Unofficial because I only watched (Wrong Gender)
Apparently this is a very low key women's only race, because they assume that you live in or near Syracuse and know where the park is located. If you don't good luck, because it's online presences doesn't help much. The woman at the hotel knew where the park was located and found an address, but that was not recognized by google maps, my Honda GPS, or my android phone. We found it only because we drove around for 3 hours on Saturday and finally asked a local, whose response was very much typical Long Island transplanted to CNY: “Why in the hell do you want to go to that little shit hole?”
Coordination on race morning was good, actually better than normal. Parking went smooth, set up was as expected, and there was lots of help.
Race start time was 8 am.
The swim is in Gillie Lake, Which is actually a pond (which is actually a big mud puddle). My wife said her hands drug going around the second buoy, and I saw several women stand up at various points on the course. It is a 2 lap 800 meter swim in a triangle (kind of). They have you start on the far left, swim to a buoy, turn right, around another buoy, and then nearly straight back to the beach, almost 50 yards from where you started. You exit, run around a buoy on the beach and dive right back in. This puts your second lap line to the first buoy different than the first lap line. Combine this with 500 participant, 5 year age group waves, and 7 minutes between waves, and there is almost not traffic during the swim. In the water were 8 life guards on boards, 2 sitting on chairs in the water, and several on shore all around the lake. I guess the ones on shore were going to walk out and drag you to shore if something went wrong.
The bike is a 14 mile out and back on open roads, only on a Sunday morning in this part of the country that means a practical closed course. The bike course goes over a very small rise 50 meters out of mount, then down a considerable hill, then flat out and back with a very tight turn around. It is marked better than any course I have ever seen. You could safely navigate this course in total darkness. The hill to the finish caused a lot of women to get off their bikes and walk. It didn't look at that bad to me, but my wife said it was surprisingly long and steep. She had to drop to the 34, something she rarely does.
The run is a standard 5K around the lake on the exercise path with a detour on the opposite side. Again, very well marked, but not very well controlled. I was surprised at all the dumb ass boyfriends and husbands that had no clue - Many of them wearing obvious triathlon clothing, so they should have known better.
Support was provided by the 2 local fire department, which were very good and very bad all at once. They were everywhere watching people, and they had a ladder truck spraying the run course. They had a medical tent all set up and lots of EMTs walking around checking on anyone. They also had some people in 3 utility vehicles that drove the wrong direction on the bike course and caused a lot of problems, and also got in the way during the run. I didn't see anyone treated, so I'm guessing they got bored and stupid - Happens to all of us at one time or another.
All in all, according to my wife, it is certainly a fun race, but not worth the drive from Long Island. Next year she wants to do Iron Girl Syracuse. I'll let you know how that goes.
"...the street finds its own uses for things"
Apparently this is a very low key women's only race, because they assume that you live in or near Syracuse and know where the park is located. If you don't good luck, because it's online presences doesn't help much. The woman at the hotel knew where the park was located and found an address, but that was not recognized by google maps, my Honda GPS, or my android phone. We found it only because we drove around for 3 hours on Saturday and finally asked a local, whose response was very much typical Long Island transplanted to CNY: “Why in the hell do you want to go to that little shit hole?”
Coordination on race morning was good, actually better than normal. Parking went smooth, set up was as expected, and there was lots of help.
Race start time was 8 am.
The swim is in Gillie Lake, Which is actually a pond (which is actually a big mud puddle). My wife said her hands drug going around the second buoy, and I saw several women stand up at various points on the course. It is a 2 lap 800 meter swim in a triangle (kind of). They have you start on the far left, swim to a buoy, turn right, around another buoy, and then nearly straight back to the beach, almost 50 yards from where you started. You exit, run around a buoy on the beach and dive right back in. This puts your second lap line to the first buoy different than the first lap line. Combine this with 500 participant, 5 year age group waves, and 7 minutes between waves, and there is almost not traffic during the swim. In the water were 8 life guards on boards, 2 sitting on chairs in the water, and several on shore all around the lake. I guess the ones on shore were going to walk out and drag you to shore if something went wrong.
The bike is a 14 mile out and back on open roads, only on a Sunday morning in this part of the country that means a practical closed course. The bike course goes over a very small rise 50 meters out of mount, then down a considerable hill, then flat out and back with a very tight turn around. It is marked better than any course I have ever seen. You could safely navigate this course in total darkness. The hill to the finish caused a lot of women to get off their bikes and walk. It didn't look at that bad to me, but my wife said it was surprisingly long and steep. She had to drop to the 34, something she rarely does.
The run is a standard 5K around the lake on the exercise path with a detour on the opposite side. Again, very well marked, but not very well controlled. I was surprised at all the dumb ass boyfriends and husbands that had no clue - Many of them wearing obvious triathlon clothing, so they should have known better.
Support was provided by the 2 local fire department, which were very good and very bad all at once. They were everywhere watching people, and they had a ladder truck spraying the run course. They had a medical tent all set up and lots of EMTs walking around checking on anyone. They also had some people in 3 utility vehicles that drove the wrong direction on the bike course and caused a lot of problems, and also got in the way during the run. I didn't see anyone treated, so I'm guessing they got bored and stupid - Happens to all of us at one time or another.
All in all, according to my wife, it is certainly a fun race, but not worth the drive from Long Island. Next year she wants to do Iron Girl Syracuse. I'll let you know how that goes.
"...the street finds its own uses for things"