Rock Hall Maryland Rocks
The annual Rock Hall Triathlon festival is one of the most fun venues on every mid-Atlantic triathlete’s calendar. The Kinetic Multisports folks put on several events over the course of the June weekend, and then return in the Fall. Located in the town of Rock Hall, in scenic Kent County, it is on the inland, Western Shore of the peninsula.
Flat roads make for fast biking and running, and the food, ambience and vibe are all much sought after. In fact, the local bed and breakfast establishments and hotels, sell out way in advance. The drive to get there is well worth the time, and once over the Bay Bridge, it is usually smooth sailing. Doug and Melissa Landau have done events
in Rock Hall many times over the years, and the local population turns out to help athletes from all over the East Coast. When lawyer Landau rolled up this year after his long drive, he was greeted by the very friendly packet pick up team. Rebekah Stubbs and the registration folks are efficient, helpful, and all ages and sizes. For those participants in Kinetic Multisport events who do more than three races, there are various additional items, often in the form of socks, hats, and other swag. As is his tradition, has Doug Landau went out for supper with friends to Watermans restaurant, in order to enjoy local seafood. The rockfish was particularly good, and very often his wife will decimate a population of crabs with a wooden hammer and a smiling, freckled face. Just like
most of the races, which have a time cut off for each leg, Watermans now has a two hour cut off for the “all you can eat crabs.”
As for the race the next morning, Volunteer Coordinator Janie Langford had a terrific crew out to help athletes get to the dock for the swim. The start time was a very civil 9 AM, and the athletes self-seeded for a rolling start swim, rather than big waves and a melee in the water. Landau had a very slow swim, and came out of the water back of the pack. A fast transition got him on the bike where he average 23 MPH and caught a number of other competitors. Jumping off the bike, he was able to run well, and found out later that he missed the top spot in his group by only 20 seconds. Since there was no body marking to show ages on calves like most pre-Covid triathlons, Landau did not know who the other competitors in his category were, and it made things difficult to gauge. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the race, which consisted of a 750 meter swim, a 15 mile bike ride, and a 5KM run through the neighborhoods, where there was some shade on a day where the temperature was in the 90s the entire time. After hosing off at The Black Duck Inn,
Landau joined CBC Coach Rob Colburn of “CBC” for a cold one and some more seafood at Watermans Restaurant, before heading back towards Annapolis and home to Herndon.
This race counted towards the overall Virginia and Maryland Triathlon Series for points. Lawyer Landau now has two podiums in two races, towards the minimum of five, and hopefully a top spot at the end of the season. His next Kinetic Multisports event will be down in Jamestown, Virginia, on June 19th which will also be Mrs. Landau’s debut for 2021. The Jamestown race, like Rock Hall, is a flat run, and a relatively flat bike ride, where the competition will be hot,
as the college teams turn out in numbers for this race. At Rock Hall, the Virginia Tech Triathlon team was there, and they had a very good showing. Landau has seen them over the years at the Smith Mountain Lake races,, which are not far from their Blacksburg campus, as well as Williamsburg, Jamestown and elsewhere.
If you want to try a fun race in rural Maryland, in a quiet town with wonderful seafood, and perhaps spend a long romantic weekend at one of the local BnB’s, Rock Hall should be the top your list. More information can be found at the Kinetic Multisports Rock Hall race page.