TriAthy 2nd/3rd June

peter kern

Holly Ambitious Talc wrote: »

Specific to tri? more and more as time goes on.

That then leads to the next question, how do you think they can get to the international level if there is not some high quality races in Ireland? and the emphasis is on some maybe 5 -7 a year out of 300 ( about 2 % of races) .

Also how much do you think it costs an athlete ( in trainings time and money) to get to an level till they are being talked about on boards,ie like the abu dhabi thread?

longshank

JohnM77 wrote: »

Personally I think Athy is a better and more enjoyable race now than it was in the first couple of years - I have done it every year since it began.

1. I think it is better organised now that it was initially.

2. The swim course is better than the initial course which was nearly all downstream bar the last 300m.

3. The bike course for the Olympic is better now in my opnion. The old out and back course twice was boring and this led to the biggest ever draftfest I have seen at any race anywhere. There used to be groups of 20-30 cyclists ploughing up and down the road and it was impossible to marshall.

4. The run course is still not ideal as it is way too narrow for the volume of people running on the river bank but in the first few years you had to traverse a section which was covered in some plastic sheeting and was like running in a bouncy castle and was a recipe for a broken ankle.

In fairness to the organisers they have tried to improve the race year on year. We all know that this race is a business aimed at making money but I think they do try to put on a good race for people, create a good atmosphere, take on board feedback and the majority of people go home happy which is the main thing really. If people did not enjoy this race they wouldn't sign up in such numbers.

I agree with DaveR1 though and I think the race would benefit from one wave containing the top 100 or so athletes. How this is can be done I don't know but it would definitely add to the event.

I don't think anyone is questioning that the course has gotten better. It is more a question of the perception of the race and I think the lack of elite athletes has definitley got something to do with it. The idea of an elite wave heading off first with enough prize money to attract serious athletes is a very good one, as peter says this opens the opportunity for TV coverage etc, etc.
If it was all about the course races like Hell of the West, Bo Peep, Lost Sheep etc. would be world class, an event is about more than just the course.

elvis jones

Howdy all,

Just wanted to say we had a meeting last night and the points raised here and sent to me were discussed. They were very welcome as they come from those who have actually raced themselves.

On the security topic wristbands got a good reaction and we are looking at introducing them for next year for athletes only and security/marshalls in transition is to be beefed up.

The website issue is also being handled with the hosting servers being the main problem i believe.

The signage on double olympic/olympic run is to be looked at and the location of the 1st water station could be moved slightly.

Thanks so much for all the feedback.

See you in 2013:cool:

RacoonQueen

elvis jones wrote: »

Howdy all,

Just wanted to say we had a meeting last night and the points raised here and sent to me were discussed. They were very welcome as they come from those who have actually raced themselves.

On the security topic wristbands got a good reaction and we are looking at introducing them for next year for athletes only and security/marshalls in transition is to be beefed up.

The website issue is also being handled with the hosting servers being the main problem i believe.

The signage on double olympic/olympic run is to be looked at and the location of the 1st water station could be moved slightly.

Thanks so much for all the feedback.

See you in 2013:cool:

Did you mention to them that the website is ugly and they would solve some of the downtime problems if the made it less ugh.
Large, flashy websites are ridiclously unecessary.

elvis jones

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Did you mention to them that the website is ugly and they would solve some of the downtime problems if the made it less ugh.
Large, flashy websites are ridiclously unecessary.

Indeed it has:)