Location of the timing mat is another strong possibility...

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Well, I'd like to believe the course was longer this year, as I was 1:52 slower than last year. In order to make myself feel better, I checked a few times in my age group and found the following differentials - :01, :47, 1:15, 1:06, and :42.....and one guy actually improved by 1:16. I guess your evidence and mine would suggest that it was longer by a bit. As for the timing mat, if anything it was closer to the water this year.

Two flats cost me about 22 minutes, as for the second one I really wrestled with just packing it in and didn't hurry at all. I'm glad I stuck with the "race". My actual riding time this year was much faster than last year, as was my run. It was tough keeping my head in the race when I was no longer IN the race, but it all turned out to be a very valuable experience. It took 31 triathlons (plus three duathlons) of all lengths for me to flat in a race -- hopefully it won't happen for another 31 races!!

YEs, the start had no mat and was started by the clock. The swim finish mat was in the same place as usual (one minute away for a pro would be quite a distance, not a couple of feet off).

I was just surprised that swim course could vary so much (about 5% based on the swim times). One year it's 1.5K, the next it's 1.3K. The woman who beat the course record by 4 minutes (I think) this year would have beat it by 5 minutes last year. So it pays to break the course record when the course is the short version...

None of this is criticism of the rae itself. It was a fantastic race. Great coordination and volunteer efforts!