Do you think that there is anything that you can say that they haven’t already heard or are not aware of? I suspect that WTC representatives read this forum on a regular basis, or at least they are informed of what is said here, and this has been the case for years.
The reason I say this is to manage expectations: if you expect a “oh, wow, we didn’t think of that” reaction from WTC, you might be in for a disappointment.
As many others have pointed out, unless you can present solutions that, at the least, do not negatively impact their bottom line, it won’t happen. For example: suggesting changing the venue from Clearwater to a more challenging bike course is a non-starter (assuming the 5 year contract is correct). Doubling or tripling the number of waves, plus having more time between waves, will substantially increase the time roads have to be marshalled, thereby increasing the (bottom line) cost.
Remember that WTC is a business, first and foremost, not a sanctioning organization. Their job is to make money, not to put on the best experience for all the competitors. Just like the International Olympic Committee.
Doubling or tripling the number of waves, plus having more time between waves, will substantially increase the time roads have to be marshalled, thereby increasing the (bottom line) cost.
More waves is being discussed (promised) by WTC, I heard it straight from the horses mouth after the 70.3 Champ race
I know there is at least one respected age group athlete who has let them know about the drafting situation. (He’s probably one of their most frequent customers.) His comment about Clearwater was “I didn’t come here to do a 1/2 marathon”. BTW, he enjoyed the race other than the drafting.
My memory is bad, but back in the early 90s wasn’t there an organized group campaigning to clean up drafting in USAT (Tri Fed back then)? I believe their slogan was “drafting sucks”.
Doubling or tripling the number of waves, plus having more time between waves, will substantially increase the time roads have to be marshalled, thereby increasing the (bottom line) cost.
More waves is being discussed (promised) by WTC, I heard it straight from the horses mouth after the 70.3 Champ race
Wonderful. I suspect that wave reconfiguration is one thing that they would be willing to do, if the cost isn’t prohibitive (SWAG: extra 15% of the cost of road closure, which might be 20% of total cost, so an extra 3% of cost: not terrible).
Did the horse happen to say why they didn’t do that this year, when (I assume) everyone knew what would happen?
i despise drafting - i see it as the equivalent of cutting the course during the run - and i do something about it by being a draft marshall for my local tri. the local RD also depises it, and he does things like pay a mind to the wave size/timing, the course, getting road closures, and so on. together with his efforts, his officials efforts, and me and my crew of aggresive moto’s, we make sure the race is draft-free or very very close to it. drafting in this race would not be much fun, and would not get you much at all.
based on my experience i will tell you this: if the RD or organizer cares, the race can and will be draft-free. if he or it doesn’t care, it won’t be. in that sense you are barking up the wrong tree - they do not care. if they did the problem would be gone, it is not that hard. you are setting yourself for a game. as you say, the talk is bullshit - if it actually mattered to them it would be gone. their attention to things like medical aide, and timing, and safety, etc etc indicates they are more than capable of controlling something as easy as drafting - that they elect not to bother ( or give it only lip-service ) should tell you something.