motorcity wrote:
katojohn wrote:
mattsimmonds wrote:
Having participated in this race twice: 2013 & 2019: last one was an evil joke. It was supposed to be 185kms due to roadworks but nobody of us could explain why we should go inside Friedberg for U-turn while we could avoid it and make 180kms as it has to be the distance (U turn could easily done before Friedberg.
If you have time, read carefully the race report and review by a triathlon portal :
Not sure who you have talked to, but this has been discussed and explained several times in all kinds of forums, so again: There is certain obligation by the race directors to show presence in some supportive communities, e.g. Friedberg. Friedberg closes roads to get the race coming through. Therefore, they want to have the athletes coming into town, have them on TV and in photos. As simple as that.
Obviously, you were disappointed with a lot of things. I raced IM Frankfurt four times, the last time was in 2018, and it always delivered! Strongly recommended!
Got your point, in that case its better (as a race director) saying "hey guys, Friedberg is must spot to come through, as they sponsored my race", instead of saying, that on top 5kms, is due to roadworks. Athletes are Athletes and should be treated as precious customers, not like animals (many athletes said this in 2019 event). So far (as I mentioned above) have been racing 8 Long distance races (South Africa, Brazil, Austria,Frankfurt, Barcelona, Roth, etc) but first time in my life, was that joke. Maybe some were happy that +900 quit the race, truly SUFFERING by the egoism of some directors. Maybe IM Nice race director (he braved decided to update race distance), was from another planet .. (if you read carefully the link, you should change your mind about Frankfurt event)