Finally, I found out the hard way that there was no neutral support… whoops! Obviously, it’s my fault for not carrying a flat kit, but I can’t remember the last race I did that didn’t have SOME kind of neutral support with wheels/tires/pumps/etc. Oh well. No more “aero or bust” for me.
They did have some at Knoxville this weekend. I only know that because they rolled up to me shortly after I was hit, and tried to fix the bike a bit.
At the same time a women rolled up with a flat, that they also assisted (mostly pumping/replacing tire). Two guys, one truck, pretty helpful. Though, I don’t know how many support vehicles they had out there.
I saw a SAG wagon at least twice on the bike course. I saw one on the run course. I assume they were there to provide neutral support.
Finally, I found out the hard way that there was no neutral support… whoops! Obviously, it’s my fault for not carrying a flat kit, but I can’t remember the last race I did that didn’t have SOME kind of neutral support with wheels/tires/pumps/etc. Oh well. No more “aero or bust” for me.\\
Are you serious?? I cannot remember that last time a race had support for AG’ers…Pros yes, but AG’ers??? You must be talking about bike racing, because it is not standard in AG triathlon racing…Sometimes after the pros are done, the support will go help out, but you can never expect it…
One of my teammates cracked a front carbon wheel and bent a back rim and the sag support had not one but two 650c wheels to lend her! I was impressed! She was on the half course.
Just got back from the Konxville Half. Overall it was a great event, but as others have said there were a few things to be improved. I would give it a solid A- as an overall grade:
What was good: Great course markings, especially all the painted arrows on the bike course. Great bike course. The hills kept you honest, the downhills was screamin’ fast (40+ mph) with lost of sweeping, fast corners. Run course was nice to be on the Greenbelt, not just running on the road. Expo had alot to offer, nice to see the pro’s up close and get a chance to meet some of them. Overall nice city, easy to get around and easy to park. Overall event experience on-par with WTC, in terms of finish line chute, jumbo-tron TV, music, festive atmosphere. Nice to have inflatable stuff for kids to play on. Leading up to the race, any question I sent over email was responded to within a day at the most. The personalized name and number at your racking spot was a nice touch. On-course nutrition was great. Lot’s of stuff included with your entry: T-shirt, finisher’s shirt, medal, visor, sling bag.
Could have been better: The overlap of the bike and run courses. Volunteers did not know where you should be. 1 Volunteer said stay far left, 1/4 mile up the road, I was told get far right. This overlap needed more signs, or volunteers to keep the runners and bikers separate. Not a problem this year, but double the people, and it’s an accident waiting to happen. This was my only real complaint since it is a safety issue. Swim exit. Carpet over the edge of the dock you need to get out on. I didn’t damage my wetsuit, but as I got close, I was thinking how do I get out without shredding the rubber on the dock. Pre-race info was sparse. They answered by questions quickly via email, but the nutrition info should be communicated ahead of time so people can prepare themselves. Transition map included in race info would have helped to know the procedure. The half run course had several short out-and backs (4, I think) especailly in the last couple of miles. Not really a problem, but the last 2 didn’t really show up on the course map, so when I thought I was almost done, there was more.
Overall a great race, and I would love to go back again the future, and I wouldn’t hesitate doing any Rev3 event I have a chance to do.
overall great oly race. re-affirming some of the stuff previous posters said:
the good: the whole course I think was really good great expo and athlete check in, quick and organized real good personal treatment, the little things count like the name tag on the bike rack (which I just remembered I wanted to take before I left) good vision and idea for jumbo-tron and pictures and stuff, to bad fell thru finisher long-sleeve shirt is good too
the bad: as fun as the bike course was and as challenging as it was, safety was definlty an issue. i saw at least 2 remnants of bike accidents, one where a bike was on the side of the road and an ambulance was there and another with 2 athletes talking to police officers obviously had fallen off their bikes being hit or something awards ceremony!!! good lord this seemed to take forever, probably not as bad as im making it out to be but I did have an 8hr drive to do so to me it was really really painfully long
somebody asked about awards, not only did you get the plaque and fuel belt, if you won your age group you get a new pair of shoes, i just sent the info for my new pair of Avia Avi-Lite III
I’ve seen just about every one of my pros and cons mentioned already, but don’t think anyone’s mentioned this:
Con:
Nobody in transition (including the referees) knew where the run course went the day before the race. I was able to drive the bike course twice, but the run course was a f*cking mystery until after T2. It would have been nice to have known about the massive descent, complete with a section of stairs, at mile 2.25.
“Race splits - who shows splits with total time. I’m fine with more granular data but show simple swim-t1-bike-t2-run splits as well.”
Agree with this. The race results are no fun to review and analyze. Give me something that allows me to pull up my age group and see everyone’s swim split, bike split, run split and total time with rank within division on each.
I did the rev 3 olympic race. Overall it was a very, very well run race. Bike did have some safety issues. I did see the repair van helping some people on the bike course. One of my concerns that I haven’t seen mentioned was with the bikers crossing paths with the runners at least twice. One was at the bottom of a bike hill.
I was unable to get my results after the race and sadly am still in that same position. There were a fair number of other athletes at the event who also were unable to get their results and got the ‘this athlete has not crossed any timing pads’ error. From what I can tell from the results is that I WON my AG by a solid 15 minutes, but did not get an award and the results online still show the same message. I’m not sure what is going to happen with this, but I know that Todd and Heather really care a lot about their event.
Anyone else out there in this same situation? No timing results at the event and still no results now??
I forgot about the stairs… Not only was it stairs but blind 90 degree turn to stairs. This wasn’t a huge disaster for because when I both came and went nobody was coming the opposite direction but I am sure that two runners ran into each other - one taking a blind left going down and one taking a blind right going up.
Let us not forget this is only the second Rev3 race they’ve produced (I know it seems like a lot more). The Rev3 staff is absolutely committed to getting things right and I’m confident they’ll take a look at everything the athletes are saying and make immediate adjustments before Quassy. For those of you looking for something on the same level (or better in some cases) than what is currently available, you need to check out Rev3. This was my first Rev3 event and I was really impressed with what the series has to offer professionals, AGers, families, and its sponsors.
don’t forget we are a bunch of whiny ass triathletes. I thought the race was very good in general. Just providing some critiques as well though. Personally, the 3 steps that we had to go down and up didn’t bother me at all. There was a volunteer there when I came through both ways spotting for possible collisions.
From the email communication I have had with the Rev3 folks, their attention to detail and the communication skills of the communicator (jenn) has been far and above anything I received from the NAS/WTC folks.
I wouldn’t say it was a bad race. I had a 90% positive experience, just didn’t want to enumerate every good/bad aspect as they’ve pretty much all been said. I’d do the race again, esp now that I know the run course!
I still am looking forward to a comment from Rev3 on what happened to their highly published deal that all racers would get for free a real time GPS tracking unit for the race. Am surprised so many have just seemed to ignore that this did not happen either. Just wondering what happened, what they learned, and what will happen at the next race for this feature they published.
A few of my teammates have not gotten times yet. I have timed lots of events and know that there are so many things that can go wrong to cause the chip not to read. One race there was an underground electrical wire that interfered with about half of our chip reads - we of course didn’t find out until half way through the race when you clearly can’t move the whole finish line!
From what I understand they are working like crazy to get the results fixed, having been in their shoes before I feel their pain!
Overall I had an amazing experience. I didn’t have any problems with cars, the police were wonderful and the aid stations were just right. This was my first trip to Knoxville and my first REV3 race and I will definitely return to both!
I still am looking forward to a comment from Rev3 on what happened to their highly published deal that all racers would get for free a real time GPS tracking unit for the race. Am surprised so many have just seemed to ignore that this did not happen either. Just wondering what happened, what they learned, and what will happen at the next race for this feature they published.
For the love of god Dave, give it up with this! It’s not that so many are ignoring it, it’s just that most of us don’t give a sh#t. If the majority or even more than a handful cared about this stuff, you’d have seen it littered through these posts, but pretty much the only person bringing it up is you. Let it die!
Why? They have said what happened on the video. Since folks basically paid for this service, guess some of us are interested in what happened with the GPS also from learning on what they will try to do for the next race. I love the idea, so like to hear what can be learned.
I still am looking forward to a comment from Rev3 on what happened to their highly published deal that all racers would get for free a real time GPS tracking unit for the race. Am surprised so many have just seemed to ignore that this did not happen either. Just wondering what happened, what they learned, and what will happen at the next race for this feature they published.
For the love of god Dave, give it up with this! It’s not that so many are ignoring it, it’s just that most of us don’t give a sh#t. If the majority or even more than a handful cared about this stuff, you’d have seen it littered through these posts, but pretty much the only person bringing it up is you. Let it die!
To be fair to Dave - I too was looking forward to this (and heard disappointment from others at the event). And I was a bit bummed when I asked at the tent and found out that it was only for sponsored athletes. They noted that they are looking into perhaps doing 100-200 units for regular folk at Quassy.
In my particular case this would have actually been semi-valuable on Sunday for my family to try and understand what was going on with respect to the race after they received word (via emergency contacts) I had been hit by a car during the race. For them to be able to see that either I was A) Stopped, or B) Going forward, would have helped some given the multiple conflicting phone calls they were receiving about my situation. An edge case I agree, but certainly some of the value prop of it.
Outside of that, it’s still an interesting technology…but I’d say the continued fumbling of it from a marketing standpoint makes it’s lifespan limited before alternate (more organized) technology takes over.
