OK, so how important is it for race distances to be accurately measured? After a decent swim and bike this weekend, I thought I doing pretty well on the run, maybe on pace for a PR for the distance, when I hit the halfway point in the run and looked at my watch and said, “My God, I can’t possibly suck this bad!” I let it take my head out of the game finished with the slowest 10k split of my life. Not sure how many ks it actually was, but some at the finish said it was long.
Am I making too big a deal out of this? I know that everyone has to go the same distance. Shouldn’t you know how far you have to go before the race starts? Does size matter?
That happened to me Saturday. Yes, everyone races the same distance, but again, I thought I was doing poorly until I heard everyone complaining after the race. I realize every course is different, but I have a good idea how long it takes me to do a certain distance. still, it was fun racing.
I’m a relative newbie, but of the four tri’s I did last year, only one of them was accurate +/- 1%. All the others had short swims, long swims, short runs, or some combination of the above.
I would prefer to know the actual distances myself, but I think it’s something you have to deal with(just because I have a GPS wristwatch doesn’t mean everybody does, right?)
I agree with your frustration. That can (and does) really throw your race off.
It would be nice if RD’s took an hour and rode the course on a mountain bike (in the case of a trail run) with an accurate cyclometer so you had a good idea of your pace.
That said, competitively everyone has to run the same course, so it boils down to who will deal with it best mentally.
In one unit I was in in the military a common denominator in the testing and qualification procedure was for those administering the test to never let us know the duration of the exercise. It could be three hours- or three days. You didn’t know until someone said, “You have completed this evolution, you are a ‘GO’ at this station…” You had no idea how to pace yourself or how to prepare mentally. Consequently, you learned to only live in the moment and not think about the finish. You went as hard and as fast as you could as long as you could and hoped the end would come… someday. That kind of training helped a lot in racing in an uncertain environment.
But again, a participant pays an entry fee- part of what they are paying for is an accurately measured course, so I agree with you 100%.
Most races are this way . If the turn around comes just before the top of a hill or some other dangerous spot they go on to a safer turn around. The easiest way to have an exact distance is to insert a dog leg (turn around ) some where on a flat spot.
The last race I did was great but the distances were off. It was windy and the bouys blew off course, the bike & run had rolling hills so the turn around had to be placed where they could find a flat spot. I guess race directors put 18 mile bike 5k run to round it off. 18.458 mile bike and 3.398 mike run just doesn’t sound good. I always try to drive the courses before the race
I have found that a surprising number of races in my area are inaccurately measured. There is this one race director who does two races a year near my home – an early spring duathlon and an August tri. Both are sprints, and both are incorrectly measured. In the duathlon, both runs are listed as 5K’s. But the first run starts a tenth or two of a mile from transition. I think the course is measured from transition, making the first run short (and it was short; I ran a fairly conservative first 5K but my time said it was a PR by :30; no way that happened). In the tri, the swim is advertised as a half a mile. It’s more like 400-450. Last year, I put up something like a 7:40 swim split. Ain’t no way it was anywhere near a half mile! I didn’t mind it being a quarter mile as opposed to being a half mile, but don’t advertise it as a half mile.
I have done other races where the distances are off. Just did a half IM two weeks ago with a long swim. I think the RD knows it’s long, but leaves it alone every year. And I did a sprint on Memorial Day that advertised a 20 mile ride; it was more like 20.4.
I think it’s more common to have an inaccurately measured course than it is to have one measured correctly. Even some of the major races have been quite inaccurate. Kind of interesting – you’ll never see a major running race that’s too long or too short. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in triathlon.
This can really suck. I was in real good shape a few years back and looked to break my Oly distance PR on a course I’d raced well on before. I came out of the water 6 minutes slower than I expected. I had a good ride, but then really gave up on the run because I was so far behind my goal time. Well, of course, the swim was really, really, really long…but I didn’t find out until I’d finished, and my 10k split was probably 5 minutes slower than I was capable of, just because I’d mentally given up. I’ll never make that mistake again. Race hard, even if you splits look weird…it could just be the course is messed up.
I ran around Mackinac Island in 1999. In case, you are not from Michigan, there are no motor vehicles on the Island (except for an ambulance) and everyone is on foot, bike or horse. There is a funny story related to this about Bob Dole’s 96 Campaign, but that’s for another time and place.
Despite the lack of motor vehicles, the “road” around the Island is actually a state road, complete with a number designation and mile markers. I was a lot slower then than now, but it was still quite a surprise when my first mile was about 12:30. Although I did pick up the pace during the approximately 8 miles around the Island, the last mile was definitely not as fast as the 7:45 or so that was recorded by my watch. Incredibly confusing, especially since I was more or less a novice runner at the time. It was a lot better the second time I ran around the Island because I knew what to expect and had a lot better idea of how fast I could run on a flat run.
Too many races have this problem. At thte Caliman (half) I was thoroughly discouraged when I started the run and realized that my bike time was a few minutes more than what I expected as a worst case. Course was apparently about 3 miles too long.
You just have to keep going. It gets easier when you do a race for the second or third time, then you can race against your own previous performances. I usually expect to have a mediocre race the first time I hit a course, because there’s always the possibility of inadequate course markings.
One year at an open-water swim, one of the buoys blew away, and the organizers changed the course from a rectangle to a pentagonal shape. I made a 90º at the far buoy and a couple minutes later a lifeguard on a surf board bumped me and said, “the race is that way, dummy…”
I’ve since had eye surgery, so now I just look where I’m going. But I’ve been to races where people ran or biked off course. It’s worst for the leaders, or if the moron in front of you goes off course and you follow.
The estimated size is helpful for planning your race and pacing. After that, forgetaboutit. Races vary from year to year even when it is the same course. Swims are particularly notorious. After a while, you get good realizing when you are still in the water if the swim course is running long. Either way, when you get out of the water, recognize it, acknowledge it, and then move on. Worst case it means you might now get your PR that day. However, everyone else in the race is doing the same distance, so for that day it doesn’t matter. Same thing for the run and bike, although I find it tougher on the run when I’m dying and about ready to fold up the tent. Any good excuse would make it so much easier to give in to the frustration and fatigue.
Bottom line, like Tom and the others said, it comes down to mental toughness. One of the reasons I like this sport so much. The mental toughness becomes just as important as the physical fitness. You should listen to Lisa Bently on the 2002 (3?) IMC tape talking about who can focused the best for a nine hour race as that is what it takes to win an Ironman. If you don’t deal with it well, then you become one more person I can pass in my next race
As an aside, isn’t it IM Austria that has the notoriously short run course and which claims the world title for record IM race times? I always get a chuckle out of that.
Second aside, living in Salt Lake during the year before the winter olympics in 2002, the PBS station was running a comedy series filmed in Australia, I presumed during the buildup to the Sydney olympics about the **fictional **bumbling Australian Olympic committee. It was hilarious. One of the funniest bits was the fact that the 100 meter race section of the track was only 91 or 97 meters long when the track stadium was finished. Highly recommended. Funny, funny people those Aussies.
I would agree that a mismeasured course is annoying, and the race director should take the time to be as accurate as possible… however, everyone is doing the same course. Knowing your splits and times help, but IMHO just as important is racing by how you feel. Tom D’s post highlights how important mental discipline and tenacity are in racing. As a competitor we face weather, mechanical problems, the course itself, other competitors, etc. Bottom line is that you go as hard as you can and let it all hang out - if the course is a little long or little short it shouldn’t matter that much.
This is why many athletes would do better to focus on the process of excuting a good performance rather than being outcome oriented and thinking about final time and place or splits.
Given that triathlon courses are likely to continue to be inaccurate, rather than looking at your watch, focus on technical cues like cadence, relaxed upper body, driving up hills, etc that you know are necessary to do your best on the day.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the same type of story “I thought I was having a really slow bike, so I bagged it and jogged the run” and then looking back at the bike splits i becomes apparent that it was either a long course or just a slow due due to weather or whatever and it wasn’t really as bad as it seemed out there.
Good points, all. Thanks for your perspective. I agree, a “little” off is pretty much to be expected. But how much is a “little”? OK sure, you probably wouldn’t hear a peep out of me if the course was short. But this run course was long. Almost 10% long. And now I find out that it was KNOWN to be long. I don’t think it is unreasonable for me to think that information should have been provided to the racers beforehand. When I want an adventure racing experience, I’ll sign up for one.
Three words - Home Court Advantage. It really pays to know a course. It can eliminate a lot of unknowns and identify where you can take advantage. That said, occasionally I now look forward to new courses to see what surprises they can throw at me. Emphasis on the occasional. I don’t like big surprises in long courses such as halfs or full IMs.
I think the issue gets to this. . .I want an accurate course, or at least accurate advertised lengths, even if the course is long or short from standard distances. Why? Because I, like most AG triathletes I know, am competing first against myself. . .and only second against the others around me. The only way I can compete against myself in any measureable way is to have accurate course measurements so that I can make comparisons. Running a 36:00 10k in an Oly doesn’t really count if the course was .3 miles short, does it?
I did a tri 3 weeks ago. The run was supposed be an 8k. I swear it ws more like 9+. THE FASTEST mens run was around 32 1/2 min. I trashed myself on the bike (bad racing), so I didn’t know what to expect, but the time seemed slow. It turned out I was 1st in my AG on the run. (I’m old and not-that-fast, so all of the fast runners must’ve stayed home–I’m not normally that high on the list) I did a tri there in the past with a 10k run on the same course, with a little out & back tail that I don’t remember being more than 1/2k each way.
All of that tells me that the run was not an 8k.
From I’ve read, mismeasurement is common. Besides, the topography of the course can have a great effect, too.
That is a good point and a pet peeve. When courses are unchanged from year to year, and the distances are known accurately, but they are advertised as otherwise. I mentioned earlier in this thread the European IM that is historically known for having a short course, yet advertises world record times. I would be more than irritated If I were to find out after the fact that my first IM was not a full IM because of that kind of misinformation. Swim courses are an exception as they are more difficult to accurately measure and control. But bike and run courses are straight forward. I measure all my training routes to know what I am doing, it isn’t to much to ask for established races to accurately describe their courses. New races and last minute changes in courses due to construction, environmental conditions, emergencies, etc I would give a lot more leeway. So, I changed my position a little bit or maybe I just clarified it. But, I may have to reread davejakes post to make sure I didn’t gloss over his point.
GPS has changed some what in the way courses are measured but it is really tough to design and measure a race venue. Because of the need for three venues, tris are the toughest. . No excuses for those RD who don’t give a shit but here are some of the problems I encountered when setting up courses.
Swim- Squalls moving bouys, current changes make accurate courses seem long, water depth changes make for course changes
Bike- I used to ride a laser mile on a fixed gear and count pedal revolutions, go out with a can of paint and make my course. Sometimes it a turn around was at a bad place, I would flat out cheat a tad to make it safe. You can take 100 riders and ride the exact same course and get 85 different speedo reedings. So how far was that course really? I measured the safest legal course. In a tri with position violation concerns and most people ride as much to the shoulder as possible, they may be as much as 1/4 to 1/2 mile off on a really curvy course.
Run- few runners really know how to run a tight race. You should be running those apexs on your corners. Runs are designed to be run on the shortest legal course without leaving the proper lane. ie cutting thru yards or on trails jumping switchbacks. If it would have been a run, Lance would have DQ ed the Alps in the tour last year.
My biggest peeve is people who have never designed a course complaining about a course. Every local town has a race and I think it is all our duty to help RDs out. It is actually kind of fun finding a course and making it into a race.
Then again to RD’s, one of the most important thing about a race is an accurate course. I have never heard anyone complain of a course being too accurate. Aloha G
