Watching, the treadmills will sort them out, those that haven't used this style

.
Yeah,I had no idea that these treadmills were so different until Macca explained them to some of us idiots in that podcast that was deleted. (and I don't know which podcast it was because I didn't save it,which is a bummer).

Interesting Jess was so strong on the run, she not normally the fastest. She said maybe because she was heavier getting the treadmill moving better. Anyone used one who might know if this is likely the case.

.
Klamer kind of suggested that very issue in the interview.You would think the heavier athletes would get it up to speed faster and be able to hold the speed better.

It was funny listening to Macca talking about this event and how the Covid-19 plans threw them into all kinds chaos.He said last week that it is either going to be awesome or a total gong-show but they are all hoping it works so they can make it a permanent northern winter series.

Thanks for the link, I caught the last 20mins. I like the format - I would watch that again.

---

My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces

Not sure if just starved of triathlon viewing but I actually enjoyed it, some results very much surprised me.

i enjoyed it as well, only complaint was that they missed both mens and women's finishes in certain races. commentators noted it, so clearly it was a mistake and something to be worked on for the future.

Non-motorized treadmills are definitely different. Like anything, it's a skill that will favor (naturally) certain physiologies and running styles. Just like certain athletes are better (normal) treadmill runners, some athletes will naturally suit the non-motorized ones as well. If this becomes more popular as a format, I would expect a unique physiology to be optimal for it. It's probably the most different triathlon event I can remember in terms of what it demands. A bit like when BMX became an Olympic sport, you saw some pretty unique and remarkable physiologies from those athletes. Peak power output for many of the BMX riders was higher than world tour sprinters, but in an obviously very different setup.

---

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

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Kudos to SuperLeague Triathlon for another great production. I would have liked a few more in-screen shots of the athletes on the trainer and treadmill while watching the avatars. I could see something like this taking off. Kind of like the UFC putting on fights in their training center. I will definitely tune in for more of this.

thank you for the link.

i saw all of the third and most of the second events in the Jess Learmonth show. Most power on the bike (although in the final even the others being in a group may have made them more tactical), fastest in the water, and best on the run. At the start of the third event (where they started with the run) one of the commentators mentioned that she was getting it up to speed before the start - when others were walking or jogging. i missed the beginning so didn't know they were using non-motorized treadmills but that must make getting the belt to race pace even more important.

i enjoyed the event and would watch again. I've missed these people more than i realized.

also - like the announcers.

Really entertaining racing format. Those treadmills seemed hard, they struggled to even get to 20 kph. That first 200 M LCM was 2:07.

.
Due to the Covid restrictions in place they were allowed a total of 300 people in the building which meant that they had to scale down the production crew,that included taking away two camera operators (among other staff).The coverage will get better as Macca himself said this was all one huge experiment.
.
The interesting thing is that some of the athletes were worried about going to this event because they want to race the WTS event in Hamburg in a couple of weekends time.They were concerned about quarantine when they got home after the Super Leauge event and not being able to train so Macca and the folks at SL have decided to pay for housing for the athletes who want to go to Hamburg early instead of having to worry about going home to quarantine.

Is there a way to watch the replay? I clicked on the link and it goes to an old race from last year now..

.
Hey Monty,
You can check it out in the video section of the Super League Facebook page..
https://www.facebook.com/...eos/326250545400707/

I imagine that we should see it on the SL website video page with all the other videos as well
https://superleaguetriathlon.com/videos/

Same link works for me - I'm watching the replay now.

---

My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces

Trying desperately to avoid spoilers here (including not reading through this post)

Superleague is very bad at releasing Spoliers (hope someone from them lot reads this)

Can someone do me a massive favour and either DM me a spoiler free link or reply to this with spoiler free links of all races please?

If you search the Super League YouTube channel, you can watch the replay there.

It was great racing, and a really cool format. With those treadmills it has less to do with bodyweight, and more to do with running style. Folks that have a more negative running style (i.e. not much knee drive, but an over pronounced back end recovery phase) will struggle more than those with a stronger knee drive and pull phase (think of doing the running drill "B's", that pawing or pull helps to accelerate the belt). If you watch closely those who figured out the importance of that pull and emphasized that movement were the ones who got the belts up to speed early (you can also clearly tell the experienced Zwift racers, who knew that you don't start those races from a standstill, you crank it up to threshold before the clock starts (bike or run) if that's your first leg.

It was interesting too, that proportionally, compared to most triathlon formats the swim was much longer, so you could really see the impacts of that leg on the results. I'm also waffling between whether I think it was genius or a gaffe to end with the run-swim-bike format for that triple mix, since we knew that there would be pack sprints (it worked out to create some serious drama for the men, but I could see the flipside, that if you did everything right, but couldn't sprint, your podium hopes could be hooped...).

I'll admit it was weird seeing the socially distant podium, but I think they handled things well... People quickly getting masks on, most of the crew save for the commentators and interviewer (so that they could be heard clearly) staying masked up, and the placement of the medals on a stand for the athletes to collect.

I'm curious as to the flooring that they used around the pool? I noticed in the Richard and Rachel interview, he was forecasting carnage with people running full tilt on the pool deck, and I think back to the signage and boisterous lifeguards at every pool I've ever swum in discouraging this (even pool swim triathlons that threaten DQs if you start running before you exit the pool area), but I didn't notice any wipeouts or near misses, and some folks were booting it in their transitions...

I could see an event like this becoming a regular winter event on the SLT calendar... And a unique way to bring the IRL racing, with the eSports element. Also huge kudos for the mandatory weigh ins, that kept the convo on the racing, as opposed to questionable user entered body weights...

Ray also provides an interesting behind the scenes look at the event here:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...cenes-triathlon.html

He notes the same as many below about the difference in using the manual treadmill.

---

I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

There's a special sponge-type decking they use at all major aquatic events to cover the pool deck. In the US it's typically blue, but can be any other color.

---

I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

I thought it was brilliant and other than finish line and split leader boards mishaps (which you expect from Zwift now anyway) it all seemed to go really well.

I'd be interested to see the bike non draft (can you do that on zwift?) and the distances increased.

In this case, the carpet was actually brought in by Super League. I asked about it - as I was sitting there thinking 'Huh, I can't imagine normal black carpet is normally on a pool deck like this'. And sure enough, it wasn't normal.

They specifically brought in black, as well as black-shaded all the windows and numerous other surfaces in black purely to make it feel more like a specific set, than have it feel like a random swimming pool. It worked, it look fantastic in person.

Ironically, that facility is apparently near brand new - also was a fantastic looking pool facility/venue. Super cool.

---

-
My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

This format is nuts. It gets rid of basically any games/strategy and really puts it to the pure athletics of the individual.

No drafting on the swim and you can see your competitors to your left or right. Albeit they do have drafting on Zwift they said which is unique and gets down to math so curious what equations are used, and the run is not in a line/pack/anything.

It's hard because of the way running works on zwift - speed in = speed out - so we don't have the blackbox that we have with cycling - watts in --> speed out - to play with. But seeing this format does sort of make me want that. At the very least, something like running power ups that *temporarily* suspends the 1:1 for with speed would seem to add some interesting dynamics.

I'd say of all the races we've supported since COVID, this was the most interesting to me; not just as a triathlete, but as a game designer/developer. This was the format that most pushed the platform and which most got my brain churning about possible development work to make races like this both more tactical, more engaging, and more fun.

---

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