Slane Triathlon

NeedsTraining

Hey all,

Just wondering if many from here are doing the Slane Tri at the weekend?

Cheers,

NT

Bambaata

2 star (poor)

Being from just over the road i couldnt resist the family day out so i parted with the criminal cost to enter. Looking forward to it as itll be the first race the family have come along but the weather isnt looking so great!!

toomuchdetail

Looks like a good one , the run around the castle grounds will be good .
Cost was a barrier , doing Westport as its beside me but grew up a few miles from Slane so would have liked to have given it a shot .Good luck and enjoy

Macanri

Bambaata wrote: »

Being from just over the road i couldnt resist the family day out so i parted with the criminal cost to enter. Looking forward to it as itll be the first race the family have come along but the weather isnt looking so great!!

Great result Bambaata, sorry to see you were just pipped at the post for a podium. T1 must have been a bit away from the swim exit looking at the times.

Bambaata

2 star (poor)

Cheers Macanri, i was catching 3rd but just ran out of ground. it couldnt have been 5km either as it was a very tough hilly run (bike too!). Happy enough with 4th though but 3rd wud have been nicer ;-)

I'll do a report tomorrow as im too busy eating all around me right now :P

NeedsTraining

2 star (poor)

Well done Bambaata, great result.
Transition was 400m from the swim exit and bike mount was about 200m from transition.
Very challenging course but enjoyable.

Macanri

Bambaata wrote: »

Cheers Macanri, i was catching 3rd but just ran out of ground. it couldnt have been 5km either as it was a very tough hilly run (bike too!). Happy enough with 4th though but 3rd wud have been nicer ;-)

I'll do a report tomorrow as im too busy eating all around me right now :P

Yea it looked a tough enough course from what I read. Another great race from you though, enjoy the night. I'm a Drogheda head myself - banished to Dublin now though! The last time I was in Slane Castle I was tapping my foot and nodding my head to The Rollin Stones.

Bambaata

2 star (poor)

yeah it was a good run route. pretty much entirely a trail run but not too loose underfoot. if im to do this one again next year itll need to half its entry price! they may have had a "pig" on offer after but it took me longer to get it than it did for me to complete the race!! i queued for about 75 mins to get the bloody food!!

calistro

1 star (terrible)

Just a spectators view but I thought the event was very poorly organised and marshalled. Witnessed more than once uninformed marshals re-arranging the run in etc and then shouting at spectators to move even though they got it wrong in the first place. At one stage there were bikes coming in & going out and also runners returning all down one narrow path, one of the first runners out had to dive into the grass verge to avoid incoming cyclists. I was talking to one guy who left shortly after T2 because he was unimpressed with the organisation of the event and he was only there to try and get information on getting into the sport.

lazzie81

Firstly, Bambaata, quality performance today...It was a savage course, but very enjoyable...but Calistra...ya must be a perfectionist...lets not forget this was alive outside's first tri...I've attended all their events this year and they have been nothing short of savage!!! Today was no exception...a fast swim, tough cycle and a trail run through the grounds of slane...a great opportunity...and a credit to the crew at aliveoutside...Rome wasn't built in a day my friend...

As for the grub...Bet it was worth the wait Bambaata...Lets not forget, 400 competitors plus family and friends etc...The guys did good...:)

cantswim

lazzie81 wrote: »

Firstly, Bambaata, quality performance today...It was a savage course, but very enjoyable...but Calistra...ya must be a perfectionist...lets not forget this was alive outside's first tri...I've attended all their events this year and they have been nothing short of savage!!! Today was no exception...a fast swim, tough cycle and a trail run through the grounds of slane...a great opportunity...and a credit to the crew at aliveoutside...Rome wasn't built in a day my friend...

As for the grub...Bet it was worth the wait Bambaata...Lets not forget, 400 competitors plus family and friends etc...The guys did good...:)

I think Alive outside should sign you up for their marketing team (if you aren't already on it).

at 65 quid the things mentioned above are pretty basic things to expect are right on the day.

Bambaata

2 star (poor)

right so here's my report:

Swim:
A downstream 750m suited me great as even with a focus on this in the last 2 months I'm still not happy and am losing too much ground on those ahead. I didn't get comfortable on the swim either. The fact that it was my first outing in the wetsuit this season probably wasn't a good idea. I did some zig zagging as we negotiated the bends. I felt i couldn't trust the current as it would have had me go wide on the bends. So out of the water in 9:26 in 22nd and onto the long uphill run to transition. Luckily they matted the gravel. I dropped my goggles half way up and lost a second or two retrieving! I wont be doing that hat/goggles in the sleeve of the wetsuit in future.

T1:
It was a looooonnnng run to the bike mount on the narrow path but i got away quick enough and passed a few as soon as we got out of the "no passing" zone.

Bike:
I'm from the area so i know the bike course well and had recc'd it a few weeks back. The first half of the lap is slightly uphill and the surface is good so i made good headway passing plenty on lap 1. There was some very fast parts (hitting 60km/hr+ at time) and some long drags. There is no major hills but 1 requiring some gritting of the teeth and some out of the saddle pushes towards the tennis club. I indicated as to go on my 2nd lap but the marshall still pointed me towards the castle. Luckily i knew where to go and avoided his directions. He then realised his mistake and pointed me the right way. Lap two was much quieter. Id been told there was 3 to 4 ahead so i pushed on to try and catch them. Passed a few more from earlier waves or the back of our wave and got back to the castle without incident. I had walked out the bike route before the race to check the mount/dismount line but to my surprise I was called to dismount about 100 to 150m before the point we had mounted!! I think this is something which should have been mentioned at the briefing. Also the dismount was literally just around the turn into the castle grounds and thus i had to fully stop, take my shoes out of the pedals and then take my feet out, grab them and run. I lost a lot of time there and i usually leap off pushing 17 - 20km/hr. I finished the bike in 42:31 (4th), it was longer than the advertised 22km. I'm almost sure i noticed a 23km marker up around the tennis club and my speedo put it at about 24km in total back to the dismount cone.

T2:
The run back to transition was agony on the tarmac. Luckily my feet were quite cold which numbed some of the pain. I flaffed around and lost some time looking for my shoes which id makred with a yellow towel but for some reason i still had difficulty finding them.

Run:
So out and onto the run which first brought us back down the narrow path which was shared with people coming back in with their bikes. I think they should look to possibly change that as its quite narrow and i had to run onto the verge to avoid some incoming bike. The run is largely grass/trail with some killer short climbs. I really enjoyed the challenge though. I had seen the top 3 or 4 coming from transition and the chase was on. I knew id never catch the leader nor 2nd but i was pushing to catch anyone else that was infront,. I passed plenty but with 6 waves it was hard to know if they were in my wave or from earlier waves. I didn't really know where i was but knew i was top 10 so i pushed on towards a guy ahead that i knew was in my wave. I was making good ground on him but unfortunately ran out of ground and with a 200 - 300m downhill finish i knew i wasn't going to get him once he got over the last climb. My run was 17:28 and good enough for 5th quickest run which was encouraging as the run is an area i have been working a fair bit on. In the end i was 4th and just 8 seconds behind the guy i was chasing. I made a lot of time on him. I don't believe it was 5km as with the climbs on that course i would be really shocked to post a 17:28 5km run! That said i don't think it was far off. I mapped it on mapmyrun and it comes up at over 6km!! (i wont be trusting mapmyrun in future!!).

Happy enough with 4th and in the end i was quickest in my age group. I was disgusted with the 65 entry before the event and feel even more ripped off now. It was ridiculous to have to queue for so long for the food. It was nice alight but certainly not worth queueing for longer than it took me to complete the race!! If I'm to do this race next year the price will need to come back down to earth. Max I'd pay for it would be 35 - 40. I say lose the pig and just give us something simple which doesn't take 70 - 80mins to get and when i did get it they were a bit scabby with the amount on offer and yes i did ask for more after i realised he had given my a 5th of what id normally eat and was hoping to get after a race! ! I had to supplement with two more dinners when i got home

So good points: Great venue, good routes for all 3 disciplines
Bad points: Cost!! Mount line at the bottom of a small hill, dismount just inside the castle gates even further from transition and long run both ways, run should possibly be adjusted to avoid the bike out/in and thus might free up space to allow bikes to mount/dismount much close to the transition.

Aside - Did anyone use a GPS/foot pod on the run. GPS may not have worked though seeing as much of the trail was wooded.

El Director

Fair play Bambaata excellent result!

lazzie81

Cantswim...It was their first event dude...Tell you what...you give it a go...I'll enter and give ya marx out of ten...and as for the price...400 competitors forked up...and I'm pretty sure no guns were placed at heads...

Bambaata...Great report...

tunney

lazzie81 wrote: »

Cantswim...It was their first event dude...Tell you what...you give it a go...I'll enter and give ya marx out of ten...and as for the price...400 competitors forked up...and I'm pretty sure no guns were placed at heads...

Bambaata...Great report...

No excuse.

If it is their first event and they, as you suggest, are to be forgiven their sins as it is their first event then they should have started with a small low key event and built up to something worth charging the big bucks for. If some promises the earth, and charges for it, they better deliver, first year or not.

donothoponpop

cantswim wrote: »

I think Alive outside should sign you up for their marketing team (if you aren't already on it).

at 65 quid the things mentioned above are pretty basic things to expect are right on the day.

Lazzie81 has confirmed to me that they have no association with the organizers, just that they enjoyed the event. Part of the reason we are putting polls up against each race is that everyone can see what people feel about races. If you feel that someone is shilling, report them, please don't speculate on someone's motives like this, its unfair to them, thanks.:)

NeedsTraining

2 star (poor)

Just my 2 cents worth.

Swim - very well marshalled. I am not a fan of OW, so I was happy with the downstream

T1 - 400m run to T1 was very long, but think this was unavoidable.
The long run to bike mount was crazy and needs to be revised.

Bike - Very challenging course. Traffic at the end of the lap was very dangerous. Too narrow a gap between cars and ditch to get through safely and the turn was full of gravel - dangerous. Marshalls had no idea who was on first lap and who was on second lap. Rest of the course was well marshalled and the locals provided great support. Why was the route advertised as 22km when on the day the route was marked as 24km? I noticed this on mapmyride during the week and emailed the organisers, but no response.

T2 - Dismount line to transition was crazy. Runners coming down, bikes up on a path that was too narrow to cater for all.
Marshalls in the transition area were non existent. Was it just me or did they change the run in/run out?

Run - Very challenging route, but very enjoyable. Measured the route to be 4.61km. Think they had a great opportunity to make this exactly 5km (as advertised on the website).

Results - How are the results available on Irishtriathlon but not on Aliveoutside? Where is the text message with results we were promised?

Food - Food was great but the queue was mad, 50 mins to be told pig or burger not both. Ah, I don't think so and shamed him into giving us both.

Just reread this and my thread sounds very critical. Don't mean it to sound so. Aliveoutside did a super job on the duathlon, so please take on board our feedback, reduce the price, alter the transition areas and we will be back.

Cheers,

NT

Bambaata

2 star (poor)

I had put forth a short review for irishtriathlon but it came across quite negative which i didnt really intend. while i wasnt happy with some things i still enjoyed the day.

did ye dismount at the same place ye mounted the bike?

NeedsTraining

2 star (poor)

Mount and dismount lines were in different locations. Dismount was closer the gate.

lazzie81

Needtrainin and Bambaata...Thats the positive vibes we're talking about...Happy days...:)

Alive Outside

3 stars (average)

Thanks to all for your points made on our sprint triathlon in Slane Castle. All points raised have been taken on board. We will be posting a full reply in the coming days about the various issues that have been raised on this forum.

Regards

Alive Outside

mloc123

Alive Outside wrote: »

Thanks to all for your points made on our sprint triathlon in Slane Castle. All points raised have been taken on board. We will be posting a full reply in the coming days about the various issues that have been raised on this forum.

Regards

Alive Outside

Good to see you are willing to take feedback on board.

mr jack

1 star (terrible)

I know this has been stated already but where did they get this entry fee from? They we're been seriously greedy, especially in these times. I'm a local triathlete but based in Dublin and I would compete in tris all around the country and would loved to have done Slane but the cost was way too much. I even emailed aliveoutside when the event was announced but the email bounced back, it was obvious then they were biting off more than they could chew. I met 2 other people who tried to email them aswell and got the same thing.

From chatting to the local hostel owners in Slane seemingly aliveoutside were hoping for over 1000 entries but only managed 400. So in response to lazzie I think people did vote with there wallets. Slane being aliveoutsides firs tri is no excuse either. Anyone hoping to run any event has to get experience either helping out with similar events first, especially in an event of this magnitude and especially if you're going to charge double the going amount.

Alive Outside

3 stars (average)

Dear Participants, many thanks for your feedback on Saturday's race in Slane. We welcome all feedback, postive/negative as this will hopefully make us stronger in the future.
To cover off some previous points raised;

• The run from swim to T1 is totally unavoidable in order to have T1 in front of the castle - the best location for it.
• Carpeted transition from swim to T1 should have been swept more regularly.
• Race briefing should have included; that race hats had to be removed on exit from water (this system will not be used in future)
• Indeed the race briefing should have included the Relays and various other important points.
• The bike dismount and mount lines will be reviewed for next year. The reason for the distance was to avoid any clashes between bikes and runners. The running lane will be moved for 2011.
• More experienced bike marshals will be in place at castle gates and main junction for next year.
• Costs: Hiring such an iconic private location does not come cheap. The price of €65 also included food and entertainment.
• The delay for some people on the queue for post race food was hugely dissapointing for us. We take full responsibility for the slow service from third party caterers.
• In all our previous Alive Outside events this year( 3 winter duathlons in Phoenix Park, Greystones Aquathon, Leopardstown 6 & 10 k runs) we have deliberately kept numbers manageable with an excellent marshal / participant ratio. Slane was no different. We closed registration off 10 days before race date, we capped the race at 400. The rumour mill of 1,000 is exactly that!
• As a Sports Events Company we have a fully staffed office with telephones and emails answered from 9am - 5pm Monday - Friday. We believe that we have an excellent communication system in place as the majority of our customers can testify.
• We feel ourselves and also from lots of general feedback that the race was a good solid first year event, with many positives. But we also know that there are areas to be reviewed and changed on technical areas, which we endeavour to improve upon for next year.
• We are currently putting together a video of the Alive Outside Slane highlights which will also include participant vox pops about their experiences.
• Alive Outside will be sending out a customer feedback survey this week also which you can raise your points directly to us.

Finally, we hope that your overall experience at our Alive Outside Sprint Triathlon in Slane was positive and bearing in mind that we will be using this 1st year experience to improve for future events. We hope that you will not be put off and come back and compete again in what is an outstanding location on a tough challenging sprint triathlon course.

Yours in sport
Alive Outside

NeedsTraining

2 star (poor)

Alive Outside,

It is great to see that you have taken the feedback on board and responded to most of our previous comments.

Can you please respond in relation to 2 particular points?

1. Why was the route advertised as 22km, when it was clearly 24km and marked as 24km? Even in the report on your website, it mentions 22km.
2. Why was the run route only 4.6km when it was advertised as 'exactly 5km'.

I would like to see these questions answered, as the additional bike km's do make a difference.

Thanks,

NT