TriAthy X

thejaguar

Did anyone else notice that "TriAthy X" is not turning up on the Triathlon Ireland race calendar?

I'm sure it's been on there every other year and I'm wondering if it's no longer a TI sanctioned race?

And if so, what are the insurance/licence implications?

sconhome

thejaguar wrote: »

Did anyone else notice that "TriAthy X" is not turning up on the Triathlon Ireland race calendar?

I'm sure it's been on there every other year and I'm wondering if it's no longer a TI sanctioned race?

And if so, what are the insurance/licence implications?

Private insurance possibly.

zico10

After last year's event, I'm not at all surprised TI wouldn't want to sanction it.

Jakey Rolling

Interesting e-mail from the organisers today, they appear to have addressed most of the major complaints from last year:

- Separate transition zones for each race
- Earlier starts. Double Olympic 07.45, Olympic 09:15, Sprint 13:30, TriaTry 14:40
- Finish area moved over the river. 400m finish on paved surface + space for spectators.
- Promise to eliminate delays in receiving prize monies (money held in separate account administered by "stakeholders")

Doesn't fit in my schedule this year, but given the above changes I would give it a chance again. The closed roads for the bike would be the biggest plus for me.

johnruns

zico10 wrote: »

After last year's event, I'm not at all surprised TI wouldn't want to sanction it.

was thinking of doing this years event what happened last year?

Fiftyplus

Long delays in registration, delayed start to races, very poor stewarding, numerous other penny pinching practices. Just down the road from me but certainly won't be supporting it after last year's debacle.

iwillhtfu

Fiftyplus wrote: »

Long delays in registration, delayed start to races, very poor stewarding, numerous other penny pinching practices. Just down the road from me but certainly won't be supporting it after last year's debacle.

To be fair I wouldn't be this races biggest fan but for beginners it's ideal. A relatively calm swim. Closed roads for the bike and a flat run.

It looks as though they've addressed the issues with delayed start times and prize money. (The latter being enough to have them booted off the TI calender.:mad:)

However there's an awful lot of change taking place and the organisers didn't exactly have the last system down to a fine art, so it could end up being an entire cluster **** with confused athletes running here,there and everywhere.

Down the road from me also and I wouldn't jump at the opportunity to do it but if someone drops out and I'm offers a spot I'd do it.

On a side note the organisers do not engage with entrants at all. Think head in sand and that would be their response.

zico10

johnruns wrote: »

was thinking of doing this years event what happened last year?

Registration took ages, because there were so few volunteers on hand to help out. The race is run entirely for profit, so I don't know how the organiser expected the good will of any local tri club.

All problems basically stemmed from the fact that far too many people were taking part in too many races.

The venue just wasn't capable of hosting four different races in one day. Before being allowed into transition, athletes doing the Sprint had to wait on the road with their bikes, as transition had to be cleared after the Olympic race that was on earlier that day. There were hundreds of people with their bicycles on the road, left standing for over half an hour. We were obstructing traffic, as there was literally nowhere we could go. It was an extremely dangerous situation and there were no guards or marshals on hand to deal with things. It got worse and worse as people and their bikes kept coming.

After this fiasco ended and we were eventually let into transition, TI officials, who were just there to fulfill their duties Triathlon Ireland, had to help with bike checks, just to speed things up. What sort of impression do you think that left on them?

It wasn't too bad for me, but a lot of people were left standing in their bare feet for over an hour before starting their race.

Lastly, the Category 1 athletes were supposed to start before anyone else. This was one of the conditions imposed by TI on any race organiser that wanted to host a race in the Super Series. Category 1 athletes might have been the first wave off in the Sprint, but the Super Sprint race started just before us and were out on the bike course at the same time as us. The Category 1 athletes were going at >40kph and had to pass much slower cyclists who were weaving across the road. It was another dangerous situation that shouldn't have happened.

There might have been more failings, but there the ones that really stand out.

peter kern

The race is run entirely for profit, so I don't know how the organiser expected the good will of any local tri club.

are you saying ironman races dont work ?

niallo32

peter kern wrote: »

The race is run entirely for profit, so I don't know how the organiser expected the good will of any local tri club.

are you saying ironman races dont work ?

Were the Ironman Dublin 70.3 volunteers not 'paid' a sum which in the cases of Tri club members went to their club and also received a tshirt?

peter kern

niallo32 wrote: »

Were the Ironman Dublin 70.3 volunteers not 'paid' a sum which in the cases of Tri club members went to their club and also received a tshirt?

thats a common way and was also used for athy when the race was a decent race.
I have no idea what they are doing those days. Iam just pointing out saying that a commercial race cant organize volunteers as it was implied is not correct.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

are you saying ironman races dont work ?

That's exactly what I'm saying, Peter. And I was being so subtle, I'm impressed you picked up on it.

thejaguar

I did the Olympic myself last year and as far as I was concerned it ran pretty smoothly.
But now that I think about it - I do remember registration taking ages, and as we were leaving the queues for the later races were starting to build up on the roads.

I've often heard grumbling about "for profit" races - but I've always enjoyed TriAthy as a recreational racer so I don't have any problem with where the money goes.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

That's exactly what I'm saying, Peter. And I was being so subtle, I'm impressed you picked up on it.

you could suggest that they have a personal buttler for the race week and race day for awa athletes.

MD1983

peter kern wrote: »

The race is run entirely for profit, so I don't know how the organiser expected the good will of any local tri club.

are you saying ironman races dont work ?

ASFAIK since the promoters acquired the race is has always been for profit. until last year there were always local volunteers from triclubs and other sporting clubs who were supposed to then get paid for their time. what i heard was that the payments were not forthcoming, i dont know any of this for fact, its just what i heard. This then lead to no triclubs marshalling the race last year and i dont think many other local clubs did either.

there is a trend on here to view for profit races as a bad or negative thing, i think these races give people an option and if its not for you then vote with your feet. i suspect the reality is that the level of profit from these races makes it quite a marginal enterprise, i certainly dont think the organisers would be making a fortune out of this race.

It will be interesting to see the arrangements this year with regard to marshalling etc

I did the double olympic last year and i had no difficulties, most likely because its the first race off and i know the course well so i had no need to look out for marshals for directions etc.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

you could suggest that they have a personal buttler for the race week and race day for awa athletes.

I never once mentioned Ironman.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

I never once mentioned Ironman.

Originally Posted by peter kern
are you saying ironman races dont work ?
zico10

That's exactly what I'm saying, Peter.


i guess iam confused

peter kern

the current race organicer are part of the race from race 1 they just had another person in the team that sold his share.
it was a for profit race from day 1.
and i have ot say the first 2 years it was a top notch race ( in my mind the best field non drafting we have seen in southeren ireland )

MD1983 wrote: »

ASFAIK since the promoters acquired the race is has always been for profit. until last year there were always local volunteers from triclubs and other sporting clubs who were supposed to then get paid for their time. what i heard was that the payments were not forthcoming, i dont know any of this for fact, its just what i heard. This then lead to no triclubs marshalling the race last year and i dont think many other local clubs did either.

there is a trend on here to view for profit races as a bad or negative thing, i think these races give people an option and if its not for you then vote with your feet. i suspect the reality is that the level of profit from these races makes it quite a marginal enterprise, i certainly dont think the organisers would be making a fortune out of this race.

It will be interesting to see the arrangements this year with regard to marshalling etc

I did the double olympic last year and i had no difficulties, most likely because its the first race off and i know the course well so i had no need to look out for marshals for directions etc.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

Originally Posted by peter kern
are you saying ironman races dont work ?
zico10

That's exactly what I'm saying, Peter.


i guess iam confused

That was sarcasm Peter.

I never mentioned Ironman in my original post, then you put forward the strawman argument saying I did.
If you have a specific question you'd like me to answer, then ask. But please don't misquote me and accuse me of saying things I didn't.

iwillhtfu

Alright lads I think that's enough of the handbags.



On a lighter note it appears as though the Iron man brand is driving ahead with Dublin. Sun 14th August confirmed race date with regards opening this month.

peter kern

zico10 wrote: »

That was sarcasm Peter.

I never mentioned Ironman in my original post, then you put forward the strawman argument saying I did.
If you have a specific question you'd like me to answer, then ask. But please don't misquote me and accuse me of saying things I didn't.

zico 10
The race is run entirely for profit, so I don't know how the organiser expected the good will of any local tri club.

so my original question to you was do you think commercial races like ironman etc can not manage goodwill of volunteers ?
I used ironman (like athy a commercial organicer) as history shows if done correctly it works quite well.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

so my original question to you was do you think commercial races like ironman etc can not manage goodwill of volunteers ?

This wasn't your original question. This was;

peter kern wrote: »

are you saying ironman races dont work ?

Your original question, after you misrepresented my statement, only made reference to Ironman. My original post only made reference to Tri-Athy, and no other commercial enterprise.

But I'll answer your new question anyway, no problem.

I've done one Challenge Family event and three Ironman events and all four of them were fantastically well supported races. These are the two biggest players when it comes to the business of triathlons, so of course commercial organisations can manage to run very successful races, while still relying on the goodwill of volunteers. For the record, I'm not sure how Ironman manage to persuade so many people to volunteer, but they must do something that makes people think it's worth their while helping out.

You say Tri-Athy has been a business from the outset. Well business or not, they had Trilogy and Belpark on board at one point. Whatever business decisions have been made since, obviously didn't succeed in retaining the help of either of these clubs. Based on how registration and the bike check worked at last year's event, I'd say the organiser thought he could manage without the help of any tri-club. There is nothing wrong with planning an event counting on the goodwill of the general public, but you need to do something to generate this good will in the first place. I get the impression, the company behind Tri-Athy did very little on this account, but put as much thought as they possibly could into how they could make money out of the event.

TheKnockD15

They must have got sanctioned as the races are up on the TI website now.

thejaguar

Saw that myself yesterday.

Claude Burgundy

4 transition areas, finish line area moved across the river.

Double start 7:25
Olympic start 09:15
Sprint start 13:30
Try start 14:40

I believe the plan is that sprint/try can get into their transition areas and set up so not to be waiting for the main area that is normally used and turned around.

The finish line is taking a bridge before you'd normally finish and to finish at an old church where their will be a much larger area.

I hope to head over in the coming weeks to scope it all out at its a big change for me set up wise.

MojoMaker

Sounds positive, it's a nice race that deserves to be represented fairly. Best of luck with anything you're trying to drive there CB.

niallo32

Do participants get finishers medal & tech tshirt?

iwillhtfu

niallo32 wrote: »

Do participants get finishers medal & tech tshirt?

You get a t-shirt if you pay the extra with your entry pick up at registration. Don't forget as they won't send one out to you. No medal either but if you're doing it for a race pack DCT usually have the best race pack.

Stevo1983

It seems the transition issue that made a balls of last year has been sorted.
I might head back down for the olympic.

Ranjo

It was my first tri of the season last year and despite the shemozzle at the start, the actual race was enjoyable.

I'm assuming they'll have the organisation sorted his year so figure it's worth doing. Signed up for Olympic. Mrs is doing try a try.
She minds the kids in the morning, I take over after my bit, kids get to watch heroes Mummy n Daddy flapping about!

Claude Burgundy

I have a site meeting coming up with the race director. Any questions about this years event just let me know.

Claude Burgundy

I had a very productive meeting yesterday and here's some info.

Each race will have its own transition and while the Olympic/double are going on you'll be able to set up for the sprint/try in their own transition area.

Here's a few points.

1 - New enlarged finish area with food, post race rubs etc all in one dedicated area over the river. Larger carpeted finish chute as well.

2 - Family entertainment at the end line area.

2 - New bag drop, you bring your bag to the start line and its taken from you and brought to the finish area where you can collect it post race. Its good for shoes/flip flops as well get back.

3 - Transition for sprint/try will open as soon as the last swimmer is out of the water from the Olympic ( around 11am )

4 - New express registration using QR codes

5 - Enlarged area for bike check.

That's some off the top of my head, any questions just let me know.

thejaguar

Thanks for the update Claude - sounds like they're doing a lot of work to address the isues over the last while...

Claude Burgundy

thejaguar wrote: »

Thanks for the update Claude - sounds like they're doing a lot of work to address the isues over the last while...

Honestly more than i thought they would. The lay out is more athlete friendly, the finish area is going to be a big focal point and is much much larger than the one previously.

Only thing is its a lot more work for me:D

Ranjo

Notice on twitter that registrations just passed 1000. I recall last year it was over 2000? Would there be much of a late influx of registrations?

Based on Claude Burgundy's post above, shoudl be well run. Looking forward to it.

Claude Burgundy

Ranjo wrote: »

Notice on twitter that registrations just passed 1000. I recall last year it was over 2000? Would there be much of a late influx of registrations?

Based on Claude Burgundy's post above, shoudl be well run. Looking forward to it.

The race is open until May 30th i believe and could sell out. It was over 2,000 last year but his year is much more spread out and easier to navigate.

and still ricky villa

Glad to hear of the improvements.
A genuinely nice, challenging race once you got going.
It was the bit before the start and after you'd finished that were muck but I'm looking forward to this now a lot more

MojoMaker

What time is wave 1 from each away at Claude? Did I read somewhere that Olympic start is 7am?

Claude Burgundy

MojoMaker wrote: »

What time is wave 1 from each away at Claude? Did I read somewhere that Olympic start is 7am?

Double Olympic - 07:45

Olympic - first - 09:15
last - 10:19

When the last Olympic swimmer is out transition for the sprint/try will open.

Sprint - first - 13:30
last - 14:18

Try - first - 14:40
last - 15:04


Also the "main" transition area from before will now be finished with before the sprint even starts.

At the latest everything will be finished at 16:00.

double/sprint/try transition area will be set up on the Thursday with olympic being done on friday evening by the company supplying all the infrastructure for transition.

MojoMaker

Thanks CB - very useful.

Claude Burgundy

Entries have gone over 1k now and still 36 days left so i'd expect 1,500 to 1,800.

Claude Burgundy

About 250 to 300 places left in total.

Claude Burgundy

Roughly 150 left i believe.

Meeting the RD tonight so any questions just let me know.

Claude Burgundy

Just some info after last night.

At registration everything will be in one envelope so speeding up the process.

Transition for the double and olympic will open at 6am and as i said previously, each race will have its own transition.

For the double as you leave transition there will be a bag drop, this is a van that will take your bag and have it at the finish for you to collect.

For the olympic the bag drop is at the swim start so you can wear shoes up and then pop them in the bag. Once again there will be a van there that will take your bag and bring it to the finish line.

The sprint and try transition will open at roughly 10am ( once we have the majority of olympic swimmers out of the water ). This means no waiting around to get into transition.

The bag drop for the sprint and try will be the same as the olympic with your bag at the line.

Any questions let me know.

Claude Burgundy

Info pack

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/spa/fdg1s1i9w4xou8p/Exports/RaceInfoPack/RaceInfoPack.html

Finn Dub

I did the Swim Athy 750m last weekend, it was great to experience the swim course. The first 250m against the current is tough but once you round the bouy the final 500m down river is much easier. It was my first river swim, took a while to get used to the poor visibility and current. Looking forward to the Tri on Saturday, seems to be well organised so far.

and still ricky villa

Claude Burgundy wrote: »

Olympic - first - 09:15
last - 10:19

When the last Olympic swimmer is out transition for the sprint/try will open.

That'll be me so. Last fecking wave again
I've worked hard to address my slow swim this year by buying a faster bike though

Claude Burgundy

and still ricky villa wrote: »

That'll be me so. Last fecking wave again
I've worked hard to address my slow swim this year by buying a faster bike though

I'll be on site from 05:15 so you haven't got it too bad:D

Ranjo

I've been nursing a sore neck the last week so have been 50/50 on doing it. Unfortunately, being in the last wave (Olympic) doesn't make it all that attractive now. It'll be a minimum 2 hour wait from the last transition to start time. Given my hour & half drive, I think I'll ditch it.

Claude Burgundy

Ranjo wrote: »

I've been nursing a sore neck the last week so have been 50/50 on doing it. Unfortunately, being in the last wave (Olympic) doesn't make it all that attractive now. It'll be a minimum 2 hour wait from the last transition to start time. Given my hour & half drive, I think I'll ditch it.

Briefing at 08:25 with transition closing after that, last wave at 09:48 i believe.

and still ricky villa

Congratulations on some major improvements this year though registration was still a bottleneck.
It seemed fine until a queue developed and there was a log jam at the identification/waiver signing stage.

But, baggage van was a great idea.
There was real effort to get the waves off on time or at least without so much waiting around.
The new finish was a nice end too.

Personally, I was a shed load quicker than last year and benefited from the calmer river (sorry Kurt) and swanky new bike