Making triathlon races lower in stress

May 31, 17 8:16

Post #1 of 40 (5382 views)

Ok the main reason I do not do more triathlons per year is mainly because of the stress and hassle of all the logistics around doing a race. Most of the races around me (at least the larger ones) require packet pickup day before and bike drop off day before. So that is 2 days of race stress of some sort.

Contrast that with a running event or bike event and you essentially show up for those 15 mins before your start and you are ready to go.

Now I know for sure triathlon is logistically way more challenging but I personally would do more races if it was more like cycling and running races.

So I would like to see more races with race day packet pickup and transition setup. Also look at setting up transition area so that people who go off in some cases 1hr+ later than first wave dont have to get there and wait around. Body marking needs to go and RD should have bike pumps and mechanics race morning so one less thing to bring.

Your thoughts?

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:30

Post #2 of 40 (5352 views)

I couldn't agree more. Hang a bag with my cap, race numbers and timing chip in my pre-assigned bike transition space so I can walk up, rack my bike, gear up and go. Have a transition area A for people starting in the first 30-40 minutes and a transition area B for people starting in the second 30-40 minutes etc.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:38

Post #3 of 40 (5333 views)

Yeah, I agree the requirement to collect your packet and drop off the bike and/or transition bags the day before is a pain in the ass, especially if you're not based close to the race start.
Body marking is already gone in most places isn't it? I only had to do it once in my last 5 races. Most races also have pumps available although I'd be inclined to bring mine anyway. You don't want to spend 20mins race morning trying to get hold of one of the handful of pumps being used by a few hundred people (any pressure gauges aren't accurate - I know what my gauge says when the pressure is where I want it, I don't know if any other pump reads the same value - could easily be 5-10psi out....if that matters to you).

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:43

Post #4 of 40 (5316 views)

How long are these races?

The only races in our area (and there are many), that require "Day Before" check-in are the longer half-iron distance events and the one 70.3 in the area. All other races and that's 90%, are completely Day-Of.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:45

Post #5 of 40 (5311 views)

Why continue to choose those type of events? Find races that fit your criteria. I did a small town race this past weekend where you picked up your packet at 0630. Racked your bike after the racks were put up at 0700. Race started at 0800. No timing chips. Paper race number. Simple and as low key as you could want.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [Fleck] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:55

Post #6 of 40 (5283 views)

Most of the larger olympic/spring and certainly 70.3 races around me require bike check-in day before or at a minimum packet pick-up.

I know there are smaller race options that are logistically a little easier but what I was thinking out loud about was how to make "all" triathlon races easier.

Put in other words how do we make the whole experience lower in stress and more fun whether it is full ironman or super sprint.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [Running mom] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 8:56

Post #7 of 40 (5277 views)

My guess is because of traffic issues. Or the race not wanting to add traffic trying to park while athletes are leaving T1.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:07

Post #8 of 40 (5242 views)

Yes I agree with you. Esp full ironman. Usually have to check in 2 days before race then rack bike next day then race the day after that. Smaller local races is the general solution. Even the bigger running races are now doing the day before thing. I think the only way it changes is if people vote with their feet. Another things is doing halfs that start in early afternoon. Did a challenge race in Europe that did that it was great. Check in in morning race just after lunch time.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:12

Post #9 of 40 (5221 views)

Remind me not to race where you are racing. Around here, our local races are everything you are asking for.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [LazyEP] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:18

Post #10 of 40 (5208 views)

LazyEP wrote:

Why continue to choose those type of events? Find races that fit your criteria. I did a small town race this past weekend where you picked up your packet at 0630. Racked your bike after the racks were put up at 0700. Race started at 0800. No timing chips. Paper race number. Simple and as low key as you could want.

Heck, I am doing one this weekend that allows race day registration. And it is chip timed. The only time that I have had to check my bike in the night before was at a branded race. Musselman might have required packet pickup the night before, but I wouldn't swear by that. They did have a mechanic set up near the entrance to transition, though, and that guy saved my butt.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [LazyEP] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:21

Post #11 of 40 (5196 views)

LazyEP wrote:

Why continue to choose those type of events? Find races that fit your criteria. I did a small town race this past weekend where you picked up your packet at 0630. Racked your bike after the racks were put up at 0700. Race started at 0800. No timing chips. Paper race number. Simple and as low key as you could want.

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I'm gonna quote all of that for ironic posterity.

As for the OP, I've done various race types, local regional national international pro age group, etc. There are races that inherently have more stress due to various factors due to their distance (4hrs or longer, in my opinion), and/or their branding (Ironman). XTERRA is the lowest of low stress. You should look into that or smaller, local events.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:26

Post #12 of 40 (5182 views)

I think you should try directing a race or just look into only racing small events. A lot of the time, when you alleviate one issue (ie. packet pickup/check-in and transition setup on race day), you create another (ie. long lines which means earlier check in times).

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [jkhayc] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:29

Post #13 of 40 (5173 views)

I would add the multiple transition area setups to this. Set up T2, shuttle to T1/start, different bags to get your stuff to the right place, etc. Is this the norm for long distance? The two near me are like this.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:43

Post #14 of 40 (5134 views)

The 10k race I did on Memorial Day tried something new and I think is was successful - Dynamic Race Numbers. Day of race you first go to waiver table & sign waiver. If not preregistered, go to the registration table and pay and get your number. Prereg'd go to any table and identify yourself they grab a number bib off their stack, key in your name on a tablet, your entry shows up, they type your number into it and you're done, ready to race. The bibs have a chip attached to them. This is a race with a half-marathon, 10k and 5k. They all start at the same time. It worked flawlessly. I knew my finish stats online within 10 minutes and could pick my award with a half hour after finishing - no awards ceremony, except for top three overall M/F in each distance. They got something bigger than the beer mug I got, which is way more useful than another medal.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [dmagic17] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 9:52

Post #15 of 40 (5105 views)

it just depends i think. i didnt do a split transition race for a while when i started going tris, if i remember correctly.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:22

Post #16 of 40 (5027 views)

Wouldn't learning to deal with the stress of racing be easier than changing the entire sport? I guess I don't understand what is generating all this stress.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [jkhayc] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:24

Post #17 of 40 (5021 views)

jkhayc wrote:

I'm gonna quote all of that for ironic posterity.

[/quote

Just spewed my coffee all over my keyboard.

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Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:41

Post #18 of 40 (4979 views)

In my area, the local sprint/olympic usually allow race day packet pickup and don't require overnight checkin of bikes. For the larger races I do, I at least want to have the option to pick up packet and checkin bike before race day. That actually makes it less stress for me. for larger events like, wtc events, I can understand why they don't want race day packet pickup and bike checkin. They already have a lot to deal with on race day so adding in packet pickup and bike checkin would add even more stuff for them to deal with.

all races I've done have bike pumps and mechanics.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:44

Post #19 of 40 (4958 views)

Inconvenient and less than ideal, yes.

Stressful, nope.

As others have suggested, if you don't like it vote with your wallet and do other races. If there aren't any races that meet your requirements, start one yourself. I suspect that if you do you'll soon understand why things like pre-race day packet pickup and bike racking become beneficial the larger the races become.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:46

Post #20 of 40 (4954 views)

"Local" races I've done are usually run very low key; show up (even sign up) race morning and that's it. With regard to larger races, I had a conversation with a race director involved with an international event and he explained it to me this way. The business plan submitted for approval by municipalities requires on-site registration and/or bike racking to be done at least the day before the race to help the local economy. Show up the day before a race and get a hotel room, visit a restaurant, etc.; makes local business owners happy. or Show up on race day, race and then leave town...doesn't do much for the trouble that locals will incur and makes it harder to sell it to them.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [HalfSpeed] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 10:47

Post #21 of 40 (4941 views)

HalfSpeed wrote:

The 10k race I did on Memorial Day tried something new and I think is was successful - Dynamic Race Numbers. Day of race you first go to waiver table & sign waiver. If not preregistered, go to the registration table and pay and get your number. Prereg'd go to any table and identify yourself they grab a number bib off their stack, key in your name on a tablet, your entry shows up, they type your number into it and you're done, ready to race. The bibs have a chip attached to them. This is a race with a half-marathon, 10k and 5k. They all start at the same time. It worked flawlessly. I knew my finish stats online within 10 minutes and could pick my award with a half hour after finishing - no awards ceremony, except for top three overall M/F in each distance. They got something bigger than the beer mug I got, which is way more useful than another medal.

I did the same 10k and picked my packet day before. I think the dynamic number plan only saved a few seconds for racers there, but probably saved race staff a lot of time in organizing.
They do packet pickup for two days before the run race - though not mandatory. Pretty sure that race day pickup did not cost more to be a VIP like Rock n Roll does.
I think one thing that did go wrong was race day pickup. The race start was delayed 15 minutes, I surmise due to so many people still in line to finish registration.
We heard "2 minutes to start" about five times, each about three minutes apart.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [iruntrails] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 11:04

Post #22 of 40 (4900 views)

iruntrails wrote:

I think you should try directing a race or just look into only racing small events. A lot of the time, when you alleviate one issue (ie. packet pickup/check-in and transition setup on race day), you create another (ie. long lines which means earlier check in times).

We have a winner.

You also spread the "good" workforce thinner when doing as much as possible race morning.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [dmagic17] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 11:39

Post #23 of 40 (4840 views)

Shuttles stress me out. I don't want to have to worry about missing one or forgetting something. I want everything centralized. What would be nice is a loading/unloading area for those of us who have people with us. Let me take my bike and everything else into transition while my husband parks the car in some far away lot.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [happyscientist] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 14:15

Post #24 of 40 (4699 views)

Interesting, I find some of the solutions to be MORE stressful than pre day race pick up. For me more that I can get done before race day the better. I do not want to stand in numerous lines race morning, especially because the person in front of me typically has 85 questions to ask! Bathroom lines are bad enough.

But I do agree about being the last wave. There is a local race (Solana Beach) where I am the last wave and am kicked out of transition 90 minutes before my race. However I cannot get there late because parking becomes a problem.

Re: Making triathlon races lower in stress [hueby416] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 15:27

Post #25 of 40 (4638 views)

hueby416 wrote:

Ok the main reason I do not do more triathlons per year is mainly because of the stress and hassle of all the logistics around doing a race. Most of the races around me (at least the larger ones) require packet pickup day before and bike drop off day before. So that is 2 days of race stress of some sort.

Contrast that with a running event or bike event and you essentially show up for those 15 mins before your start and you are ready to go.

Now I know for sure triathlon is logistically way more challenging but I personally would do more races if it was more like cycling and running races.

So I would like to see more races with race day packet pickup and transition setup. Also look at setting up transition area so that people who go off in some cases 1hr+ later than first wave dont have to get there and wait around. Body marking needs to go and RD should have bike pumps and mechanics race morning so one less thing to bring.

Your thoughts?

1st year in 10 not doing any triathlons, and not missing the hassle of 3 sport training and your listed issues. Just riding a ton, doing some cycling/gravel/mtn bike racing, and running a bit for cross training. Highly recommend the change, unless of course you are a swimmer!

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