I agree the road conditions/traffic conditions/course crowding all made for an unsafe race. If the road conditions are so bad that you have to direct your athletes into the opposing traffic lane twice, you need to rethink your course.

I rode past you shortly after your crash, I'm glad to hear you are in good enough shape to post as I was quite worried (didn't stop because there was a police officer there with you plus other athletes). Speedy healing wishes.

This is my second year at Miami Man w last year being my first.

I enjoyed the day and especially the funky two-loop run, but yes- that bike course needs serious addressing. I got pushed into the grass on the right by a truck who saw me for sure but was just pissed off Sunday morning drive got a bit delayed.

I also had a friend who was almost killed - and I say this without exaggeration-
When a car blew through a policeman’s STOP signal - and was THISCLOSE to hitting him full o from the side at an intersection. Not the cops fault at all...

It’s not a DL race and I know closing off 56 miles
Of road is tough but patching them up and somehow making the venue safer would be ideal.

The swim, run and organization was outstanding but the bike course got scary.

Wow I hope you're okay! I saw you as well but there were so many people already helping you I didn't think to stop. I think the two loop bike course made it especially dangerous as crowding on the next loop combined with open 2-land roads led to passing into oncoming traffic and large draft packs. Heck I got a penalty and there was essentially nothing I could do about my position on the bike, just bad luck at that moment with the ref on the 2nd lap. The first lap was nice and clear with plenty of space to avoid drafting! It was either draft or get slammed by an oncoming car.

I also felt that the run was (potentially) unsafe. I saw a number of people, myself included, slipping on the gravel and offroad parts or almost losing footing and twisting an ankle. Thankfully no one around me had a major issue but I'm sure that a few people really sprained an ankle or something out there.

I don’t think there is an easy answer

The race seems to get sold out each year so there is no incentive for USAT or the race director to fix anything

I have done races in the last where they close the roads. I am back into tris the past 2 years and this doesn’t seem to be a thing so much

Is that true? Do races no longer close a course?

I see MIAMI Man is the national championship again next year

Anyone know where it will be in 2021?

Anyone watch those YOUTUBE videos where they race crits on open roads with traffic lights? Seems so illogical and dangerous. But it seems they have been doing it for years.

Serious question am I spoiled from having lived out in the country where tris and bike races where on closed courses or on roads where you MIGHT see 5 cars in a 50 bike course?

I was there yesturday, I had a guy going for the overall win until he was hit by a car, pre-riding the course on Tuesday. The road surface certainly seemed to be worse with many potholes all over the place.

I think what you'll see most of the time at events is that only sections of courses are every "closed" to traffic these days. With the costs of road closures and cops manning intersections "cost of doing business" has certainly risen imo. And then you throw out that seemingly every 10 mins they'd announce on the speakers "pay only $199 for next year's race" and you kinda see where it's going.

This was my 1st time at the event, I thought the atmosphere was cool. It seemed the wind was tougher this year especially heading back into the park.


My only complaint is that when you have *that* many people on the course (4 races of athletes), you seemingly have the *ability* to potentially look at road closures. That was a very large field full of bikes in transition.


But again from the RD side, they'll tell you "your paying on the cheap for a half".....which imo you are.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Good point about how cheap the race is

I didn’t realize how low it is if you pay early
as I think I paid around $400

^Said athlete waited until Jan '19 and only paid $210.

I think the early bird special included no registration fee that almost all other races these days attach to their costs.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Geeze - hope you will be OK. It this course was truly unsafe then there needs to be a "movement" to rectify the situation. I'll be interested to see if this thread gains traction. In the meantime, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Wow, that sucks. I am very sorry to hear that.

This reply isn't to you, per se, but to the thread.

My opinion is that the road for race is not as bad as everyone says. I didn't see much crowding myself--maybe as a consequence of where I was. There was maybe a little bit of crowding on the way out to the loop, but after that I thought everyone was pretty well spread out. And I saw marshalls regularly.

The roads were def a little rough, but reasonable for country roads and I think mostly marked off well. I think I saw the pothole that did you in. There was an emergency jacket in it when I went by the 1st time. I almost hit it because I was distracted by the activity happening on the side of the road. That it wasn't marked with a cone initially is def a mistake. Overall, tho, I thought the roads were fine and the traffic fine, except for the intersection about a mile south of the park.

Anyway, this is not to diminish your pain and suffering! I think you are totally justified to feel your way. I just wanted to include my opinion. Good luck with your recovery!

The first thing you and everyone who did this race needs to do is email your regional USAT rep & email whomever runs sanctioning at USAT & whomever is in charge of awarding national championships with your complaints and I'd list 1-3 specific examples of why you think this race should not be a USATAGNC race

Yes that's 3 emails to USAT. They don't have to be tomes. The more emails USAT gets the more responsive that they will be. I know for a fact it only takes 1 phone call to the right person on the USAT BOD to have a vendor kicked out of the expo at this race over the objections of the RD.

Imagine if 15+ of you take 10 minutes to write emails to various people at USAT. That's probably going to be more effective than posting on ST.

Second you need to email the RD with your specific complaints and offer suggestions on how to improve the race. You should also mention that you do not feel safe coming back to this race. You should also be prepared to back that up with the action of not registering. So many triathletes fail on that step. Be brave, keep a strong backbone.

the reason this race gets national championship status year after year is no one else is bidding on it. LC nationals where held somewhere else a few years ago (can't remember the year but my athlete won the overall which I do remember).

Until other races bid on it, it's likely to go back to this race. But if you guys make enough noise saying "this race is dangerous and it's only a matter of time until someone gets killed" maybe, just maybe USAT will realize they are an org that serves it tertiary constituents as well. (RDs are it primary constituents, us peons aka racers are it's 3rd or 4th most important customer)

This now rests in your hands . Bitch and moan on ST or take 15 minutes of action to potentially save someone's life and/or make the race better.

Up to you. Bitch & complain or take action.
What are you going to do?

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Thank you for the suggestions

I am happy to do all of the above.

Would you know the correct email addresses to send these emails to?

Does it make a difference that this race seems to sell out each year so perhaps the RD would not be too concerned with 20 or even 50 emails stating not coming back?

One last thing. Say we get the USAT to say ok no more race at Miami Man because it’s dangerous. Then they award it to the only other place that bids for it and it’s as bad or worse?

Serious questions as I have no knowledge of how any of this works


Thank you again. Positive actions.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you'll be OK.

I did the aquathlon on Saturday. I spoke to at least half a dozen other athletes who are disappointed in the race. Specifically for the aquathlon, the run course is narrow and makes it hard/dangerous to pass. The whole thing feels like an afterthought, like they are being forced to tack swim-run onto their long course tri. Parking is a nightmare, and Saturday afternoon there are cars and cyclists on narrow roads and I saw a few close calls.

I and others noticed this year that they put trash bags over the 'no swimming/ alligators' signs-- not that I'm worried about the gators, but it's kinda funny. Folks who aren't familiar with Florida get freaked out when they hear that alligators are around.

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The race will not sell out if it loses USAT endorsement, and its nationals status. Thus DD's suggestions to email USAT, RD, and all parties involved.

Sorry to hear. A female athlete I coach was taken out 200 yards from T2 when another athlete cut her off and sent her straight into a pothole. Broken collarbone, broken bike.

This particular race seems to have more than its share of incidents.

Ian

DD--most certainly. This will be pursued. I may have a torn labrum again so I will likely end up getting an MRI. Nothing seems to be broken as I was able to move parts, but soft tissues may have been compromised. I know one race I won't be doing again...but still...odd it seemed way worse than last year from pothole frequency. Maybe all the rains wreaks havoc down there.

One guy who hit the hole behing me & crashed into me as I was rolling with my bike on the asphalt DNF'd too, while another guy hit him (dunno if he also hit the pothole). 3 of us. Last guy continued after several minutes. 2nd guy I thought he said, was from Atlanta & knew Justin Daerr who was a friend of his--so I hope I can find who he is. I know Justin too. This guy (Mark maybe? I was out of totally) at least stayed with me until someone arrived. Ambulance took 20-25 min. Cop walked over and asked how I was before victim #2 yelled at him to do something about the hold (he put a yellow safety vest over the hold (a bit late albeit!) Then eventually they put a 3 foot or so tall orange cone. The MACK Cycles guy said they had one ambulance and one bike support van...for the whole race. Not sure if that is true or not, but he said that.

What they do around here is any potholes for races, the city / county and race directors assess the danger of holes and sends a truck out with two guys, a shovel and hot asphalt. If anything they take a few shovels full and pack it as smooth as they can, just so it isn't as much of a hazard. Last thing a city/county/race (or USAT) you'd think, wants to do...is get sued. But apparently, they (USAT and Miami Man/Omar the race director), have bypassed that consideration of the athlete safety by missing so many pot holes on the course, not closing traffic or controlling it even with police support. Needless to way, my rep, Omar, and USAT will indeed be hearing from me. Especially if surgery is involved after I can get into the doctor for an MRI. Honestly, except for being really sore, I was able to move and gingerly walk (which I am today), but the shoulder sure hurts. Which makes me think I re-tore my labrum which I had surgery on in 2000 or 2001.

Sad, it did not need to be this way. They could have prevented a lot of the accidents yesterday. I feel bad for the person who got hit by the car (one that I know of). Possibly more.

USAT has a website where you can find all the contact info. Regional reps, national sanctioning people, membership, CEO and their emails. I'd check there.

I found out since my previous post that Toughman NY applied for the national championships and did not get the race.

As far as other races being bad or worse, I guess that's a possibility. It's just as likely that you get a race that's only as good and it's just as likely you get a race that's run better. That's a risk I'd be willing to take. IMO taking action for positive results is better than not taking action bc of fear of the unknown.
Don't let fear of worse things dictate your actions. Life will be sad if you operate like that.

I'm not letting my athletes go back to this race. You or other coaches may choose a different path to walk.

If I'm an RD you can't predict everything good or bad. Maybe the RD knew maybe they didn't. I know as an athlete I'm not shy about writing an RD letting them know where things can be and how I think they can be improved, especially in the name of athlete safety.

Now if they have a crappy T-shirt or give finishers medals I'm not going to complain about those things to the RD That's petty stuff even though I appreciate a nice T shirts, think finishers medals are dumb and unnecessary.

But if there is an intersection that isn't being controlled or parts of the course may have put my safety in risk then be damn sure I'm writing the RD and/or USAT about that.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Let me start by saying as a life long Floridian I don't spend a lot of time in Miami for a lot of reasons but I think that there may be a need for some perspective here. It's easy to get out the torches and pitchforks on behalf of your fellow racers, especially when someone gets hurt, but on balance I think that MultiRace does a good job running their events.

I would love to see the road freshly paved for our convenience but that would be an issue for the people who live there as they would be the ones to pay for it. I made a point of driving the course on Saturday just to get a feel for what I needed to deal with on Sunday. I can't say that I memorized the location of every pothole but I do think it helped. I ride a lot outside and our bike club is active in getting our local problems attended to, but all of us ride with a degree of risk that we can only assume ourselves when we get on the bike, racing or not.

I would love to see the course closed but I can't imagine the locals would have any of that. Having a closed course means either a venue a long way away from any metro area or a huge expense to pay for law enforcement. The MiamiMan venue has it's drawbacks and limitations but as a first timer I was able to deal with them. The only thing that surprised me was the amount of vehicle traffic that we needed to negotiate. That's a negative component to the race that's unavoidable so I think the RD should make it known beforehand to a greater degree.

I've had one email exchange with Omar in the past where we discussed his calculations for the Ft Desoto series, he was prompt and helpful. Their race results webpage is more useful than anyone else's including Ironman and they have a pretty good level of communication with their customer base. The pothole issue can be made safer and I think that should be pressed. The other issues are all trade offs if another venue is chosen. I would prefer that the specific issues get successfully addressed rather than pulling the plug.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

I just remembered JACKSONVILLE has a triathlon where the lanes we rode in were closed to traffic

They used to hold the race 3 times a year but lack of participation caused them to change to just 1 per year.

Compared to Miami man the road is basically pot hole free and many times safer

I would think the Jacksonville airport and hotels are plenty enough to take care of a national championship.

I now see Daytona has the Daytona Challenge 1/2 distance and it says the bike lane is fully protected

Looking at pictures from last year it looks like they have cones to keep the bike lane free if cars

Could be wrong.

Does anyone know?

I imagine the race company does a decent enough job. I think this was the 16th running of the event, and I think they support a bunch of local S FL races/venues. I'd almost wager that adding the USAT signature too it, has actually made the race harder on the RD. Better for his back pocket as it's filled with more $$$, but proably has turned a "manageable" event into a nightmare.

Potholes and local traffic, you can kinda deal with it when it's just the locals racing it. But when you then put 2k+ people out there, crowds of people from all over the country, "expectations" get ramped up and then everything gets nitpicked.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Did you do the race?

No I dont race, I was down there w/ an athlete who was unable to race due to truck hitting him on Tuesday (he's ok).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Everyone should call Dominos on those potholes... Or not pink

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

A class athlete.

I was lucky to ride with her a few days before Kona in '17. NOT like a typical triathlete - very impressive bike handling skills and awareness, yet respectful of traffic, etc. Stuff happens, I understand, having unmarked obstacles, not cool.

I hope the healing process is swift. As they say, been there, done that.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________