Hey everyone! I just got back from the informational meeting at the Presidio Sports Basement with loads of new knowledge and lots of cool t-shirts! Did you know that the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon is the #1 triathlon in the entire world?? The triathletes are shipped out by boat to Alcatraz island at 6 in the morning, and will have to swim one and half miles back to shore in the icy San Francisco Bay. And that's only 1/3 of the triathlon! The president of Tri-California, the company that puts this triathlon together, explained the bike/run course to us at the meeting today, and just watching him point and hearing him describe the course was mind boggling. There will be 1800 participants and the triathlon organizers want them all off the boat and into the Bay in no more than SIX MINUTES. That's insane! This year, the triathlon will be televised all around the world! The first broadcast in the United States will air in the last week of June, so definitely watch out for that! You could be on TV in Australia!!

So as you all know, MAD will be working at the coveted Finish Line Food Tent. If you've volunteered at other marathons and triathlons with MAD, you may be familiar with the food setup; well, this is completely different! Finish Line Food for the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon won't just be a dinky table with a few Power Bars and bananas, oh no! The food tent is sponsored by Whole Foods and will feature a variety of international, absolutely organic, delights! Think organic turkey sandwiches, specialty wraps, and I heard mention of authentic Indian Food! This is the good stuff.

Our volunteer coordinator for Finish Line Food is Kathleen Cruise. She is extremely friendly and is very excited about having Lowell kids as volunteers! She knows our reputation well, so let's try to live up to the Lowell image.

I have received volunteer waivers from the following people:

(If you turned in a waiver, but your name is not on the list, I probably just forgot to type it. Show up at tomorrow's meeting anyway.)

Victoria Wong
Andrew Yang
Cynthia Lee
Wing Cheuk
Jason Jee
Ning Xia
Karen Perez
Alyssa Saquilayan
Peter Yu
Mindy Yee
Katie Louey
Angela Lau
Eleana Hsu
Alex Tam
Chris Zhou
Elizabeth Choung

But here's the thing - we just found out from the race directors that the old waivers are no longer acceptable because their legal staff looked over the contract and decided that it needed to be updated. So all volunteers will receive a new waiver that must be signed and brought along with you on the race day at tomorrow's MANDATORY meeting. Please remember to bring your waivers with you on race day because if you don't, you may not be able to volunteer. Keep in mind that this is a very high profile event, so the organizations responsible for putting all of this together don't want to take any chances.

Please remember to come to our MANDATORY meeting tomorrow after school in room 233 to get your t-shirts and race day details (like specific meeting times/location, etc.). If you know you can't make it tomorrow, contact me NOW (if you haven't done so already). It would be best if you could send somebody (a friend or a sibling) to get the details and your shirt for you at the meeting, but you can also arrange to meet an officer during our free mods by emailing me.

You will be receiving a newsletter with maps and all sorts of other information for the race day at tomorrow's meeting. I'll be sending out another e-mail later tomorrow night with detailed map images telling you exactly where to meet (but the maps are already in the newsletters you will receive tomorrow).

This event will last from 7AM - 3PM, though if clean-up goes quickly, we will get out of there sooner! The awards ceremony starts at noon, so the triathlon will be well over by 3PM. I can't make any guarantees as to when exactly you can leave, so please just plan to stay until three with the possibility of leaving early.

We will be meeting at the Finish Line Area located on Marina Boulevard and Scott Street, though our Food Tent is closer to the other end of the Marina Green. Please refer to the general map below (I will have a more detailed one online by tomorrow night):

Marina Blvd is an extremely busy street, so it is suggested that your parents drive on Marina, and when you see the big arched sign indicating the entrance (near Fillmore Street), turn off Marina Blvd into one of the smaller side streets, such as Retro Way, Casa Way, Avila Street, or even Cervantes Blvd to drop you off. After your parents drop you off, you can walk back toward Marina Blvd, and cross the street carefully (It is a very busy and dangerous street, so ONLY cross at the crosswalks when the signal is correct!) and walk toward the entrance. Kathleen told us that there will most likely be a huge "Whole Foods" banner where the Food Tent will be, so you can't miss it once you get into the Finish Line area.

Once again, I'll have a detailed map (and you will also receive one at the meeting tomorrow) of the Finish Line area up tomorrow evening with even more instructions/details, so don't worry!

It is estimated that there will be over 24,000 spectators anticipating the triathletes and they come into the finish line, so it will be a very busy and crazy area! It'll be a blast.

Cindy and I won't be at the meeting tomorrow, so please give the rest of the officers your utmost attention as they try to run through the details and get all the information and shirts distributed to all you wonderful volunteers. If you have any additional questions, feel free to call me on my cell phone, 415-830-2371 (after 8:30PM on Friday, please).

If you get lost on race day or just have more questions, don't hesitate to call me! I'm not the best direction giver, but there will probably be someone around me who can explain things more thoroughly, so you will be helped!

So if you cannot make it to tomorrow's meeting, by now if you should have already contacted me and arranged a meeting with an officer earlier in the day to get your t-shirt and other information. If you haven't done so already, DO IT NOW. Sending a reliable friend or sibling to the meeting to get your shirt/info is also fine with me.

This triathlon will be an awesome way to end our year! Thanks again to all those who will volunteer this Sunday.

Be sure to RSVP to our End of the Year Bonanza, which will be next Wednesday, June 7th and 4PM in room 233. There will be fabulous raffle prizes!