Results are up on www.ironmanbaja.com
only the pros have the run splits.The AG’ers have swim/bike times only.
What a debacle.
I don’t see the results in the “results” section…am I missing something? (always a good possibility)
its a click thru from the home page, not the results page. Here’s the exact link
Thanks JP
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It’s really a bummer that there seem to be so many problems. I had considered racing it this year and am glad I did not (well, I probably would have if I weren’t injured). I hope that they’re able to amend any problems for next year.
I feel really bad for the strong bikers and runners out there. It was a training day for me so I am not stressing it. But, if qualifying was my goal and I could not have used my run leg to catch the fast swimmers but not so strong bike/runners I would have felt completely robbed since this was not a weather issue, this was completely a mess from the organizers.
I’ll bet there will be any next year. I would be really surprised. They really messed up, I think anybody who raced this year will struggle with going back and put a lot of money in the hands to these guys who messed up so bad. So they will have to try to attract a completely new crowd.
The whole border crossing was another experience. They just closed the road to the border two cars in front of us, no sign, no explanation. We had to find the other border crossing which was as well marked as the Baja run course. I didn’t even know there was a second crossing up by the airport, so we were kind of lucky we had somebody who knew about it.
“and took a slot to clearwater.”
considering the experience you relate over the weekend, and the fact that i see nothing as of yet to suggest that clearwater will offer up a substantially different experience than it did last year, i have to echo monty’s sentiment. what will it take for you guys?
look, there are events that are undoubtedly fabulous in every way that are produced by either WTC or NAS. penticton, cda, placid, kona, you can’t find any fault with any of them. probably add madison to that, and oceanside is a fine event. but there are also the races where the venues don’t rise up to the level of execution we’d expect from these two fine companies, and i think clearwater, louisville, tempe, and ensenada are all examples of venues that are or may prove to be less than first-rate (the jury may be out on some of them, but it’s in on others). we’ve been at a pair of 101 races, and we’ve seen the same thing: a second rate venue, and a first rate venue.
i don’t get why people feel compelled to go, over and over, to substandard venues. what do you think is going to happen the second, or third, or fourth, time that’s different?
P.S.: i’m talking about venues here. had NAS sports been the execution arm at the baja race, i’m sure nothing like this would’ve happened. NAS are at the top of the execution game. but there are venues that all the execution in the world can’t fix, and the greatest venues won’t fix bad execution. many of the bad venues and the fumbling RDs are pretty well known by now. at some point, continuing complaints about them must fall on deaf ears.
I was there. Very strange they tried to cover it up when the two race officials out there keep telling us that they fucked up. One was standing at the 10-11k turnaround at the hotel and the other guy at the “paint party handout crazy location” where teenagers were going crazy splashing paint left and right. THEY TOLD EVERYBODY THEY FUCKED UP. THEY EVEN TOLD PEOPLE JUST TO GO BACK, THEY LOST ALL CONTROL. I stopped running three times to talk to these guys and they were just overwhelmed.
The run course was stupid, two long loops with 3 or 4 smaller loops at the south end. Nobody knew what direction one was running or how many times one was suppose to go around. The problem was when they gave you the yellow paint strip on the arm the race officials lost all control. They would not know when you came back the second time from the small loop if you had gone back to the hotel for the bigger loop or just done the small loop. Since the paint area was chaos and it was pretty much blocked for going through (think paint area with a bunch of teenagers having fun with paint, cones which blocks you going through showing that you need to turn around and an aid station for those coming south when you are going north so you would have to run against traffic) you just didn’t know what you were suppose to do. There were no natural path through the mess and when they handed you the red paint without having gone all the way to the end you were so messed up in your head because nothing made sense, time or distance. I suspect most of us did the two paint loops first then headed back to the hotel and back to the chaos to turn around. Confusing, it still is. I was probably 1 1/2 miles short, but who can tell if they even had gotten the distance on the run right. They missed 4 miles on the bike as well. I was so simple knowing that the bike was off because they sent you first south on the bike course then a turnaround after a couple of miles and back past the hotel. So when you turned around at 45k and you knew you were headed straight back to the hotel you were going to be short. The out was longer then the back.
A complete genius strategy of having two long loops with smaller loops included and try to help you get it right by throwing paint on your arms to help you get it right. Their handout description of the courses was so full of English mistakes and in one case they were telling you to make a left on the bike course when by looking at the map it was obvious it was a right. So, Ironman and the race organizers should take full accountability for their mess and mistakes. Don’t cover this one up because it will leave a bad tast.
My first Ironman senctioned event and I have raced Tri’s since 2001. A complete disaster of an event. I know people work hard tp arrange these events but basic stuff like having correct distances and a well marked courses are number 1. There was a lot at stake for many yesterday and Ironman messed up big time.
This about sums up the race. This is a PATHETIC event. I’m glad I wasn’t at the awards and heard even the slightest hint that it was our fault implied by the RD. There are two very distict directions this race could go in by how the RD handles this and shirking responsibilty for the snafu would be a huge mistake. This had the potential to be a good race venue. A great location for SoCal triahletes with minimal costs and an easy ride down as long as one could stomach the multi hour sit at the border coming home. The bike course is really great, although last year they had a perfect 56 mile course and they inexplicably cut it to 52ish this year. I can’t believe it never dawned on the powers-that-be that if they remove the ride into town where T2 was last year that that exact amount of riding would need to tacked on somewhere else in the ride this year to make it a legit half distance. Idiots! Did anyone else notice that the run course description on the brochure was just a cut and paste of the ride? Hilarious. The hits just keep coming with this race.
The chaos on the run was insane. No need to reinterate as it has been clearly and aptly described by others. The interesting fact about the run is that even those that most definately ran the correct run course cannot be the slightest bit sure that they ran a true 13.1, including the pros. The distance last year without any chaos on the run was at least a half mile off. Perhaps the RD using junior highschoolers for navigation of an already sophisticated run scheme was not smart. Perhaps the RD lacking the imagination to construct a viable run course is another problem. But then, I have no evidence of anything that the RD has done that could be construed as intelligent or lucid. I think it’s clear to all that the RD completely lacks the organizational skills, leadership, and initative to make this race come off in the quality that should be consistent of an M-Dot race. M-Dot should actually yank this race.
I’m glad that my key race is Lake Placid next month and that I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about a Clearwater slot as it was a training day for me. I’m going to call it an expensiv, long brick. Or a tritofindyourwayathon. Bad joke. Sorry. :)My sympathies go out to those who were keying on this race as their A race half. I certainly will never be back to this one again.
it was a mess no doubt. The more I think about it, the more irritated I get.
After seeing the ‘official’ swim/bike only results. I was 9th in my AG coming out of T2. I had a very solid (for me) run of 1:29 (assuming the distance was accurate, could easily be .5 mile off or so) and I know I ran the course correctly. I also know I caught a handful of guys in my AG on the first loop before the crowds got really thick on the second loop. So, this race could have been a top 5 or me, which would have been a first. A big deal? Not really…but still.
Bottom line, its one thing to cancel a leg (i.e. '05 IMNZ) due to weather…its entirely another to have to completely throw away a bunch of results due to poor race management.
I agree that I’d be surprised if this race survives at all, and if it does, keeps the WTC affiliation.
why do peope like to diss Tempe… great venue for fans to watch… nothing worse than venues where you see someone once and then 5 hours later they arrive on a bike, they leave and 3:30 later they finish/… yawn… boring… it is great to see the fans and friends out there racing… Tempe has executed well 3 years in a row… for being next to the US’ 5th largest city it works very well…
“Tempe has executed well 3 years in a row”
if i’m the RD, the very last thing i think about is whether the event is spectator friendly. the very first thing is whether it’s participant friendly. if you want to do lap courses, and if you’re going to have 1500, or 2000, or 2300, people, two laps is the max. besides the problem of miscounting laps you turn it into the functional size of a 4000 or 5000 person race.
hey, i LOVE tempe, and scottsdale, and the region in general. we’re talking about a race venue, for the participants, at least that’s what i’m talking about.
clear lake is going to have to change its courses for next year. esp if they go to multiple races distances over the same roads (i hope it’s over 2 days). if there were 1200 or 1500 people there yesterday, 3 laps would’ve been a disaster.
perhaps they were thinking about how to convert from Kilometers to Miles. And then the big mistake could have been that since the mexican currency “floats” very badly, then the conversion from kms. to miles got screwed as well. or I might be totally wrong.
I feel bad for those who got to experience TRIATLON A LA MEXICANA.
I am sorry for all those that went through this apparently messy event.
Baja 70.3 was not run by a well known triathlon event organizer.
How can “Sport City Fitness Club” organize an event of such importance as a Ironman 70.3 if they are not well known even in Mexico? In Mexico “Sport City” is regarded just as a fitness club, not as race organizers. I am surprised they let them organize such event.
IMO if they do not want this to happen again it is just as easy as choosing a capable organizing and timing/results company. Companies like that are available in Mexico and they are not hard to find.
Sergio
I feel bad for those who got to experience TRIATLON A LA MEXICANA.
Ben, I can assure you that the Baja 70.3 is NOT a good example of how most important triathlons are run in Mexico.
Sergio Jr. was last year also very upset of a triathlon he raced in Austin. He felt very dissapointed of the many organization mistakes that happened, because that had never happened to him racing in Mexico. I told him not to judge USA triathlon events because of a single bad experience.
Sergio
Hi Everyone -
I did the race yesterday and agree that it was very disappointing. It was my first official IRONMAN sponsored event, and left much to be desired. The bike was 4 miles short, which i was already confused about coming into T2, and the run was, well… ??? who knows how long it was supposed to be. I think I ran 11.2 miles, but some ran 2 loops. some half loops., some complete loops. The whole thing was loopy! And yes, the paint station was a high-school party with the girls slapping paint on everyone every which way they could. Oh, and the aid stations: i was handed non-sealed bags of water that just emptied on my shoes, and I often had to scream to get their attention. At one point I completely stopped and begged someone to put paint on me for one of my so called laps…
Now from the spectators point of view…
"The race began for me the Wednesday before the race. I heard about it this race from my boyfriend who was really excited to do a race sponsored by IRONMAN corp. The difficulty began when we tried to get a hotel reservations and the town was sold out. The race travel company found us a room at a local hotel downtown which my boyfriend did research on and found the reviews to be appalling. Needing to keep his energy and attention focused on the race, he soon became anxious and distracted about finding accommodations. He called every day until midnight, only to be disappointed and even questioning if we should even go to the race based on the reviews of the hotel suggested by the race organizers. Our concerns were simple: cleanliness and comfort the night before a race. Instead, we scrambled to get a room. All that energy took away the focus from being well rested before we even arrived there. After great persistence and determination, we managed to snag a last minute cancellation at the race hotel. As you can imagine, we were relieved.
We packed and headed down to Ensenada with great ease and excitement looking forward to a fantastic weekend ahead. Our arrival was effortless. We met in the lobby, found our friends and had a bite to eat. Or so we tried… At the beginning of our meal, we were all excited about this event. 1-hour 45 minutes later, no food arrived. Lots of chips, bread, and butter to tie us over, and no one knowing what was happening in the kitchen. This chaos and disorganization, seemed to set the tone for the next 24 hours. I checked in the room, unpacked, took a shower, and the entire bathroom flooded and smelled like a sewer. I called down twice, and nothing. We went down and reported it to the front desk, and still nothing. We had a late dinner, and went to bed.
The race began, and everything seemed fine up until the run portion of the race. Everything went WONKY. The markers on the road, the people giving instructions, the turnaround points… etc. All the spectators were just as confused as the racers as how the run was supposed to go. I don’t know even how to describe the confusion, disorganization, and disappointment of the race after T2. All the spectators tried to help, but even the race director at the turnaround was giving conflicting answers to the racers. Eventually the race was finished and everyone was in a flux about their time, their distance, whether it would count towards Clearwater, etc. The only thing that was consistent, was nobody had a sense of completion or accomplishment or accuracy of time about the race. The confusion started to build and all this hard work seemed for nothing. An expensive training day in a shitty hotel, with bad service and bad race organization. We headed home and ended a very long weekend. What a bummer!!!
(Oh, and I want $80 back from the crooked cop waiting for us as we were told to get in the wrong lane leading up to the border.)
I agree with you, even here there are crappy races. I just can’t understand how Ironman keeps having faith in organizers down there. I remember way back in the 1990’s, there was supposed to be a full distance Ironman race in Cancun, there was even a full page add on Triathlete Magazine. The “organizers” turned out to fade as real planning started to take place. I don’t know if Ironman did their homework by checking out the RD and organization before giving their seal of approval.
Most importantly, many triathletes and their families and friends will end up feeling that Ironman/WTC/NAS just want their money and that Mexico sucks.
Most importantly, many triathletes and their families and friends will end up feeling that Ironman/WTC/NAS just want their money and that Mexico sucks.\\
Hey Mexico doesn’t suck, I love Baja, once you get a couple hundred miles down it…
Now, really, how could this be so confusing. Oh, I do hope there was a clover leaf for the octopus interchange area.
I suppose some direction arrow would also help. I have no idea what the little vertical black marks are.
It also says two loops to the right end of the run course. Did that mean two loops of the whole run course, or just the octopus end of the run course?
Oh, and lastly, the Rockman stock just went way up by my accounting.
I thought the multiple loops of the run and bike worked great at Arizona for that distance…3 loops of the run at Florida 70.3 was not so great.
I was there last year, and it was a mess. This year… WOW. So glad I didn’t bother. This convinces me that Cancun isn’t worth the trip either. No offense to any Mexicans here, as that’s not my intent (there are equal disasters everywhere, I’m sure, though this is the worst I’ve ever heard).
If Chip, a new RD, could pull off Rockman in such solid fashion, well, I have to think that a mixture of ignorance and apathy led to a Baja event that was even worse than last year’s.