed the final run in 12:50 and finished the race with a final time of 4:37:51.

I drank some water and paced around with a cold, wet towel around my neck as I recovered.

Eventually I was ready to see what treats were available. They offered hot dogs, chili, mac and cheese, chips, cookies, ice cream, and more.

When I finally got my results to load, I saw that I had won my age group! Epic allows people to choose from a variety of prizes like glasses, coasters, etc. I saw that backpacks were an option so I chose one for my prize.

I browsed through the merchandise while chatting with Reese from Epic Races, who I have seen at a few races this summer. It’s been fun doing so many Epic Races and seeing the same familiar faces who help provide such a great experience time after time. I couldn’t resist a hoodie that makes it especially apparent how crazy this event is.

Since it was a beautiful day I went down to the beach for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery before heading home. Plenty of families had shown up to enjoy time by the water.

I had a great experience doing this race. Clearly, it was very challenging which provided me with a great sense of accomplishment, but it was also a lot of fun. The segments are broken up into small enough chunks that it ends up being very manageable. Rather than running a half marathon all at once, it feels much easier running no more than four miles at a time before breaking to do something else.

I can’t truly compare the 2021 race and this one since the first bike leg was six miles shorter, but I can still compare most of my stats. The mountain bike definitely impacted my time a little bit. It was a matter of slowing down to 16.6 mph vs. 17 mph for the first ride, and 16.3 mph vs. 16.5 mph for the second ride. That difference is fairly minor which supports my theory that it doesn’t matter much which bike I use – I’m not especially fast on any bike! When it came to the run, my first and last runs around the trails at the park were slightly faster this time around while the runs on the dirt roads and trails were just slightly slower. My swim times were pretty similar but the weeds and lily pads at Mill Lake may have slowed me down a little more this year. I definitely improved my transition times throughout the whole race by packing the buoy into my running vest rather than dealing with the logistics of a buoy backpack.

This race offers the full Battle of Waterloo as well as “Half the Battle.” 79 people completed the full race and 33 did the half. It’s kind of funny that I placed 27th overall in the full both times! I also placed first in my age group both times and this time I moved up from ninth place to sixth place out of all of the women. I do this for fun and to challenge myself but it’s fun to see that I actually did pretty well overall.

Knowing how much time I put into thinking about logistics of racing this event I can’t help but recognize how much time and effort went into actually hosting it. I am extremely grateful to all of the people at Epic Races who made it possible for people like me to enjoy this crazy adventure. They had to place people along the bike course to make sure we were safe from traffic and that we turned at the right spots. They placed flags along miles of trails so we followed the right paths during the runs. They got in the water to plant buoys that would mark our courses for the swims, and people sat in kayaks out in the sun for hours to make sure we stayed safe. Aid stations were set up all over the place. Photographers hustled everywhere to catch us at the start of the run, then on our bikes, at two different lakes, a gravel pit, etc. Food, water, and medals were waiting for people whether it took them two hours to finish the half or six hours to finish the full. Epic made it seamless for us racers and I am so appreciative of all of their hard work.

This race was probably my last triathlon of the season and it was a great way to utilize all of the hard training I’ve done this spring and summer. I’ll probably start to neglect my bikes for a while now as I concentrate on preparing for a marathon next month, but I will keep training hard in the water so I’m prepared for Epic’s 5K Swim to the Moon in a few weeks. I always have something to aim for!

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram & Threads @janetboltz and Twitter @reidphotography