Congrats, Chip. I’ve been following this from the start. I’m impressed.
And I think that hopefully some of the others on this forum will be able to better understand what it takes to put on a race. I know I learned a lot from your posts throughout the last year.
I have to assume that this crash was NOT at the Rockman? Can you please let me know if it was.
Chip, I’m guessing you have no idea what pine barrens are. I seriously doubt that there are any within a thousand miles of Rockford (port?) Illinois.
For the record, the race was at the far east end of Long Island, three or four years ago.
Thanks! I was worried there for a seceond!
Chip,
You put on a hell of a race, other than the confusion with the swim start, I was very impressed. The bike course was nice and smooth, and while not flat, it wasn’t that hilly, not many cars at all out there. I loved the run course, although I was well on my way to my worst half mary and half-iron times ever. Admittedly, I was thrown off by not seeing any mile markers, but I sort of loved the simplicity of it, just go until you hit the finish. Frankly, you could not have them next year and I’d be cool with it. Get some sleep, you deserve it!
Ryan
p.s. HEED is a very nasty substance
Chip,
Just wanted to add to all the props you’re getting for putting on a great race yesterday.
First, the gathering at your house was lots of fun. Thanks for opening your doors to the STers. I am actually a new STer, former lurker, because of meeting all the cool people at the party.
The race was a blast, I’d definitely do it in years to come. For it being the first annual Rockman, it was head and shoulders above many “established” tris I’ve been to. It was high quality but with that “hometown” feel. I hope you’re able to keep that in years to come.
Great meeting everyone,
Bryan (the guy with the wrist brace)
Chip,
GREAT race! I thought the course was absolutely beautiful and a great mix. The aid stations were great (If I was even able to complain, I guess the water was warm at a few, but that’s minor), the volunteers were great and a few were really cute, much appreciated. Obviously wasn’t a big fan of the swim, have to agree about sighting and the start was a mess and I felt like a I needed a machete to get through the weeds on the back stretch, but it was a first year race. I’d be really impressed if someone could list a first year race that turned out this well.
Really looking forward to seeing the race results posted. Overall I just wanted to say how great things turned out. It was nice meeting you, I wish I could have stuck around after the race to meet a lot of the other ST’ers but I had to race back to Moline to make a 4:10 flight.
-Andrew
Results are here:
http://www.onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=1905
.
Thanks!
Re Mile markers…
I also raced at Alcatraz on 6/3 – big race, big sponsors, hallmark of the sport, etc. etc…and to my surprise there were no mile markers on the run there either…
Macedawg, you did it - you are posting on ST.
Chip, I second all the positive praise. It was a great event and I had a great time.
It reads as if you had a great race. Congrats. As a past RD, I know these things are TONS of hard work for you & your staff. You deserve a pat on the back, it seems.
I was not a participant at your event, but one piece of advice - if you ARE going to respond to your feedback here, you should keep in mind the adage that the customer is always right (even if he/she isn’t). To me, your individual responses are all pretty defensive. They all may be 100% correct, but to me it reads as if you feel you are being personally attacked and have to defend yourself. You don’t need to provide individual explanations for every complaint/suggestion. I wouldn’t have bothered to type anything here at all but your comment about “here’s a thought - give it your all” or whatever you wrote… that really rubbed me the wrong way. If I were the one who you were responding to, I would think to myself, “Fuck you. It’s MY race, I’ll run it the way “I” want to run it - not the way Chip thinks I should run it.”
Just remember, as a RD, you are providing this service to all levels of abilities - from the novice to the pro. Unless you are wanting to alienate some of your customer base, it’s wise to respond in very general and very cordial terms. And maybe thank them for providing you feedback that can contribute to making the next race even better.
Again, congrats on what appears to be a great race!
signed, unsolicited-advice-giver 
Hey Chip I just wanted to say great race. You had a ton of great vol. out on the course and I tried to go out of my way to thank them all, but towards the end I could not speak so well, so my slured thank you may have sounded like **ck you to the ones that were saying great job and trying to chear me on:-), Really they were great, if you send out a letter or talk to any of them please make sure they know we really appriciated them. Thanks again for a great race and I am looking forward to next year.
Mike
R10C,
Great job with the race. I really like the venue. Super course and you did a fine job for your first race.
Here’s my list of things you might want to look at:
–Swim Start: More time b/n the National Anthem and the swim start so we can seed ourselves.
–Aid Stations: Twice as many aid stations on the run. I was wanting more and I was running 6:45’s so I can imagine the MOP and BOP racers were going 20 or more minutes without water at some points. At least add one right out of T2.
–Music: It’s time to retire AC/DC from endurance events.
–Mile Markers: Appease the masses. I could care less, but I ate at Don Pablos after the race and it was one of the first things that a couple, who were strangers, talked about in the conversation about the race.
–Lobby the State Parks: To allow alcohol after the race in the park. Beer. Beer. Beer.
–Race T-Shirts: Nobody wants one until you don’t have 'em. Although something cool like a winter running hat is a good idea. Limited utility in the summer, but when last year’s racers break them out in the winter they’ll remind themselves about the race and advertise at a time when everyone’s planning their season.
Things that…well…Rock’d:
Your Promises: You delivered on everything you promised on the website, from the number of aid stations, to course maps, distances, etc. That’s huge.
And congratulations!
I’ve heard they ran out of water at some of the run aid stations and complaints about the weeds on the swim and the poor choice of buoys. All in all it seems pretty impressive for a first year race though.
Was Estee there taking it all in? There should be a thread of STer’s who raced and got a photo op with the most famous golden retriever on Slow Twitch!
So did you go with the added water wings to the wrist brace in the swim?
~Matt
we got close to running out of water…I think I saved the day at the 11th hour with a purchase of 100 gallons of water from a local store and drove it to the aid station on the running path in an F150! I know I made some runners mad in the truck…but I got the water there!
I posted some of my suggestions in another thread but they have all pretty much been echoed here so the only thing I’ll add is that I heard some people griping about not having a porta-potty to use out of T2 since they were stationed on the other side of transition. Maybe split them up so you have an equal number on both sides and can use them going into T1 and out of T2? I dind’t notice any out onthe run course either and that could have been an issue for some people although I just pulled off into the woods when I had to go.
Don’t really need a whole lot of porta pots on the run course as there are out houses through out the entire park. I didn’t notice as I didn’t do the race, but maybe they needed to be “highlighted” a bit better. Some are slightly off the path so that may be an issue, but most of them are 10-15 feet from the road, cleaner and less smelly than Porta pots.
~Matt
2 quick comments I haven’t seen yet:
The state trooper at the 2nd or 3rd turn after you left the park on the bike was awesome with enthusiastic cheering BOTH times I went past him.
One of the physically challenged athletes (arm amputee) was going out on his run as I was coming in to finish, which was both unbelievable and inspiring. (we high fived if you’re reading this) I can’t imagine also biking and swimming with that challenge.