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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [Vanwolfenstein] [ In reply to ]
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As most of my criticism was already covered I'll attempt to comment on a couple of good and bad points that Rev3 had for the race.
Good:
Volunteers and Staff were great! My number one concern is safety on the bike as for this course there were some pretty good hills and lots of turns it makes a huge difference if you can go through a turn or bomb a hill without having to worry about getting hit by one of the notoriously poor Southeastern Virginia drivers. The Police, Volunteers and Staff did an excellent job of keeping us safe, marking the course and ensuring that no one got lost or run over.
Transitions, although long they were well layed out, nicely spaced with plenty of room to maneuver around other competitors and get out on course. I liked the racks with cubbys and the slot for bike wheels, it makes it much cleaner in transition and kept others from encroaching or taking up too much space. Also the water/nutrition stop between the swim and T-1 was great!
Food and Water was great at the water stops both on the bike and run the volunteers did a great job of getting whatever we needed and the selection was excellent. As long as you called out what you wanted they had it ready for you.
I thought the bike course was awesome! I loved the rolling hills and fast descents. I had the luxury of riding the course ahead of time with CVE for the course preview but I thought they did an excellent job pointing out the one bad spot (mile 46) in both the athlete meeting and with announcements on course and markings on the potholes.
The medal was pretty awesome, very detailed and huge! Ice cold towel at the end was awesome and the finish line medics were great (had a gash on my foot from stepping on a rock in the swim).
Negative:
Schwag sucked, for an organization that is listed as the best schwag out there, this was very disappointing. I have received better goodies from a $35 5K, one power bar, a non race specific visor and cotton long sleeve t-shirt doesn't cut it for this caliber of a race. On top of that there wasn't even much gear to buy at the expo other than general Rev-3 stuff. The brown jersey would have only been better if they had offered white shorts to go with it... Overall the expo was not worth coming to, it would have been better to just pick up the packet the day of the race and not have to drop off the bikes a day ahead and spend a night in a hotel. They delivered a good local race with the hype and cost of a nationally branded race.
Communications were a little lacking as well, when we got to T2 in the morning the Info booth didn't know if it was wetsuit legal, then at T-1 there were no announcements so I had to walk around until I found an official to find out if it was wetsuit legal. This could be easily fixed by posting this info at each of the transitions and maybe the Info booth as soon as the determination is made. The website was also very tough to load and had lots of ads, but was missing useful information like hill profiles and race numbers, wave times. A better format for the Athletes Guide is either a pdf or doc, that way it requires less bandwidth to load.
The run course was boring, usually when you do an A to B bike it is to put the run course somewhere more interesting, otherwise it is not worth dealing with the hassle of two transition areas. I had hoped that the course would at least run through a scenic area or something more than a bunch of parking lots and tight circles. The run could be improved by going out through Colonial Williamsburg, or going with a single transition and running out through the Jamestown Settlement. There is a lot of history in the area and it would be nice to see some of it. The hills were a lot worse than advertised on the run, from the website and athletes brief I was expecting relatively flat with a few gradual hills rather than a bunch of hills with some flat... Shame on me for not pre-riding or running the course.
Overall:
I thought it was a good race with potential to be great. The course turned out tougher than I was expecting and is not a PR course, but it is a good test of ability and was great prep for IMLP, which is ultimately what I was hoping for. It was well supported and the race crew was working hard to make it the best race possible. There will be growing pains and there is room for improvement but this is a race that can be awesome with a little work, and maybe some better managed expectations. Thank you to all who volunteered and don't lose sight of the great race due to a couple of small mistakes.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [japarker24] [ In reply to ]
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In the spirit of transparancy, I am a Rev3 Team Member -- I did the IM Raleigh and their point to point transisitons were not flawless.... they lost my gear in T1 and then told me to drive back out to Lake Jordan to get it .... which I did and upon arrival it was abudantly clear that no one from WTC had been there for HOURS. I would just offer that everyone's experience is different.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [Gtgwotn] [ In reply to ]
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Gtgwotn wrote:
In the spirit of transparancy, I am a Rev3 Team Member -- I did the IM Raleigh and their point to point transisitons were not flawless.... they lost my gear in T1 and then told me to drive back out to Lake Jordan to get it .... which I did and upon arrival it was abudantly clear that no one from WTC had been there for HOURS. I would just offer that everyone's experience is different.

In all fairness, your lost bag may have nothing to do with Raleigh being a point to point race. Bags can be lost even at races with just 1 transition.

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [James Haycraft] [ In reply to ]
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James,
I respect your talent and knowledge in this sport. As a Set Up Events customer, you and I have raced the same races many times including Holden Beach (you won) and White Lake Half (you were 2nd). I know you have a pro card, as well (I see you in the 1st picture of the Williamsburg photo gallery on the main page).

I responded to a post from an individual who said he/she would never do a point to point race again because of Rev3 Williamsburg. Do you think that is fair? B2B may have had some challenges back in 2009 or 2010, but I think you have to admit it runs pretty smoothly these days.

Wouldn't you tell someone that they should give races like B2B or Raleigh (or even Williamsburg) a chance and don't let the 2 transitions scare them away?

Sincerely
J. Alan Parker

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [japarker24] [ In reply to ]
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japarker24 wrote:
James,
I respect your talent and knowledge in this sport. As a Set Up Events customer, you and I have raced the same races many times including Holden Beach (you won) and White Lake Half (you were 2nd). I know you have a pro card, as well (I see you in the 1st picture of the Williamsburg photo gallery on the main page).

I responded to a post from an individual who said he/she would never do a point to point race again because of Rev3 Williamsburg. Do you think that is fair? B2B may have had some challenges back in 2009 or 2010, but I think you have to admit it runs pretty smoothly these days.

Wouldn't you tell someone that they should give races like B2B or Raleigh (or even Williamsburg) a chance and don't let the 2 transitions scare them away?

Sincerely
J. Alan Parker

I feel as though the tone of your post implied that Rev3 had MORE problems than other nearby first-time races due to its being a p2p race. I do not think that is true. B2B now has a completely different bike and run course due to logistical problems it faced in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I can't speak personally to Raleigh.

Rev3 Williamsburg did, in fact, have some issues. I am not sure they could have been prevented without extensive first hand knowledge of the area. Two transitions is always a logistical headache from an athlete's perspective. I think it was handled pretty darn well.

Luckily, myself and Matt Wistoff had another person to drive us to T2 in the morning and T1. That removes a ton of headache.

I am confident that 2014 will bring a much smoother race if it happens (and I hope it does). The community was very good with cycling in general when I attended school there from 03-07 so hopefully it can embrace this new event, traffic problems and all.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [James Haycraft] [ In reply to ]
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My buddy did Rev3 Quassy a few weeks ago. His time is still screwed up. I did Rev 3 Florida last year. It took a week for them to post the correct times. Timing is THE fundamental aspect of racing. It needs to be right every time. That’s why we do this!
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [kquantum] [ In reply to ]
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kquantum wrote:
My buddy did Rev3 Quassy a few weeks ago. His time is still screwed up. I did Rev 3 Florida last year. It took a week for them to post the correct times. Timing is THE fundamental aspect of racing. It needs to be right every time. That’s why we do this!

To be fair, its not why EVERYONE does it. Might be for you. Personally I time it myself using my Garmin devices so if something gets whacked with my timing (lost chip, missed mat, whatever) I am not all that broken up over it. Unless of course I am aiming for a podium spot, but if I am not then I am not too concerned.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [f_ahsile] [ In reply to ]
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f_ahsile wrote:
This was my first Rev3 race but not my first half and I’ve done the Setup Events Patriot’s Half in the past which is in the same general area as well as the Patriot’s Sprint and Jamestown International. Here are some of my thoughts and comments on how the race went and ideas on how it could be improved in the future:

(1) Packet Pickup: I expected to see a great expo with a ton of vendors but there wasn't much there, also the packet pickup wasn't very well setup IMO. The race numbers could have been sent out to athletes ahead of time and/or should have been prominently displayed near the packet pickup location vice a small sign with arrows saying to look on the backside of the tent. This should have been set out front and center for people to see (it was a very nice printed sign with the numbers on it). Also the chip pick up was a little disjointed as well – with the signage it looked like it was a weigh in station for Clydesdales and Athenas but the large sign said chip pickup so it was a bit confusing (I’ve heard multiple people at the site make this comment as well) . Then the goody bag (empty other than a generic Rev3 visor and a Powerbar) was in the next tent over. A head’s up that we wouldn't be getting our shirts until the finish line would have been nice as well – many of us were standing around confused as to if there was yet another area where we could get our shirts. Better signage and arrows directing the flow of Packet Pickup traffic would have made it run smoother.

(2) Bike Check-in: I had no issues with the bike check in but one of my friends discovered on race morning that there was a huge gouge on the top tube of her bike cutting all the way through the paint that was not there previously. No cool if people were jacking around with peoples bikes overnight. The bike racks however were pretty cool – I’d never used those before but it solved the normal spacing issues encountered in transition with space hogs and no fighting over the space closest to the exit.

(3) T2 Setup & Bus to T1: This was my first time with two transition locations and I am not a fan. I got to T2 fairly early around 4:50 so really no issues finding parking, setting up T2, or getting to the site but sounds like there were some issues later when the mass majority of people showed up. I prefer one transition location and it can be done in Williamsburg.

(4) Swim: The swim course was a triangle not a rectangle as advertised on the Rev3 site. If they’d stuck with the original swim course and made a race morning call on the direction of the swim based on current (like they do at Patriot’s) then many of the issues with the current would have been solved (rainfall can have a significant effect on river flow). Also there are some jagged rocks in the water near the start – previous races at this location start swimmers in the water just past the rocks to prevent the mad frenzy of people running over these rocks – one of my friends cut up his foot pretty bad which severely impacted his run and resulted in a trip to the medical tent immediately after the finish. With all of that said, my swim was 1:30 faster than when I did Patriot’s Half, the swim is my worst leg so I’ve put a lot of time into improving my swim. No, I did not cut the course although I saw plenty of pink caps cutting the last red buoy and making the Olympic turn instead. Also the red buoy was very dark and difficult to see (to me it looked much smaller than the others as well) – perhaps using something brighter like a lime green or pink buoy would make it more prominent.

(5) T1: The decision to change the swim entrance/bike exit out of transition at the last moment created a whole host of problems – also I never heard the announcement that it was being changed, luckily my husband did so he told me about it. The narrow driveway that we had to run over to get to transition needs to have carpet down as there were ton of small gravel fragments – one of which got imbedded in my foot and I had to dig out with some tweezers when I got home. From what my husband has told me the traffic was a nightmare with people trying to get to the ferry to head to work and bikes leaving transition. It’s hard to tell from the race map what the original plan was but taking the narrow road leading from T1 though the fields directly to Greensprings Road would eliminate issues with vehicle versus bike traffic for the ferry on Jamestown Road.

(6) Bike: I wasn’t a huge fan of the course with all of the turn arounds and one mile of really rough road with a ton of potholes, however we were well warned about the rough road so I knew to slow down. I did see a lot of blatant drafting from the age groupers – in fact I had one guy pass me and then hop directly on the wheel of the bike in front of me, I’m talking less than one bike length behind the bike and he even turned around to look at me twice to see if I was going to say anything. I didn’t catch his number but he was 36 years old in the half wearing a Rev3 kit.

(7) T2: T2 didn’t go well for me but had nothing to do with the race – I dropped and busted my liquid shot flask halfway through T2 so I had to run back and grab my spare one from the bike

(8) Run: The run course changed within a week or two of the race as well from a 3-loop circular course to an out and back course twice with hills on both ends. I saw a lot of traffic issues and some close calls by cars trying to jet between runners. For the most part the water stops went well but where too close together. I think it would have been better to have a water stop in both ends and one in the middle instead of all being about a mile apart in the middle. I would have been better to have two people on the sponges because twice I wanted a sponge but the one guy manning the tub was handing them out to the racers heading the other direction. Once I had to grab my own water because they didn’t have any ready to hand me – not sure what the deal was there but that only happened once. Also it’s helpful to have Gatorade and water in separate cups (green Gatorade cups and white cups) to make it clearer to athletes what they are grabbing instead of asking every time.

(9) Post-Race: I know that Rev3 is advertised as a family friendly race it sucks when a family with multiple small children crossing the finish line in front of you blocks the finish line so you have to slow down and they huddle directly in front of the photographer so I don’t even get a finisher’s photo. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have two finisher shoots directly next to each other – one for people finishing with their families and one for those sans family that are pushing for a PR – I told my husband he could finish with me if he could keep up because I’m not slowing down :-). The large Gatorade towels soaked in ice water were great at the end.

(10) Swag: I was very very very disappointed in the swag which seems to be one of the huge selling points for Rev3. We got a generic Rev3 visor vice a race specific one – however if you wanted a race specific visor it was available for purchase in the Rev3 store (it was brown – ugh so not very appealing but still at least it’s race specific). Finally the race t-shirt the one thing that you get to wear around town or when working out to discreetly brag about your triathlon experience and it’s a black, long sleeve, cotton t-shirt… I guess that goes in my drawer of running shirts from the 90’s and early 2000’s that I wear for working in the yard, around the house, or layers when going sledding in Ohio. The local running races in Hampton Road have better swag. The metals were cool and about the size of my face.

(11) Timing: There are still issues with the times posted online – it has my T2 listed as 25:43 and my run listed as a 10min half-marathon PR which I know is not correct based on my Garmin data.

(12) Staff & Volunteers: I thought that the announcer was a bit annoying and seemed to talk for the sake of talking. He also said some inappropriate stuff that would not have put Rev3 in a good light if something bad happened on the swim course. He said something to the effect that he thought losing one person on the swim course is an acceptable loss but that the safety people disagree – considering the issues and press lately with people dying on the swim portion of triathlons it was said in poor taste and would have been very bad in the media if someone were to get badly injured or die on the course. I would have preferred more music and less of his talking unless it’s for important race updates such as transition entrance/exit location changes and delays. The Rev3 Staff and volunteers were very positive and enthusiastic.

If Rev3 plans to continue putting on this race in the future, I’d recommend sending a few reps to participate in the Setup Events Patriot’s race in September to see how they eliminate many of the course issues that were encountered at Rev3 Williamsburg. I’m undecided if I’ll do it again next year but I’m sure that Rev3 will be making lots of changes based on the feedback received on race day as well as constructive criticism and feedback posted here on ST.




Sounded like an awful race.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [jhpcga] [ In reply to ]
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I am confident than a run through Colonial Williamsburg will never, ever happen. It is just not possible. THAT is where the town of Williamsburg makes its REAL money. I am sure that will not be jeopardized for a triathlon which will be a one day pump into the local coffers.

The cycling club at school half-heartedly tried to get a race set up near there during my latter years in school but the logistical problems and opposing players made it all but impossible. I'm honestly surprised that a triathlon was able to be held anywhere near Colonial Williamsburg.

I loved running through campus. I am biased, however, because we ran by Wawa where many a late night post-drinking night "ended," old campus class buildings where I napped, and two dorms I stayed in during my 4 years at school. That's pretty cool.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [Cervelo Apple] [ In reply to ]
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Cervelo Apple wrote:
f_ahsile wrote:
This was my first Rev3 race but not my first half and I’ve done the Setup Events Patriot’s Half in the past which is in the same general area as well as the Patriot’s Sprint and Jamestown International. Here are some of my thoughts and comments on how the race went and ideas on how it could be improved in the future:

(1) Packet Pickup: I expected to see a great expo with a ton of vendors but there wasn't much there, also the packet pickup wasn't very well setup IMO. The race numbers could have been sent out to athletes ahead of time and/or should have been prominently displayed near the packet pickup location vice a small sign with arrows saying to look on the backside of the tent. This should have been set out front and center for people to see (it was a very nice printed sign with the numbers on it). Also the chip pick up was a little disjointed as well – with the signage it looked like it was a weigh in station for Clydesdales and Athenas but the large sign said chip pickup so it was a bit confusing (I’ve heard multiple people at the site make this comment as well) . Then the goody bag (empty other than a generic Rev3 visor and a Powerbar) was in the next tent over. A head’s up that we wouldn't be getting our shirts until the finish line would have been nice as well – many of us were standing around confused as to if there was yet another area where we could get our shirts. Better signage and arrows directing the flow of Packet Pickup traffic would have made it run smoother.

(2) Bike Check-in: I had no issues with the bike check in but one of my friends discovered on race morning that there was a huge gouge on the top tube of her bike cutting all the way through the paint that was not there previously. No cool if people were jacking around with peoples bikes overnight. The bike racks however were pretty cool – I’d never used those before but it solved the normal spacing issues encountered in transition with space hogs and no fighting over the space closest to the exit.

(3) T2 Setup & Bus to T1: This was my first time with two transition locations and I am not a fan. I got to T2 fairly early around 4:50 so really no issues finding parking, setting up T2, or getting to the site but sounds like there were some issues later when the mass majority of people showed up. I prefer one transition location and it can be done in Williamsburg.

(4) Swim: The swim course was a triangle not a rectangle as advertised on the Rev3 site. If they’d stuck with the original swim course and made a race morning call on the direction of the swim based on current (like they do at Patriot’s) then many of the issues with the current would have been solved (rainfall can have a significant effect on river flow). Also there are some jagged rocks in the water near the start – previous races at this location start swimmers in the water just past the rocks to prevent the mad frenzy of people running over these rocks – one of my friends cut up his foot pretty bad which severely impacted his run and resulted in a trip to the medical tent immediately after the finish. With all of that said, my swim was 1:30 faster than when I did Patriot’s Half, the swim is my worst leg so I’ve put a lot of time into improving my swim. No, I did not cut the course although I saw plenty of pink caps cutting the last red buoy and making the Olympic turn instead. Also the red buoy was very dark and difficult to see (to me it looked much smaller than the others as well) – perhaps using something brighter like a lime green or pink buoy would make it more prominent.

(5) T1: The decision to change the swim entrance/bike exit out of transition at the last moment created a whole host of problems – also I never heard the announcement that it was being changed, luckily my husband did so he told me about it. The narrow driveway that we had to run over to get to transition needs to have carpet down as there were ton of small gravel fragments – one of which got imbedded in my foot and I had to dig out with some tweezers when I got home. From what my husband has told me the traffic was a nightmare with people trying to get to the ferry to head to work and bikes leaving transition. It’s hard to tell from the race map what the original plan was but taking the narrow road leading from T1 though the fields directly to Greensprings Road would eliminate issues with vehicle versus bike traffic for the ferry on Jamestown Road.

(6) Bike: I wasn’t a huge fan of the course with all of the turn arounds and one mile of really rough road with a ton of potholes, however we were well warned about the rough road so I knew to slow down. I did see a lot of blatant drafting from the age groupers – in fact I had one guy pass me and then hop directly on the wheel of the bike in front of me, I’m talking less than one bike length behind the bike and he even turned around to look at me twice to see if I was going to say anything. I didn’t catch his number but he was 36 years old in the half wearing a Rev3 kit.

(7) T2: T2 didn’t go well for me but had nothing to do with the race – I dropped and busted my liquid shot flask halfway through T2 so I had to run back and grab my spare one from the bike

(8) Run: The run course changed within a week or two of the race as well from a 3-loop circular course to an out and back course twice with hills on both ends. I saw a lot of traffic issues and some close calls by cars trying to jet between runners. For the most part the water stops went well but where too close together. I think it would have been better to have a water stop in both ends and one in the middle instead of all being about a mile apart in the middle. I would have been better to have two people on the sponges because twice I wanted a sponge but the one guy manning the tub was handing them out to the racers heading the other direction. Once I had to grab my own water because they didn’t have any ready to hand me – not sure what the deal was there but that only happened once. Also it’s helpful to have Gatorade and water in separate cups (green Gatorade cups and white cups) to make it clearer to athletes what they are grabbing instead of asking every time.

(9) Post-Race: I know that Rev3 is advertised as a family friendly race it sucks when a family with multiple small children crossing the finish line in front of you blocks the finish line so you have to slow down and they huddle directly in front of the photographer so I don’t even get a finisher’s photo. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have two finisher shoots directly next to each other – one for people finishing with their families and one for those sans family that are pushing for a PR – I told my husband he could finish with me if he could keep up because I’m not slowing down :-). The large Gatorade towels soaked in ice water were great at the end.

(10) Swag: I was very very very disappointed in the swag which seems to be one of the huge selling points for Rev3. We got a generic Rev3 visor vice a race specific one – however if you wanted a race specific visor it was available for purchase in the Rev3 store (it was brown – ugh so not very appealing but still at least it’s race specific). Finally the race t-shirt the one thing that you get to wear around town or when working out to discreetly brag about your triathlon experience and it’s a black, long sleeve, cotton t-shirt… I guess that goes in my drawer of running shirts from the 90’s and early 2000’s that I wear for working in the yard, around the house, or layers when going sledding in Ohio. The local running races in Hampton Road have better swag. The metals were cool and about the size of my face.

(11) Timing: There are still issues with the times posted online – it has my T2 listed as 25:43 and my run listed as a 10min half-marathon PR which I know is not correct based on my Garmin data.

(12) Staff & Volunteers: I thought that the announcer was a bit annoying and seemed to talk for the sake of talking. He also said some inappropriate stuff that would not have put Rev3 in a good light if something bad happened on the swim course. He said something to the effect that he thought losing one person on the swim course is an acceptable loss but that the safety people disagree – considering the issues and press lately with people dying on the swim portion of triathlons it was said in poor taste and would have been very bad in the media if someone were to get badly injured or die on the course. I would have preferred more music and less of his talking unless it’s for important race updates such as transition entrance/exit location changes and delays. The Rev3 Staff and volunteers were very positive and enthusiastic.

If Rev3 plans to continue putting on this race in the future, I’d recommend sending a few reps to participate in the Setup Events Patriot’s race in September to see how they eliminate many of the course issues that were encountered at Rev3 Williamsburg. I’m undecided if I’ll do it again next year but I’m sure that Rev3 will be making lots of changes based on the feedback received on race day as well as constructive criticism and feedback posted here on ST.





Sounded like an awful race.

Is that the conclusion? I gave up reading about half way down and just went on to the next post. You saved me a whole bunch of reading

_________________________________________________
When all is said and done. More is usually said than done
Ba Ba Booey

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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [japarker24] [ In reply to ]
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japarker24 wrote:
When a multiple transistion race is done right, you don't even notice. Examples: B2B and IM 70.3 Raleigh (and that was an inaugural race).


good to know. After yesterday it won't be soon that I try one.
And I realized during the swim in the brown-I-cannot-see-anything water that I want to pick races with nice swims. Puerto Rico was great that way.
Last edited by: meuf: Jun 24, 13 15:00
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [James Haycraft] [ In reply to ]
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James Haycraft wrote:

I loved running through campus. I am biased, however, because we ran by Wawa where many a late night post-drinking night "ended," old campus class buildings where I napped, and two dorms I stayed in during my 4 years at school. That's pretty cool.

Hold on, we ran by the Wawa? Good thing I didn't know that or I would have had an even worse run split!


On a serious note, I was extremely concerned for everybody in the Oly and the back half of both races from the time I saw the course map. Just shy of mile 20 on the Oly bike course (50something on half), you had to make a left across the oncoming traffic that was somewhere about 2.5 mi into both courses. I asked about this at packet pickup and was reassured that the timing was worked out that it wouldnt be an issue. Well, it was. There were still people pouring out onto the course at that point and the volunteers didn't know what to do as the eventual winner and I just had to nearly stop and wait for a lull. It could have been a hell of a lot worse.
Otherwise we had quite a few instances of just "not being ready," as I spent from about mile 10 of the bike to .5ish on the run in the lead of the Oly. I guess I expected a little more from a big race organization to make sure intersections are controlled before the lead biker gets there, but there was one spot where the whole road was coned off to cars, but we were supposed to ride through the cones. The cops were still in their car and I almost turned. Similar sorts of things happened entering T2. We nearly got hit by a school bus that was driving right near the transition area. Nobody was there ready for us and I even heard the announcer say "oh wow is that our first Olympic runner?"
I swam a 22 and rode a 59, so it's not like I got to T2 in some ridiculously unpredictable time for the leader of an Olympic distance race. At this point, many of the aid stations weren't ready on the way out on the run, even when I had an escort bike with me the whole time riding about 10yds up the road with a big sign on the handlebars.

So I guess some of the "be ready" things do somewhat beleaguer any race, but my biggest problem is the safety issues. Honestly, despite that this is a big race I can sleep in my own bed for, I don't think I will be back if the bike course isn't changed. I'm not going to run that risk

And to add on yes the food, timing, bag pickup, and slower half athletes cutting the course were all a pain in the ass but didn't have me concerned for my safety

IG: idking90
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [iank] [ In reply to ]
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I know exactly what turn you mean...the cops seemed to have everything decently under control when I arrived but that was much later than your arrival. Traffic was pretty backed up on the road onto which we turned...

Breaded chicken sandwich from Wawa at 2am is potentially one of the best things in the world.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [noofus] [ In reply to ]
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Really? That's not why you do it. Yet you use a Garmin to track your time. I bet you wouldn't leave your timing chip and Garmin in transition for your next race.

noofus wrote:
kquantum wrote:
My buddy did Rev3 Quassy a few weeks ago. His time is still screwed up. I did Rev 3 Florida last year. It took a week for them to post the correct times. Timing is THE fundamental aspect of racing. It needs to be right every time. That’s why we do this!

To be fair, its not why EVERYONE does it. Might be for you. Personally I time it myself using my Garmin devices so if something gets whacked with my timing (lost chip, missed mat, whatever) I am not all that broken up over it. Unless of course I am aiming for a podium spot, but if I am not then I am not too concerned.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [James Haycraft] [ In reply to ]
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there was a lefthand turn on the bike that the traffic was way backed up, and a cop let 2 cars go - I had to slam on my breaks to not get hit - that was the one intersection that I did not thank the volunteers and cop.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [kquantum] [ In reply to ]
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kquantum wrote:
Really? That's not why you do it. Yet you use a Garmin to track your time. I bet you wouldn't leave your timing chip and Garmin in transition for your next race.

noofus wrote:
kquantum wrote:
My buddy did Rev3 Quassy a few weeks ago. His time is still screwed up. I did Rev 3 Florida last year. It took a week for them to post the correct times. Timing is THE fundamental aspect of racing. It needs to be right every time. That’s why we do this!


To be fair, its not why EVERYONE does it. Might be for you. Personally I time it myself using my Garmin devices so if something gets whacked with my timing (lost chip, missed mat, whatever) I am not all that broken up over it. Unless of course I am aiming for a podium spot, but if I am not then I am not too concerned.
In Reply To:

You misunderstand. I said its not why EVERYONE does it. Some people are just out there for fun.

In my case, unless I am gunning for a podium spot, I am not terribly concerned with irregularities in the official timing since I have my own timing. Its just something I wont get worked up over unless I am at the pointy end. Of course if there is a timing irregularity that knocks me out of a podium spot you better believe I will be upset.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [TH3_FRB] [ In reply to ]
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I did the Rev3 half in Williamsburg, and I just wanted to say that I had a fantastic experience. Packet pickup was quick and painless, I love the visor they give out to participants (I never use any of the "swag" that usually is distributed), and the staff/volunteers are nothing but friendly and helpful. I love the digital athlete guide... it covers just about everything except zombie apocalypse. That being said, I understand some participants didn't have such a positive experience, and wanted to make a few obvious statements.

1) The buses: Common sense tells me that anytime you have to get bussed between locations, arrive at least 30 minutes earlier than you have to and expect waits... and when it is point to point, always, always add an additional 20 minutes, especially when road closures and high volume for the race are expected. Could they have used more busses or a different logistic system for the athletes/spectators? Probably, but I suspect that the same people arriving an hour before race start would still be blaming someone else. I arrived at 4:45-4:50 and had no problems.

2) Delayed start/T1 change: As the announcer many times indicated, the race was delayed because the course had to be slightly modified. The course had to be slightly modified because people were parking on the street.... which the announcer MANY times cautioned people not to do. I applaud Rev3 for thinking on their feet, working with what they had, and managing the course to get athletes out and racing.

3) The swim: As someone with a background in fluid dynamics, I feel very comfortable stating that Rev3 could not have anticipated the pull of the current. Many things influence currents and the strength of the currents along with the moon. The fact that it was windy and rained the previous two nights did not help, period. If the swim had been set up in the opposite direction, you would still be managing the current out and back, and the end result of slow swim times/lousy conditions would have been the same. It's part of racing, and one of the reasons it's challenging and keeps us all coming back for more. I don't believe the swim buoys were moving... but I am certain that additional mileage was added by some to compensate for the zig-zagging due to the current.

4) The bags: Yeah... the bags were delayed for a few reasons. I am sure they will work on this and sure they know it needs to improve. If you lost stuff.... tie knots in your bag strings next time.

5) Timing: It's triathlon... timing can't always be perfect, but, as several people have written, this is being corrected by Rev3. I am sure it will all be sorted out in short order.

Again, I had a great experience. The bibs with the names are a nice touch (I love people cheering my name!), the volunteers were PHENOMENAL, I loved the run course and placement of the aid stations, and love the variety at the stations. I can't wait to do my next Rev3 race.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [rev3tri] [ In reply to ]
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CONGRATS on #4!

I know how much you work to improve each race, regardless of if the race has any issues or not. Having done several of your other events I know how good of a race you can put on. Your listening to people's comments (and not being defense) shows how committed you are to making events for athletes and families. As someone in the sport 2 decades, I love to see a race company that cares about us the athletes like Rev3 does. Keep up the hard work.

http://www.johnhirsch.org
http://www.stronglikebulltraining.com
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [TH3_FRB] [ In reply to ]
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This was my first Rev3 race and my first Olympic distance.

Everything went well for me on Saturday.

All hell broke loose on Sunday. Here's what I didn't like:

1. No hand sanitizer at the porta pottys.

2. While doing the swim portion, a kid on a paddle board crashed into me. That really shook me up. How that happened, I'll never know, but he should have been paying better attention.

3. Again, while doing the swim, I knew before I reached the second buoy that I was almost at the hour cut-off. I had been having a horrible swim. I was told by someone in a kayak that they extended the cut off time from 1:00 to 1:30. Great, I told myself, I still can make it to the shore.

4. When I got to the swim finish, I was told my chip was being pulled. I looked at my watch and it said 1:17. I was confused and wondered what happened to the 1:30. The person who took my chip had no idea as to what I was talking about.

5. I asked if I could continue the race even with no time. The answer was no. I was told that I could not be on the course without a chip.

6. I have since heard that some people who pulled out of the swim were able to continue on with their race. This burns me up because I trained to be there, I paid for registration, meals, gas, hotel, etc to do the race. Family came and also paid for meals, gas, hotel, etc. How could there be such inconsistencies?!?

7. Bag pick up. I don't understand how this got to be the problem that it was. If T1 closed at 6:40a, at a minimum all of the dry clothes bags had to be ready to be brought back to T2. Since I was a DNF, I had to wait from 9:30a until 2p to get my things. I felt like I was being held hostage at an event I no longer wanted to be at. With each hour I cringed at the thought of how much traffic I was going to hit going home.

8. While waiting for the bags, I asked if I could still get food and drinks even though I was a DNF. I was told yes. I walked over, only to find they no longer had any water and had run out (this was around 12:15-12:30p). That was unbelievable, since I know there were still plenty of athletes out on the course.

Right now I am so mad at hearing others could continue their race and I could not. I'm mad that I was told I had 1:30 when I actually did not. I really wanted to do the race-I accepted that I wouldn't have an official time posted-and if its really true that people who pulled out of the swim got to finish the race, I'll be crushed. I really wanted to have a great first Olympic experience, but sadly it turned out to be the worst race experience I ever had.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [NewGirl] [ In reply to ]
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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball
Last edited by: Tri3: Jun 24, 13 16:54
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [James Haycraft] [ In reply to ]
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James Haycraft wrote:
I know exactly what turn you mean...the cops seemed to have everything decently under control when I arrived but that was much later than your arrival. Traffic was pretty backed up on the road onto which we turned...

Breaded chicken sandwich from Wawa at 2am is potentially one of the best things in the world.

Glad we could clear it out for you guys at least. I've heard nothing but the best about Rev3, and aside from that one major issue, I can accept it as a decent race (again, timing and logistical issues are within my acceptable limits for most races) that's nice because it's close, but I don't see it as being worth 1.5x what I might pay for a Set Up race. Maybe that's not a fair comparison though
Also I'm originally from South Jersey, where Wawas are more common than children who are begrudgingly following their history nerd parents around Williamsburg begging to be taken to Busch Gardens. The only thing goods about the fall are cyclocross and Wawa turkey bowls.

IG: idking90
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [TH3_FRB] [ In reply to ]
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I'm confident that Rev3 is going to fix this; however, reading this post makes me recall two recent "Inaugural" races in the DC area...2011 Hot Chocolate 15K and the 2013 Nike Women's Half Marathon. Both were tarnished by woeful logistical issues. My conclusion is quite simple, race directors really need to consider starting small and slowly grow their events. Any logistical issues quickly snowballs when you have thousands of athletes.
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [madashell] [ In reply to ]
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"No hand sanitizer at the porta pottys."

when in the port-o-john, don't get poop on your hands. you'll be good.

"
While doing the swim portion, a kid on a paddle board crashed into me. That really shook me up. How that happened, I'll never know, but he should have been paying better attention."

here's one way this can happen. not saying it did, just, in my experience, one way: you crashed into him.

"
When I got to the swim finish, I was told my chip was being pulled. I looked at my watch and it said 1:17"

this lends credence to the notion you ran into the paddleboarder. and, i hate to sound elitist, because we get that rap here at slowtwitch, but, you're doing an olympic swim distance and you're upset because they yanked you after a 1:17 swim? if i was the RD i'd have had a 1hr cut-off for a half-IM swim.

now, yes, this seems to have been a slow swim. up-river. still, i looked at the splits. i didn't see that it was that out of the question to do this swim in under 1hr. that seems a pretty achievable time by just about anyone able-bodied.

as to the rest of your gripes, they sound legitimate. but the other gripes, if the port-a-john ran out of TP, i'd say that's a legitimate gripe. but hand sanitizer?
as to the swim yank, bottom line, you were not ready. you did not prepare adequately for the swim.

thank you for registering here. thank you for posting. your posts are absolutely welcome. and i want this to be a place of help for you, if you've come here to improve as an athlete, as well as to register your dissatisfaction. that established, you were not ready for the swim, in my estimate. triathlons are not bike races, in that you don't have to be a freak of nature just to hang. but they aren't 5k run-walks either.

you need to spend at least 6000 yards a week in the pool, bare bare minimum, over the next month, and really closer to 10,000 yards a week. i'll personally help you with workouts, if you want, if you don't mind this being a learning exercise for everybody. you and i and all the other really back of the pack swimmers, let's agree to move you all way, way up in the field. if you're game, i'm game, and we'll do this as a group. maybe this swim leg yank is a negative we can turn into a positive.


Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [Slowman] [ In reply to ]
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Slowman wrote:
when in the port-o-john, don't get poop on your hands. you'll be good



But, but...it's so hard not to!!
Last edited by: James Haycraft: Jun 24, 13 18:24
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Re: Rev3 Williamsburg - constructive criticism [madashell] [ In reply to ]
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#8 got to disagree with you on that, I finished after that and they still had PLENTY of water and Gatorade

take this from someone who has dabbled in triathlon for 20+years, take Slowman up on his offer

All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

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