My First Gold Nugget Triathlon

May 22, 2023

For years I’ve heard about the Gold Nugget Triathlon (GNT) and was always impressed when I heard of friends participating in it.

I knew it involved swimming, biking, running, and that it filled up quickly every year, but after covid that changed. Suddenly, registration was open for weeks with plenty of opportunity to sign up. My sister had participated in the GNT in 2022, and in 2023 she started bugging me to participate as well.

I had began looking at the distances and realized each one was pretty approachable.

400m swim (8 laps)

12 mile bike

5k run (3.2 miles)

With her promise to hold my hand, and registration still open despite putting off signing up, I finally decided to commit.

The race takes place on the 3rd weekend of May in Anchorage, Alaska, and the first thing I realized I loved about the GNT was that as soon as the snow was off the road (or even a little before), I was motivated to get outside and start training.

Training is a pretty loose term for what I did to prepare. Woodsen was working out of town a lot so “training” included bike rides with kids, and hitting the bike trails for a run with friends with kids in the stroller. I only got to the pool once or twice, enough to know my triathlon suit was comfortable, and to have a plan to pace myself so I didnt get completely gassed. I had enjoyed swimming as a youth, but it had been a while. I decided to alternate between freestyle and backstroke.

In a triathlon you have two transitions. The first one is from swimming to biking, and the second is from biking to running. For the Gold Nugget, the transitions are at different places, which means you have to put a little more thought into what you will need at each one. Thankfully, my sister sent me photos of what she put in each transition that were very helpful.

The day before the race, Brodie and I headed to Bartlett High School, where we met up with another friend, Whitney, picked up our race bags, set up our bike transition areas, and dropped off our T2 and finish bags. Bike stands are sold at the drop-off, so I purchased one to fit my bike. We also brought 5-gallon buckets from home to keep our T1 gear dry overnight; they also served as places to sit during the transition.

That evening, Brodie came over to try out our gear one more time and put on our provided race number tattoos.

We were fortunate to have start times close together, so Brodie, Whitney and I headed to the race and got ready in the gym next to the pool.

At home, the cheer squad was on the move and heading to the pool!

One of my favorite parts of the Gold Nugget is seeing other friends who are also participating. Soon, we saw friends from Nome, Anchorage, and the Matsu Valley. Next, we headed into the pool to line up and wait for our turn to start.

Once we had taken off on our bikes, our family took the shuttle to the finish line. The kids thought riding on the bus was quite a fun experience. Look Papa, no buckles!

We did it! We finished, had fun, and it was an overall great first triathlon experience for me!

I finished in 1:39 min. My divided times were Swim- 10:13, T1- 3:36, Bike-54:56, T2-2:33, Run-28:40. I was very happy with my times for my first triathlon, after all, the point was to finish, and have fun.

Our family greeted us at the finish line, the sun was warm, the beer was cold, and we celebrated the ability to move our bodies and do something challenging.

Brodie, who lived in Nome, had helped rally a group of ladies from Nome together for the triathlon, so we stuck around for everyone’s finish and enjoyed sharing our experiences. Triathlons are definitely more fun when you do them with friends!