My father and I keep talking about coming up with a unique endurance event. My family owns a cottage in Port Austin, MI (the tip of the thumb). It is a perfect location for a triathlon. It is right on the shore of lake Huron and the roads are very good for riding. Great little community with lots of hotels right on the beach.
We want to make an event that is fun and different than anything else. We are planning on making it completely free. That is, everyone needs to provide their own support, gear, ect. Initially, it will be a ‘show up and we all go’ kind of thing. We would spread it by word of mouth through friends and local clubs.
We have a couple of ideas. We really want to add a team element to the event. I think that would make it a lot more fun. Maybe make the bike a team time trial race? We are considering making it a stage race. Here are some of our ideas:
‘Conventional triathlon’ stage race. Stage 1: Swim. Stage 2: Bike (can only draft off your teammates). Stage 3: Run. Three person teams. The times for the group are averaged.
Paddle, bike, run stage race. Like the above, except the swim is replaced with kayaks.
We don’t know what distances we would do, but they will most likely be pretty long.
Any suggestions from Slowtwitchers? Anyone wanna participate?! We want to do this sometime this summer.
A kind of triathlon which is sort of unique, is what they call triple sprint, or enduro style triathlon in Australia.
It’s a sprint distance but it goes like this:
250 swim, 7k bike, 1.8 run and then you do it again two more times. It is SUPER fun, the dynamics of chasing, being chased, etc, gets very interesting, and it is a lot of fun for the spectators too. I wish there were more around.
You could hold it as a series, the last weekend of the month for 3 months, or something like that.
Good luck.
If you’re next to the water and the fishing is good, add a fishing element. Stage 4: catch a fish. 30minute cutoff, if you don’t catch something within 30 minutes, you get a standard penalty. Each minute below thirty equals the time as if it was a bike or run. Make it interesting and add points for specific fish or weights.
I thing the more conventional approach would get more folks. Why not have it be like 3 TT events. Swim, Bike TT, Run. Each with a block of time between them so people can regroup, talk smack, be social. Times averages by event, team and individual leaders, etc. Would be fun.
Great idea. Someone used to do a similar 50 mile run here, bring your own support, time yourself, etc. Basically just a slightly more organized group run.
Just be careful about liability, especially in the water and on open roads.
My family rents a cottage on a lake (Willoughby) in northern VT each summer, it sounds like a similar situation. The swimming/biking/running are fantastic. I’ve always thought it would be cool if there was a self supported activity each day where there was a meeting place/start time, and anyone who wanted to show and go was welcome, similar to Dev’s Epicman only over several days. Not really a “keep score” type of event as much as a “do really cool swim/bike/runs in a cool place, maybe meet some new people with similar interests.”
One question I have is that if you are going to consider elements like drafting off teammates, which I like the idea in general, how are you going to police that - with no support would you still have refs? If so, how would they be paid for.
I think you would be better of charging and putting in place minimal support and refs.
I like the idea of 3 member teams - small number as most people can find 2 other people that they know to do an event. Once you get more than that it becomes more difficult.
I like the idea of averaging the times. This allows for example a fast runner to go ahead of his group.
I would think that an OLY - HIM distance would be good.
I did an event that was way fun - it was called My Way Or The Tri Way (http://www.racingunderground.com/mywaytriway/). Essentially, you choose three legs, in any order, in any combo, as long as you have to transitions. Go!
It needn’t be that complex - maybe just a “tri any order?” or a backwords tri?
Also, there aren’t enough duathlons or aquathlons out there. Aquathlons are nice because you don’t have to worry about bike logistics (where to store em, where to keep em, how to protect em, course permits).
Jess, there would be no way to police drafting. This is designed to be a fun event, people can police themselves. There are likely to only be a handful of teams, so this will probably not be a problem.
In a true team time trail, the groups do not start at the same time. Each is spread out.
Sounds a lot like one of the first triathlons I ever did, the Del Mar Days Triathlon in 1980. It began with an open 10k running race, then about an hour later a road race, and then about another hour and a half a one mile ocean swim. You could do 1,2, or all 3 events. If you did all 3, then you were in the triathlon, and they just added up your times in the 3 events. It was a blast, and no worries about drafting, since it was a road race and legal… I do like the team TTT idea too though, makes it easier for using tri bikes. When I look back, it is still one of the most fun days I ever had racing, and the coolest trophy I ever won too, discounting money of course…(-;
I love the stage race idea, and one day I plan to put on a several day event with all the usual distances in all 3 diciplines. I really want to know who has the fastest 5k or mile run, or 500yd/ 1500m swim, and the 40k tt and monstor hill climb…It is a race I always wanted to do, but no one has ever put one on, so I guess I will just have to do it myself…
Off topic. I never heard the why or how of World’s Toughest ending…do you know?
Do you ever envision that course being resurrected? I still have a lung up on Monitor somewhere I’d like to track down…not to mention my ears are still cold from the swim.
Sounds cool. I love the idea of doing self-supported, off-the-books races. I’m in Ann Arbor and depending on the design and schedule, I’d be interested in participating.
One of the races I really want to do this summer is Battle of Waterloo, which is unconventional in that it’s a multi-stage event with multiple swims.
