DJRed wrote:
xeon wrote:
I'm always bummed if/when the swim gets cancelled but it was the right call. I know personally how dicey it can get there working water safety. If your water safety crew (kayaks/paddelboards) can barely stay in place, how can they effectively monitor 2K people?
Awesome race btw!
Yep, great race.
Whenever a swim is cancelled, I always remind myself the path of least complaint is to go forward. It's not like RD's are sitting around wanting to cancel swims. Buoys are set. Water safety is there. Making that cancellation announcement has to suck.
The RD at Maryland yesterday was funny. He stopped the music at about 6:30AM and said, "OK, listen up..."
After giving out the information the swim portion was cancelled, he paused and then said, "Now play some music!"
It was almost like he gave people 10 seconds to grieve and then said here's some music, get over yourself!
I said to the people I was with, I bet about 20% of the racers were wearing a disappointed face while simultaneously doing the happy dance inside.
I'd like to reiterate that the announcer was especially awesome yesterday at Eagleman. And what was very touching and awesomely different was the race announcer had a moment of happy applause and cheering for a minute straight; instead of a moment of silence for the late race director, Jerry Boyle. It was very cool.
It was typical wind for the EMAN Bike course (40k tailwind, 10k crosswinds, 40k headwind), with the addition of rain. I had my first sub 2:30 (2:27) Bike split, but it's bittersweet cause of the cancelled swim. I ran a disc (as I always do) and had zero issues with the disc. My front HED Jet 6 did get blown crooked twice though from a couple of strong gusts. I thought the headwinds on the back end of the Run felt good and refreshing. But then again, I train on Easter Long Island and I'm used to windy conditions.
Despite the small craft advisory, the current was noticeably strong and the race directors even changed the placement of the swim course, swapping it over to the opposite side of the park the night before to try and salvage the swim portion. There's no way the kayakers would have been able to maintain a stationary positioning in the water.
I guess we'll all just have to buy an
EMAN 69.1 sticker and sign up/ try again next year.