TriAthy X

iwillhtfu

In fairness to you John it is refreshing to hear a race director coming on here and being open to discussion on their event.

Yes the race has issues the run route is a disaster to be honest. It's been a couple of years since I last raced there and it would be considered a local race to me yet each year I take part in DCT which wouldn't be local. Goes to show as a race director you know how to set up a good event. Hopefully you will bring positive changes to Athy.

I did hear reports that the communication prior to the event was a lot better this year. A mate was inundated with emails reminding him of his need for a licence

One thing that always turned me off the race was the attitude of previous organisers and there our way or nothing. They came across as arrogant at best in any correspondence I had with them. I assume they're still involved hopefully to a lesser degree.

I'm curious to see how prizes are handled this year as previous year it seemed to be hit and miss from what I have heard.

Has their been any consideration to returning to a 2 day event. I'm curious if the decision was cost related or pressure from residents. There are many routes into Athy one practically parallel to the closed road.

I think with a one day event and no changes to the run route you will always be up against it with crowds and the only alternative is to make the day longer resulting in later starts and more waiting around.

DCT always struck me as quality over quantity Athy always struck me as the opposite.

I wish you the best but you have your work cut out for you.

Good luck.

The Scullster

Sorry John, I probably should leave this well alone but now I am going to have to bore you to death with some petty arguments. Thanks for the kind offer by the way, but I think this might be a once off return to triathlon for me. Got some unfinished business with the king of all rip-offs (Ironman), before I hang up the boots.

johcondar wrote: »

sorry i dont know how to insert the quotes !
Its disappointing you think its all just about a profit

I made sure to use the word 'might' instead of 'are' when referring to the profits. I realise its a balancing act between the two. I just think that it makes sense to have less on that course.

johcondar wrote: »

Not harsh its a fair point but all races are open to criticism, There is one Olympic race charging €90 for entry this year.

and that race also got beaten up by me and others on here and elsewhere for that decision. Kilkee, has received more praise down through the years from me than any other race, but we criticise it when it deserves it too. When one race starts upping the price or adding in extra bells and whistles then pressure is put on all other races to follow suit. It changes from being 'all about the race' to being 'all about the experience'. Over the last 20 years I can't help but feel that this sport has been switching emphasis from being, first and foremost, a race to being a leisure event. In cycling terms its like switching from no frills racing to sportive riding. Over the years, anytime I typically saw a big increase in price, it has been instigated by one of the few For Profit races in Ireland (bar Kilkee this year which was so disappointing to see).

People have gotten so desensitised to all this now that they feel €50 or €60 for sprints and €80 to €100 for Olympic and longer races is justified.

johcondar wrote: »

Our entry fees are fair..........................you would be silly to think all races are not for profit, they are but the profit is usually going back into a club.

I happen to think that almost all triathlon entry fees are crazy. As you probably know, I have organised triathlons, running races, cycling races etc too for many years (but have stepped aside recently from the tri side). At one stage I had our entry fee for a sprint at €28. Our aim was to break even; any profit was a bonus. Cycling races aim to break even and do it for the good of the sport. So do many running clubs. For profit run races come onto the scene and up the prices - they invest a lot in marketing and provide a big day atmosphere with big goodie bags. There is a place for this but it does drown out club races and put pressure on them to compete with added extras.

johcondar wrote: »

'for profit race' is really just a non argument.

To you, maybe.

johcondar wrote: »

I would say TRiATHY supports more sporting clubs

GAA clubs. Again, if there was a triathlon club getting beneift out of this I would be less critical. When trilogy were involved I tended to hold my tongue a little more. And again, I am not saying club races will get no criticism; just less.

johcondar wrote: »

Races run by Tri clubs SHOULD BE of a higher standard as they are being run and organised by triathlon clubs and are fair game for even harsher criticism as they should not what they are doing ?

In general I have found club run events to be better, so there has never been much need to criticise. The 3 big 'For profit' races provide relatively poor race experiences in my opinion. I had avoided doing any of the big 3 for years. Bigger doesn't always mean better, but I suppose (judging on your feedback), to many it does.

I repeat this all the time but I know I am in the minority on this issue. I am a racing purist. I am sure I sound like an old man telling the kids to get off his lawn. But sure, thats what discussion boards are for. A little bit of a debate never killed anyone. Two things are certain next year - your race will sell out and entry prices to the sport, in general, will rise.

RacoonQueen

We needed to offer a proper goodie bag ………we did that, we needed to have a medal for everyone….we did that, a better finish line experience and food…….we did that.

These are probably all things that underline what has been said elsewhere on thread that the average boards tri forum poster is not the target market for this race. Fairly sure no one here cares about this stuff.

I didn't race this year, haven't done since 2015 - so can't comment on this year. 2015 was fine for me in the double as a mid packer, but can understand where zico and shane are coming from and the frustration and the views they have on the dangers as people who are at the front of the race.
I think most races cater for the people at the back and from my experience of triathlons and from reading comments on this thread I think it's the same here.
The people who are being overtaken by faster athletes aren't bothered. They don't have to do the overtaking manoeuvre, they don't have to hit the back of a pack etc...same on the swim...they won't have hordes of bikes alongside them while they're out on the run (just like when swims are shortened or canelled to accommodate weaker swimmers) In the middle and at the back, they see a different race from each other, never mind what they see compared to the leaders. Hence, more positive outcome at the end of a race for them (also, sweeping generalisation here but they love medals and goody bags etc..)

By an large, the average boards poster is looking for a different race experience than the large majority of the (large) Athy field. I'm not sure a race the size of Athy can cater for both, just like the way the majority of Athy entrants would never dream of entering some of the other, smaller, club races that the average boards poster would hold in high esteem because it has everything THEY want from a race.

All just my opinion, my two experiences of Athy were fine, but that was when the sprint was on the sunday so no major issues with race traffic and I did the double, so again, not many other athletes on the course for the majority of my race.

FWIW, I thought appointing you as race director was a very positive step for Athy and have no doubt you can bring major improvements to the race...but it still may not be the sort of race that people on here will enjoy as much as they enjoy others. You can't make roads and paths wider to accommodate the number of athletes better

johcondar

The only thing I will add in closing is that the first Open water swim race I did was TriAthy and since then I never looked back as a Triathlete so it wokred for me and i am sure many many others. I have raced it many times and could see its full potential even then. Yes its for the masses but why not ? The NS races are for the AG's and the Cat 1 / Cat 2 are for the very best with no back markers to get in the way but they only get 10/15 per race. If thats all we catered (cat1 / Cat2) for the whole sport would disappear.

Nothing Petty at all about your arguments as you are one of the few speaking from RD experience
Thanks for all your comments and many of them noted and hopefully will be in place next year.
rgs John

peter kern

RacoonQueen wrote: »

These are probably all things that underline what has been said elsewhere on thread that the average boards tri forum poster is not the target market for this race. Fairly sure no one here cares about this stuff.

I didn't race this year, haven't done since 2015 - so can't comment on this year. 2015 was fine for me in the double as a mid packer, but can understand where zico and shane are coming from and the frustration and the views they have on the dangers as people who are at the front of the race.
I think most races cater for the people at the back and from my experience of triathlons and from reading comments on this thread I think it's the same here.
The people who are being overtaken by faster athletes aren't bothered. They don't have to do the overtaking manoeuvre, they don't have to hit the back of a pack etc...same on the swim...they won't have hordes of bikes alongside them while they're out on the run (just like when swims are shortened or canelled to accommodate weaker swimmers) In the middle and at the back, they see a different race from each other, never mind what they see compared to the leaders. Hence, more positive outcome at the end of a race for them (also, sweeping generalisation here but they love medals and goody bags etc..)

By an large, the average boards poster is looking for a different race experience than the large majority of the (large) Athy field. I'm not sure a race the size of Athy can cater for both, just like the way the majority of Athy entrants would never dream of entering some of the other, smaller, club races that the average boards poster would hold in high esteem because it has everything THEY want from a race.

All just my opinion, my two experiences of Athy were fine, but that was when the sprint was on the sunday so no major issues with race traffic and I did the double, so again, not many other athletes on the course for the majority of my race.

FWIW, I thought appointing you as race director was a very positive step for Athy and have no doubt you can bring major improvements to the race...but it still may not be the sort of race that people on here will enjoy as much as they enjoy others. You can't make roads and paths wider to accommodate the number of athletes better

the reality is tri an mhi oly last weekend had everything you want and you say the people here will enjoy ....
it got 115 people on race day .......
people write loads of sh.te on boards but then dont do the races they fantacise about ( not talking aobut you but as a collective ) . I did not see anybody from the complain about commerical races boardies doing that race .....
one of the most vocal was even looking for a slot not long ago for athy rather than waiting a week for tri an mhi ......

Tri an mhi had 6 k of the run on a 7 meter wide road not a single car on it ( maybe there was one car )
I got passed by one car on the bike , did not have to wait one second , because a back marker was in the way, marshalls were fantastic , parking was 20 meter from transiton , 50 meter from race registration ( took me 1 min to register ), and the swim start was 50 m form the car.

one person even put a table in front of their house with water bottles and candies for people to take on the run .


its one of the best races out there and it gets 115 people ...

would love to see one boardie that complains about commercial races or overcrowded races to tell me they did tri an mhi .

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

.....
one of the most vocal was even looking for a slot not long ago for athy rather than waiting a week for tri an mhi ......


would love to see one boardie that complains about commercial races or overcrowded races to tell me they did tri an mhi .

One was a double Olympic, the other was only an Olympic distance race. You're not comparing like with like. Shane has already outlined his reasons as to why he ended up racing in Athy. And I'm guessing, like me, if Tri an Mhí still put on a half distance race, he would have been there instead.

The Scullster

peter kern wrote: »

one of the most vocal was even looking for a slot not long ago for athy rather than waiting a week for tri an mhi ......

would love to see one boardie that complains about commercial races or overcrowded races to tell me they did tri an mhi .

presume you are talking about me here Peter

I thought it would be pretty obvious to you that if there was a half Ironman option in Tri an Mhi I would have been there, just like Alan said. Even though I have never done that race, I have praised it in the past. It seems like the sort of race I would love. Not sure I have to justify to you my support of club races down through the years. You would be hard pressed to find a more vocal supporter of club races. In the past, this has included turning down free entries into commerical races on point of principle.

My racing plans for the year were made in January and TriAthy was not on it. It didn't even enter my thoughts and hadn't for the last 10 years. No commercial race was in my racing plan, bar the mother of all rip-offs which is the Ironman (I hate supporting this brand). I was targeting two half Ironman races before the Ironman in October (Humbert and Lost Sheep). The canceling of the Humbert put a big hole in my schedule. Signing up for Triathy Double Olympic was very much a last minute gamble as proved by my late transfer into the race.

Way off topic but........with regards to doing Olympic or Sprint races. I don't have a huge desire to do them anymore; be it club races or For profit races. Either too expensive, too much hassle or you have to book them too far in advance. Much prefer doing our own little private club triathlons against the clock each week with family and friends on our Lough Derg Sprint course. I get just as much out of them and they are 5 mins from my house. I would do about 15 of these a season and benchmark my times against previous years.

Arsenium

johcondar wrote: »

The only thing I will add in closing is that the first Open water swim race I did was TriAthy and since then I never looked back as a Triathlete so it wokred for me and i am sure many many others. I have raced it many times and could see its full potential even then. Yes its for the masses but why not ? The NS races are for the AG's and the Cat 1 / Cat 2 are for the very best with no back markers to get in the way but they only get 10/15 per race. If thats all we catered (cat1 / Cat2) for the whole sport would disappear.

Nothing Petty at all about your arguments as you are one of the few speaking from RD experience
Thanks for all your comments and many of them noted and hopefully will be in place next year.
rgs John

I'm the last person in the world that should be commenting in this company but who cares :-)

I agree with the above completely. TriAthy was my first ever triathlon having been involved in running for years (and still am). As above it was my first ever open water swim (as in a race as opposed to training sessions). Obviously I was doing the Try race. It was a massive eye opener to see the organisation that goes into a race like this compared to a running race (either for profit or non profit). The fact that there were 4 races in parallel only added to that.

Out on the bike course was a real eye opener. I'm not a great cyclist and seeing top triathletes speeding past as I tried to stay out of their way was amazing but I did think if I wasnt as alert as I was that I could easily cause trouble. Out on the course was fine as the roads were wide enough but I can see where people would have been concerned coming back into Athy where it narrowed up.

The run...after the legs stabilized I enjoyed the run. However when I came to the bridge the only way I knew to go left was because I had read the briefing a couple of times. There was no marshal there. But that's not a major issue for me as I wasnt chasing a time... I was just enjoying the whole experience.

Anyway, from a total newbie perspective, I left Athy buzzing about triathlon, definitely a convert. I am off to buy a new bike and a tri suit and cant wait for the Tri an Mhi Sprint in September !

So the sport has definitely gained one new participant as a result of Tri Athy. And I imagine I will be back again next year.

peter kern

no i dont
it was bryangigsy looking for oly in athy ....

The Scullster wrote: »

presume you are talking about me here Peter

I thought it would be pretty obvious to you that if there was a half Ironman option in Tri an Mhi I would have been there, just like Alan said. Even though I have never done that race, I have praised it in the past. It seems like the sort of race I would love. Not sure I have to justify to you my support of club races down through the years. You would be hard pressed to find a more vocal supporter of club races. In the past, this has included turning down free entries into commerical races on point of principle.

My racing plans for the year were made in January and TriAthy was not on it. It didn't even enter my thoughts and hadn't for the last 10 years. No commercial race was in my racing plan, bar the mother of all rip-offs which is the Ironman (I hate supporting this brand). I was targeting two half Ironman races before the Ironman in October (Humbert and Lost Sheep). The canceling of the Humbert put a big hole in my schedule. Signing up for Triathy Double Olympic was very much a last minute gamble as proved by my late transfer into the race.

Way off topic but........with regards to doing Olympic or Sprint races. I don't have a huge desire to do them anymore; be it club races or For profit races. Either too expensive, too much hassle or you have to book them too far in advance. Much prefer doing our own little private club triathlons against the clock each week with family and friends on our Lough Derg Sprint course. I get just as much out of them and they are 5 mins from my house. I would do about 15 of these a season and benchmark my times against previous years.

pgibbo

peter kern wrote: »

no i dont
it was bryangigsy looking for oly in athy ....

Sure he's too busy cycling from Coke Park to Croagh Patrick

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

no i dont
it was bryangigsy looking for oly in athy ....

He hasn't made a single post in this thread. I wouldn't consider that very vocal.

peter kern

The Scullster wrote: »

presume you are talking about me here Peter

I thought it would be pretty obvious to you that if there was a half Ironman option in Tri an Mhi I would have been there, just like Alan said. Even though I have never done that race, I have praised it in the past. It seems like the sort of race I would love. Not sure I have to justify to you my support of club races down through the years. You would be hard pressed to find a more vocal supporter of club races. In the past, this has included turning down free entries into commerical races on point of principle.

My racing plans for the year were made in January and TriAthy was not on it. It didn't even enter my thoughts and hadn't for the last 10 years. No commercial race was in my racing plan, bar the mother of all rip-offs which is the Ironman (I hate supporting this brand). I was targeting two half Ironman races before the Ironman in October (Humbert and Lost Sheep). The canceling of the Humbert put a big hole in my schedule. Signing up for Triathy Double Olympic was very much a last minute gamble as proved by my late transfer into the race.

Way off topic but........with regards to doing Olympic or Sprint races. I don't have a huge desire to do them anymore; be it club races or For profit races. Either too expensive, too much hassle or you have to book them too far in advance. Much prefer doing our own little private club triathlons against the clock each week with family and friends on our Lough Derg Sprint course. I get just as much out of them and they are 5 mins from my house. I would do about 15 of these a season and benchmark my times against previous years.

Send me email for lough derg half im self suported triathlon begining of may next year and i will be there.

i guess doing something posetive would be much better than complaining about something most people like.
.

Macy0161

peter kern wrote: »

its one of the best races out there and it gets 115 people ...

would love to see one boardie that complains about commercial races or overcrowded races to tell me they did tri an mhi .

Well, for me, I went with Athy because of dates/ location worked for me. June Bank holiday worked, last weekend didn't. Had already pencilled in their sprint race.

It was my first out and out "commercial" race (not sure where Tri the Hook stands, not club run, but not for profit?) and I'll be continuing to give my preference to club races.

The Scullster

peter kern wrote: »

no i dont it was bryangigsy looking for oly in athy ....

Apologies so, my mistake.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

He hasn't made a single post in this thread. I wouldn't consider that very vocal.

well done keyboard warrior.

that's the reason why you will never find a girlfriend.

either you dont know his thinking than maybe try to read up. (see link to another link )

or if you know it and try to be akward than i give you 10 out of 10 for your effort

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=95895750

iAcesHigh

I would agree with Peter on this one and just add that I simply don't see any point in complaining about prices of things that are not essential for life. We live in capitalistic times, for better and for worse, so if you don't like/can't afford certain event, simply don't do them. Long term, overpriced things mostly won't make it in this world (probably only extremes might) as there won't be enough people willing to pay for the conveniences/medals/fancy bags etc.

I did both Athy and Tri An Mhi and loved both (Tri An Mhi is one of my favorite ones also). I saw number of issues in Athy, with runners and bikers sharing the road being the biggest one, but to be fair I had issues in Collinstown as well. For me racing experience aren't comparable, but I knew that coming in. It's simple - think what's important for you, write down pros and cons and signup for what suits you. If you don't like the price and that's important for you, stop paying it and that's all there is to it.

On the other hand, good feedback is something I think is always good to give which is why I try to review every freaking car rental/hotel room/event I book/am part of. In that spirit:

Athy

1. having runners sharing road with bikers is a huge no-go, even if you guys manage to put some cones there - that's just a big accident to happen and stating 10k people did this already and nobody got hurt doesn't prove anything - up until now, we were all lucky (if it matters at all, there was a near miss right in front of me, lady got kicked in a hand by cyclist closing in and trying to move towards the end of the road as other guy was passing him on his right side)
2. Transition needs to be closed while people are still using it - although this was convenient for me because I was just preparing for my Sprint, there were guys coming into the transition while I and many others were still allowed officially to be there - this is demoralizing for the athletes, especially beginners, who don't feel "important" enough to get a proper race experience they should have and while I did go out as soon as I realized this a lot of them didn't (although, since they were allowed to be there and nobody was pushing them out, they didn't do anything wrong)
3. Indeed, having too many different races in this format on the same day is a bit too optimistic, to say the least. Somebody who is doing double Olympic can't really be expected to always perfectly "manage" huge and crazy crowds coming in on their 5th kilometer while at the same time they are doing their 75th. Different timing might solve this though, I'll leave that to you and hope you're right
4. Bag drop was a huge joke, but I suppose you're aware of that. Literally anybody could have gone in there and pick whatever they wanted, the only guy there was completely overwhelmed. This needs to be in bigger space and better guarded
5. NOBODY checked bike number of my friend and bike number on his bike when exiting transition - it was quite late, true enough, but that shouldn't EVER happen (at the same time, I was exiting on the other side and my bike was properly checked)

Tri An Mhi

1. Extra buoy on the way back would be great as I suppose I wasn't the only one struggling with sun 2 years straight so navigation was really hard, to say the least. While navigation is athletes responsibility, puting an extra buoy shouldn't really be too big of a deal
2. This isn't probably problem for organizers, but guys working in that small village where we had double left turn basically let truck just in front of me creating perfect situation for a big crash. I know this wasn't race with closed roads but I almost crashed in his back since truck needs quite a lot of time to get going, and I was just turning from around the corner (guys did see me coming in, but they probably simple missjudged my speed) - good I was on defensive coming to this turn and not really going crazy chasing time/anybody since I probably wouldn't get to stop on time...
3. Lastly, this is probably not going to be welcomed from all, but if we're getting some food could we get anything else than a potato and extras? I'm never counting on food after races and consider this only a plus + bear in mind I might be in minority here (probably best to simply talk to a bit more people about it), but something like what Wicklow Triathlon Club does in Bray for their Aquathlons (soup + variations of sandwiches) or what Dunboyne duathlon guys had earlier this year (the same as above + cakes/cookies + warm drink) seems way better and at worst, should cost roughly the same offering a bit different more diverse things. Hell, Blessington Tri has perfect setup and with kids helping out it's pure enjoyment to grab a coffee, sandwich and complain how you missed your swim and added those extra 200 meters I was even last year surprised how there is no sponsors on the spot (avonmore guys and just eat seem to be targeting tri races this year, last year I often saw those For Goodness Shake ones etc) who could secure a bit more "atmosfere" for triathletes, but also supporters - maybe some extra seating chairs for grabbing a coffee, maybe an extra tent to drink one if it's raining/windy etc. but also, I would suppose organizers did their best and sponsors aren't really willing to engage in an event that seems to be a bit off course/not close to Dublin/Galway/any biggish town...

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

well done keyboard warrior.

I don't know how to take the pink text, but I hope it at least means you see the irony in calling somebody a keyboard warrior and then going onto say this:
"that's the reason why you will never find a girlfriend."
Also the fact that not alone did you not participate in the race, you didn't spectate either, but still see fit to argue with two people who did race, would seem to suggest it's you who is the keyboard warrior. It's also makes me question your agenda when you get more defensive about a race you don't have a stake in than the race director himself.

either you dont know his thinking than maybe try to read up. (see link to another link )

Whether I know about bryangiggsy and his views on race entry fees has nothing to do with this discussion. It's completely irrelevant to this thread to mention a poster who has said absolutely nothing about the race, good, bad or indifferent. How could I or anybody else have possibly known you were talking about bryangiggsy, in the below post?

one of the most vocal was even looking for a slot not long ago for athy rather than waiting a week for tri an mhi ......

would love to see one boardie that complains about commercial races or overcrowded races to tell me they did tri an mhi .

But besides this thread, he hasn't contributed to the forum in 6 months. So just like my marital status, I think you should leave him out of it. I assumed you were talking about Shane Scully and me when you posted about someone racing in Athy, but not Collinstown. (And I challenge you to find one instance where I have complained about the price Tri-Athy charge.) Shane assumed you were talking about him and I'd wager anything, anybody following the thread would have said the same.

or if you know it and try to be akward than i give you 10 out of 10 for your effort

It's nothing to do with that, Peter, I just find it hard sometimes to let your poorly considered posts go unchallenged.

iwillhtfu

Probably for the best ye both put it to bed now lads

Love it or hate it Tri Athy will roll on entry opened yesterday for 2018

mossym

mod hat on.

peter, cut it out. i'm a bit surprised you resorted to personal insults, but someone's personal life shouldn't become a topic for debate on here, let alone used as an insult. pink or not, cut it out.

tunney, same goes for you..

zico, as you replied to pk's post i'll leave it there, but if you want it deleted send me a pm

guys, debate the merits of the race as vigorously as you want. leave the schoolyard style personal cr$p out of it

RacoonQueen

Since we've compared Athy to other races...Blessington had same issue yesterday with olympic athletes running into sprint athletes...open roads on top of that so not only did we get stuck behind sprint cyclists..but also go stuck behind the cars/vans that were stuck behind sprint cyclists making it impossible to do overtake for those stretches.

Probably the only complaint you could have about blessington, other than that the perfect race. Quick, easy registration, lots of parking, probably the best marshalling I've ever seen at a race...I didn't know the route and was convinced I'd go wrong somewhere, marshalls made that impossible. Gave clear instructions of who was to turn where. They really deserve credit for that on both the bike and run route they were fantastic.

Lots of grub and tea and coffee at the end (seriously, fair play, endless supply of sandwiches). No messing with goody bags, medals, t-shirts...just good org, good marshalling and good racing.
If they can get Wicklow County Council to redo some of those bumpy roads it will be one of the best races on the calendar next year.

Mods perhaps we could have a race review thread where we can throw comparisons of races?

and still ricky villa

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Mods perhaps we could have a race review thread where we can throw comparisons of races?

Could I include my story of being chased by trumpet wielding cub scouts/marshalls after taking a wrong turn during the Malta marathon a few years back?

mossym

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Could I include my story of being chased by trumpet wielding cub scouts/marshalls after taking a wrong turn during the Malta marathon a few years back?

pics or gtfo

Casula

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Since we've compared Athy to other races...Blessington had same issue yesterday with olympic athletes running into sprint athletes...open roads on top of that so not only did we get stuck behind sprint cyclists..but also go stuck behind the cars/vans that were stuck behind sprint cyclists making it impossible to do overtake for those stretches.

Probably the only complaint you could have about blessington, other than that the perfect race. Quick, easy registration, lots of parking, probably the best marshalling I've ever seen at a race...I didn't know the route and was convinced I'd go wrong somewhere, marshalls made that impossible. Gave clear instructions of who was to turn where. They really deserve credit for that on both the bike and run route they were fantastic.

Lots of grub and tea and coffee at the end (seriously, fair play, endless supply of sandwiches). No messing with goody bags, medals, t-shirts...just good org, good marshalling and good racing.
If they can get Wicklow County Council to redo some of those bumpy roads it will be one of the best races on the calendar next year.

Mods perhaps we could have a race review thread where we can throw comparisons of races?

Yes, really enjoyed this race at the weekend. Swim is as nice a setting as you're likely to get this near Dublin for an open water swim. Bike got a bit congested and the good weather probably contributed to traffic being a bit heavier than everyone hoped. An earlier start should help that issue next year. You're right about the road surface; for 2/3k it's a bit too rough to really bomb along on the TT bars so hopefully we'll see some resurfacing there. Overall though, it was a great race and very well organised and marshalled. By the way, did anyone get an acccurate distance on the swim? Times seemed slow for 1500 so I'm guessing it was longer.

9Crimes

Credit where credit is due I found this race near unrecognisable from the last few editions.

Note I was in wave 2 of Double Olympic and am only commenting on my experience but there was much less congestion than in previous years.

I encountered some bike traffic on lap one when rejoining the sprint course - there were a good few try a tri's on the course but it wasn't as bad as previously and I would hope those at the pointy end of the race got out ahead of them.

Same on the run, much less congested than previous years. The try a tri's were long finished along with a lot of the sprint competitors by the time I got out on the run course and the lead Olympic triathletes were starting out as I was starting lap 3.

The problems with the run laps and where to go was addressed with John walnutt taking charge and positioning himself at the critical point on the run course so credit to him.

Things to improve on for next year (there's always room for improvement!!):

1: Massive sign needed where Olympic and sprint bike course diverge (maybe one of those digital signs on a trailer). 1/2 sprint athletes just followed the bike in front and went onto Olympic course before quickly realising their mistake. I will say their was a sign there and marshals but it wasn't obvious enough for some people.

2: Garda needed to direct traffic out of gaa grounds after the race. Took at least 20mins to get out.

3: bag drop security after race wasn't great. There was a guy there but when I went to pick my bag up there was about 20 other athletes wandering through the bags looking for theirs & try as he might the Marshall was a little overwhelmed by the volume of people and couldn't check everyone.


4: lastly & this is a pet hate of mine, the scaffolding used to rack the bikes need to be higher - my bike wouldn't fit under easily, needed to angle it over to get it on/off. Might have been better for other races where transition wasn't in the field.

Overall though a much improved experience and will be back again next year!

Supernintento Chalmers

9Crimes wrote: »

4: lastly & this is a pet hate of mine, the scaffolding used to rack the bikes need to be higher - my bike wouldn't fit under easily, needed to angle it over to get it on/off. Might have been better for other races where transition wasn't in the field.

Overall though a much improved experience and will be back again next year!

Good points, I would agree. I experienced the same issue as 4. but by putting the bike on the rack backwards, i.e. with the rear of the saddle on top of the scaffold bar, it solved the problem.