japarker24 wrote:
I understand what you are saying about WTC growing so big, but I think they really do care about the competitors. At least some of their RDs do: Beth A. at Louisville (a KQ athlete herself), KJ at Texas (he posts on here) and supposedly Frank at the "new" IM Silverman/IM Nevada/IM Las Vegas.
Can't comment on Beth A, though the race two years ago was poorly run and dangerous. They ran out of fluids, and saw more than a few comments about locals on the course who picked up water. Aid stations running out of water? How hard is it to see the weather is going to be hot and ensure you have more than enough? That was 2010.
I have done two KJ races with mixed reviews. Not overly thrilled with the Austin course, but the race was well run. Timberman in 2010 was a wreck, with two hour shuttle waits, and KJ had cancelled many buses in the morning. The Timberman course is overcrowded, and would be a much nicer race at 1800 than 2500+. This is one of those races where where you walk around the expo and hear all of the old timers talking about how nice the race was pre-WTC and how this time is likely their last. Last year when I was doing some photography on the course it was not uncommon to see pelotons of riders, and one of my favorite sites was two women riding side by side having a conversation. I had seen one USAT judge with the lead men rider, another with the women, and then did not see another official for most of the the AG. I did see the two judges on as the riders made their return trip, so was a crowded draft-fest.
A classic example of Pre-post WTC is Timberman as well. Find bike shirts and gear from the pre-wtc races and they are awesome. The WTC version... cheap cookie-cutter
I pretty much grew up on the Timberman course, but will not do the race again until it has much more reasonable numbers as well as a clear indication that it is better run. The great thing about Timberman is the locals on the run course... They are the ones that make the run so great.