It was a fantastic event. Awesome new location and that run was no joke - quad smasher!! Made my day that the Rev3 staff was into the race providing position splits on each lap. Shocked more people don't come out for this event. Well done Rev3. Seriously, bravo!!

I bashed Rev3 last year for getting a lot of thing wrong. They certainly made up for it this year and stepped up big time. The course was great! The gently rolling hills on the bike and run kept it interesting and challenging. The Rev3 staff and volunteers were great, as usual. The two transition logistics were easy and worry free. There were no issues that I know of for the busses. The weather was perfect. And MOST importantly, my bags from T1 were in T2 when I got back from the bike. Nice Job Charlie and the rest of Rev3. See you in FLA.
One gripe if I may… How hard is it to get some pizza in the food tent?

I concur. The race was fantastic this year! I'm a little biased since I had a good race, but the Rev 3 staff and volunteers really exceeded my expectations. They had taken a detail study of the current and chose the orientation in which we swam (counter-clockwise) to minimize the effect of the current. They also had contacted Amtrak about train crossings. The new T2 at the Warhill Sports Complex was a superb choice. I encountered absolutely no traffic driving out of the transition area. There were also lots of volunteers, who were all very professional.

One thing I did miss was the ice tank that they had in the medical tent last year. That thing was the agony and bliss rolled into one.

the 1/2 was awesome great support challenging course fun day.

The organization for this years race was outstanding, if you skipped it because of last years mess you missed out. No issues with transportation, bags were at T-2 before we got there, and the finish as usual was amazing.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

I'm glad to hear that the race went off so well this time. I might go back to the race next year.

I thought about signing up this year, but my training got fouled up this spring, so no big races for me this summer. (I'm counting June as part of meteorological summer.)

Not only were the bags there but placed at your rack position. Amazing race support at this race.

I did the Oly and have to agree that everything was handled very well. I was skeptical of the 2 transition setup but that was handled smoothly--it just required me to get up a half hour earlier than normal, but that's not too bad.

I would like to see if the swim course can be altered slightly so that the aquajog can be taken out of the equation. I decided to swim, but many were walking nearly all the way to the first buoy. I know for many ST'ers swimming is faster than walking, but for us guppies/tarpons, not so much.

All in all, a very well run event and I'm trying to figure if it will fit in next year's schedule.

Joy

I'm not sure it's really possible to remove that part from the course. The James is very shallow very far out into the river, so there's going to be shallow water no matter how you design a course if the swim takes place there, and I don't know if there are any suitable lakes in te area either. Rev3 actually designed the course like that with the first leg in deep but walkable water after last year's mistake of having the long leg of the course go into the current. They also amended the course so that the lengthening of the half versus the Oly was by going farther upriver rather than farther into the river, because the current is strongest in the middle.
The thing is, at that part of the river, yes it's tidal so there is an ebb and flood cycle, but that doesn't actually mean the flow of the surface current of the river reverses. That ebb and flood is happening well below the surface and really just slowing down the prevailing downriver current in the Richmond to Norfolk direction. You have to get out farther into the bay to see the tide make an impact at the surface on current direction.
On another related note, farther up the James yesterday was XTERRA Richmond. You want to talk about aquajogging, check out how Josiah Middaugh leapfrogged the main pro pack:

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IG: idking90

I was curious to see what you'd do when we encountered the shallows at the end of the swim ha, so I just followed your lead. That height helps though!

Yea I definitely started diving way early, but I was scraping ground. Once my HR hit about 394 bpm, I decided to swim with T. Rex arms instead.
Were you the one that was on my feet the whole time or the one that I caught at the very end? I was hoping/thought that was Sterghos but clearly it was either you or Ben

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IG: idking90

You came around me after the first turn. We (you) caught Ben.

Ah. Yes, I was planning on sitting on your feet, then I saw him coming off the back of the group and hoped I could leapfrog my way up to him then back up to what I now know was Sterghos and the 16 year old. Without fail, I probably lose 75% of the time deficit in a swim within the first 300m, then it's catch up time for me.

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IG: idking90

I am really glad to hear this went well. I enjoyed last year's event immensely despite the miscues. I was unavailable to race at this year's event but I will likely have it on my calendar for next year if it fits the schedule.

Yes

and even my wife who hates going to races commented on how much stuff there was for spectators to do.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Some good shots of me drafting off you the first 25 minutes of the race from a couple of friends ha ;)



I, for one, definitely liked the new course and logistical changes in 2014. I did the half last year and while I definitely enjoyed the race and running through the campus of my alma mater, I think this year's version was much smoother and allowed MORE people to have a better race experience. Good stuff Rev3.

Just reading your race report, and all I can say about the three guys who rolled up on you is that I saw the same thing. Interesting....

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IG: idking90

I flew up from Houston area for this race to participate with some family members in Williamsburg and I had my doubts heading into the event after reading countless reviews from the year before.

All I can say is hat's-off to Rev3! I was very impressed with the communication and organization on race day. The field was extremely fast, the course was well-designed, and the volunteers were excellent! My ONLY complaint was the distance between the second and third aid station on the bike was a little far (20+ miles) so I ran out of fluids and had to bum some off of a competitor. You can chalk that up to poor planning on my part, as well, so not completely Rev3's issue. The run course, even though it was 4 loops, was very challenging and dynamic, which made it mentally less-strenuous.

Overall, excellent race! Great job, Rev3! Now, all we need is a Rev3 - Texas event!!!

Photos are posted http://rev3tri.smugmug.com/Williamsburg/2014