The Peek: Behind-the-Scenes of Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon

If you’ve been following along, in the past few months we’ve launched a special podcast series to inspire and entertain you on your runs, rides, and commutes. Today we bring you the latest in our series, The Peek: A Behind-the-Scenes Podcast we created in partnership with our friends over at BibRave. This is the second installment in a three-part series, in which we dive deep into the underbelly of one of the most iconic triathlons in the world: The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. 

Most of you are familiar with the concept of a triathlon. Participants swim, bike, and run their way to the finish. However, Escape From Alcatraz presents unique challenges that have captured the intrigue of triathletes for decades, including the iconic start where athletes jump off a boat near the notorious Alcatraz prison and swim 1.5 miles in the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay. Nothing gets your adrenaline going like a jolt of cold water and swimming with the sharks! 

We hear from Jennifer Lau, vice president at IMG, the producers of the event. She goes into detail about what it takes to run the triathlon, including coordination with the city of San Francisco and juggling the involvement of multiple agencies.

We then get a one-of-a-kind, minute-by-minute account of the only year the event had to cancel the swim start from race director, Bill Burke.

Throughout the episode is the perspective of world-class triathlete Andy Potts, who has competed in the event 14 times and won the race six times. His description of why Escape from Alcatraz is his favorite event will leave you wondering what event you’ll be tackling next to see just how far you can push yourself.

After hearing Jennifer, Bill, and Andy describe the challenge and conquest of completing the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, it’s easy to understand why, year after year, thousands of athletes from around the world apply to be one of the lucky few chosen to participate. You’ll want to hear every crazy detail. You can download the episode here. And if you didn’t have a chance to listen to Episode 1 of The Peek on the legendary Hood to Coast relay, you can find that here.