Starting new thread on IM Musselman 70.3 in Geneva, NY

Triathlon Forum
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Just a shout out of thanks to everyone who made IM Mussleman 70.3 happen. What a great race overall! Really enjoyed this race experience. Many thanks to the volunteers and everyone who made the day happen.

Good points

Very well organized and RD did a stellar job. First time doing this race so can’t compare to previous years w/o IronmanLake Seneca is a big beautiful lake and the swim course was great (wavy choppy going out but very fast coming back in)Bike course was a fast one! Not pancake flat (I think garmin clocked 1585 ft of elevation gain). Roads were in good condition and not congested with racers. There is a stretch with pot holes, mostly patched but it’s well marked and not that long. Scenery is beautiful along two different lakes.Run course was shortened to two laps but it was still a really good run course. Partly along the water front and partly in town with a nice gradual hill. It was hard but fair.Geneva is in beautiful Finger Lakes wine country. Wineries everywhere!

Areas for improvement

This might be Ironman in general but what happened to AWA low numbers and good bike placing? I was #403 and that was OK but I think it was based on when I registered for a check in time (not really sure)Have some veggie food at the finish w/o animals or animal products. There is growing number of plant-based athletes. I’m used to bad food at the end of races being animal-free for a very long time. But it’s not difficult to serve maybe fruit, bananas, bagels with peanut butter, nothing elaborate, but something! I found a couple bags of lays potato chips. That’s all.Parking! That was the big issue. It was a mile walk to the venue from parking. I realize there were issues with mud in closer parking lots. And we are triathletes, but that walk was a major pain in the butt.Awards ceremony. There was one but no podium type ceremony where you got to stand with the other athletes. The announcer just called our names and we picked up our awards at a tent. Maybe that was due to covid? But everything else that weekend was like business as usual. I stood shoulder to shoulder with athletes waiting to swim. And I had to pass slower athletes on the second loop sometimes shoulder to shoulder. So why we couldn’t stand together on the “podium” was disappointing. (I realize this is a first world problem). I was third place in my AG and had a miserable spring filled with awful setbacks so this race result for me personally was quite special. ETA: awards ceremony was outside, not inside

Overall I loved Musselman and the whole experience (except for a few things that needed improvement but didn’t spoil the weekend). Sign up for next year! It’s a good one!

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Yeah, it was a great race for many reasons. The lake, bike course and run course were all great as you stated. Almost surreal seeing the Amish carts being pulled by horses as we flew by on high-tech bikes. At one point I was staring at a full-on family of 6 in the back of a horse-drawn carriage as I cycled by. I waved and they all waved back and then I was on my way, but for sure one of the highlights of the race.

To respond (and add) to a few CONS:
• Yeah, the post race food - and that chicken - left something to be desired. Give us some bananas, cookies, hamburgers, hotdogs and a veggie option. I love chicken but could not even look at that post race food. This is personal though of course.

• The parking was ridiculous. I know there are much bigger problems on planet earth, but making us walk over a mile to the start w bike pump, helmet, bag etc and then doing the same post-race could be improved somehow. We did this the day before for bike check in, so why not on race day?
Next year I will just park at the nearby hotel and pray I don’t get towed.

• At the awards ceremony it had noting to do with Covid - they said, ‘It’s raining and you probably want to get out of here.” (It wasn’t raining that hard at all - sort of misting) I think what they meant was: “It’s raining and we don’t really want to set up the podiums so it’s easier to just read your names and keep the awards under the tent over there.” I haven’t done an IM-branded race in over 15 years and was looking forward to standing up there, so that was a bit of a bummer.

Of all the stuff, the PARKING was the biggest issue. Other than that I thought the race was great, the area was amazing and the Ironman village and pre-race check in was great.

Again, all just my opinions…

3

Yeah, it was a great race for many reasons. The lake, bike course and run course were all great as you stated. Almost surreal seeing the Amish carts being pulled by horses as we flew by on high-tech bikes. At one point I was staring at a full-on family of 6 in the back of a horse-drawn carriage as I cycled by. I waved and they all waved back and then I was on my way, but for sure one of the highlights of the race.

To respond (and add) to a few CONS:
• Yeah, the post race food - and that chicken - left something to be desired. Give us some bananas, cookies, hamburgers, hotdogs and a veggie option. I love chicken but could not even look at that post race food. This is personal though of course.

• The parking was ridiculous. I know there are much bigger problems on planet earth, but making us walk over a mile to the start w bike pump, helmet, bag etc and then doing the same post-race could be improved somehow. We did this the day before for bike check in, so why not on race day?
Next year I will just park at the nearby hotel and pray I don’t get towed.

• At the awards ceremony it had noting to do with Covid - they said, ‘It’s raining and you probably want to get out of here.” (It wasn’t raining that hard at all - sort of misting) I think what they meant was: “It’s raining and we don’t really want to set up the podiums so it’s easier to just read your names and keep the awards under the tent over there.” I haven’t done an IM-branded race in over 15 years and was looking forward to standing up there, so that was a bit of a bummer.

Of all the stuff, the PARKING was the biggest issue. Other than that I thought the race was great, the area was amazing and the Ironman village and pre-race check in was great.

Again, all just my opinions…

Oh yes, the Amish in carts pulled by horses was super interesting and really neat to see! We drove the course Saturday and saw some Amish folks working their fields, yards. One guy was mowing his lawn with a device pulled by a small horse or donkey. I’m intrigued by living a simpler life.

Oh I didn’t realize the light misting rain was the issue for the awards ceremony. Ironman events bring such tough and amazing competition (the winner of my AG raced as a former pro years ago, and I’ve raced against former Olympians in IM branded races) so to me it’s very special to break into the top 3 or top 5. Maybe the organizers need to be aware that many of us really want to stand on the podium and meet our fellow athletes and have that moment photographed. Anyhoo…again, a first world problem :slight_smile:

I normally don’t do races twice as I love to check out new venues and areas. But this is one (close enough w/o flying) I would drive to again in the future!

4

I’m just curious - I was looking at results for this race in the tracker the other day, and I saw that everyone had an adjustment listed after their time that was subtracted from their overall time. It was different for each person and ranged from about 1:45 to 4 or 5 minutes. Do you know what this was for? Never seen this in any IM results listings before.

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I’m just curious - I was looking at results for this race in the tracker the other day, and I saw that everyone had an adjustment listed after their time that was subtracted from their overall time. It was different for each person and ranged from about 1:45 to 4 or 5 minutes. Do you know what this was for? Never seen this in any IM results listings before.

Yeah I’m not sure about that. I think maybe it had something to do with crossing the train tracks several times during the race and having to stop for the train. They did say in the athlete briefing that times would be adjusted if you got stopped by a train. I had a 2 min adjustment but didn’t have to stop for a train. The adjustments for myself and the women before and after me wouldn’t have changed our status if the adjustments were not there so I didn’t pursue this. The Musselman facebook group has provided lots of information from other racers. You might find the best answer there.

My big question of the race was a baby raccoon crossing the road 10-15 miles from the finish of the bike course. (it was saved by a couple people). I was quite consumed by that!!! lol You can find the whole post there too :slight_smile:

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I’m just curious - I was looking at results for this race in the tracker the other day, and I saw that everyone had an adjustment listed after their time that was subtracted from their overall time. It was different for each person and ranged from about 1:45 to 4 or 5 minutes. Do you know what this was for? Never seen this in any IM results listings before.

We had this at Virginia Blue Ridge. If there is a portion of the course that is at risk of a train crossing, it is technically not part of the course. Therefore the time you spent on this small section of course is backed out of your time. There is a timing mat at the beginning and end to record the amount of time you were in this section.

A train actually did cross and stop some athletes at VBR. Those athletes had to stand down waiting for the train and had 10 to 15 minute adjustments because of it.

Actually if you know in advance there is a section that is “blacked out”, you could just stop in that section. stretch, catch up on nutrition ect… and there would be no penalty. I assume at some point athletes will figure this out and an official will have to be placed there to put a stop to taking advantage

7

Shout out to the volunteers. There were some serious people out there cheering and were genuinely excited when you would run by. One was actually calling out splits on the run lol

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Shout out to the volunteers. There were some serious people out there cheering and were genuinely excited when you would run by. One was actually calling out splits on the run lol

Ha! Love that! :slight_smile:

yeah everyone was really awesome out there on race day!

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Yeah I had an awesome time at the race and I think I crushed it being my first 70.3. The time correction was indeed for the train but it seems to have been applied to everyone and not just the individuals who got stuck. Also the parking. WOW. For me this was like the march of death getting back to the car as my legs were completely siezed, furthermore my poor mother who desperately wanted to watch has a hard time walking and her walker couldn’t help her through the wet, muddy grass. I would have liked to have had a shuttle option, even if you had to pay. Anyway I’m already signed up for next year.

10

Parking! That was the big issue. It was a mile walk to the venue from parking. I realize there were issues with mud in closer parking lots. And we are triathletes, but that walk was a major pain in the butt.

I think a major issue with the parking was the fact the NYS was very clear that there weren’t issuing permits for gathering in state parks. In most years, the parking is in the same spot (in the field with potential to be muddy) but you walked in the other direction to get to transition. I bet the length between parking and transition this year was due to the venue creating a backup plan. in order to allow the race to happen and things will look a little closer to the historic venue in the future.

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Parking! That was the big issue. It was a mile walk to the venue from parking. I realize there were issues with mud in closer parking lots. And we are triathletes, but that walk was a major pain in the butt.

I think a major issue with the parking was the fact the NYS was very clear that there weren’t issuing permits for gathering in state parks. In most years, the parking is in the same spot (in the field with potential to be muddy) but you walked in the other direction to get to transition. I bet the length between parking and transition this year was due to the venue creating a backup plan. in order to allow the race to happen and things will look a little closer to the historic venue in the future.

OK that makes sense! I remember there were issues about obtaining permits for the state parks. Maybe next year it will all go back to the state park. Then walking from parking to transition/venue won’t be such a pain in the butt. I had a big blister on the bottom of my foot after the race and walking back to the car was no fun.

We did have to come back for the awards at 3:30pm. The parking attendent (cop?) at the visitor center let us park when I told him about my blisters and only coming back to get my award. I offered to show him my feet and he said, we could park (didn’t want to see my gross middle-aged lady feet lol).

ETA: after the awards, we did go back and shop in the visitor center. I also found vegan mint chocolate chip ice cream that was delicious!

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umm I hosted two races in a NY State Park the exact same 2 days of Musselman so not a state wide mandate.

Also hosted two other days of racing in a NY State Park back in May and I know of a few other races that have take place this year and last year in NY State parks

maybe just a singular park issue

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That’s because Boots/ Yellow Jacket >> WTC in these parts. Everybody knows that!

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If it makes you feel better we had to park over a mile away at Des Moines 70,3 and Steelhead parking was probably that far away too.

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Did they allow a warm up swim near the race start for the 70.3? They didn’t for the sprint, that alone will keep me from signing up for next year.

16

Parking was definitely a bit far, but parking lots of cars is hard downtown.

Podiums were limited by the covid restrictions seemingly.

Course was much flatter than I was lead to believe. I didn’t bring enough big gear with me.

Any update on the rider who was fell hard and off down in the ditch around mile 8? He was fast, potentially a slowtwitcher

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Did they allow a warm up swim near the race start for the 70.3? They didn’t for the sprint, that alone will keep me from signing up for next year.

I was told after the athlete briefing that there would be no swim warm up before the race. But athletes were warming up in the water right where we were lining up for the swim start. I had already done a warm up run. I was going to hop in the water for a few minutes but there were no stairs down the rock wall (normally this would be a non issue, but I was worried about a minor freak accident like stepping on something sharp in my bare feet so opted to ditch the quick swim. More to loose than gain type of situation for me). But yes you can swim before the race start. I would wear flip flops getting down to the rough beach from the rock wall.

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If it makes you feel better we had to park over a mile away at Des Moines 70,3 and Steelhead parking was probably that far away too.

Maybe Ironman needs to rebrand some of these events as 72.3s (pink)
.

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Parking was definitely a bit far, but parking lots of cars is hard downtown.

Podiums were limited by the covid restrictions seemingly.

Course was much flatter than I was lead to believe. I didn’t bring enough big gear with me.

Any update on the rider who was fell hard and off down in the ditch around mile 8? He was fast, potentially a slowtwitcher

I have not learned of any updates. I hope everyone is OK

20

I’m still a bit confused by the time adjustments. Doesn’t it technically reward people who run just a little bit slower than the people around them in the overall results? Look at 7th & 8th place. 8th beat 7th by 1s on total time but, with the run adjustment, they’re flipped in the overall results with an 8s difference benefiting the person who was actually behind by 1s. Can’t this also negatively affect USAT points? If someone is knocking on the door of an elite qualifying time they could be in a situation where they should be closer to the finisher in front of them (or even in front of them) or have put more time on the person behind them. It’s marginal, but still.

Or, are the rules the rules & because the race said the time doesn’t count there it just doesn’t count? The course was measured 13.1 to include the crossings so now the run splits that show up in the results are south of 13.1 miles.