dude is ripping it up this year.

Kona is going to be wild. He, Cam Brown, & Macca all look very very good right now. And you can't forget about Faris either.

Ya, that was a fun race yesterday. I liked the bike course and the swim course was well marked.

They need to step their game up on supporting the race though. There was no one catching people at the finish chute the EMT guys were in a tent accross the street. My wife (a Nurse and Ironman) and our friend (person trainer, Ironman...) stepped in caught people as the earlier finishers came in. They got the EMTs to cover and take over triaging folks after a while too.

I like that next year it will be on a different weekend than Auqafest. That will reduce the congestion there.

I think it was a function of when you finished. When we came across the line there was very good coverage. The problem was the field was melting around us and increasingly people were needing support when they came across the line. As a result it appeared that the EMTs were a bit over run. Not absolving them, but conditions were not optimal. I suspect they will increase their coverage next year.

The race is moving up to July 7th next year, so as to not go heads up with Aquafest.

Correct, when my wife and friend started to watch the early/fast finishers there was no one there. They stepped in and got things started and dragged the EMTs over.

I think that we are spoiled with Pacific Crest HIM, that is such a well run and orgainized event, that a lot of the other ones pale in comparison.

So when your wife caught Luke Bell, did she plant one on him?

Pac Crest, a well run event??? Was that a joke? Seriously, you got to be kidding, right?

I've known of at least one person to get lost on the run every year (and that includes two Pros). They had maybe one to two people handing out drinks at the aid stations. They run at least 8 events in a two-day period. Sorry but anything run by AASports is just going to average to below average.

I don't think she was there quite that early, I gave her a big salty kiss though.

I don't agree. We've found Pacific Crest to pretty good. I do agree they could some things better, like directions (their directions to drive to T1 suck) and course marking (it's confusing to see 3 different mile markers on the same course). But we've found the number of aide stations and # of people there handling out drinks to be fine.

I like the village and set up at the end of the race too.

I don't agree. We've found Pacific Crest to pretty good. I do agree they could some things better, like directions (their directions to drive to T1 suck) and course marking (it's confusing to see 3 different mile markers on the same course). But we've found the number of aide stations and # of people there handling out drinks to be fine.

I like the village and set up at the end of the race too.[/reply]

Are you kidding? First of all, they race organization is so screwed up, they publish incorrect info on their amateur level website. They state that there will be two aid stations on the bike, however, they had only one, where most half's have at least 3. The penalty tent with some confused high school girl drinking out of a nalgene does not count as a second aid station, unless we were supposed to stop and ask her for a sip. And most of the bike course turns were marked, except one major intersection. The volunteers were very weak, if at all. I asked the director where all the money went, ex. donation to a fundraiser somewhere, and he said it all goes to production costs, these things are expensive. If you can't give even Luke Bell a free entry, you're just plain stingy, greedy, or spend money like an idiot. It doesn't cost $100,000 to put on a mediocre race with a post race meal that consisted of a box of bananas, apples, grapes and oranges, that were set aside, somewhat hidden, in hope that no one would find them so the race director could take them home later. Offering $1200 as prize money is a joke, you may as well just give the winners hi-fives. All in all, they have a ways to go if they want to be successful in the future. One more thing, look at the fastest swim times, and the fastest finish times, then maybe think twice about putting the 20-29 age-group, behind the 30-39, 40-49 and women. Either make it a mass start, or put the fast people first, and don't do the race directors friends a favor by putting them first so they can be swam over by the half way point.

You liked the race village? Is this your first triathlon? The race was poorly planned during the red neck festival. Not a big fan of 100 vendors selling me crap as I'm trying to get to the transition area.

Luke Bell is indeed extraordinary and I think very few have the power it takes to beat him over the half-ironman distance. He will definitely be the one to beat at Clearmont next November.

Despite his performances in Lake Stevens, Califronia and so on, I'm sure we haven't seen the best of Luke yet. The same applies to his 2nd place in IM Brazil.

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I loved the red neck karaoke before the awards presentation.

As far as the race organization. I would not be nearly as harsh on the organization. The bike course was amazing. Very challenging and I thought very well marked. The intersections were also well managed by the local officers. The run was a bit confusing for the first lap (mainly my own fault for not pre-riding the run course).

As for the aid stations. For the run they were more than adequate. Water and gatorade every mile is pretty much all you need. If the volunteers did not have a cup waiting for you, its not that hard to grab one off their table. For the bike, I do agree that the aid station on 1/2 way point of each lap really should have had gatorade. Purely water at a station is not very useful.

Now, the wave starts were really anoying. There were way too many waves and their ordering made no sense. But it was cool to see Bell blow by on the bike.

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