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Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter
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About 10 years ago I was in Kona for the Ironman World Championships and I was on Palani cheering on athletes going up the hill. Since I speak both English and German I offered support in what I considered the most appropriate language for the athlete approaching. At one point Stephan Vuckovic (silver medal in 2000) came up the hill and since he grew up near where I was born I could actually yell in the regional Swabian dialect. So I screamed "Stephan, komm hau rein, und jetzt aber volle Sahne", which roughly means "Get on it and give it the stick." A few seconds later an older guy (who turned out to be Stephan's dad) who was riding his bike on the course right behind him stopped and really started yelling at me. He basically lambasted me for my "inappropriate amateur coaching." Something along the lines of "You are crazy, what do you know about how much he has left in the tank, and who the fcuk are you anyhow?" He yelled some more and then went back on the course to follow his son. :-)

All the folks near me were stunned and puzzled.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Rescued a swimmer in the group before mine started

Pulled her all the back to shore

My wave had already started by the time ii was sure she was ok
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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My first time in Roth coming out of T2 I grabbed a drink off the table and it was beer.

David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [david] [ In reply to ]
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That is normal in Germany :-)
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Herbert wrote:
That is normal in Germany :-)

And Canada lol.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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So non-athletes could ride the course during the race even 10 years ago?
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [RBR] [ In reply to ]
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I was running a sprint tri that was super hot and the run was brutal. Tunnel visioned out and plodded along (slow race) and it was a pretty spread out race. Came upon some unfathomable attractive blonde girl who had to be 23-ish. Like the type you just stare and are unable to speak to gorgeous. I got next to her and she had a cup of Gatorade from the water station we had just passed. She looked to the side, asked me to hold it really quickly (in a super nice way so I was like haha ok sure) and grabbed it. There was no one around for hundred yards in either direction (curvy course) She unzipped the front of her tri suit, no sports brah under it or whatever, pulled it down, completely bare chested (not big but not small), and fiddled with and pulled a tag off out of her suit. This took a good minute to do. Which was in total slow motion for me because we were still running. Pulled it back up, zipped it, said thank you for holding her cup, and I gave it back. She saw my face of "what in the actual f*ck just happened" mixed with "please do that again" mixed with "I will marry you right now"...and said, "that tag was really annoying on my boob" and smiled.

We talked a bit more after this, a few little quick jokes and I lost her about 300 yards to the finish and could not find her after the race and didn't get her bib number. It was one of the most disappointing drives home in my life.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Deer cut the swim course at the Kansas City Tri in 2016.


Deer ran into a cyclist at Cedar Creek sprint tri in Kansas City in 2016. Knocked him off the bike and out of the race. He was ok minus some road rash.

Watch our for wildlife...

Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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At the Puerto Rico 70.3 in 2015 I was directly in the middle of the gunfire that wounded 2 triathletes, one seriously. I had an early wave just behind the pros and was no more than a couple miles into the bike with my head down when I heard pow-pow-pow etc. I immediately thought it was gunfire and looked up to see a white van (which turned out to be the target) careening down the highway on the other side of a concrete median (our side was closed for the bicyclists). The van was riding up the median and I was thinking if it high sided over the barrier I would be mowed down like a bowling pin. Simultaneously, I thought the gun fire sound must have been made by the bottom of the van sliding along the concrete rim. As the van slid by, I heard another clip go off and again thought it sounded like I was back in Iraq, but no, not possible. Just ahead were two guys on the side, one down. I assumed he had wrecked during the commotion but believe it was the Puerto Rican doctor hit 3 times in the side by the crossfire. And just ahead was a woman, straddling her bike on the road and yelling back. I figured she knew the riders, but believe this was the lady who was grazed by a bullet across her calf. This all happened in just seconds, and the next thing I knew cop cars were proceeding on the other side and I was thinking what an amazing response time to what I thought was a spectacular accident. Meanwhile, just about 1 mile back by the swim venue my family was ordered to take cover by the police back there. They had just seen me pass a few minutes earlier and were told about the gunfire. I was in race mode the rest of the way and when I finished my family burst into tears that I was alright and I had texts from many friends asking if I were OK. This wasn't exactly chamber of commerce material so it was difficult to find stories in the local press about what happened, but the driver of the white van was a drug dealer who had only been out of jail a month and was targeted by a rival gang. They were shooting at the van on the opposite side of the highway and the crossfire hit two triathletes just in front of me, and then more crossfire just in behind me. It was my lucky day!

https://triathlonmagazine.ca/news/two-athletes-shot-while-racing-ironman-70-3-san-juan/
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Human encounter: not tri, but was running a marathon around 2003. At mile 18 a random guy dodged out of the crowd and dumped a beer over my head, laughing and yelling "hahaha, that's payback for that night at Jessica's house, bitch!!" He realized a split second later that he had mistaken me for a friend of his that was also running the race. He tried to explain and apologize profusely, but he couldn't keep up with me very long so I never got the whole story on what happened at Jessica's house that called for payback.

Non-human encounter: IM 70.3 Monaco in 2011, there were dozens maybe hundreds of little jellyfish moving a few feet under the part of the swim pack I was in. Unnerving, and I ended up getting stung twice - once across the bridge of nose and forehead (luckily I had goggles on), once on the chest right where my wetsuit ended. Still have a small scar on the chest from where the venom got rubbed in by the wetsuit seam, and the sting on the head hurt for most of the bike. Good times.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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No, it is unauthorized assistance

HuffNPuff wrote:
So non-athletes could ride the course during the race even 10 years ago?
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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In water swim start by AG about 50 yds off a dock. I was treading in the front of the group waiting for the horn to sound. Hear "help" and look to see a guy from the previous wave trying to swim back to start. I thought it was weird because he was moving toward us but something didn't seem right. I started to swim toward him and he went under as I got near him. Pulled him to the surface and another competitor came over and yelled for rescue boat. Life guards came over and pulled him into the boat and we went back to start and waited for our race to begin. The other strange part was I don't think the RD or really anyone saw what had happened.

"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Herbert wrote:
No, it is unauthorized assistance

HuffNPuff wrote:
So non-athletes could ride the course during the race even 10 years ago?

Exactly. He was pretty full of himself to be out on the course and telling folks not to shout encouragement. You probably surprised him speaking not only German, but that specific dialect.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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it was truly crazy
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Someone clearly was cutting a course and I yelled at them. Crossed the finish line and told the RD. The accused person had their time looked over and the RD noticed the missing timing mats. The accused then threatened me. That was weird.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [turdburgler] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [TriJayhawkRyan] [ In reply to ]
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TriJayhawkRyan wrote:
Deer cut the swim course at the Kansas City Tri in 2016.


Deer ran into a cyclist at Cedar Creek sprint tri in Kansas City in 2016. Knocked him off the bike and out of the race. He was ok minus some road rash.

Watch our for wildlife...

In before ericmulk starts discussing this deer's 100 times
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Word of caution: Pay attention to the clock when you're pre-swimming!

After completing my first pool-swim sprint triathlon many years back i decided to sign up for an Olympic distance with an open-water swim. It was a beach start with about 250 people.

Prior to the race I read lots about the open water swim and learned that the best way to stay calm to avoid panic is to get in the water ahead of time and swim around. On race day i joined many others and day i did just that. The water was cold but after swimming for a while in the wetsuit i started to warm up, the sun was shining and getting warm and i remember really enjoying it and feeling confident...until i noticed i hadn't seen anyone else in the water for a little while. My goggles had fogged up and as I took them off and stood up in waste deep water about 30 feet from the beach to look around to see what was up i heard the air horn and saw 250 people racing towards me jumping and diving into the water. I put my goggles back on and started swimming but not being the greatest swimmer i probably had about 150 people swim on top of me for about 5 minutes. It was a pure washing machine with lots of gasping for air. I ended up surviving and enjoyed the entire race, but wow, really rookie mistake.
Last edited by: blueQuintana: Jul 10, 18 9:41
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Twinkie] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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During Eagleman one year I came around the corner on the bike course to be greeted by a very large deer standing partially in the road. I swerved to go wide of it but was worried at the same time that if it darted across that I'd hit it. It never moved, guy who passed me just after said "That was pretty f88king cool" while I was still trying to get my heart rate back down from being startled.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Kona 2013

I'm not having a great race, even by my MOP lottery winning standard. Anyways, I get to run special needs down in the Energy Lab and am looking forward to a fresh pair of socks as mine are sopping wet from water, Gatorade and piss. I get my bag and am looking for a place to sit to change my socks and see an open truck tailgate and no one around. I plop myself down and start changing my socks. Just then a local guy comes from the beach/front of the truck and says "Hey man, want a beer?" while holding out a red solo cup. I quickly process that it can't get any worse and say yes. I change my socks, finish my beer and get on my way...

...then I make the turn to climb back up to the Queen K and I'm feeling really good, happy, excited, etc. The sun is setting, the sky is beautiful and I'm struck with the realization that I'm going to finish Kona. Out of no where I raise my arms and scream at the top of my lungs. Mind you there's no one around me at this point. A few seconds later I notice something yellow in the center of the road just head of me. As a approach I realize it's an NBC cameraman. As I pass him he says, "yep, I got that." For months I was hoping it would make the coverage but alas it didn't. Oh well.
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Twinkie] [ In reply to ]
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I think here is a different thread for “beautiful experiences”. :-)
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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"Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter"

Not that this is a contest. I can't think of any of way to say it.

you win !

"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Twinkie] [ In reply to ]
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Whats the saying I'm looking for....

Pictures or it didn't happen. :)
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Re: Share your most bizarre triathlon encounter [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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The day before Malibu in 1998 I went for a practice swim. As I'm swimming parallel to shore 2 large fins swim by me that sure looked like sharks from my angle.

Needless to say, the lifeguard told my wife and brother they were not, but after the race the next day I didn't get in the ocean again for a very long time.
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