For all the comments about dirty water, shrinks and drafting at NYC tri yesterday, what struck me most was the high number of men and women that had lost a leg or an arm and were doing the race with a prosthetic limb. Incredibly impressive. Hats off.
I watched the race and those folks were absolutely awesome. Super inspiring.
What was less than awesome was the fact that entry to T1 involved 3 stairs which stopped several wheelchair athletes dead in their tracks. I watched this and it totally sucked for these folks, whose time advantages over fellow racers they had bested in the swim were completely wiped out. In the end, and after several minutes of not knowing what to do and arguing (and wheelchair athletes beginning to pile up at the foot of the stairs), volunteers finally began lifting them up the stairs and into the transition area. No fault of the volunteers at all, they weren’t responsible for planning this out, they were just reacting as best they could to a problem that should have been forseen given the size of the event and the sizeable entry fee these athletes paid. You would think that a race this size, and with all the $ involved, and which,I believe, advertises a challlenged athletes division, that they’d take the time to to put a simple ramp or other means of ingress to transition for these competitors. Having raced the Mussleman HIM the previous week (about the best run race I have ever seen) and then watched the NYC Tri the following week, the difference was, to me, stark.
Hmm. Yeah - and some of the inclines were really rough, too. I was two waves after the PC wave and noticed one got stalled on his wheel bike on the way out of T1 on an incline.
I am a PC athlete (actually won my division Sunday) and this was my 3rd yeard doing NYC as a PC. John Korf has bent over backwards providing the PC division a separate and accessible national championships. There were over 60 PC competitors. I believe this was the largest tri field to date in the world. Several countries were represented not to mention the world record holders and paralympians.
I am on the inside and see all the different investments going into PC triathlon…it is a good time to be a PC athlete. We had our own volunteers, tents at swim start, tents at tri finish, etc. BTW, thank you Accenture, Ford, John, Justin, and all the others I’m forgetting!!!
The point that there was an incline and steps is just a fact of life. When we are not PC triathletes, we are PC people living in a non-PC world. We deal with steps and inclines everyday and figure out a way to get over or around them. There was a huge PC field at Alcatraz. How accomodating is that course??? If I remember correctly, there were over a dozen PC athletes that finished Alcatraz. Check out page 15 of the current Inside Triathlon. look for the silver swim caps, that’s the PC group…I’m the one looking right at the camera:)
I do appreciate the concern for the PC’s, but got a little defensive since NYC tri has been HUGE for us and the world actually(ITU and paralympic world that is). Half a Soulja did the NYC run course on a skateboard!!!
Again, I’m sorry to come across as defensive, but NYC tri goes all out for us and I wanted everyone to know that. A few steps won’t keep a PC athlete from ripping the wheels off a wheelchair or a handcycle racing for the finish!
David K
Congrats on your win + that is a great attitude. I did not know all the other things the race was doing for PC athletes. Great to get another perspective + more info, that’s what good about ST.
Well put Dave. Thanks for posting.
Now go recover so you’re ready for Malibu! 
Congrats and hope to see you guys in Chicago!
Agreed, Dave. John Korff did anything and everything he could possibly do to make the course a safe and accessible one for PC Athletes. Cheers to John and his amazing staff! (Here’s John with Soulja at the finish line):
For those of you who haven’t yet heard about a new 2 foot 10 inch PC Athlete from the Bronx, Half A Soulja, here’s the article:
http://susieloves2swim.googlepages.com/ourcharity
On Sunday, he became the FIRST Quadruple Amputee to EVER compete in and finish a triathlon!!! And by the way, he NEVER whined about the course 
Hey Ryan!
We all missed you at NYC and everyone was asking about you. Wish you were there. I will definitely see you in Malibu again.
dk