Dolphin Club - Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon

61 attempted to finish on the hottest day in memory for EFAT. 58 finished (16 women, 42 men) and 7 of the 8 relays completed the task. This was a young crowd of finishers: 9 in their 20s, 18 in their 30s, 10 in their 40s, 12 in their 50s, 8 in their 60s and only one finisher in the 70s. The youngest participant was Alisah Kewalramani (age 23) and the oldest was Hall Offen (age 75). This race is for all of us, young, old, speedy or just up for the challenge over all of our years.

Congratulations to Joby Bernstein for his 4th year in a row overall win. Catherine Breed was astounding with her first place female win for the 2nd year in a row. Somehow new racer Jamie Stone came in right between them with his very fast run time of 2:16.

Cheers to our Hall of Fame inductees: Keith Nowell for his 30 EFATs and race dedication. He captained the Mailbox aide station this year showing his commitment to EFAT. Robin Rome was inducted for her many, many years of service in leading the dinner effort. She is a past EFAT racer as well, and some years she did both together.

Special congratulations go to Jon Nakamura for completing his 30th EFAT, and to Doug James for entering the EFAT Hall of Fame as a valued volunteer.

2023 Race:
Individual Results
Relay Results

2022 Race:
Results

2021 Race:
Individual Results
Relay Results
Swim Only Results

2019 Race: Here are the links to the the 2019 individual race results and the the 2019 relay race results.

53 race participants and 9 relays enjoyed a wonderful last weekend of summer and hot day in the water and on the race course. The swim was pretty challenging, a strong ebb that didn't give up and required a few people to be repositioned, but even with some record breaking long swims, the racers persisted and finished. Congratulations to all!!

Andrew Wynn and Eveyln Fisher were the over all winners (3:55 and 4:25 overall), both winning the silver buckles for their second time. The fastest swim was Joby Bernstein doing the event for the first time; his swim time of 28:49 was less than a minute off breaking Suzanne Heim's record. David Strasburg had the fastest run at 2:26 (five people broke 3 hours on a very warm day), and Peter Badertscher had fastest bike time of 47:54. Nearly a third of the race was virgins and they all finished!

Special congratulations go to Jon Nakamura for completing his 30th EFAT, and to Doug James for entering the EFAT Hall of Fame as a valued volunteer.

2018 Race: 50 race participants and 11 relays enjoyed a wonderful fall day in the water and on the race course. Every competitor finished every part of the race! Winners Andrew Willis and Evelyn Fisher (4th place overall) made the event look easy. Evelyn's run time was the fastest for women at 2:23 and Will Callan had the fastest overall run time (2:18) for the second year in a row. Here are the results.

Nearly half the race was raced by people doing the event for the first time or second time, but there were 7 racers participating at 20 races or more. Congratulations to Mark McKee who finished his 20th race this year and was inducted into the Hall of Fame! Our two youngest competitors were Will Callan and Catherine Breed (her first time) at age 25, and our oldest competitors were at age 69 - 4 people! Female racers comprised 26% of the race field. Next year will be the 39th Escape from Alcatraz and we will start planning something big for the 40th in 2020.

2017 Race: 50 individuals and 10 relays (76 total participants!) raced in this year's Escape on a foggy but perfect day for the event. Two people didn't finish the swim due to the later date and colder water, but still finished the race. Taking first was virgin Reid Tileston in 4:10, and the first woman finisher was two time Escapee Amanda Ernzer with a time of 4:46. First in Decade awards were given for the first time so men and women of all ages were recognized for the feat.

Returning champion Laura Vartain Horn was there with her 3 month old son and placed second for the women and won Fastest in the 40s. Sunny McKee completed her 20th race, was the first woman finisher in her 60s and also entered the Hall of Fame. Will Callan raced in his first Escape and was the youngest competitor at age 24, took the Fastest in Decade and also the Fastest Run, a blazing 2:23.

We dedicated this year's event to the memory of Tom Gould who recently passed away. Tom was Dolphin Club President in the 1980's and participated a number of times in the event, and spent many years volunteering at the finish line.

Any questions, please email: reginabrus@gmail.com

2016 Race: It was another near perfect day for the Escape again this year but a bit warm on the Dipsea. We had 52 individuals and 5 relays, and 15 1st time Escapees. There were 3 folks who did not finish the event. The first woman was returning champ, Laura Vartain-Horn (DC) with a Swim -35:27; Bike -54:33; Run -3:01; Finishing at 4:31. Final - 2016 Results and Photos

On the men's side, newcomer Andrew Willis (DC) had a swim -38:17; Bike -46:43(fastest); Run -2:07(fastest); Finishing in 3:32! Andrew Willis beat defending champ Andrew Wynn (DC) (had fastest individual swim at 30:56), Nobu Takahashi (DC) and 8 time winner and Hall of Famer Joel Lanz (SE). The first male cruiser was John Ottersberg (DC) at 4:52 and Gina Rus (DC) at 6:53. The fastest relay was the Under Achievers (Suzanne Heim, Peter Badertscher, Jim Grant), Suzanne had the fastest swim of the day at 28:50!

Special tribute was paid to South End member Andy Field who is in the Escape from Alcatraz Hall of Fame. Andy completed 21 Escapes. Fellow SERC member Edison Peinado raced in the event to honor Andy and dedicated his belt buckle to him. Andy is battling terminal cancer.

2015 Race: It was a perfect day for the Escape again this year. A little cloud cover offered up a perfect day for a Dipsea run. We had 50 individuals and 10 relays, and a total of 14 1st time Escapees with everyone finishing the event. Dolphin Club member Andrew Wynn was the first place finisher (also fastest swim and run) with a 33:24 swim, 51:23 bike, 2:18:43 run and a total time of 3:43:30. The women's winner was 1st timer Laura Vartain Horn with a swim of 37:41, bike 55:45, run 2:58:04 and a total time of 4:31:30. John Ottersberg was the 1st male cruiser and Gina Rus was the 1st female cruiser. Sean McFadden had the fastest bike time for individuals. In the relay team effort the fastes swim time was the team Oliver Elijah with a swim time of 28:44, Underachiervers with the fastest bike time of 39:06 and the fastest run at 2:12:40.

2014 Race: It was another amazing day for all of us (how lucky we have been). The weather was perfect, a clear day and not too hot. We had 52 individuals and 4 relay teams. This year had a very competitive field with South Ender Joel Lanz taking 1st place again for the 8th time (out of 9 races) in a smoking time of 3:35:58!!!! Joel ran a 2:10 Double Dipsea. New Dolphin Club member Andrew Wynn came in 2nd in a time of 3:51:20 and tied with Dolphin John Ottersberg (1st Male Cruiser) for the fastest swim of the day 31:20. The first woman was Katie Murphy with a time of 4:42:55. This was Katie's first Escape! Gina Rus (18 time Escapee) was the 1st woman cruiser with a time of 6:15:10. There were 11 virgin Escapee's this year. John Nakamura finished his 25th consecutive Escape. The dinner was outstanding and many thanks to all of the volunteers that it took to make that happen, including a very special thanks to Robin Rome who not only does the race but also heads up the kitchen ahead of time planning and preparing the dinner. We had a special recognition of Tom Callinan and Mary Cantini for there 25 years of participating in the event and two additional Hall of Famers were added to the plaque. They are South Enders, Vince Fausane (5 time winner of the Escape) and Joel Lanz (8 time winner). Final Results

2013 Race: Another spectacular Day for Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. A crystal clear day with barely a breeze. We had 51 individuals and 6 relay teams competing in this epic event. 18 people who had never done this triathlon! David Wild from the Dolphin Club took first place with a 3:38 and it was the first time for him to compete. Joel Lanz returned to compete and this year was 4 1/2 minutes behind David to place 2nd. There were 4 participants in under the 4 hour mark! The first woman to cross the line was Dolphin Lisa Newman-Wise in 5:16. Sean McFadden was the first male cruiser and Laurel Condro, defending her title was the first female cruiser. The fastest swim was Brendan Crow in 29:13, fastest bike was Jesse Caelusta in 45:03 and the fastes run was Nobu Takahashi in 2:11:50. The first relay team was Candace Kelly, John Ottersberg, Si Bunting (DC) in 3:48:51. Once again the volunteers made the day with outstanding piloting, manning the aid stations, timing, slideshow at dinner and the incredible dinner crew headed by Robin Rome who also participated in the event. This year we give many kudos to Rick Avery and John Ottersberg for stepping in to head up the volunteer recruitment and registration. Wonderful day!

2012 Race: Another fantastic day for the Dolphin and South End Clubs. The fog was very thick over the bay in the morning leaving doubts about whether we would be able to do the planned Alcatraz swim and do a Pier 39 instead. It lifted enough that Ruben gave a thumbs up to proceed to the Island. With the great crew of the Alma (headed by Captain Jason Rucker) we made it to the Island and had to coerce the swimmers into the bay. Finally they jumped in and were off ! Everyone made it safely to Aquatic Park and then to Mill Valley. Dolphin member Jesse Czelusta had about a 12 minute lead over defending champ South Ender Joel Lanz starting the run at Old Mill Park. By the time Joel made it to the turn around at Stinson Beach he had cut it to 2 minutes! Joel finished in 3:38 with Jesse coming in 2nd at 3:47! Great effort by both. The Dolphin Club was proud to represented by 1st time Escapee Megan Wachs who came in as the 1st woman at 4:54. John Ottersberg, with the fastest swim (34:30) was the 1st male cruiser at 4:26. South Ender, Laurel Condro was the 1st female cruiser at 5:32. 1st relay team was the Dolphin Club Wave Runners (John Nogue and Gerard Navarro). Best of all, everyone completed the grueling event safely. The celebration dinner at the Dolphin Club was once again enjoyed by all who participated, athletes, volunteers and pilots. Great day! Results are now available and photos will be posted soon. Check out South Ender, Tom Linthicum's very funny 15th EFAT self interview along the Dipsea!

2011 Race: It was an amazing day, and almost perfect in every respect. There were 50 individuals and 10 relay teams. Except for one participant, everyone finished the event! Joel Lanz set a new record with most 1st place finishes at 6 in 3:37. Laurel Condro, also a South Ender came in 1st on the women's side with a 5:04 for her second 1st place finish. The 1st place relay team was won by the South End team of the "Formerly Fast Guys" comprised of Vince Fausone, Jeff Gunderson and John Kaplanis. Results are available now.

2010 Race: Some years are better than others, but mostly they are really fun! Joel and Michelle take the pain out of having a South End best the Dolphin Club for 1st Place. Kudos to both of them for simultaneously tying first place records (see all results), next year will take some big time DC guns to make a change in this category! It would take special talent all around to beat a class act on on both Michelle and Joel! Amazing races for both of you; Michelle beat out Joel and everyone else on the swim with a slow time for her of 36:13 (her best 31:13), she was ahead of Joel coming into Mill Valley by 13:15. Joel came into MV in 7th place, 13 minutes and 15 seconds behind Michelle. Somehow Joel proved that all of that ultra-running he has been doing paid dividends, by Stinson Beach turn-around he was 5 minutes behind Michelle and ended up passing her and finishing at 3:41 with Michelle coming in 2nd at 4:11. Michelle and Joel are such amazing athletes and competitors! We are very happy to have them be a part of the DC Escape even though they belong to the South End! My apologizes to the Relay Teams. The actual 1st place was the Volante Canards with Steve Anderson, Joan Francis and Harold Cranston. 2nd place goes to Bonnie and Clyde with Bonnie Brown, Jeff Brown and Clyde Barrow (aka Tom Wilhelm).

2009 Race: What a great day! Joel Lanz wins his 4th Escape in a row with a time of 3:32 and once again Nobu comes in 2nd place at 4:03:14. Michelle Deasy takes 1st place for the women (3rd time in a row) with a 4:29:48! Thanks to all who participated and a very special thanks to all of the many volunteers, timers, pilots, swimmer helpers, traffic helpers, bike handlers, aid station folks, bartenders, cooks, kitchen help, servers and more who made this event the very best event to participate in. We are in the process of getting all of the information together for posting. Please be patient. Here is a list of volunteers. The easier part was getting the results up, thank you Meg, Pete and Kate for your hard day at Mill Valley, which for once was the best place to be because of the heat! Here are the 2009 race results!