I’ll start by saying Grand Haven, MI was an incredible location for a race. Lake Michigan was beautiful with clean, calm and cool (52 degrees at start time) water, which was ideal for the 1000m point to point swim. The local YMCA offered a great big grassy transition area that also hosted a lively post-race party. The 40K bike course along Lake Shore Drive was gorgeous and makes me jealous not to live in West Michigan. The 10K run was an out and back along the Grand Haven boardwalk.
Swim Start: Really cool beach start with everyone running into water. I was able to get out front fast so the washing machine beating was minimal. Lake MI was generous enough to be calm with minimal current which made sighting a breeze. T1: My only beef: ½ mile run from the beach up to T1. I quickly threw on some shoes and carried my wetsuit. Quite possible the slowest ½ mile I’ve ever run.
Bike: Decent ride. Dropped my chain at 5K and couldn’t get it back on right away. Very frustrating but got rolling again and caught back up with the guys that had passed me.
T2: Ditched my bike, changed shoes and was off.
Run: Flat but challenging out in the sun. There were plenty of aide stations but better course marking could have been helpful. Finished on a challenging little hill just to let you really appreciate finally crossing that line. Great finishing shoot with tons of supporters to cheer me on as I stumbled across the finish line.
All the participants and their family members enjoy a barbeque(burgers, dogs, chicken) put on by 3Disciplines, while awards and tons of door prizes were give out. I was able to capture 3rd place in my age group and was presented with a pretty sweet etched glass trophy and my tri rookie friend Bryan secured 6th.
The Grand Haven Tri/Du was an excellent event. 3Disciplines did a fantastic job and I will definitely be looking at the Michigan Multi-Sport Point Series calendar for races in the future.
Nice post and great pics. It was a beautiful day for the event, albeit the cool water. For a first time event, and around 500 athletes, things went really smooth. I live here and having the event go near my home was great.
I kind of like the long T1 transition run - think of it as our Alcatraz.
I sympathize with you dropping your chain, one of our locals who helped with the race broke his. And ironically (as I helped with the courses) I added about 5 mins to my long course run by missing the turn around at Linear Park. I followed, what was at the time I think the 4th and 5th place athletes, out to the park. I think we all dropped to 8/9/10 as some others got past us. But that is what I get for not flyspecking the course as it was clearly marked with chalk.
All in all great day and looking forward to next year.
Yeah - I met him after the race and we spoke about it. I also found out that one of the locals who promised to man the run course with volunteers fell short. There should have been someone at the turn-around. This guy told the race directors that there would be : (
I’m jealous - you guys must have a fast training group.
It’s great to see multi-sport doing well on the west coast.
Nice race & race report. You beat me by just over a minute - great job. I was counting the number of people ahead of me coming back on the run & thought I had 15th position wrapped up. NOT!
I was the perfect lemming, following you off of the cliff. A volunteer at that spot would have helped for sure; especially seeing the 4 or 5 guys that missed the turn behind us. We easily added 1/2 mile to our run, eh?
It was a great race and spectacular turnout. A good primer for Steelhead. You going to be there?
I too was a lemming. Likely a larger lemming b/c I helped with the course - although I did not know exactly where that turn-around was. I was not even looking at the chalk line around the bush when going out; rather I was concentrating on the back of the guy about 50m in front of me - then when I get out into the park, you (I think) and another informed me that we did not have to go out there. But maybe I have you mistaken for another? It certainly killed any attack on the guys in front of us, and probably was a gift to some in the 40+ age group. Anywho, no big deal. I was told later that a volunteer was supposed to be there; in fact had even told the race director so . . .
No Steelhead for me - Grand Haven Coast Guard Parade with the family.
Glad to hear everyone had a good race and seemed to enjoy the venue. Personally, I melted down and had one of the worst races of my life. I actually had to run/walk the last 4 miles. Regardless, I was not overly impressed with 3D’s organization or execution of this race. Without being to hard on them, and taking into account my poor race, my gripes are as follows: the 1/2 mile run from L. Michigan to T1 was rediculous. They should have had the transition area in that huge parking lot by the beach. There weren’t enough jerseys or towels for people. Yes, I understand they got slammed with more entries than they thought, but still disappointing. It also took 20 minutes of standing in line to get food afterward. On the plus side, the course was beautiful, the fans were a blast, and the volunteers were absolutely fantastic. Plus, all the cigarette boats in the channel were awesome to look at.
Legit gripes, but what can you do when 200 sign-up in the last week. Also, as to the long T1 run, it may be a possibility to have T1 where you suggested (it is commonly known as the “Fisherman’s Parking Lot”), but then T1 and T2 could be separated and you lose the amenities of Mulligan’s Hollow (i.e. bathrooms, showers, open fields, add’n parking, etc.), otherwise known as the YMCA and surrounding area. As indicated, I though the long transition run was kind of cool.
For sure, the YMCA was a great facility to have on-site. Some of the athletes were talking about doing the swim in the channel, etc etc etc. I’m not sure what would really be realistic, but I just wasn’t too thrilled about the whole venue. Perhaps if I had won my age group instead of walking I would be singing a different tune…
Either way, I guess I’m part of a very small group that wasn’t too thrilled about the whole thing. Like I said though, I’m glad you guys had great races, and you’re definitally in the majority…sounds like most people loved the event and did very well.
I thought for a first time race, things went pretty well. Yes, there are some improvements to be made, but perfection is hard to come by the first time especially when the numbers change as drastically as they did for this race. As for the run to T1, I say KEEP IT! Yes, it makes it more difficult for athletes and spectators, but I think it was a wonderful CHALLENGE and that is what we are looking for isn’t it? We don’t do this because it is easy; at least I don’t.
i wasn’t there…but wasn’t that run from swim exit to T1 clearly noted on the info page?
the old Three Rivers course featured, yes featured, a run of at least that length to T1 with a pretty nice grade thrown in for good measure. we all thought it was pretty cool. made life interesting. life would be pretty boring if we all did the same exact thing every time out of the chute.
I thought the run to T1 was a blast & made the whole race that much more interesting. T1/T2 in the state park parking lot would have been horrible - no shade, no grass, and a very rough surface. My only real complaint is about the a-holes who left their towels, swim caps, goggles, etc. strewn about the sidewalk down by the pier. Still there at 3:00 in the afternoon.
You’re completely right. The run to T1 did make it more interesting and challenging. The course was great, and as I said, the volunteers were awesome. And hell, if nothing else, a bad day of racing beats a good day of work. Although I won’t be in Michigan as of 12 days from now, hopefully next years event will go without a hitch. And although I commented that I was unimpressed with D3’s organization and execution of this race, the people themselves were extremely nice and accommodating.
