https://www.slowtwitch.com/Opinion/With_Change_Comes_Opportunities_8585.html
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Is it true Long Course Nationals will be at Daytona Clash next year?
Yes, it appears so: https://www.teamusa.org/usa-triathlon/events/national-championships. A link there takes you to the CLASH Daytona website.
One nitpick (with USAT I guess) is that they should require (and help) their partner races for these national (and state) championship races with championship branding content. If you don’t click through the USAT website, you’d have no clue that CLASH Daytona is the 2023 USAT Long Course National Championship as it isn’t mentioned anywhere on the website (at least not prominently). I think it would help the profile of the “secondary” (i.e. not organized by USAT and not as popular) championship races if the marketing and branding on the race website and at the actual races was improved. Everyone that is registered for the race should at least know it is a championship, which I have found isn’t the case at all, especially with the state championships.
A few thoughts after reading the article:
Is CLASH planning to expand beyond the east coast? I’d be interested in trying one, but would rather be within driving distance. I don’t follow NASCAR at all so I don’t know where else there are tracks. I did do a road cycling race at Road America in central Wisconsin and that was pretty sweet. I think they used to have a triathlon there a while ago.I followed a bit of the coverage and it was quite good. It would be great if they could draw a slightly better/deeper field. I think Ironman raised the Indian Wells prize purse in response to CLASH Daytona? Maybe CLASH could one up them again? I agree that it would be preferable to triathlon fans to consolidate all the professional triathletes who want to race a middle distance race on the first weekend in December in the United States into one race and see them all go head to head. The pros should see this too I think. There’s relatively little attention paid to their races on a given weekend, why split the attention?Was the pro race always this short? I’ve been getting used to the PTO 100 distance as the “other” middle distance besides 70.3 and was surprised this one was so much shorter. Honestly this distance is better for pitting the draft-legal short course athletes against the 70.3 athletes. PTO always plays that up, but the PTO 100 is nearly a 70.3 and doesn’t really provide that middle ground between Olympic and 70.3.It’s always going to be hard to draw much of a non-local crowd for shorter races. I’m not saying I agree with it, but most won’t fly for a non-championship sprint. So in terms of CLASH becoming a marquee regional/national race series like 70.3, it’s going to have to be at the longer distances. I’d love to race the pro distance, it would be something different and unique. I don’t think it is fair to the many quality local race directors to say that you have to do an Ironman to get a safe race course. That statement ain’t helping local race directors so I was disappointed to see it. The closed course is definitely a great thing that CLASH provides tough, it’s just it is an advantage over independent races AND Ironman races. Plenty of ways Ironman races are less safe than smaller local races.“We put gravel and triathlon in separate buckets, or we use language like “oh, I’m just doing a running race this year†or “oh, I’m only doing the half next weekend at XXX race.†And that’s not going to be good enough anymore.” Yup, “just” and “only” need to disappear from those kinds of statements. There’s value in setting and achieving goals and performing at a high level in any distance. Competitive running, cycling, and swimming get this. Triathlon culture doesn’t. It comes from too much focus on completion over competition.
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I’m local to Daytona and word on the street around me, including me, is that Clash doesn’t put on a clean race. I’ve done it twice and the packs of cyclist are crazy. There’s drafting at every race but literally large group rides at Clash Daytona. They don’t seem to care but they need to figure it out.
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Florida is littered with races. DRC Sports, Sommer Sports, Alpha Win, Game On, independent and they all offer 5k to 70.3 or Marathons.
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People seem to want to be healthy after COVID but have to start somewhere. The World Equestrian Center (WEC) in Ocala just hosted a 5k last weekend and marketed only through there Facebook page. 700 people showed up to walk/run the 5k. That’s ridiculous and myself and two kids were the only water station at mile 1 and 2 at an out-n-back. Yes, we struggled to get water for 700 people, most looking like they had never done anything like a 5k before in their life. It’s a great opportunity to capitalize but the venues can’t fail. We ran out of water and that will affect next year’s registration. Clash has struggled as well and lost registrations. Since the WEC 5k I’ve talked to people and they signed up expecting an amazing event, with Christmas decorations and horses, but we’re let down in their expectations. To quote one person, “My husband has recent surgery and this was his first every 5k. They didn’t have any porta-potties and he struggled. They didn’t have any lights they promised or anything amazing. We don’t know what we paid for. Even the medals were thin and cheap.” So, do we need toilets at 5k? Maybe?Daytona has the same opportunity but they have to hit the nail solidly in the middle. They’ve missed a few times.
So I did the clash middle distance this last weekend and overall thought it was a pretty well produced race in a great semi-closed environment. I would definitely to it again.
However, because without fail some one brings it up, it opened my eyes to the fact that policing drafting is an impossible task. I don’t care what race it is or who puts it on… it’s impossible. I say that because you can’t police a**holes. I saw it first hand when the woman in front of me got a drafting penalty that I thought 100% was not her fault. I watched the moto roll up behind us with the official filming on his phone but he missed the 2 minutes prior that setup the whole thing. There was a group 4 men that were damn near a pace line and when they caught us they would speed up… then throw out a parachute and drag to the back… then speed up to the front and drag to the back… it was incredibly frustrating and this continued for a 5 mile stretch. How many times can you slow down without disrupting your own race? wtf? none of them got the penalty, just her.
They were giving out penalties for drafting but good luck trying to police that on such a large scale at any race… you need an entire fleet of marshals.
In terms of Bike Course Safety, I would say it was the one of the safest Bike courses I’ve been on. The entire 56 miles was coned and had police at every single crossing. there was not a single moment where I felt something was sketchy or had a chance of getting wacked by a car
The run was interesting. I think my only point of feedback for that would be to add those spray tunnels that you can run through and get cooled off. The thermometer might have only said 75 degrees but with 0 cloud cover and miles of asphalt… it was hot as hell. My watch at some point said 96*
I did the sprint so only in the track
I see you said the bike course was coned
Did the half have a separate lane on International Blvd and other roads?
You mean a dead ass flat course has drafting……oh no. That’s not a clash drama issue, drafting large groups happens at every flat course.
I don’t follow NASCAR at all so I don’t know where else there are tracks.
this years listing…
https://www.nascar.com/nascar-cup-series/2023/schedule/
Another one that includes tracks without a 2023 race.
Ive raced duathlons all over the world since the 80’s and I have to say that from a duathletes perspective this race was one of the best experiences Ive had.
Yes there were a lot of bikes on the track and there was some drafting be it intentional or not but those that wanted to race clean could. I only had a couple times were I had to avoid some slower traffic.
On the whole I say thumbs up to Clash Daytona.
Im psyched that it will be long course nationals next year!
Hi,
We will be hosting USAT long course nationals in 2023.
You mean a dead ass flat course has drafting……oh no. That’s not a clash drama issue, drafting large groups happens at every flat course.
Not that it’s really hilly but the worst drafting I’ve ever seen was at IMLP. It’s not the courses, it’s the participants, overcrowding and participants who chose to ignore the rules.
- I’m local to Daytona and word on the street around me, including me, is that Clash doesn’t put on a clean race. I’ve done it twice and the packs of cyclist are crazy. There’s drafting at every race but literally large group rides at Clash Daytona. They don’t seem to care but they need to figure it out.
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So, do we need toilets at 5k? Maybe?
Sounds like this should be a draft-legal sprint race. Why not? There was race series doing this a few years ago I recall. It was on a track even I think?
On toilets at 5ks, yes this is a minimum requirement in my opinion if I’m paying for a race.