Fingal Sprint Tri - 27th May

BTH

Hi All,

3d Triathlon Club is delighted to announce that the Fingal Sprint Triathlon is now open for entries. This year the event takes place on Sunday 27th May, in the National Aquatic Centre Dublin 15.

As always the Fingal sprint is a great start to the season for experienced triathletes and the prefect 1st race for newbies.

Details are available at: http://fingalsprint.3dtri.com/

Entry is through: https://www.triathlonireland-newserver.com/local-races.html

Check out Facebook for race updates and a competition with 2 race places up for grabs. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fingal-Sprint-Triathlon-and-Junior-Aquathlon/253251974750198

We’ll also be running the Fingal Junior Sprint on the day for any mini triathletes in the family http://fingaljuniorsprint.3dtri.com/

Looking forward to seeing you on the 27th.

3D Triathlon Club.



Last years thread is here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72009005

Amz

Hoping to make this my first race.

elvis jones

Should be my 1st of the season.

mrboswell

Was going to do it as my first ever triathlon but it clashes with the Heineken cup final (wishful thinking by a Leinster fan!)

BTH

mrboswell wrote: »

Was going to do it as my first ever triathlon but it clashes with the Heineken cup final (wishful thinking by a Leinster fan!)

Heineken Cup Final 19th May

Fingal Sprint Tri 27th May

I see no problems here

Amz

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

mrboswell wrote: »

Was going to do it as my first ever triathlon but it clashes with the Heineken cup final (wishful thinking by a Leinster fan!)

Heineken Cup Final 19th May

Fingal Sprint Tri 27th May

I see no problems here

You gave me a fright there!

mrboswell

Sorry lads - my bad - looks like I can do it after all

El Director

Not doing it myself but hope to be there with 5/6 students from school that I am introducing to the world of multisport, its great that there is a junior aquathon, although you have to be under 16 and two of the students are 16 so they will be doing the sprint. Hopefully it will be enjoyable for them and they'd like to do it again. They are all part of swim clubs and well able to run, representing the school in XC as well so not a bother to them.

couerdelion

Looking forward to this now and the challenge of trying to beat last years time.

A couple of club members tried to enter this week but it's now full. Did that happen last year?

BTH

couerdelion wrote: »

Looking forward to this now and the challenge of trying to beat last years time.

A couple of club members tried to enter this week but it's now full. Did that happen last year?

Not sure if it filled out last year. Initial uptake this year was very slow so the decision was made to cut a wave. Last year we added a wave due to demand, but have now gone back to the previous years size. Still, over 350 places in the adult race alone sold so its not going to be a small race!!

JohnM77

My wife missed the entry cut off for this race so if anyone knows of an entry going she would gladly take it off their hands.

PM me and I can provide contact details.

Thanks

bombidal

Seems to be a lot of traffic works on cycle route. Will these be done?, the diversion in place has roads that are in absolutely woeful condition

couerdelion

bombidal wrote: »

Seems to be a lot of traffic works on cycle route. Will these be done?, the diversion in place has roads that are in absolutely woeful condition

Just had to reroute our club TT tonight because of it. Thanks for the heads up.

NinjaStudent

Looking forward to this tri, anyone know if the roads have improved for the cycle?

couerdelion

NinjaStudent wrote: »

Looking forward to this tri, anyone know if the roads have improved for the cycle?

AFAIK the road has reopened between Dolly Hefernans and Hollystown. However, up Nr the turnaround point has been resurfaced and is more or less gravel at the moment.

NinjaStudent

Thanks for the info couerdelion, took a quick drive up that way today, the last 500ms of the cycle is farily gravelly alright, nothing to serious tho.

Nice flat cycle all the same!

redved

Quick question about the swim, does anyone know how much time the longer course would cost you over 750m.

My best time over 750m with a 25m pool is 14:30 or so. I think I may have been a bit ambitous with my swim time as I gave the same time for a 50m pool

El Director

Jura are off! Go team El D!!

couerdelion

Well organised event yet again from 3D. Loads of marshalls too giving great encouragement.

Just waiting for results now.

Oh and I got the turnaround wrong, no gravel.

littlemsfickle

+1

My third year doing this race now, well organised and marshalled and FANTASTIC day for it. Cheers 3D tri!

bombidal

Great tri as usual, any sign of results?... Fella finishing 1st wave in pool was memorable, great respect for people who are willing to give it a go

glennbhoy

Great day, Excellent marshalling by 3D and hot weather
Fair play to Pixel pros for all the photos
Just missing the results

RacoonQueen

Results - http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=782

littlemsfickle

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Results - http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=782

I think the times are a bit out though - looks like about 2 mins fast for the swim

peter kern

yes swim times are odd look some 75 - 2 min out depending on the level of swimmer

well done for the female win .

couerdelion

littlemsfickle wrote: »

I think the times are a bit out though - looks like about 2 mins fast for the swim

peter kern wrote: »

yes swim times are odd look some 75 - 2 min out depending on the level of swimmer

well done for the female win .

Yep, I thought the swim times looked a little fast. I've no idea where the transponder was for the end of the swim but I reckon mine is out by 1 min or so.

NinjaStudent

Great start to the season, and a well organised race!

I was absolutely boiling by the end of the run!

redved

agreed on the heat on the run, thought I'd never get to the turnaround point

Must say I was very impressed with the volunteers on the bike course, every junction was well marshalled and I appreciated the encouragement

Swim was a struggle, found the distance notably harder in the 50m pool.

I refuse to believe the swim times are a minute short

Overall great event and superbly organised

couerdelion

I think most people agree that the swim times were generous and I received an email overnight to confirm that the swim times are indeed too short due to an initial clock synchronisation mix-up and they are all 3m 16s out.

This would mean that the fastest time is 11:23 from start to transition? Bjorns split isn't shown but I'm told he was well in front of Con. So 90s+ slower than last year for Bjorn Ludick and 80s for Con Docherty in the same pool and same transition? I also had someone timing me and it would mean I took around 3 mins to get to transition. Same with another lad in wave 2. Sorry but that is crap.

Really peeved at the moment. Accurate timing is one of the most important aspects of an event and this just looks like it's now been made up. When I'm deciding if I want to enter next year I won't be thinking of how good I thought the run and bike marshalling was I'll be wondering if the timing will be got right and what's the point of entering again if I've nothing to compare year on year times to.

redved

agreed on the above, its disappointing when stuff like this happens. hard to see where the 3 mins plus came from.

@Courdelion you said you had timed yourself separately, how do the times compare?

couerdelion

redved wrote: »

agreed on the above, its disappointing when stuff like this happens. hard to see where the 3 mins plus came from.

@Courdelion you said you had timed yourself separately, how do the times compare?

Brother in laws dad said I climbed out of the pool around 13:20. Initial results had me at T1 in 12:56 which I knew was wrong and said earlier in this thread that I reckoned to be about a minute out. New results have me at 16:12.

bombidal

This is terrible stuff. How anyone could come up with the 3 mins bit i don't know. Does not reflect well on 3D. I loved the race (3rd time I did it) but that explanation via email last night was poor stuff.

peter kern

bombidal wrote: »

This is terrible stuff. How anyone could come up with the 3 mins bit i don't know. Does not reflect well on 3D. I loved the race (3rd time I did it) but that explanation via email last night was poor stuff.

Sorry for my strong language but I call bull **** on all those people that complain.
Or a very egocentric behavior at least ;-)
its not a great thing that timming is wrong S...t Happens sometimes
but it appears the timing is wrong for EVERYBODY AND CONSISTENT and I dont know a single race ( bare kilkee ) in ireland I would trust the distances given. So timing in triathlon is quite pointless ( its a great indicator but never a true relfection)
So there is no race where you have an accuracy guarantee.

On top of that 3d organizes a kids triathlon which is definitely a loss maker but a great investment for the sport . I cant talk about this year but I know that 3 years ago the race was one of the least profitable out there.
So give them a bit of credit for being one e the few kids races and i think the first tri club in Ireland that had a kids race.
The race has always been a great one and we all make mistakes sometimes.

Some people find fault with everything, and I am not saying that they are wrong but it would be good to see the bigger picture around this race.
Again sorry for my language !

bombidal

The times being wrong I accepted and waited for an explanation.. As I said I love the race but where is the logic to adding 3 mins, might as well of added 10. If people don't complain standards will drop. That's what is wrong with the country. The distances would of matched fairly well up to last years race as well.

couerdelion

peter kern wrote: »

Sorry for my strong language but I call bull **** on all those people that complain.
Or a very egocentric behavior at least ;-)
its not a great thing that timming is wrong S...t Happens sometimes
but it appears the timing is wrong for EVERYBODY AND CONSISTENT and I dont know a single race ( bare kilkee ) in ireland I would trust the distances given. So timing in triathlon is quite pointless ( its a great indicator but never a true relfection)
So there is no race where you have an accuracy guarantee.

On top of that 3d organizes a kids triathlon which is definitely a loss maker but a great investment for the sport . I cant talk about this year but I know that 3 years ago the race was one of the least profitable out there.
So give them a bit of credit for being one e the few kids races and i think the first tri club in Ireland that had a kids race.
The race has always been a great one and we all make mistakes sometimes.

Some people find fault with everything, and I am not saying that they are wrong but it would be good to see the bigger picture around this race.
Again sorry for my language !

Egocentric? In that my view is more important than anyone elses? No and to be honest that attitude doesn't come across from anyone on this board much at all. Self concerned though? perhaps.

Is ithe timing inconsistent for everyone though to the same degree? The explanation for wave 1 seems plausible but for wave 3 it definitely wasn't that far out. If it was then the TI junior development programme has issues if the best u19 female's swim times are getting slower as she matures.

It's exactly because you can't trust the distances given by a race that the only way to gauge improvement is by comparing the same race year on year. Whilst the weather or current may alter the conditions and ability to compare some parts of the event, a 750m swimming pool swim is pretty much the same each time.

Loads of people have praised 3D for the event and mistakes do happen, what is annoying is when one mistake is compounded by another and the 3min 16s addition seem arbitrary at best. The junior events looked really well organised and the kids looked like they where having a fantastic time.

The idea wasn't to turn this into a whinge but by people speaking up and identifying issues it allows race organisors (for both this event and others) to understand better what people are deeming important for a race to be classed successful. That doesn't mean it is for everyone though. You are right though, s**t happens and that's why plans are usually put in place to mitigate the affect.

RacoonQueen

Surely this is a timing company issue not 3d's fault?

peter kern

bombidal wrote: »

The times being wrong I accepted and waited for an explanation.. As I said I love the race but where is the logic to adding 3 mins, might as well of added 10. If people don't complain standards will drop. That's what is wrong with the country. The distances would of matched fairly well up to last years race as well.

I would totally agree with you, but in this case we have a race which has been praised by my clients over many years, so this was a once of mistake out of 6 years, and i have been out there twice to watch and thought this is one of the best races, and you need to bear in mind dublin is not the easiest place for a triathlon .
Overall this is a race that seems to get a bit better every year. so there is no risk of a dropping standard,( thats why I say to keep the better picture in mind as I think it was the first time something gone wrong after the inaugural event. and I think its one of those race that like kilkee , beast of the East have as high of a standard you could ask for on a European level.

I had 1o people racing last weekend all had only good things to say and they will be back next year. They felt it was a safe, well marshaled, with a very positive environment and close to where they live, race.

I have to say I have not seen the email with the explanation but again none of my clients seemed to have an issue big enough to send me the email, and it doesnt suprise me as they are all sound people.

Even in a pool race times can be hard to measure since pretty much everybody lies about their swim times before the race and lanes often dont match up and you easily can have a 1 min difference depending on if you have a good lane or a lane where you are hold up by those that made their time 1 min faster than the can swim.

I understand that people are not happy, neither would I , but its one of the races that does more than just getting the money in and for that I respect that race.

BTH

I have resisted replying on here until I spoke to the Race Director, and one or two others on the issue of timing. We are very disappointed by what happened with the swim splits. The swim starter, a former RD for this race and very experienced triathlete (basically he knows what he's doing), told the timing company that he would be starting the waves off his watch, and they would sync off that for the times. Instead the timing company synced off the NAC clock. Due to the logistics of an indoor swim and the location of the timing equipment this is the only way the start can be done, and has worked flawlessly in previous years. Obviously this error has caused a few problems and the RD has been trying to rectify this all week. You will also see a number of people have no split times which we are also working to clear up the reasons behind. The 3:16 adjustment came about from a subsequent comparison of the NAC clock to the starter clock, but clearly this is not correct either. I know the RD is meeting with the timing company today, but its now going to be impossible to precisely amend those swim times.

Our only consolation is that the exact same margin of error applies to everyone. But I accept that that isn't quite good enough. This year we were forced to use a different timing company as our usual partners for this event were completely unavailable and repeatedly apologised for not being able to do this race. As a result we were forced to decide between a company who have a history of problems, or a relatively new company who hadn't done a race of this size before but have successfully done other events such as duathlons and one wave tris. Unfortunately this didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. But ultimately the buck stops with 3D. Its our race, one which we are very proud of, and we should have double and triple checked everything, especially with a new inexperienced timing company who we hadn't worked with before.

I completely understand everyones frustrations. I would be similarly upset.

Aside from the swim timing the feedback has been universally positive. Despite the best efforts of the Garda motorbikes and broken down cars, all other aspects of the race seemed to go very smoothly. And as always the kids race was everyones highlight. Its a pity more clubs can incorporate a kids race into their event.

Thank you all for taking part this year, and I hope a lot of you will return next year, when we'll do all we can to improve on this years event.

couerdelion

Thanks. Appreciate you taking your time to post a response.

The broken down car made me laugh. Desperately unlucky place to break down but the marshall did a good job of directing traffic round them.

I heard a guard dropped his bike at the turn around(?)

It is a well organised race an dI will be back next year. Apologies if my complaints (whinges) look like I don't respect the hard work of all involved putting the race on and the efforts of those marshalling.

BTH

couerdelion wrote: »

Thanks. Appreciate you taking your time to post a response.

The broken down car made me laugh. Desperately unlucky place to break down but the marshall did a good job of directing traffic round them.

I heard a guard dropped her bike at the turn around(?)

No problem

Oh, and FYP

redved

Just wanted to say thanks to 3d for a great race and thanks for the clarification above.

The timing issue is a small blip on what was an otherwise great race

Q7

Great race last weekend and well organised by 3d. Pity about the mixup with the swim times. I know everyone is probably adjusted the same so makes no difference in placing, but its good to compare your results to previous years which is now inaccurate. I know transition timing areas were different this year so you probably can't compare like with like. Still I don't believe the swim times were out by 3:16 - according to my watch the overall time was out nearer to 2 minutes (2:05 to be exact) - I was in wave 3.

couerdelion

I haven't looked at the finalised results but I think the email I just received is a good touch from 3D and leaves me with a good impression of their organisation (Hope they don't mind it being posted?).

3D wrote:

All,

Some of you have expressed a concern that the updated timings are also
incorrect. Based on this we went back to the timing company again and
all times have been revised, based on changed start time - these
revised times are up on the race website. This mistake is obviously a
far from ideal situation and on behalf of 3DTri I would like to
apologise. We also updated the times for four people who did extra
lengths. These updated results will go to TI as the final results as
the times from the timing company are what we have to use. Accept for
the people adjusted for extra lengths this does not impact your
placing in the race as the adjustment is against all competitors.

I would like to apologise again for the problems with timing, it is
certainly a letdown for the race and we will revisit the entire area
of timing management for next year. 3Dtri have prided ourselves on
running a great race and I hope these issues around timing did not
take away from what we hope was an enjoyable day and we really hope to
see you again next year.

Regards
Thomas
3DTri