A power washer might remove the slipperyness.

when you say turf to you mean real grass or that fake grass like carpet? Because some type of rubber carpet like mat would be what I would like. Thanks for organizing a triathlon:)

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Thanks for the reply!

Per the question on the 'turf'...the green carpet stuff.

Biggest issue is the part the part of the ramp/exit underwater....as you walk down it, it gets slick. Hadn't thought about submerging a power washer and getting after it!

I have found that old carpet with some holes knocked into it and weighed down at the underwater end seems to work well

Ive done some races with boat launch exits. Theyve usually had volunteers in the water on both sides of the ramp helping swimmers as they stand up and take their first steps. This doesnt solve the slipperiness but it helps people standup (more) safely and get their land legs underneath them. Tell athletes at the athlete meeting that the launch is slippery and have the volunteers remind swimmers as they are exiting.

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yes on this. all of the carpeted exits i've experienced have been better than the other options, which include no "coating".
peggy

Are you talking normal house carpet? Any idea on what they use to weight it down?

Also... don't forget to clean the surface for zebra mussels and shells.. I sliced my toe open exiting the water in a tri a few years ago.. filled my cycling shoe with blood... then filled my running shoe with blood.


Those outdoor "green grass" carpets work well enough at the tri's I've done. They usually get them wide enough that they can weigh them down with rocks without hurting anyone.

Keep using the green artificial turf, but use sandbags around the edges to hold it down. If you use rocks or concrete blocks, someone will bust a toe or cut a foot. Just dump the sand when finished.

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Habitual line stepper.

We use anti-fatigue mats at our event. Zip tie them two wide by however long you require.
It is costly but well worth it.

http://www.homedepot.com/...FTRM9191-1/206355967


We have a couple of handlers at the edge of them helping with swimmers balance but also keeping a foot on them so they stay down.

First, thanks for caring enough to ask the question and improve the race experience.

As an athlete, the above looks like a winner to me. Something there to protect my feet and some volunteers there for me to complain about swimming to (er, help me out of the water if it's slippery).

Consider this another vote for volunteers to help swimmers stand up and walk. The one race I've done with a boat ramp exit has had 6-8 volunteers helping people out of the water. Usually 2 volunteers per swimmer. They've also scrubbed the ramp to help, but it's minimally effective. One year they had some kind of plastic mats down that was mostly holes (I think something like this). Not sure how they kept it down. Possibly some concrete blocks on the corners?

Give the spectators a show. Make the athletes exit onto the dock and not the boat launch. Then, have jousting sticks available so that athletes can knock each other back into the water. Charge a spectator fee. Sell popcorn.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

To scrub the boat ramp underwater, you can use a swimming pool extension pole (aka telescopic pole or "telepole") with an algae brush attachment. It might even be worth spending the extra money to get the algae brush with metal bristles instead of the plastic bristles.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Thanks! Ideally I think we'd like to get to the point of having the rubber mats but they are spendy!

Sounds like the green turf carpet stuff may be the best bang for the buck if we can keep it secured down. I like the idea of having sand bags on the edges and maybe a couple at the lip of it.

Now you're talking... Reminds me of that insurance (?) commercial with the dodgeballs at a triathlon.

What have you all found to be the best way to keep mats or turf down? Dumbells, sand??

you laugh but at IM/HIM NC Wilmington you climb a dock ladder to get out of the swim. granted volunteers are there and you really just climb a few steps.

Ramp is preferable to stairs. And in terms of carpet, something with texture to it (anti fatigue matting is a good bet). If it's on a ramp, you can physically attach it (either drilling holes in the ramp and zip ties or some type of adhesive, if just using it on the group, you can tie the mats together with zip ties or string, and tie the ends into fixed points (existing structures or something like a series of stakes in the ground (I've even see this done with tent pegs), just make sure it's wide enough that it's not a massive funnel point, and that people aren't trying to exit where you've attached the matting to the fixed object. typically that will be safer than using something easily moveable like a dumbbell or rocks to hold it down. You could bury an end under some earth, but there is a risk of it coming loose with the traffic over the matting....

The one risk with a ramp is water levels, was at an event last year with an exit ramp, but the water level was quite low compared to prior years, so the angle was quite steep. it was treacherous for people to run up (it was bare wood with no anti slip surface on it), they had volunteers to help pull people up, but there were still numerous falls because it got super slick as soon as the first dozen swimmers were out of the water. That angle would have been fine, if there was some sort of textured surface on the ramp, rather than the bare wood...

We have a race like this, one of my favourites. They mitigate the slippery concrete ramp as follows:

- ramp is scrubbed/powerwashed as well as possible before the race
- for swim entry, athletes are told to sit down and scootch/push off the ramp once their feet are in the water so they don't slip entering the water
- for exit, there is a rope you can grab, and a number of volunteers to offer a hand and help you up the ramp

The first 2 triathlons(same location) I did had 2 dock ladders to exit the swim. Even better, the ladders weren't completely secure and tended to swing under the dock as you climbed them.

I was going to suggest the heavy duty rubber mats that you see in front of industrial machinery.

They are just over a meter square and about 25mm thick.

I have two in the garden under the swing and in front of the playhouse.

The place where we OWS has them on the concrete ramp. They don't need weighing down and even though they are covered in alge (they leave them in place all year) they are comfy and grippy under foot.

WD :-)

Consider your exit problems a blessing. A worse problem is thick mucky quick sand style mud where each step sinks your foot fully under. Had an exit like that once and the volunteers were pretty much dragging people along on their stomachs. It was bizarre.

Rubber mats = $$.

Plastic grass + sandbags = good. I volunteered at a swim exit and we stood on the sand bags as we pulled swimmers to their feet. It was just more comfortable for us. The sand bags were free because the park had them for erosion control so it was no big deal. The plastic grass can be slippery though.

Rocks on the ramp are a bummer. I've run across many-a-rocky-ramp. I think it is part of the sport.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
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