Didn't some of the lead pros go off course on the bike at IM China in 2009?

And I remember reading Angela's blog recently (posts at SnotRocket) racing a 1/2 marathon in the elite woman's heat and she went off course on to the full marathon course...didn't realize it until she was a good 3 miles off course.

Two weeks ago at a small local tri a few of the lead guys went off course and rode too long. I ended up getting off the bike before they did because of it. Because of that I was convinced I went off course and somehow cut the bike course short. They caught me on the run and commented about going off course, but I thought they were saying I did, so I just jogged it in. As soon as I crossed the line I talked to the timing guys to DQ myself, but then the guys told me that they went off course so the race director ended up not DQing me. The guys probably lost the race and second place in the race because of it. But they were back racing a week later.

And I've followed the lead swimmer to the wrong buoy at a race before, the kayaker caught us and got us going the right way, but only after adding about 200 M to a 500 M swim.

I ran in the wrong changing tent out of the water at Silverman one year. And last week i followed someone off the bike to her rack, not even thinking about where mine was (on the other side of transition). And I can't tell you how many times I run laps around transition to find the right exit. I always scout it out before hand.

I'm pretty sure it's happened other times to me too, but it's just so common for me that I can't recall the details.

When you're racing hard and something distracts you (like concentrating on catching the person in front of you and they go off course) you make mistakes.

I'm pretty sure I remember the female pro who was leading the bike leg on the first IMAZ went off course...

---

Lifeguard: "Do you need help?" Me: "No, that's just my butterfly."

Thanks so much both of you. I sent the kid the info you shared with me to show him that "real" triathletes screw up all the time and it's just part of the sport. I hope he doesn't get too discouraged because his swim and run times show that he's got some real natural talent!

---

http://smallfoodbiz.com
</blatent self-marketing>

I went out T2 entrance when I was supposed to go out the T1 exit at a triathlon in Black Diamond a few years ago. Nothing serious, except for all the people who told me. I didn't hear them that well because of all the water in my ears. Fortunately, I didn't get DQ'd. It was a small race, I was Top10 overall but I wonder if I could have place a little better. It prompted me to get prescription goggles and glasses to wear whilst racing. I still feel like a bit of a dummy, but the important thing is that I now scope out T1 and T2 a lot better.

(As an aside, it's a little shocking that I'm legal to drive without corrective lenses and actually makes me a little afraid to be on the road, knowing how poor one's eyesight can be!! I no longer drive without my glasses.)

A similar thing happened to my son in one of his first races. He ended up doing a few extra miles on the bike course because a volunteer sent him the wrong way - if not he would have placed very well. It was a hard experience for him, but I told him about the many, many triathletes who have make the same kind of mistake.

Not a tri but I missed a turn in an MTB race years ago. I finished the race but then had to do the walk of shame to the officials and ask them do DQ me since I effectively cut the course.

So sorry to hear about his tough first race. I really hope he does not give up - every mistake you make is just one more way to get it right the next time.

I can totally relate - I got lost at the Harriman 1/2 Iron two years ago. My brother and I drove the course the day before - but as usual - I did not pay too much attention. Harriman is a 3 or 4 lap loop in a beautiful state park.

I took a wrong turn on the 2nd lap and went about 10 miles in the wrong direction down to the bottom of a huge hill - I turned around and rode back up the hill when I realized I was all alone. Just as I was about to get back to the course, I ran into 4 riders who had just taken the same wrong turn - they insisted that they were going the right way - so I turned around and followed them.

Yep, I went back to the bottom of that huge hill - only realize AGAIN that I was in the wrong spot. Let's just say that I had a long talk with myself about the metaphorical meaning of needing to make that mistake 2x as I climbed back up the hill.

About half way up I started asking everyone I saw how to get back to the course. A very nice fisherman showed me the way & I actually jumped back onto the course about 3 miles ahead of where I left off. I finished the next two loops and the run. When I crossed the finish line I found an official and disqualified myself - even though my bike computer showed that I rode an extra 18 miles I had not actually ridden the exact 56 miles of the course. The race is so small - with so few women - that I would have been in the top 3 of my age group and that did not feel right.

As you can tell, I am the kind of person who makes lots of mistakes. I keep a list of mistakes I have made in the past so that I don't repeat them over and over again. I try to look it over the night before a race - or at least at the start of each season. It has stuff on it like:

Remember to put your bike in a low gear so it is easy to hop on and ride out of transition
Remember to untie the laces on your sneakers so that they are easy to put on at the start of the run
Bring duck tape, large zip-lock plastic bags and dry socks to every race
Know the course

Best of luck to your new racer. I really hope he tries again.

Tell him not to give up!!! My fiance is pro Felipe Bastos ...who has gone off course at least 3 times in the past few years, all while leading the races. The worst was at a sprint distance race in the Bahamas. There was one turn on the whole course, and he blew straight through it. Next to worst was the South Carolina half last year. We drove the course the day before, yet he still went straight through the first turn. I was further down the road, and a friend of ours that was in second (now first) was yelling at me to go chase down Felipe. I found him still going all out in the wrong direction about ten minutes later. I'm not sure what happened in the third one, but all of the top 8-10 guys were directed wrong on the bike and run. There was a large prize purse, too. Felipe was first over the line, but I think 9th overall ended up getting all of the money because he was the first person that actually took the right course (maybe).

Anyway, we now drive courses the night before so a) he is familiar with the turns and b) check out how the courses are marked so he knows what to look for. A lot of times volunteers are not ready for the first person coming by, and sometimes the police are not yet at the stop lights to direct traffic; a cop got to the intersection Felipe missed in SC about 3 minutes after he when through. Ultimately, you are responsible for knowing the course, but sometimes a poorly marked turn won't catch your eye in the heat of battle. It happens, even to the people who do triathlon for a living.

All the best :-)

I've gone off course a couple times, mostly during trail runs. The worse one was the first ultra I ever did, the Chuckanut 50k in Bellingham. It is an extrememly tough course but really only a couple turns. At a critical one I went right instead of left. I ended up going down the steepest hill, called Chinscraper, and runners were coming up it but no one said anything until I got to a race photographer. I had to turn around and hike back up. I got back to the key intersection and made them promise not to sweep me off the course. I finished but it is the only race where I actually cried. Instead of running 31 miles I ran about 33. They still considered me a finisher since I was still on the course and finished it as layed out. Took me a while but I had planned on going back and kicking that course's butt. Sadly a nasty cold prevented me from doing it this year but next year it's on like Donkey Kong!

The ultra runners I know talk about going off course all the time and laugh about it.

Mistakes happen and they will happen again. If he enjoyed the race up until that point then he will enjoy the next one even more. Stick with it!

---

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

BTW - your fiance is adorable!

---

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

I was in second place on the bike during a spint tri in Oz and as I approached the turn around I turned too early and rode straight down a boat ramp and into the river.Took me ages to get back up the wet boat ramp in my bike shoes.Ended up coming 5th overall but won the award for being the biggest idiot.


.

I believe Scott Molina ran off the course at GFT several years ago.

Every year, I get on a bike to lead the front-runners in a women's half-marathon through a course that has a lot of turns. Invariably they tell me they would have made a wrong turn or two had I not led them on my bike, because it is hard for them to memorize the course even from the course map.

So, that boy did an amazing job following MOST of the course even though NO ONE was out leading him to show the way!

I have nordic ski raced most of my life and took many a wrong turn, most recently this winter in front of the kids I coach who I had led to preview the course-DUH. For kids' races I think a pre-runner is needed it really helps out with the pack getting lost. I have a saying taped to my monitor-"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently"

man that happens so many times it's unbelievable.

i've seen people do 2 and 4 laps of a 3 lap bike course, forget to do loops on the bike and run etc.
One race I did in NC, the lead swimmer, I and two others were clear of everyone else by about a minute. Except we turned inland at the channel marker instead of heading straight down the channel. Found ourselves in a marina. Ended up running down the street in our wet suits, running through transition the wrong way, back into the water to cross the timing mat. I think we swam something like 25min when we should have swam high 18's. Same race a few years later, a volunteer at a turn is napping or something. I missed the split in the swim, top 4-5 guys go way the f*ck off course. People are telling me I'm in the lead. Those guys rode about 30 miles. Another duathlon in NC the top 30 people head off course bc the sheriff directing the race sends up down the wrong road. it was my hometown race. I bet we rode that course and that turn at least 1x per week from August - May when i was in school.

If a triathlete can race a long career and not go off course at least once, then they haven't raced enough.

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I want to thank everyone who offered up their stories of woe. The kid's mom told me he was cracking up reading these and it was obvious he felt so much better about his performance after that. He's particularly liked that fact that this apparently happens to people at the front of the pack a lot because that means he's fast. :)

Thanks again!

---

http://smallfoodbiz.com
</blatent self-marketing>