Like some of you out there, I raced in the inaugural (?) Rockman Triathlon today. I’m sure most of you would agree that it was a pretty challenging course. (As in, I didn’t think there were that many hills in Illinois.) While I thought the venue was pretty good, I thought a few things were noticeably absent on race day and wanted to put it out to the S/T world to see if I’m totally off base. After the finish, I heard the announcer proudly say that it was one of the least expensive half IM races out there. That’s great, but would raising the entry fee be justified to fund a few things, such as.
Medical tent - i never saw one, and thankfully I didn’t need one;
Mile markers - they can’t be that expensive and would have made run pacing a heck of a lot easier (not everyone has a GPS watch!);
Aid stations - nothing to drink during and after the race except for water and coke;
Post race nutrition - pizza and oranges were a strange combination;
Swim buoys - black trampolies against a sunny sky and dark trees made for quite a sighting challenge!
Again, I think it was a fine, extraordinarily challenging couse and could be a great event going forward; I’m just curious about some of the details.
I’m just getting into Cincy from the long drive back.
Yes, mile markers might have been nice, but I was so very impressed with what Record10 has done for a 1st year race. My biggest beef was the swim start! (ouch)
Beatiful venue - not easy, not hard. Just about right. I was never out of my big ring on the bike, but you did have to negotiate some hills and lots of turns. Run was rolling, but fair, nice and shaded.
I do think it will be even better next year as I’m sure Chip will listen to (and act upon) comments from all.
Congrats to all! I’m sure there will be some race reports to come for many, but I will shout out to sentania (Scott Bowe) who nabbed 3rd overall with a damn fine race! Also, spoke very briefly with Blake Becker (the pro/winner) and he was very nice and humble. I will be sure to follow him closely now.
Funny - what time did you finish? We had apples, oranges, bananas, 4 - 12’ long Quiznos subs, went through more than 2000 bottles of water, 60 -2ltrs of Coke a Cola, 90 Pizzas and over 700 Gallons of Heed today. We also used more than 500 gallons of water on the run course (where we did fall short a time or two but got fresh water out as soon as we could - within 5 minutes best I can tell). I even made an emergency run to a store to buy an extra 100 gallons of water for the “ha ha” and the Minn’s Rd out and back section of the course at about 11:30.
I chose to NOT make mile markers as folks with GPS bitch about them “being wrong” - but it is actually the GPS that is WAY off in the park.
There was at all times at least one Ambulance in the park (and once three). What is odd is that the ONLY person who was transported was a doctor who did not fuel properly.
Drinks after the event - there was plenty of Heed (four 5 gallon containers that I personally mixed with ice). We had large tubs of bottled water on ice as well. That did once run out for about 5 minutes but was rapidly replaced with another 500 bottles of water.
I agree with you about the trampolines - great idea - not such a great color.
This was my first time out playing the RD game…I have had FAR more great reviews than bad.
One of the hardest things I had to do as an RD, was not look at inputs as ‘bad’. Any person who takes the time to
write is doing so bacause they care. So, I would always reply with thanks, and give real non emotional thoughts
to could some of the inputs help my the race better in the future. Just having someone tell me everything was great
was just a PC input, since I never ran, nor have seen ANY race I have done which was “perfect”.
The only real change i would have made was to have someone man all the intersections that the oncoming/cross traffic did not have to stop. There were a few of those and I don’t mean the small farm roads. Otherwise great first time around, it was a pleasure raing “The Rockman Tri”
It was a good race for the 1st year out. My thoughts are the same as whats been said- coloration of bouys, odd swim start (5 minute warning w/ reminders every minute until starting at a designated line?), and more aid stations on run (great loop, but an out and back would make logistics easier; but hey, its your race, and the loop was a cool change).
Think of it this way Chip- you put on a hell of a race, and you can take all this and turn it into the premier learly-season long-course event for the Midwest. Get some rest- you’re likely as smoked as us.
Dont get me going on the Swim - that needs some HUGE changes…we contracted a company to manage that - and and you saw, they did not get there till 6:45!
As for Hunter Rd and Beloit Rd…we paid for a cop to be there and for some reason he left and hung out with the cop at Beloit and 173…not sure why he did that.
I just want to say thanks again… you managed to pull off a very complex event with very limited issues. I’m certain the issues were not due to a lack a planing as it was clear you put much thought/attention/worry into this event. Sometimes stuff just happens… no big deal.
Overall this was a great race, made even more amazing that it was a first time for the event & RD.
and it was really nice to meet more of the ST folks in person.
I think you have some valid points, and some good feedback for the RD. But, I question your motives based on your language. I think your intentions are good, but you seem to be going about it wrong.
Personally, I would make straight forward, unbiased recommendations to the RD, based on my perspective as a participant without all the complete details of the race organization, when making a public post. The alternative, a direct and private communication with the RD and/or race organization, would be a better choice for editorial type comments.
I think I saw some donuts over there… I’ve seen a lot of races put a volunteer with the police kind helps keep them on track and most of the time the cops don’t have much a clue or probably care what’s going on with the race.
Motives? Not so much. I was just curious to see if anyone else shared my observations, which I guess weren’t entirely accurate as it turns out. Still mile markers=good. To heck with GPS geeks!
I have another view point. Why not “give it your all” until the end? Sure, it is nice to know where you are and try to “pick up” the last mile or two…but how about trying to “pick up” the run cause you dont know exactly where the “mile or two” is…well, until next year.
I’ve seen a lot of races put a volunteer with the police kind helps keep them on track and most of the time the cops don’t have much a clue or probably care what’s going on with the race.
You know, this is a very good point, and even with the paired volunteer/cop, I still see a lot of races get this wrong!
The cop should be in the intersection to control vehicle traffic, and to keep moving objects from colliding. The volunteer should be in front of the intersection, i.e. 20 yards or more to direct the cyclists: go straight, or turn left or right. If the intersection or turn requires significant braking, the volunteer needs to be even farther out in front of the intersection or turn in order to provide sufficient response time by the cyclist.
I went down in a race once because the volunteer was at the back end of the turn, and the cop was upfront. The cop was doing his job watching for traffic, but the volunteer was essentially useless. As I collected my wits and stopped counting birdies, the cop said that I was something like the fourth one to go down already (it had rained all night and was in pine barrens country, read sandy). You would have thought that someone would have figured out to warn the riders to slow down before the middle of the turn, by the time I rolled through.
Great job, great race, great venue, great weather. Overall I’d give the RD an “A”. I had no problem with the pizza and oranges. I thought the pizza was a good idea.
I do have one further comment – I hope you didn’t pay for that water at the aid stations and in the water bottles on the bike because it tasted pretty bad…
I loved the race…thought it was great. At every aid station I was able to have coke…water…and heed…fruit…gels…i have done the Racine race many times and I thought the stations equaled what they do there which i would consider as good as any.
to be honest I enjoyed the no mile markers…i concentrated on passion folks and before i knew it i was almost done…
there were probably a few spots where it would have been nice to have a cop on the bike but overall i thought it was good…
the food at the end was good…pizza…fruit…sandwiches…drinks…
I actually like the tramps…there was someone standing on each one so it stood out for me…the start was a alittle funny but something that can be worked out in the future.
Sure there were some juggernauts here and there but I though pretty good for the first year of the race…
I have another view point. Why not “give it your all” until the end? Sure, it is nice to know where you are and try to “pick up” the last mile or two…but how about trying to “pick up” the run cause you dont know exactly where the “mile or two” is…well, until next year.
And yes - next year there WILL be mile markers.
That’s actually what I did. I stopped looking at my watch for HRM and splits and just ran. It hurt, I just decided the run would be what it would be, and looking at increasing mile splits wasn’t going to help me mentally anyway.
Though getting to the last aid station and finding out I stayed on track to break 5 hours was a very nice surprise, and I managed to eek out the last two climbs and make it in under the wire.
I enjoyed the run ( even with the nasty hills in the camping area ) of this race more than most others I’ve done.
The other cool thing was the noise from all the cicadas when you were in the trees! I’ll have to come back in 17 years and do the race to experience that again.
I’ve seen a lot of races put a volunteer with the police kind helps keep them on track and most of the time the cops don’t have much a clue or probably care what’s going on with the race.
You know, this is a very good point, and even with the paired volunteer/cop, I still see a lot of races get this wrong!
The cop should be in the intersection to control vehicle traffic, and to keep moving objects from colliding. The volunteer should be in front of the intersection, i.e. 20 yards or more to direct the cyclists: go straight, or turn left or right. If the intersection or turn requires significant braking, the volunteer needs to be even farther out in front of the intersection or turn in order to provide sufficient response time by the cyclist.
I went down in a race once because the volunteer was at the back end of the turn, and the cop was upfront. The cop was doing his job watching for traffic, but the volunteer was essentially useless. As I collected my wits and stopped counting birdies, the cop said that I was something like the fourth one to go down already (it had rained all night and was in pine barrens country, read sandy). You would have thought that someone would have figured out to warn the riders to slow down before the middle of the turn, by the time I rolled through.
I have to assume that this crash was NOT at the Rockman? Can you please let me know if it was.
Thanks! I tried my damndest. I had about 4 hours sleep in the last 72 hours. There were a large number of last minute “oh shits”…right down to parking and hiring a mower at 3pm Friday.
I think that the clown outfit was VERY fitting for the swim start!!! VERY fitting!
