Hell of the West 2011

MickK77

Folks,

You can also use this address: kilkee_director@limericktriathlon.com to contact the Race Director - who will forward any message to the Race Secretary. However - no further refunds / alterations are permitted from 1st June onwards for this year's race - so act quickly if you need to make a change. Mick K

bazzer86

MickK77 wrote: »

Folks,

You can also use this address: kilkee_director@limericktriathlon.com to contact the Race Director - who will forward any message to the Race Secretary. However - no further refunds / alterations are permitted from 1st June onwards for this year's race - so act quickly if you need to make a change. Mick K

Does this mean that after 1st June theres no chance of getting in? Is there many people on the waiting list and is there a realistic chance of getting a spot? If not ill book the sneem one the same day.

Thanks

MickK77

Bazzer - I've seen your name here for a while. If you want an entry - send on your details now - there's a 90% chance you will get in. After 1st June we have to get a complete entry list together, post it up and give it to the Timing people - so it gets messy if there are more changes. Best of luck with it.Mick K

PWEI

Anybody remember how much race entry cost? I just need it for the guy buying my place but have forgotten what I paid.

PWEI

PWEI wrote: »

Anybody remember how much race entry cost? I just need it for the guy buying my place but have forgotten what I paid.

Got it from my visa statement.

SavannahRose

Just been added to wait list also as thought could swap with club members that could not go. Hope I get in!

PWEI

MickK77, I'm still awaiting payment from the person buying my place & I'm getting a bit worried now. Is the deadline tonight at midnight or will ye accept the transfer tomorrow?

PWEI

PWEI wrote: »

MickK77, I'm still awaiting payment from the person buying my place & I'm getting a bit worried now. Is the deadline tonight at midnight or will ye accept the transfer tomorrow?

Great, I'm stuck with a race entry now that I can't do because of some timewaster. The most frustrating thing about it though is that there's loads of genuine people on the waiting list who would love to take part in this race. I emailed the secretary last night & asked for somebody else on the
waiting list but didn't get a reply.

SavannahRose

Same thing happened with a clubmate of mine. The contact person she was giving never got back to her..... still waiting to see if get in

shellda1

Just wondering is there registration on the morning of the race or is just the evening before?

RedB

shellda1 wrote: »

Just wondering is there registration on the morning of the race or is just the evening before?

There's usually registration on the morning. 99% sure it'll be the same this year

Nwm2

TI offering a place to be won:

http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=334

PWEI

There was something suspicious about the race swaps in this race.
The person who was supposed to be buying my race slot never paid me & I emailed the secretary on the 31st of May to look for somebody else off the waiting list. I then get an email on the 2nd of June from the race secretary asking had I been paid. I told her AGAIN I hadn't & I then didn't get a reply until the 7th of June saying the waiting list was cleared and all transfers were closed.
I was pretty annoyed about it but decided I'd go to Kilkee anyway and take some part in the race as I had paid €60. To my dismay I now see my name is not on the list of participants. I've emailed the race sectary again looking for an explanation but have yet to receive one.

pgibbo

Good luck to everyone this weekend.

shotgunmcos

Best of luck all doing the HOTW tomorrow. Hopefully the weather improves. Just down here now and its still lashing non stop. Had planned some cycling this evening but now wish I'd brought the turbo

Macanri

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Best of luck all doing the HOTW tomorrow. Hopefully the weather improves. Just down here now and its still lashing non stop. Had planned some cycling this evening but now wish I'd brought the turbo

HTFU man!:p

Oh, and all the very best to those competing tomorrow!

shotgunmcos

Macanri wrote: »

HTFU man!:p

Oh, and all the very best to those competing tomorrow!

HTFU'ed Session on my log in a mo' the rain has calmed to a drizzle but the wind has picked up. You will fly down the HOTW on the way out but its gonna HURT coming back up it. My advice, drop to small ring and spin it out or you will waste your legs for the run. Oh and on the swim, breathe right out to first buoy, breathe left to second and bi lat back to the beach... its a bit choppy

toomuchdetail

shotgunmcos wrote: »

HTFU'ed Oh and on the swim, breathe right out to first buoy, breathe left to second and bi lat back to the beach... its a bit choppy

Goodluck tomorrow to all involved here , hope its a good one .

Shotgun a quick question from a thicko , as someone who only breathes to the left why would you change sides breathing ? I think from my experience on the Olympic Tri in Louisburgh and the challenging swim it is probably related to tides/surf/currents ...all of the above.
Would it make a significant difference been able to change around ?

shotgunmcos

toomuchdetail wrote: »

Goodluck tomorrow to all involved here , hope its a good one .

Shotgun a quick question from a thicko , as someone who only breathes to the left why would you change sides breathing ? I think from my experience on the Olympic Tri in Louisburgh and the challenging swim it is probably related to tides/surf/currents ...all of the above.
Would it make a significant difference been able to change around ?

The wind is blowing hard left to right as you swim out to the first buoy so if you try to breathe left you will get a face full of waves! It eases as you get closer to the second buoy so you can switch to whatever you like. The left side of the Bay is much calmer than the right. I swam out and back right around the beach. I'm comfortable breathing in any pattern really but breathing right leaving the rescue slip was breathing towards the chop. The tide was coming in too as it will be for the start of the race in the morning.

toomuchdetail

Thanks Shotgun ,makes sense . Rough here in Westport so I hope it clears up for you guys tomorrow .

gombeen99

Had a great day at HOTW today, took it handy (too handy after looking at my time!) on the swim, cycle out was great, back tough to say the least, run out 5k up that cliff road and against the wind beyond tough but great 5k back. Well done to all the organisers, everything went 100% smoothly from what I saw, loads of safety people in the water, and marshals on the cycle warning of danger and watching for drafting, copious quantities of cakes, bars, recovery drink samples & water in the recovery zone.

My only gripe was on entering transition to setup before the race and being the third person IN A ROW to be told by the same marshal (there were other marshals there also who might not have been so ... strict) to go to the guy in the van to get my handlebar tape secured (wtf?!) - it wasn't loose or anything of the sort but I didn't want to argue with the guy who looked like he was in a fairly black mood. The person who was stopped in advance of me did argue and was told abruptly to get it sorted or he wouldn't be racing. I couldn't see anything wrong with his tape either. Fairly minor gripe on my part though. Apart from that, everything was great and well done again to all organisers, volunteers, marshals and competitors.

Nwm2

gombeen99 wrote: »

Had a great day at HOTW today, took it handy (too handy after looking at my time!) on the swim, cycle out was great, back tough to say the least, run out 5k up that cliff road and against the wind beyond tough but great 5k back. Well done to all the organisers, everything went 100% smoothly from what I saw, loads of safety people in the water, and marshals on the cycle warning of danger and watching for drafting, copious quantities of cakes, bars, recovery drink samples & water in the recovery zone.

My only gripe was on entering transition to setup before the race and being the third person IN A ROW to be told by the same marshal (there were other marshals there also who might not have been so ... strict) to go to the guy in the van to get my handlebar tape secured (wtf?!) - it wasn't loose or anything of the sort but I didn't want to argue with the guy who looked like he was in a fairly black mood. The person who was stopped in advance of me did argue and was told abruptly to get it sorted or he wouldn't be racing. I couldn't see anything wrong with his tape either. Fairly minor gripe on my part though. Apart from that, everything was great and well done again to all organisers, volunteers, marshals and competitors.

Well done to all at LTC for a yet another great race overall.

One gripe was that wave 1 started before all competitors were ready.

After the race briefing, they announced "all competitors move to the beach", whereupon a huge queue developed through the tiny exit from transition as all 700 competitors got moving. I was at the back of this queue, as were others from wave 1. It didn't strike me as a problem, as I thought there would be plenty of time before the start. But they let them off while some people were still making there way into the water.

I guess it took a minute or two for me to swim to the start line, and several others had the same problem. I was still passing breast strokers after several minutes swimming.

Of course you could argue that it is the competitors responsibility to be at the start line in time, which is true. However, you shouldn't have to muscle through a queue or have to sprint down the beach to make it if you were at the far side of transition like I was.

What they should have done was moved wave 1 to the beach first, then waited for a few mins for wave 2. This what happens elsewhere.

Still, it sure didn't cost me a podium place!!!

catweazle

I found this the toughest race I have done so far. Great swim and flew out on the bike but coming back was a killer, the run is tough as well with that headwind coming up the hills.

I am disappointed looking at the results that there were so few drafting penalties, on the way back in to Kilkee it was rampant, it reminded me of Athy last year. I saw a marshal shadow a group of ten or twelve in front of me for at least 3 or 4 minutes, so I was sure they were nabbed but obviously not

Buts that's my only moan very much enjoyed the race and will be back hopefully

gottarun

Thoroughly enjoyed this race yesterday. Well set up and organised & very safe on what is a tough course.

Have to agree with Catweazle above re drafting. Had far too many sit on my wheel, pull out to overtake and drop back in front before clearing my wheel properly and then not having the steam to push on. Made it look like I was drafting!! Didnt get pinged but plenty of mini pelotons which should have been pulled.

Well done to all!

tinydave

One gripe was that wave 1 started before all competitors were ready.

After the race briefing, they announced "all competitors move to the beach", whereupon a huge queue developed through the tiny exit from transition as all 700 competitors got moving. I was at the back of this queue, as were others from wave 1. It didn't strike me as a problem, as I thought there would be plenty of time before the start. But they let them off while some people were still making there way into the water.

I guess it took a minute or two for me to swim to the start line, and several others had the same problem. I was still passing breast strokers after several minutes swimming.

Of course you could argue that it is the competitors responsibility to be at the start line in time, which is true. However, you shouldn't have to muscle through a queue or have to sprint down the beach to make it if you were at the far side of transition like I was.

What they should have done was moved wave 1 to the beach first, then waited for a few mins for wave 2. This what happens elsewhere.

Still, it sure didn't cost me a podium place!!![/Quote]

Agreed! I was waiting to get out of transition for what seemed an age! Wave one were in the water at this stage! Got near the start on off they went! I was left on the beach along with others in my wave. So I spent most of the swim passing the weaker swimmers. I had a 30 min swim tho.

shg101

tinydave wrote: »

Agreed! I was waiting to get out of transition for what seemed an age! Wave one were in the water at this stage! Got near the start on off they went! I was left on the beach along with others in my wave. So I spent most of the swim passing the weaker swimmers. I had a 30 min swim tho.

After I got out of transition I was walking down to the sea, then I started running when I saw how close it looked to starting. I can't say how far I was from the start line when they started swimming, but I'm guessing it added a couple of minutes to my time, maybe more considering I couldn't draft off the swimmers I was aiming for. There were other wave 1 guys behind me as I was running down the beach too. Bit of a pisser alright.

Dowee

I was positioned away from the front of the field (around the middle) in the water and what probably didn't help the situation was that as some people were swimming up to the front to get a better position, some people behind me thought that this was an indication they had started the race so they started swimming up too. When the herd mentality kicks in it's tough to stop the momentum and so I think they let the race start before all hell broke loose.

I can't say for certain this is the case but certainly around me there were plenty of confusion.

pgibbo

Great race as ever. Well done LTC. Nice cycling jerseys too! :cool:

Agree with the lads on the drafting though. It was rampant. Last year there seemed to be a lot more marshalls giving warnings, etc.

That lad Yelveton is a class act. He looks like the real deal. :cool:

mitresize5

Another great HOTW but I have to echo the two points above. I was one of the people left on the beach for the start - which in a way I suppose I had control over myself so I'm not too miffed

What really pissed me off though was the amount of drafting - it was a joke to be honest. 3 or 4 big pelathons passed me out

At one stage I saw two different bike marshalls approach and talk to one particular big group so I thought that at least they'd be punished with a penalty. None of the handfull of numbers I remembered had a penalty against them on the results sheet so I was a bit pissed with that.

Besides that it was another great day out.

tinydave

Was everyone given a Medium top? i was given one at 8.30 on saturday morning and one of the lads said the same at reg friday evening.

BTW im no medium :P

goinglong

As always kilkee is one of the best races on the calendar year. limerick tri club always put on a great race. nice cycle top as well. the club are always pleasant and put on a good show.

Drafting on the way back was a joke. Lots of it going on with groups and groups of people at it. Very surprised more penalties were not given out esp when the marshalls saw them.

it’s always a great race but it must be said a big step down from last year which I felt compelled to post about. Last year what made the event so good was the recovery area and what was happening in this area and around the transition, it was top top class last year. like a pro race. This year that side of things was a big letdown. Also the goodie bag last year was incredible, it was poor this year. So in those respects the race took a step backward.

but aside it was a great day. Great night out at the hotel after….def the best after party on the circuit. All in all still one of the best races but bring back last year’s finishing touches which made it so special. These are things that make people want to come back again the year after. I know it’s not about goodie bags which it’s not but all the recovery area stuff was incredible last year.

saying that will be back again to beat my time. well done to limerick tri club once again. But bring back all the other stuff for 2012!!

shotgunmcos

Well done all who completed the HOTW on Saturday. It as a tough day with the chop in the water, the wind on the bike and run.

Personally I think the cycling top handed out this year is one of the nicest tops I've seen handed out at any Tri I've been around. That alone was worth the lack of cheerios, hairgels, shampoos, socks etc in the goodie bags. I Marshalled on the run course last year and on the bike course this year. The atmosphere was special again. There was a buzz at the finish and the after party was great craic as usual.

I had a nice vantage point on the bike course, down at the bottom of the hill swinging left towards Bearna. On the way out you could really tell who had bike handling skills and who didn't! For anyone doing this again next year I'd highly recommend a recce of the bike course and to take note of where the wind is coming from as it can change from day to day.

The drafting was shocking, absolutely shocking. There were 5 draft Marashalls out on the route and I fully agree that there should have been dozens of drafting penalties on the board. Ok, some groups of 5-6 would pass me again on their way up the hill. I asked some to break it up. I realise it is very difficult to not draft or be drafted going up the hill into the wind, you would want to be a very strong biker to overtake a group in those conditions, it would be difficult not to be implicated on a busy road in this situation. However I saw groups form before the church though or lines of bikes coming around the corner through Bearna and they were clearly working together. One group was 20-30 strong and more organised than a club sunday spin! I just laughed at that one and half of them laughed back!! What riled me though was 3 of the top 10 clearly working in unison. They amongst everyone should know better, have enough room to keep their distance as the field is fairly thin at this stage and lastly are probably strong enough bikers to conduct themselves fair and sqaure to a good split anyway. It was just plain cheating. I set a draft marshall off after them.

It was a hard slog in the last 15km of the bike (I cycled the route when the last person hit T2) but there was just no excusing the hiding going on. Some of the real heros were the ones last out of the water who back up that hill with no one else in sight

Geri 22

I can't believe 800 people did that race on Saturday! Fair play to Limerick Tri Club for organising it so well. It was hard not to draft at times with so many people on the course. I also got stuck behind some traffic on the bike which was kinda annoying but nothing I could really do about it except improve my swim!

That run was the hardest I've ever done. Nice to get encouragement on the way up though. Great race but it certainly deserves its title on Saturday!

mitresize5

goinglong wrote: »

As always kilkee is one of the best races on the calendar year. limerick tri club always put on a great race. nice cycle top as well. the club are always pleasant and put on a good show.

Drafting on the way back was a joke. Lots of it going on with groups and groups of people at it. Very surprised more penalties were not given out esp when the marshalls saw them.

it’s always a great race but it must be said a big step down from last year which I felt compelled to post about. Last year what made the event so good was the recovery area and what was happening in this area and around the transition, it was top top class last year. like a pro race. This year that side of things was a big letdown. Also the goodie bag last year was incredible, it was poor this year. So in those respects the race took a step backward.

but aside it was a great day. Great night out at the hotel after….def the best after party on the circuit. All in all still one of the best races but bring back last year’s finishing touches which made it so special. These are things that make people want to come back again the year after. I know it’s not about goodie bags which it’s not but all the recovery area stuff was incredible last year.

saying that will be back again to beat my time. well done to limerick tri club once again. But bring back all the other stuff for 2012!!

just on that i know the goodie bag and finishing area nearly made last years HOTW a loss making exercise for LTC which when you consider the amount of people doing it is incredibile.

That coupled with the inevitable drop in sponsership as the recession bits further makes the light goodie bag and recovery area more explainable so i'm happy enough to for go those

btw LTC is obviously a not for profit club so anything made goes back into the running of the club

cantswim

when you consider LTC have organised European Duathlon Champs, Joey Hannon and HOTW already this year I'd excuse alot of the little details which are nice to have and great when they are there. Its superb that they again managed to get marshalls out to help again.

on the drafting I think the guys at the front are the ones who need to be hammered with the penalties as that is actually where the money is won and lost. I have a certain amount of sympathy for those in the middle who find themselves going back and forth in what look like packs. it can be difficult to get out of either by putting in a sustained effort to get away (those drafting will probably catch up again anyways) or else dropping right back (probably only to get caught up in more packs). the race as it stands is probably too big for just 2 waves 10 minutes apart (esp when the swim is slightly short as it was on Saturday).

Overall though superb event again from LTC.

goinglong

mitresize5 wrote: »

just on that i know the goodie bag and finishing area nearly made last years HOTW a loss making exercise for LTC which when you consider the amount of people doing it is incredibile.

That coupled with the inevitable drop in sponsership as the recession bits further makes the light goodie bag and recovery area more explainable so i'm happy enough to for go those

btw LTC is obviously a not for profit club so anything made goes back into the running of the club

was actually talking to some one involved with the club that night and aside from tshirt/socks/swim cap everything else in the goodie bag and the finish / recovery area in 2010 was sourced at NO COST to the club by one member involved in org the race 2010. which has to be said was pretty impressive. obviously he wasnt involved this year. so according to this guy yes they did break even but it was not due to the finish area or goodie bag. meal vouchers and trophys as well as prize money as well as other extras the club give away was more of a drain as well as the usual running costs.

the races are put on at huge expense there are alot of other cost that no one sees running these races. hope they made money this year as they deserve it. think people taking part get quite a bit for their money. but as i said what they had last year in the reocvery area and the atmosphere that created really made the race, and it seems at little cost to the club, but obviosuly a huge amount of work.

as always the marshalls were top notch so well done to all of them. regards the drafting agree 100% but why have marshalls there if you are not going to penalise people? heard one guy got a 2 min penalty for unclipping his helmet early. think that is far less of a penalty offence than drafting!!

goinglong

cantswim wrote: »

when you consider LTC have organised European Duathlon Champs, Joey Hannon and HOTW already this year I'd excuse alot of the little details which are nice to have and great when they are there. Its superb that they again managed to get marshalls out to help again.

on the drafting I think the guys at the front are the ones who need to be hammered with the penalties as that is actually where the money is won and lost. I have a certain amount of sympathy for those in the middle who find themselves going back and forth in what look like packs. it can be difficult to get out of either by putting in a sustained effort to get away (those drafting will probably catch up again anyways) or else dropping right back (probably only to get caught up in more packs). the race as it stands is probably too big for just 2 waves 10 minutes apart (esp when the swim is slightly short as it was on Saturday).

Overall though superb event again from LTC.

agree 100% the top guys need to be rained in if drafting. set an example. true also about limerick 3 huge events in 2011 you wonder do any limerick athletes race there are so many marshalling!!!

aidinho

Two more small points to note on the early start in wave 1 of the swim. First of all I thought this year's HOTW was fantastic - really challenging but I took 10 minutes off my PB so I was delighted with it. I was one of the people still on the beach when the swim started and probably would have been annoyed if I wasn't so happy with my overall time.

1. Unless I'm mistaken the start was made using a whistle and not the universally acknowledged siren. I wasn't 100% sure it had started but swam hard out to the group nonetheless. I reached the back-markers and then had to stop and check if the race really had started (really hoping against hope at that point!). I did this a couple of times - again more in hope than anything.
2. I think this is really basic - but if you have orange marker buoys then you shouldn't have orange hats. The water was quite rough and due to the late start there wasn't time to really sort out sighting points. As such you rely on fleeting glimpses of buoys and having them the same colour as the hats messes this up. There are a lot of colours in the world!

As I said, I was delighted with the race and the whole day. It remains the best course and best marshalled event I've taken part in, just need to make sure to keep the standard very high on the small details.

Head The Wall

I would recommend dark blue buoys