How is that March race anyhow? I'm targeting that as my first of the 'season' (as if we have seasons in San Diego...). Bike course looks straightforward but I can't make out the Olympic run course.

The March race is completely different than this race. The only similarity is swim in same lake different loops though, and the first 2 miles of the bike to Madison. You do not have to worry about splitting a single lane though as they close the road to traffic. The run course is great because it is on hard packed dirt and smaller loops within the park. Its great at the beginning of the season as you don't need to trash your legs early with a run course like that.

Very well organized and put together as well. I would highly recommend it.

Survey is up for everyone to say what needs to change.

https://hitsshows.wufoo.com/...-d3644169c9-61777969

Um, wasn't there, but I was under the impression that using shallows to your advantage isn't cheating unless you literally run out of the water, run along the bank, and jump back in.

Seen way to many elites use sand bars to dolphin past others without getting penalised for it to be illegal.

Also, think about if you cross a river bar... or if you hit a shallow spot on a surf entry. Perfectly legal to stand up and walk.

Fun race! The oly course is just a couple loops along the shore of the lake.

The only downside to that race is a lack of timing mats on the bike. Wife got knocked off the podium by a woman who only did 1 loop of the 2 loop bike course. (I passed the cheater on the straightaway out to the loop, did my 2 loops, and passed the same cheater on the way back, which would have been impossible without her skipping a loop).

Even with that issue, it's a pretty setting and well staffed/laid out.

I was one of the racers that stopped to help you. That was a horrendous event to watch, I was right behind you. Apologies to you, in all the action I wasn't sure what to do and moved your bike to the side of the road while leaving my own bike and you lying in the road :/ So happy to hear you were at least able to get through the bike course and so sorry that your day went that way! That was ridiculous especially when every other intersection led everyone to believe traffic was being controlled.

I heard the water was in the low 50s, but at some parts of the swim it was near shore and you could almost walk the course

And some of the run course/ course cutting confusion may have been due to the run map (that each athlete is responsible for knowing) was not relatively close to the actual run course.

Well, both the run map and the actual run took place within the horse park. What more do you want? Just kidding.

I hope everyone fills out the survey and tells them exactly what a clusterfck the race was.

Ditto that. I was confused as hell when starting the run course. Over my ginormous plate of mexican and a huge beer I looked at the printed map and said 'that looks absolutely nothing like what I just ran!'.

Maybe you're right, but it certainly isn't within the spirit of competition, at least to me. It's a 1.2 mile swim, not a 100 yard swim, a 400 yard walk, then some more swimming, etc....

not an oly race... 1k swim, 40k bike, 8.75k run

Really? So if you are swimming in a river and there is a bar where it's 3" deep for q00 yards, tou'll drag yourself on your stomach for that distance?

And on races that you have to run into the water do you drag yourself in on your belly from the sand?

The spirit of competition is to complete the entire course as fast as possible.

Yes an Oly race.

It was a 1500m swim last year unless I and every other swimmer somehow went a third slower than usual. Fastest swim time was +/- 18 min. I typically do about 13 min for a 1000m swim and was somewhere around 20 if I recall.

Run time for me was about right for a 10 k as well.

Also, on their website, it states distances as 1.5k, 40k, 10k.

Maybe it was a change from previous years?

Edit: look for yourself: http://www.kleinclarksports.com/triathlon

 I hope that you're okay. Kudos to you for staying that cool in the situation with the police officer. I don't think that could have been me. I would be very angry with him.

in terms of hits ps, I thought it was just last year where the triathlon had its fair share of shortcomings. But based on the amount of comments that I'm seeing from this year, I'm glad that I decided not to go. It seems like this organization has consistently had multiple shortcomings in many areas.

 last year The oly swim was the same as the half distance race. Therefore everybody was much lower

Yeah...my boyfriend videotaped my AG start for the half, and there is a woman, not running, but walking VERY fast using long strides in calf deep water and you see she is out in front of all the swimmers, watching the swimmers to make sure she stays out in front. Wish I could have zoomed in to see her number, but couldn't. As I swam along, I yelled at some of the walkers that they were walking faster than the swimmers, and they giggled and said "I know!" and kept walking. Yelled that I'd be pissed if they beat me. Maybe I'll be swim police next year instead of racing.

PS: for $100, got my money's worth.

PSS: How good does it feel to podium if you cheat? If you're a cheater, probably just as good as an honest racer (no conscience).

all i know is that it was f---ing cold last year. my feet were numb out the water, and the poor guy next to me in T1 was shivering so badly, he couldn't move....

I talked to them about several of these issues before the race as I have been down there the last few years. I was pretty critical of them on the survey i just filled out. In short, I told them the following...

fire their timing company
get someone to keep the dog off the course,
get some timing mats at the turnaround
Move the date up to October or even early November, maybe ditch the full, people can use it as a tune up for IMAZ
Do more of the run around the lake like Desert Tri does
Ditch the equestrian center, flies on the run are no fun!

I told them to take a look at the beating they are taking on ST, maybe they will make some changes for the better. i still say they have the best transition area in the sport and I like the grass roots idea. maybe bumping the entry fees up $50 or so will take them to the next level.

Just ripped into 'em...

Thanks so much for compromising your own race to help out, I appreciate it very much! Seriously still can't figure out how the cop could stand by and watch it all unfold on his watch. Thankfully people like you were willing to help. THANK YOU!!

one last question: what did people measure the Half distance swim at, if you were wearing a GPS device? I had 2357 on a fairly straight line...

2406yds but that is all the way up to T1

mine was to the water's edge, so I'd call those a match