Hello Tri-Bum and All,

What kind of bikes allowed? Aerobars?

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

No idea. Suggest you contact Piranha-Sports. I was checking the site and just saw it. It seems like a strange event point to point draft legal full. Can't imagine they will have many sign up.

If a USAT race, road bikes only. If not, anything is possible depending on what the RD does.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

wow. I keep thinking I need something different. this is gonna be different.


I'm in. it will be a long pond swim, a gran fondo, and a nice jog.

As if you didn't need any other reason to ignore this completely moronic multisport distance...The guy who runs these events, Neil Semmel, is a quack/idiot and possibly a complete asshole -- personally, I wouldn't touch his events with a ten foot pole after his complete failure/refusal to address the indisputable, documented cheating that occurred this past September at Delaware Diamondman.

This guy Neil designs a two loop, multiple out and back course (both bike and run) and cheaps out by not having chip timing mats. Fine. But then he doesn't have a volunteer to confirm athletes make any of the turnarounds. And then, when one of the cheating slimeball losers -- from the Baucco clan, naturally -- shows up and takes complete advantage of Neil's incompetence (impotence?) by slicing a dozen miles off the bike leg, Neil doesn't do shit to address it despite Strava posted GPS evidence my great grandmother wouldn't deny. Protests from displaced athletes who completed the distance were left unanswered by this total loser who defended the cheating scum.

Neil's steadfast refusal to admit the flagrant injustice and correct the results -- an extraordinary disservice to athletes who completed the course fairly and to the broader ideals of competition in the sport -- is hall of fame repugnant. Unspeakably poor stewardship of the sport.

Stay away.

Stay away? Is that all you got?

The Half Distance (or whatever distance you happen to cover) race you referenced was not USAT sanctioned, so what rules apply to such an event and who would be there to observe and enforce them anyway? Who knows...YOU certainly don't! The RD can make 'em up however and whenever he likes, or..."No Rules...Just Right!

I just think you could be a little more creative here.

Don't stay away, but sign up for the 2017 edition of the Whatever Distance race...and just CRUSH it! Mostly by doing just one loop of both the bike and run courses. Think about it...a Half Distance World Record attempt you can easily notch a sub 3hr race and cross the finish line, a ST legend. Maybe earn enough street cred to start your own AMA thread. You want to amp things up a bit, just recruit 10-12 athletes (Slowtwitchers?) to join in on this as a lark and it could get very funny watching the RD try to sort it all out, especially if everyone paces so as to spread finish times out from the patently ridiculous to the "very fast, but possible" range, and keeps their data private on Strava for a while. 1 last unifying detail to pull the fiasco together...would be great if you all could identify as racing for Team BS, just for consistency.

Now that's a great start, but you gotta go full anarchy on the draft legal 140.6 race later in October. The distance may be moronic, but only if you actually DO it. So for the Fullish Distance World Record attempt, you put out personal invites to celebrity athletes who might like to take advantage of the situation. I'm thinking...#7, Finman, T3 and MirrorMan for starters. Maybe instigate a "race within a race" smackdown pitting the navigational skills of that dentist from Michigan -vs- the DJ from PA! (Somebody might have to teach those guys how to swim...or just loan them both 10mm Water Rover Wetsuits...I mean, they're legal for this race...right?) Top it all off with a cross-border gender war pitting a certain military man whose word is gold -vs- the Canadian phenom whose left ankle hasn't met a chip strap it couldn't spontaneously dislodge. You agree to organize all this, and I'll do my part by volunteering at the first aid station on the run. I'll be the sweaty guy in a gorilla suit with a cup of Gatorade in one hand, flipping Chapsticks on the ground with the other.

I've raced a Piranha sports event before (the Pittsburgh tri). Never again....

RD is a total douche bag and moron. And it's a shame since the Pitt Tri is my home town race. Thank goodness they no longer put on that race.

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blog

Agreed 100%. He pulled the prize money from the Greater Atlantic Multisport race series in 2007, after I was 4 races in and committed to the last 4. Yep, I won the series, showed up to the awards and got a case of Heed. So few showed up that everyone got a case of Heed. And then there was so much Heed left over that anyone just wandering around the park could grab a case of Heed. Officiating on those races was not bad, just non existent. Food was disgusting, high school lunch type stuff. Awards were lame. Courses sucked. Neil didn't give a shit.

So aside from commentary on the RD as a person, I wonder - how exactly one can run a p-to-p 112 bike? Shuttle people 2 h (ETA, 1 h 20 min) by bus to the swim start?? Logistically this sounds untenable.

I bike a p-2-p 80 mi from PA to MD through DE, but that's to my BF's Dad's house. BF spends the day with his Dad, then drives us home.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Yep - I had the same experience with Piranha. At one of their early season tris a few people cut the course on the run, which they admitted to later on. But the results still stood! This resulted in "world class" run splits...and Piranha DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! At the time this tri was USAT sanctioned, so people wrote in to complain. It was only then they pulled the course cutters from the results. For this reason, I'll never do a Piranha race again!

What year was that? Are you talking about this year (2016)?

I raced the Diamondman half this year (2nd OA). I thought it was a great race, except for the 102 degree heat index during the run that pretty much killed everyone. I mean, it wasn't anywhere near the production level of an IM-branded race, but it certainly wasn't the worst I've seen.

I wasn't even aware of the situation you're complaining about; sure, it doesn't sound like it was handled the best way, but, seriously, it's not like there was a big prize purse or anything for the race, and this guy definitely did not win (even if he cut 12 miles off the bike). Sure, there's also the series ranking, but even that isn't worth much.

I guess I just don't understand your level of hostility towards Piranha and Neil as a person. I'm grateful that someone is providing opportunities to race a variety of distances outside of the IM monopoly.

This. Personally, I'm glad there are races I can drive to that morning and be home late afternoon at worst. You get what you pay for - if you register now, with a buddy, you can do Olympics for $64 and halfs for $88. For that, I don't care that the food is mediocre and the podium medals craptastic. They start on time, they allow swim warmups, so we're good. I haven't done Diamondman, and never saw results affected by course cutting, but yeah I'd be kinda upset if it affected me.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

I can race a marathon with tired legs for a lot less than $500

The irony is everyone will want to draft the 112 miles, but there will be so few participants that finding another nearby to work with will be next to impossible. He should start with the bike first so at least the 30 participants can draft for a few miles.