Doug Rice is the founder of Race Forum and Split Second Racing, and is certainly not your average Rumson resident. Doug, being a triathlete himself, has competed in over 250 triathlons, including 14 Ironman races (1.2-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) and over 25 half Ironman events finishing under 4.5 hours, while most finish in 6. Ironman races are widely considered the most difficult one-day sporting event in the world. To be an Ironman it takes years of intense training, dedication, and endurance. If this isn’t impressive enough for you, he additionally created the aforementioned companies; Race Forum and Split Second Racing.
In 1989, Doug and his friend decided to produce their own event. “We started with the "War at the Shore Biathlon ( run-bike-run) which was held at Sandy Hook for 11 years.” Doug enjoys promoting healthy living and seeing happy athletes achieve their goals and improve.
It escalated as Race Forum was created in 1991: a time without the modern internet, for runners to become aware of events, and, as it became very popular, “it was considered ‘the place’ to find races.” Split Second racing was a Race Forum timing company founded in 2008 as events started being timed automatically. Now, Doug and the team at Split Second Racing produce more than 125 events annually throughout the area.
Doug's advice for people wanting to get involved in competing in triathlons is to find groups to train with and give each motivation. He recommends having a coach or experienced triathlete to give you tips and says that attending clinics is always beneficial.
If any ladies are looking to compete in a triathlon in the near future, the Jersey Girl Triathlon, produced by Split Second Racing and one of Doug’s favorites, is an annual event held at Sandy Hook. This year it will be held on September 22, 2022. There are typically nearly 1000 competitors, and in 2011 there were 1800! Let’s get that number higher! A challenge for females! You got this!
Here is the link for signing up and more info about Jersey Girl Triathlon
