Tri78910 wrote:
As a racer I'm curious as to what the dnf rate was as WK. The course was fucking insanely hard. My wife saw 5 athletes pulled from the water before hitting the half way point.
Starky failed to break 2 hrs on a 50 mile course? The bike had a 300 ft gravel section and 12.5% inclines. Net elevation change was over 1500 ft. Total climbing I er 3300. Made the old rev 3 quassy look like a walk in the park. My 57 mile bike split at NC last year was 4 minutes faster than my 50 mile bike at WK.
Overall it was a good race but they have some kinks to work out with it still and the logistics
Best race summary right here ^^^^
I also raced WG. Swim was brutal 1-1.5 ft waves. Bike course was brutal with 3300 ft elev + that 12.5% climb at mile 35.5. Run was brutal with 900 ft elev over 10 mi & 85F.
But ... the sense of accomplishment that everyone felt when they finished was incredible. I've never participated in a race that was this hard and probably never will. If you listen to the pro reaction it was similar - "Unlike any other triathlon", "Like triathlon used to be", "Hard and what the location gave you as far as the course." The pro field was small no doubt but at least Clash was willing to put up $10K for any pro field which is more than took place at Musselman.
In true Slowtwitch fashion, the race gets panned for attendance instead of praised for trying to do something different. The race date was NOT selected to compete against Musselman, it was selected because the Finger Lakes Wine Festival was happening and the race ended 'into' the festival. Also, there were Historic Formula 1 races over the weekend. Clash is trying to make weekend/festival/race experiences for the whole family. Are Daytona & Miami more mature races? Yes. Did this one have some kinks to work out? Yes. Weather (high winds) and unexpected construction did cause challenges but without either it would have been fine.
This was a refreshing change to the same old time trial bike course and flat run.