Saw the same thing with Challenge St. Andrews - twitter feed for both the race and the overall Challenge Family account was basically silent all day, one or two tweets total. The new wave of races that want to be relevant need to assign someone to tweet out updates during the race to create interest and awareness of the race.

I did the Olympic race - I won a contest and therefore my entry was free. So I didn't have a lot of expectations.
Thought the swim was great.
Bike course was just fine for me, I had no issues figuring out where I was supposed to go. I was passing folks and I much preferred that it wasn't super crowded with tons of draft packs. It was easy this way to ride a clean race. The roads were nice and smooth with very few issues... some small cracks and bumps were nicely marked.
The run course was fairly scenic, though I'm glad it was overcast as there would have been very little shade otherwise.
It was my first point to point tri. I was nervous going into it but once racing starting everything worked just fine. I did not ride the bus but had a drop off on race morning.
The finish line was good - quite festive with the signs, banners, etc.
It was not clear about the finisher shirts... and frankly, I would have rather just had a race shirt than a finisher shirt for an Olympic distance tri. Medals I could skip in general, they just end up in a closet.
I figured for a first time race this wasn't too bad. I was glad to see the email the next day saying the run course was 6.75mi as it made me feel better about my pace. LOL.

It was indeed fun seeing some of the male pros out on the run course. :-)

I did not attend the post race celebration as I had a long drive to get back home. But I saw the spread and it looked nice. I was able to pick up my award early, which was also nice of them - it is a GIANT belt buckle though. Not sure where I should wear it... LOL... maybe with my hat and spurs?

I'd do challenge again. I'm sure if it's supported and with the right feedback things will be improved.

I raced CNA Half on Sunday and thought it was an excellent event. Numerous positives from the weekend. Most of these have already beed addressed. Only a few minor issues with CNA:

I believe I saw 2 draft busters on the entire 56 mile ride (or one draft buster twice). On the one hand, there really should have been more of a presence of bike officials. On the other hand, I viewed the race as surprisingly fair. Throughout my ride there was no blatant drafting. Of course you see one or two people slip a little too close, but they immediately dropped back. From where I was riding I saw no major problems with how anybody was riding.

Bike course could have been marked better. You had to pay a lot of attention to the road and look for tape/paint to make you aware of turns. Would have been easy to miss a turn if you were not paying attention. It also would have been nice to have a few volunteers at some of the +90 degree turns to make you aware of them (or more sign-age would have been fine I guess). I almost ate it twice as I did not see the extent of the turn until it was almost too late.

Better post race food. A minor issue, but it would have been great to have some options of things like a recovery drink, actual food and beer. Would have made me want to stick around and watch more people finish.

Finally... more port-a-loo's on the run course. Obviously this is one of those things that you only notice when you need them... Well I needed them and were difficult to find. This is one thing WTC seems to do consistently well at. CNA needs to have a few more options. I believe the first one I noticed was around mile 2 of the run. And there was only one available at the aid station. Renting a few more to have 3 at every aid station and maybe a few on the run course leaving T2 would have gone a long way.

Just after exiting T2, in the parking lot on the left, there were 5 or 6 portos. Maybe 5 yards to the left of the course. Bummer you missed them.

They didn't check my USAT or ID at IM Raleigh 70.3 either. I'm not saying they weren't checking anybody's, but they surely did not ask me for mine.

---

Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

WTC will not let you register for a race if your USAT membership is not active on the date of the race. Therefore, there is no need to check for your USAT card during packet pickup. They checked my ID but not my USAT card. I had it out but no one asked for it.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I was disappointed in the race based on what I have heard/read previously about Challenge events. I have done local events in the Indianapolis area, Set Up events in North Carolina, and WTC races (Muncie and Branson). I would definitely put this race organization/experience below WTC and Set Up events.
1. Waited on the bus for 30 minutes even though bus was full. Bus driver got lost on the way.
2. No maps or info on how to get to Alum Creek Park to drop off my bike. Minimal security where the bikes were kept.
3. I completed half duathlon. My section started late, they sent a starter who had no idea about the course. We only ran half the course.
4. Bike entrance into T2 was small and dangerous to navigate.
5. Even though event was sponsored by Pepsi no cola product on the run course. No ice at any aid stations. Fortunately it was not very hot. No post race beverages besides water and Lipton tea samples. Post race food was poor.
Not really what I expected from a race with the Challenge stamp on it.

To me this was OK. not great, not terrible but somewhere in the middle. To put it in perspective, i did Rev 3 Quassy the frst year of operation and thought their execution was near flawless and came back the next year and told my friends about how great it was. For me, i woud expect for the same price as a WTC event, that the execution and operation be damn near the same, otherwise i feel i am paying the same price for less (i mean the WTC/Rev 3 race day model is excellent and transparent enough to emulate). I like to support new races and race companies as I would like to have other options than WTC as more options is better for the consumer and i think they will take our feedback and make improvements. New albany was a great location and the run course was beautiful. Yes the bike course was a bit lonely but they can't control the number of riders and i dont like crowded bike courses anyway. The RD seems willing to make changes and admits some shortcomings as referemced by a quick email survey (less than 24 hours post race) noting things that would be different in 2015. There are typically 1st year snafus (from my experiance) and hopefully these will be addressed and corrected.

couple things stuck out for me:
1- website was not the easist to navigate for info
2- directions and info about the two transition zones was not 100% clear. i've been in this over 10 years and have done multi transition races before and kind of "get" the process, where i place everything and how i get it back but for the newbie this could be stressfull.
3- bike check in. about 45 minutes from the start i heard an announcement that several bikes in transition would not be allowed to race due to not having bar caps. this should have been checked and explained at check in the day before not just prior to the start. Not much you can do about this at a state park at 6Am sunday morning.
4-course directions - intersections were marshalled well but turn signlas were very small and most not posted till just a few hundred feet before the turn. start noting a turn ahead a few hundred yards so we can prepare our speed, check to to see if we need to pass or slow down based on where another cyclists is, etc. also the cops did a good job of holding traffic back but didnt seem to offer pointed directions and i went off course about a mile before realized at a non marshslled red light that i had gone straight instead of turnig and turned around. cops also didn't offer much direction when there was coned off lane for cars or cyclists . .i had to guess which one to ride in.
5- ice and pepsi/coke for the run
6- medals that offer some value . .again for the same price as a WTC race there should be something equal to what we get as a WTC participant. i dont much care for medals but when its the same size and style as the sprint medal it makes me think the experiance is somewhat cheap.
7- T -shirts and food . .Where was it? i guess it was actually behind and to the side of the finish line but i saw no sign directing me nor had any volunteer at the finish tell finishers where these could be found. i would assume that common sense, not to mention the positioning within every race that i have done, would dictate that it would be in a somewhat straight line past the finish line where participants would flow to in a linear fashion rather than be behind and to the side of the finish. myself and my friend figured these were at the high school but found out otherwise and didnt see the value in walking back to the finish to get a shirt.
8- Buses - fill them up one by one and send them off when full. no reason why some of us that get there by 5am have to wait till 5:15 or even 5:25 for all of the buses to leave that were 1/3 -1/2 full when we could use that time to set up and warm up. not to mention the bottel neck that occurs when hundreds of people show up at the same time to get into the same transition area and get body marked etc.
8a - secondly on buses, make sure they know where they are going! ours got lost on the way.
9 - was it me or did it seem rather cheap that at the swim start they positioned a lifegaurd 20 meters out as the turning point to head towards the first bouy? again for $250 entry it seems they might afford one more inflatable bouy
10-timing mats . .. .bunch of turnaround points but only saw timing mats at the finish and halfway mark. pretty easy for someome to cut the course
11- Security at bike check in the day before was a little unnerving. dont think this was 100% secure and im sure i could have walked away with a new P5 if i realy wanted to.
12- work out something with the host hotel to offer some bagels. muffins, juice, bananas etc. its not part of the race but for the experiance it really could make a big differerence and produce some goodwill.
13- tracking - got to have this. my father had no idea where i was and figured i had finished already and went home. try to make it more spectator friendly
14- T2 entrance was a bit tricky, tight corners made navigating a challenge
15- different colored swimcaps for differnt waves. personally, i like to know where i stand in the swim. if im a white cap and i start to pass all the white caps and get past the next wave i know im swimming well and on pace. also lets me know if there are few or a lot of competitors ahead of me.
16- AG body marked . .all we had was our race number. woud be nice to know i we get passed by a olympic racer, duathlon etc and if they are in our age group.


out of 10 i'd give this race a 6.5-7. but it think the issues mentioned above and by other posters could easily bring this to a 8-9. To get to a 10 there needs to be a more festive feel to this. Get more of the community involved for spectator support. . There seemed to be little excitement or awareness in the town, less so than other places i have raced. Pehaps a promotion by local establishments for a free post race beer, reduced lunch or dinner the night before at a local restaraunt, buy 1 get 1 free ice cream cone if you wear your medal etc. even at the very least some directions for local eateries and grocery store locations and directions to the state park rather than relying on google maps, yelp or urban spoon.

Why don't ALL, and I mean all, RDs not have beer at the finish? Totally different experience with just 1 simple addition...........

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Permitting often gets in the way. In some cases, there's a zero tolerance policy regarding alcohol on public property. Not saying that's the case here, but as a potential reason why it doesn't happen more frequently.

That said, I'm pro-beer at the finish line. Hell, I'm sponsored by a brewery!

---

----------------------------------
Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I am originally from Buffalo, NY and just about every Tom, Dick and Harry 5k has free post-race brew. Unlimited too. Seems they have figured out the permit thing.

---

Swimmer
http://www.usprotri.com/LAMASTRA.html
http://www.bodyphyxinternational.com

Meanwhile, in Maine, many towns have strict no-tolerance policies that don't allow any kind of open container. In Portland, you have to set-up a specific beer garden tent, 21+ ID required, and can't leave the tent with your beer.

Results can and will vary based on location and law.

---

----------------------------------
Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I got you and understand. It does get people to hang around a long time and mingle. Would be perfect from an atmosphere standpoint in triathlon. Maybe not so healthy after a hard 70.3 or 140.6 miles though.

---

Swimmer
http://www.usprotri.com/LAMASTRA.html
http://www.bodyphyxinternational.com

I have to say that I was pretty darn pleased with my first Challenge event. Although there were a number of things that they need to tighten up for next year, I thought the course and the race organizers did a great job with the logistically difficult point-to-point set up. More than anything, I applaud these guys for putting up the 10-deep prize purse. As a first year pro, grabbing 4th place and taking home $1500 goes a hell of a long way. I really hope more North American challenge events catch on similar to this one. If you are interested in my race report, here is the link: http://justinmetzlertriathlete.blogspot.com/...enge-new-albany.html

I bet you were.... you were flying!

Ha! I don't know about flying. It sure didn't feel that way. I was just making sure I didn't get caught by any of the dozen US Pro guys charging HARD!

How does the aquabike finish at races that are not run by HFP? My company handled the timing for Challenge - hope people liked the live results kiosks w/ split at finish. We are a young company and haven't seen aquabike handled by any other race staff. Finishing in t2 makes it difficult from my prospective. Hoping for some helpful information.

---

Cheers,
Matt
(Columbus, OH)

Actually I'm not sure how aquabike usually finishes - it was my first one which is why I was so unsure about how it worked! I have done a lot of sprint tris, but running is my weakness so that's why I decided to do aquabike for my first Olympic attempt. It actually was fine to just stop in T2 and walk over to the finish line, I just wanted to know ahead of time if I was supposed to do that or something else (from what I've heard some do a little finish line while others just have you stop in T2 and go to the regular finish).

I did really like the kiosks to print our times - thanks for that!

Mostly I think their race finishes at the T2 split but then some companies let them run across the finish line (Rev3 Williamsburg did this, I believe).

Here are some of my takeaways from this event:

1) The "pre-race" stuff (i.e. event details, emails, etc) was very good. The "professionalism" of this material was high.
2) Packet pickup - seems like the in charge people didn't really tell the VOLUNTEERS handling packet pickup all that much.
3) The pro meeting: having a staff member (non USAT official) there is great, but when all of the race specific questions are answered with a "Ask Shannon" that makes me feel like there is not enough information being shared among the production team.
4) Race start (at least for my wave): extremely haphazard. I felt sorry for the girl they made the first turn "buoy." That seemed silly.
5) Bike course marking: not good. I've only done one other HFP Racing event but my feelings on their course markings are the same now as they were then; not enough.
6) Most people said something about the bike course/pavement/whatever but the bike course is what it is. Some places don't have great pavement, that's not something an RD can change. That being said, I almost got run over by a car late in the race that a cop did not stop at an intersection. This was the cop's fault, not the race's fault. BUT, the intersection control was generally good with only one or two exceptions (there was one intersection that had nobody, not a volunteer, not a course marking, not a police officer).
7) Coming into T2. I have no idea what that was about. It was...weird.
8) Run course: really good, albeit lonely. Not a complaint, just the nature of a course like that (2 big loops).

I liked this race and would do it again, but I would like to see some changes made to get bigger participation numbers. Judging by the email they sent shortly after event with the rather large list of changes I would say they are moving in the right direction. To a degree, I think it's good that HFP is taking on this "bigger" event as it will help them move forward and grow as a race production company.

What live results? Not sure about the kiosks but the live results link on your website showed only one participant named Test. The results on your website weren't updated until late evening.
You obviously have live results at the kiosks and you were handing them out to finishers. Why is it so hard to push this to your website?

---

---

SmartBikeTrainers.com || YouTube || My Twitter

You guys did a great job with 1 caveat. The overall stats for men and women need to be lumped together as well.

There's a long established walking 10k (one of the biggest walk races in the US), and there's usually a very good turnout for that. My guess is, this was a first time most folks had seen a tri, there were a lot of questions in local restaurants the night before, and a lot of folks who didn't know much about it. i would expect a larger turnout next year.

The live results link from racepenguin.com worked... we had it up and were testing it throughout the race. The official results could not be posted until after the last finisher (on the course until 4pm), and we conferred with the USAT official. I apologize if there was some difficulty with you reaching that page. It was up and functioning.

---

Cheers,
Matt
(Columbus, OH)

ID yes, USAT no.