Athlone '12

Daz1214

so who all is heading to Athlone in a couple of weeks?

BTH

Sprint for me.

Fazz

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Sprint for me.

You NS points Ho!


Olympic for me.

BTH

Fazz wrote: »

You NS points Ho!


Olympic for me.

A mans gotta do....

Still nothing from Athy. Damn TI, wish they'd hurry up.

Fazz

By the way is anyone else confused by the Race start times?

Both races are on the same day, and recent email suggested first swimmer in water for 3 pm.

Obv swim course will need one distance to be complete before other starts.
So likely a 5pm start for the other distance maybe.

Run course may be busier than ever

Fazz

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

A mans gotta do....

Still nothing from Athy. Damn TI, wish they'd hurry up.

Possibly provisional top for you?
Or your club mate perhaps?

Dunmore will be your 5th and top spot then surely if not !

BTH

Fazz wrote: »

Possibly provisional top for you?
Or your club mate perhaps?

Dunmore will be your 5th and top spot then surely if not !

Dunmore will only be my forth. Shane Scadding will have that anyway (presume he'll do his home race), so defo behind him. No doubt a few others. Dunmore will be the 8th NS race so no doubt others with 4/5 races done then too.

Daz1214

last year the olympic started at 3 and the first sprint waves were in the water just after 4...run course was very busy all right and the 2 dead stops at the town centre and barracks dont help.

Last year athlone was the first sprint i had ever done, did the try race in athy, and only managed a 1.34...if im not at least 15mins quicker i wont be happy

RacoonQueen

Olympic for me. I hope.

couerdelion

Sprint for me.
Never done Athlone, what's the course like?

d4r3n

Sprint for me, looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather is better than Athy, couldn't feel my feet for the run and couldn't eat the curry afterwards because I was shaking that much!

sconhome

I'm in for the Olympic.

subscriber

couerdelion wrote: »

Sprint for me.
Never done Athlone, what's the course like?

Athlone is a very fast course, Swim is in the shannon obviously which means no mouthful's of sea water, Last year the water was really calm as well so no fighting against currents or waves. The bike route is nearly all completely flat down the dual carriage way, lovely smooth rolling surface as well, should make for really fast bike splits. The run is organised as a 2.5km loop in the town it's self which means 2 loops for sprint distance, and 4 for the Olympic. It's great that the run is in the town because it's constant support from onlookers every step of the run course. There is a drag of a hill on the run that goes up the back of the town which goes on for about 800 meters but rest of the course is flat. The only downfall is the length of the run into T1, it must be about 600 meters which doesn't sound like much but you know yourself when your coming out of the water winded after a tough swim it can seem a bit far away. More time to get the wetsuit off I supppose.

There was over 2000 athletes done this last year. I was blown away by the organisation of the event. It was spectacular. Had never done an event of this size before and it made for a great day out. If I remember correctly, entry fee was fairly reasonable as well.

Olympic distance for me. Sub 2:35 is the aim. Fingers crossed.

mrboswell

Sprint for me.
Hoping for a serious improvement on Athy.

Daz1214

the swim and bike are quicker than athy so you should be able to achieve that

big mce

Olympic for me!

Huff n Puff

Gonna give the Nat. Champs a miss this year. Date doesn't suit, not a huge fan of the race and bad memories from last year. Best of luck to everyone competing!

Do people really want National Series points that bad that they would opt for the sprint event to avoid taking on the top competitors in the Olympic National Champs? Very strange if true. I would love to hear the rationale for wanting to win an NS age group award like that!

BTH

Huff n Puff wrote: »

Do people really want National Series points that bad that they would opt for the sprint event to avoid taking on the top competitors in the Olympic National Champs? Very strange if true. I would love to hear the rationale for wanting to win an NS age group award like that!

Firstly I have no hope of winning a NS age group award. I'll be lucky to finish in the top 15 in my age group by the end of the season. I have chosen the sprint mostly because there are a lack of sprint races this season that suit my schedule. Only 9 sprints on the NS calender and 11 olympics. A bonus is that this sprint will likely offer me more NS points for my probable finish position than my probable finish position in the Oly. I've made no secret of the fact that I want to finish as high as possible in the NS this year in the hope of securing a place in the world champs in London next year. The 30-34 AG is ridiculously competitive so this is what I need to do. So choosing to do the sprint is a combination of points and convenience. Its also the scene of my first triathlon experience as part of a sprint relay team in 2009 and the first race I managed to swim front crawl for the entire swim in 2010!

bryangiggsy

Fazz wrote: »

You NS Ho!


.

Love this comment!!!

Huff n Puff wrote: »

Do people really want National Series points that bad that they would opt for the sprint event to avoid taking on the top competitors in the Olympic National Champs? Very strange if true. I would love to hear the rationale for wanting to win an NS age group award like that!

The NS is a flawed competition that a whole new thread could be started on. Ignore the top races with big fields and u dont have a chance of getting a podium.

Huff n Puff

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Firstly I have no hope of winning a NS age group award. I'll be lucky to finish in the top 15 in my age group by the end of the season. I have chosen the sprint mostly because there are a lack of sprint races this season that suit my schedule. Only 9 sprints on the NS calender and 11 olympics. A bonus is that this sprint will likely offer me more NS points for my probable finish position than my probable finish position in the Oly. I've made no secret of the fact that I want to finish as high as possible in the NS this year in the hope of securing a place in the world champs in London next year. The 30-34 AG is ridiculously competitive so this is what I need to do. So choosing to do the sprint is a combination of points and convenience. Its also the scene of my first triathlon experience as part of a sprint relay team in 2009 and the first race I managed to swim front crawl for the entire swim in 2010!

The 30-34 age group is very competitive alright (I am in that age group myself). Best of luck with securing a place in the world champs in London next year!

It's a case of "don't hate the player hate the game" for me. Nothing personal at all! It is very easy to solve all this. In my opionion, no single event (TriAthlone, TriAthy) should be allowed have two / three National Series races, especially at a National Championship event where you want the best competing against each other. If someone wants to collect NS points then they should have to compete against the best that turn up at each NS race. Then, if you gain a top finish in your age group you will truly deserve to be on the Irish age group team as you are there on ability not due to clever race selection*. Making the team will be all the more sweeter then.

If I was able to race TriAthlone and secured a top 10 finish in the National Champs, it would bother me a little bit that (being in the same age group as you) you would probably score more points than me for finishing higher in the easier option. Therefore, you could deny me a place on an Irish age group team (I have absolutely no interest in age group racing by the way).

Now.....back to discussing TriAthlone

* I am aware that clever race selection is already a feature of finishing high in the National Series. But at least at races like Kilkee and Valentia (that offer more points than most NS races) you have to race against the best that turn up. Completely solving the race selection problem is an issue for another thread.

Bally8

Sprint for me

couerdelion

Looking forward to this now. Is there start lists up anywhere yet?

OldieWilson

Did the sprint last year as my first triathlon.
Doing the Olympic this year

RacoonQueen

couerdelion wrote: »

Looking forward to this now. Is there start lists up anywhere yet?

They've extended the entry deadline to Wednesday so I'd say they won't be up till Weds/Thurs?

Fazz

couerdelion wrote: »

Looking forward to this now. Is there start lists up anywhere yet?

No start lists but wave details up...

Time to dig out the barcode entry confirmation for more info it seems!

http://triathlone.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/AthletePackWEB.pdf

RacoonQueen

How come it starts so late? Does Athlone always start at that time?

sconhome

Was to do with getting the road closures and not interfering too much with trading hours for the town shops.

Fazz

Fazz wrote: »

No start lists but wave details up...

Time to dig out the barcode entry confirmation for more info it seems!

http://triathlone.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/AthletePackWEB.pdf

Can't download the barcode form myself for some reason.
Will try later on a different browser maybe chrome or something as ie says no for me at mo.

It would be super to be first wave off, but likely near the tail.

Also worth noting the run route has changed slightly to avoid the hairpin turn beside finish chute and instead take a right and loop around and back up.

sconhome

Fazz, I think the barcodes are being emailled out individually. Noticed something about it on FB earlier when the briefing was released.

Unregistered.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

How come it starts so late? Does Athlone always start at that time?

Registration closes at half one for a race that won't start (for some) until 5 or 6! What the hell?!! Why can't they leave registration open a lil later for the Sprinters.... say, 3?

Is there anybody from TriAthlone on boards?

BTH

Unregistered. wrote: »

Registration closes at half one for a race that won't start (for some) until 5 or 6! What the hell?!! Why can't they leave registration open a lil later for the Sprinters.... say, 3?

Is there anybody from TriAthlone on boards?

Because you would then have to rack your bike in transition, getting in the way of athletes competing in the national championship race. This is what happens in the larger races at the likes of Dublin, Athy and Athlone. Get in early then go get something to eat and enjoy the atmosphere.

Did a e-mail search for this barcode from Triathlone. Eventually found it, and was just about to print when I realised it was the barcode for 2010 Mustn't have sent them yet

Fazz

Unregistered. wrote: »

Registration closes at half one for a race that won't start (for some) until 5 or 6! What the hell?!! Why can't they leave registration open a lil later for the Sprinters.... say, 3?

Is there anybody from TriAthlone on boards?

Because of the space required, registration is in transition and so obviously cannot run parallel to race start.

Many more reasons I'm sure being a big race with a large entry field.
The course makes up for it!

Fazz

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Because you would then have to rack your bike in transition, getting in the way of athletes competing in the national championship race. This is what happens in the larger races at the likes of Dublin, Athy and Athlone. Get in early then go get something to eat and enjoy the atmosphere.

Did a e-mail search for this barcode from Triathlone. Eventually found it, and was just about to print when I realised it was the barcode for 2010 Mustn't have sent them yet

It's not that - I got 2 emails when registering.
First just a receipt.
Second with username and password for the reg site.
Log on to that and there's a download receipt on bottom right - presume this has barcode on it....

sconhome

Unregistered. wrote: »

Registration closes at half one for a race that won't start (for some) until 5 or 6! What the hell?!! Why can't they leave registration open a lil later for the Sprinters.... say, 3?

Is there anybody from TriAthlone on boards?

I'd say thinking about it, from a security point of view there's no access to transition without numbers on bike, helmet, race belt etc and transition has to be closed and cleared before the 1st wave off at 3pm. Thats probably why the early close.

If it was open til 3 you couldnt get your gear into transiton as you'd have racers coming through. It'll be tight enough with a lot of the later olympic waves and early sprint waves coming together on the bike and run. Not looking forward to that bit.

Unregistered.

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Because you would then have to rack your bike in transition, getting in the way of athletes competing in the national championship race. This is what happens in the larger races at the likes of Dublin, Athy and Athlone. Get in early then go get something to eat and enjoy the atmosphere.

Did a e-mail search for this barcode from Triathlone. Eventually found it, and was just about to print when I realised it was the barcode for 2010 Mustn't have sent them yet

Fazz wrote: »

Because of the space required, registration is in transition and so obviously cannot run parallel to race start.

Many more reasons I'm sure being a big race with a large entry field.
The course makes up for it!

Athy had a Registration on Friday and two on saturday - one in the morning for the early race and one which closed at 3 for a race that started at 5!

sconhome

Fazz wrote: »

It's not that - I got 2 emails when registering.
First just a receipt.
Second with username and password for the reg site.
Log on to that and there's a download receipt on bottom right - presume this has barcode on it....

Nope. Just a receipt.
From the TriAthlone website:
Wave start times have been published. You will shortly receive your barcode which need to be printed out and brought with you on Race Day to register. This email will include your wave allocation.

BTH

Unregistered. wrote: »

Athy had a Registration on Friday and two on saturday - one in the morning for the early race and one which closed at 3 for a race that started at 5!

But Athy closed down the whole town for the entire weekend so had the time to do that. Athlone townsfolk have kicked up massive fuss about the town being closed down for the entire day so they just can't do that anymore. None of the Athy route actually affects the town other than the square where transition is, other than extra traffic. The run in Athlone is through the middle of the town. Blocking off one of only two bridges across the river. Its a bit different. But in saying that, there was about 2.5 hours between transition closing and the last wave in Athy. Still a massive wait.

RacoonQueen

Unregistered. wrote: »

Athy had a Registration on Friday and two on saturday - one in the morning for the early race and one which closed at 3 for a race that started at 5!

In Athy the registration was seperate to transition. In Athlone registration is in transition.

Fazz wrote: »

It's not that - I got 2 emails when registering.

First just a receipt.

Second with username and password for the reg site.

Log on to that and there's a download receipt on bottom right - presume this has barcode on it....

Nope, that just throws up all the text from the email receipt. No barcode.

Unregistered.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

In Athy the registration was seperate to transition. In Athlone registration is in transition.

Why would they do that? Massive wait to Sprint/Try due to this restriction.

Daz1214

as far as i know, you can register on the friday evening as well

fluboy

Just noticed this on the web site

"Wet-suits are not compulsory but are advised. Please check Triathlon Ireland guidelines. You can wear either a short or
long wet-suit if you want"

I thought that you had to wear a wetsuit for races in Ireland, something to do with the water temperature?

RacoonQueen

They've changed olympic swim, now upstream first then downstream.

El Director

Looking forward to going all out in a 20k TT as part of a relay team. Then it's officially the start of two weeks holidays for myself and herself

BTH

El Director wrote: »

Looking forward to going all out in a 20k TT as part of a relay team. Then it's officially the start of two weeks holidays for myself and herself

Give us a tow??

El Director

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Give us a tow??

Im afraid you will be long gone....last wave of the sprint we are.

Fazz

For those not racing, There's a free triathlone app that has been updated.

It now suggests there will be live timing results as athletes pass finish line.

Also you can search an athlete to see what the last timing mat passed was so you get an idea where they are - handy for spectators if it works.
I presume it's not that advanced to give provisional placings in each split just yet.

Be interested to know if this works, and also upon passing finish line to see what the results are!

Nwm2

subscriber wrote: »

Athlone is a very fast course, Swim is in the shannon obviously which means no mouthful's of sea water, Last year the water was really calm as well so no fighting against currents or waves. The bike route is nearly all completely flat down the dual carriage way, lovely smooth rolling surface as well, should make for really fast bike splits. The run is organised as a 2.5km loop in the town it's self which means 2 loops for sprint distance, and 4 for the Olympic. It's great that the run is in the town because it's constant support from onlookers every step of the run course. There is a drag of a hill on the run that goes up the back of the town which goes on for about 800 meters but rest of the course is flat. The only downfall is the length of the run into T1, it must be about 600 meters which doesn't sound like much but you know yourself when your coming out of the water winded after a tough swim it can seem a bit far away. More time to get the wetsuit off I supppose.

There was over 2000 athletes done this last year. I was blown away by the organisation of the event. It was spectacular. Had never done an event of this size before and it made for a great day out. If I remember correctly, entry fee was fairly reasonable as well.

Olympic distance for me. Sub 2:35 is the aim. Fingers crossed.

€54 for a sprint:eek::eek::eek:

RacoonQueen

Started feeling ropey yesterday and started banging in the uniflu. Worse today. My preperations never go to plan. :mad:

npmurph

Hey is anyone having trouble getting onto the tri athlone website. I just get redirected every times to some website marketing site. Maybe a virus?

Fazz

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Started feeling ropey yesterday and started banging in the uniflu. Worse today. My preperations never go to plan. :mad:

Someone's got race nerves/sickness

Seems a common theme amongst some by the looks of it.

mrbungle

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Started feeling ropey yesterday and started banging in the uniflu. Worse today. My preperations never go to plan. :mad:

Tweet out saying they're having issues and working on it.