Just going through the pictures on the front page and saw this:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/photos/5/4535-large_ChicagoAG_014.jpg
One lade is shoeless, another has her wetsuit and running shoes on? The male is holding his wetsuit and has running shoes/swimcap/goggles on?
What was up for those that raced?
I didn’t do the 08 edition but have done this race about 5 or 6 times and this was the first year that they had a nice carpeted path from the swim exit to the transition area which is about 1/4 of a mile in distance. The running path that it follows is somewhat sharp and a pain in the ass to run on so some folks will leave their stuff right at the swim exit. Guess they figure that it’ll save them some time.
Yeah I thought this was pretty funny actually.
I saw this massive accumulation of shoes & random crap lining the swim exit.
I figured that some of the first waves must have been older people that couldn’t run barefoot or it was for a kids race or something.
Well, as you can see, it turns out these were athletes who decided to clog the exit with piles of shoes to protect their delicate feet from a 500 yard padded concrete & grass run. I didn’t realize this was the purpose of the shoe pile until I was coming out of the water, & I saw folks taking the time to sit down on the 5foot wide exit-way and tie up their shoes.
Awesome.
It was a long run to T1 and you can just plain run faster in the shoes…at least at the typical race where you must run over unswept asphalt and rocks/gravel/branches as you exit at the typical lake shore.
Ya, I did the race this year (with carpeting) and in 2004 (no carpeting) and running barefoot both times. I have to admit that without the carpeting, that 500 meter run to T1 sucks. But putting shoes on for such a short run distance is completely unnecessary. Then again, there are so many newbies at that race, that they really have no idea what to do anyway.
I did the race last year and this year. Last year I got a piece of glass in my foot running to T1 after the mat ended, so I get why people would want shoes. This year, the mat was much longer, as another poster said, and it wasn’t an issue. I did it barefoot again this year b/c I figured the glass thing was a freak occurrence.
Technically it would be a penalty, no?
what rule does this violate?
Question: If a race is wetsuit legal would that also mean that you would be allowed to wear some of those wetsuit booties? To me that would be the way to go if you need protection for your feet running to T1.
I would assume this one:
7.2 Placement of Equipment. All participants shall place equipment only in the properly designated and individually
assigned bicycle corral and shall at all times keep their equipment confined to such properly designated areas. Any
violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.
(Edit)
It sort of applies here too.
h. Abandoned Equipment. No participant shall leave any equipment or personal gear on the race course. Any
violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.
Don’t some of the pros wear shoes to run back to T1 at the Alcatraz tri?
I’d think if an area was designated to put shoes near the swim exit, you wouldn’t be violating a rule. Must not be, because a lot of people were doing it.
If an area was designated for it by the race director, then true, not a problem. That would basically be a T0.5, ha. Just because a lot of people were doing it though doesn’t mean it was approved by the RD and officials, it simply says people did it, and probably didn’t get penalized for it.
You mean like drafting?
Drafting? What’s that? If it’s illegal, I’m sure there is no way someone would dare do it in a big race with officials like Chicago.
Ha, my bad. I meant blocking. 