Idaho Falls man gets ready to ‘Escape from Alcatraz’

Bryan Magleby is headed to San Francisco for the weekend. No, it is not just to sightsee. He is going to compete in one of the world’s toughest triathlons, Escape from Alcatraz.

“It starts off by jumping off right at Alcatraz Island, and it goes a mile and a half of swimming into San Francisco. Then you bike for 18 miles, and then you run for 8 miles,” said Magleby, of Idaho Falls.

Magleby is no stranger to the triathlon world. He’s participated in local ones for the past 10 years.

“I’ve just enjoyed it since then,” Magleby said. “Every year I usually do two to three local (ones).”

To get ready for this race, Magleby has been training for eight months because he is going to compete with some of the best. Escape from Alcatraz draws Olympians and world champions from all over the world.

“It’s known for being one of the two most challenging ones, so you get a lot of people who are really competitive in doing the race,” Magleby said.

Even though competing in one of the most grueling triathlons with top athletes from around the world is pretty cool. for Magleby, this race is more than that.

“I had a mentor that got me into doing triathlons,” Magleby said. “His name is Michael Hays. Michael passed away two years ago.”

Hays would always tell Magleby during their training to set his goal for the San Francisco race.

“He had done it a couple of times, and he always said, ‘If you want to do the pinnacle of triathlons, you want to do Escape from Alcatraz,'” Magleby said.

At the race, Magleby will be sporting a jersey that Hays actually wore when he competed in the very same race years ago.

“It’s exciting to take on something (from someone) that was a great mentor to many triathletes here in the eastern Idaho area,” Magleby said.

The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon is Sunday.