The Sand Ladder

I'd like to take credit for this frighteningly funny (not so much funny ha-ha) write-up about The Baker Beach Sand Ladder, what some call the hardest part of the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon. I did this run on Sunday and can vouch for the pain. The course is eloquently described in the following excerpt from the Golden Gate Tri Club:

When you arrive back at the end of the beach where you entered but a few short minutes before, you are now confronted with the iron test of man and womanhood, the test you have read about and perhaps practiced in the weeks before, the evil and insidious and utterly loathed purveyors of pain....

The Sand Steps. Yes, it's all true what you've heard. They steal small children in the night, they are ugly and deviant and particularly vile. They alone are responsible for the collapse of about 34 dot coms. But you are Strong and Within Your Target Heartrate, and you aren't going to take it anymore. So get up there and climb, like you've never climbed before! Grab a fistful of rope and haul yourself up any way you can! If someone's in your way, push them to the side! I mean encourage them and keep going! Try your best to plant your feet on the solid wooden planks that serve as the foundation for the stairs, and if you can see no wooden planks, step in the footsteps of those who have gone before you, for they have compacted the sand and now you don't have to.

The dreaded sand steps are long and arduous but, despite what your lungs and quads are telling you, you will make it to the top. Once you do, pat yourself on the back, for they are one of the most difficult sections of racing in all of triathlon. Now you are burning for home, the sun is shining, and the pain is nearly over. The uphill continues after the sand steps, but not for long and soon you are coming back down the Coastal Trail the same way you went out. With tired legs and a mental focus bordering on mush, it is particularly important to concentrate on your footing as you descend - you've come too far to let a mental lapse result in a fall or an injury.