A love story: Alex Arrow

Alex Arrow of Redwood City was in his late-30s when love found him. She found him running in 2009 and since April of 2010, they’ve been swimming, biking and putting one foot in front of the other.

"It’s a love story with the sport, I guess,” Arrow said.

The "she” in this case is the triathlon and since 2010 when Arrow completed his first race at Folsom Lake, the CFO of a cardiology device manufacturer in Redwood City says he simply cannot get enough of her.

"After the race is over,” Arrow said, "and you’re laying around in the grass, and there’s the award ceremony, and everyone is all giddy from the endorphin high from having pushed yourself so hard, it’s a serene feeling. That’s what fuels the addiction for me.”

On Sunday, Arrow takes his love for a dip in the Pacific Ocean during the 32nd edition of Escape from Alcatraz which features a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the shore, an 18-mile bike race and an eight-mile run through San Francisco. The race is considered one of the most difficult triathlons in the world.

"I love this race,” Arrow said, "because it is the unique race within the sport. There is no other triathlon that I know of where you just swim point to point. You don’t have to swim around a buoy marking the course. They just let you off a boat and they say, ‘See that land other there? Get there.’ And that’s a really neat part of the race.”

Arrow got into the sport after being a runner the majority of his life. It wasn’t until 2009 when a friend convinced him to do a 100-mile bike ride in Marin that he met the person who would introduce him to his love — ironically enough, it was a "pretty lady triathlete,” Arrow said, who convinced him to get into the pool, hop on a bike and run all in the same event.

"I was hooked,” Arrow said.

And like any new love, Arrow dove head first and hasn’t stopped racing since. He swims six days a week at the Peninsula Community Center in Redwood City, logging about 2,000 meters a day before the clock hits 7 a.m.

Unlike other athletes though, Arrow said he doesn’t focus on his running or biking, instead, the 20-plus events he completes on a yearly basis serve as competition/training. Arrow said he’ll do 25 events in 2012 alone.

Sunday will mark the fourth time Arrow hits the waters outside of the famed jail-turned-tourist attraction.

Sunday’s swim concludes at Marina Green Beach. Upon climbing out of the water, athletes will switch to running shoes for the half-mile warm-up run to Marina Green. Mounting their bikes there, triathletes will start the 18-mile ride heading west to Crissy Field, through the Presidio, up the hill to the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum before looping through the streets of San Francisco.

From there, athletes begin the eight-mile run to the Baker Beach Battery. Upon arrival at the beach, they’ll battle the 400-step Equinox Sand Ladder then cross back under the Golden Gate Bridge and return to sea level to reach the finish line at Marina Green.

You may be winded just reading that, but there is plenty that keeps Arrow head over heels for the sport and the event.

"You have that hour-long boat ride to get out there and on that boat are 2,000 athletes,” Arrow said. "I, for one, just feel incredibly honored to be part of this group of people that are doing this amazing thing. I even get emotional about it when I’m on that boat. That’s what keeps me coming back to do this race year after year.

"It’s a sense of amazement, of pride that I’m part of this group and I can hold my own with this group of people. I think everybody, to some extent, has their self doubt. When you’re in the middle of doing something that is as cool as this, you feel like you’ve overcome your self doubt at least in this area and at least for this day. It’s an emotional feeling. It’s one that sticks with you.”

Arrow considers himself a middle-of-the-pack triathlete and Sunday’s race comes with the expectation not of podium success, but of something deeper.

"For me, a triathlon is a lot about living in the moment,” Arrow said. "My real goal is to have fun. It’s a delightful way to spend your time. It seems strange. It is painful to push yourself, especially near the end when you’re pushing yourself the hardest. Or sometimes in the middle of the swim, you ask yourself, ‘why am I doing this?’ But then you get a rhythm, you get lost in the moment and you start to enjoy it.”

You start to enjoy it and then maybe even love it — like Arrow.