First off it was a beautiful day for the Motor City Tri.
I live close and had decided not to race and blow up, but to ride to the race and lend a helping hand. I showed up late, but before the swim start, and was welcomed by the RD’s wife (I think tha they are married). She was very appreciative and told me to go and watch the swim start and come back to the finish about half an hour later to see where I would be needed.
I was assigned to an intersection on the run where nobody would have been, but I was very happy to be there since there were alot of confused motorists who needed direction and many racers who could use some encouragement.
Let me again thank all the volunteers who have sent me in the right direction and apologize to all the volunteers who do not know the mileage of their station. It is very hard to be certain on a course of exactly where you are, even when you rode your bike to the location. I don’t know what is worse, not having the mileage or telling the wrong mileage to racers who are using it to race.
I was able to tell the 2&3 guys the first and second slpit, but I lost track of the leader late in the run (sorry guys but you were losing time the whole race).
I have to say that very few racers thanked me for being out there, but I totally understand since most of them were looking pretty focused. The ones that did were in great spirits, and although they were not in the lead, they were having a good time of it.
I saw BeckyO and her mom, and she had a great race (new wetsuit and all) and i think she said she took 6th over all for the women.
I have to say that after racing Rockman and hearing what Chip went through to put the race together (thanks again Chip) I have alot more sympathy for he RD’s. It seems that the race went off pretty much whithout a hitch. There was still pleanty of food and drink for the racers even when I got back to the finish at 3:45 into the race. Good Job Kenny, Anne Marie and the rest of the 3D crowd.
If I have one recommendation, it would be to start the whole OLY group at the same time, or start the women first, so that the racers can finish a little closer together. There were a couple of people that were way behind the crowd, and I think that they would do better with a little bit of a lead (or at least start on even ground).
Other than that it was a great experience, a great day, and a great race. I still can’t believe how great all the people are that I meet at these events. I know that not everybody is fast, but out of almost 600 people that I saw running today, most were racing. A good thing for all of us.
For almost everybody out there - I’ll ride 13 miles to stand on a shadeless intersection for 4 hours any day (I only regret that I did not ride the last person in - but he was seriously at least going 5 hours for the OLY - sorry buddy)
Thanks to all of you who told me to be sure to volunteer, and thanks again to the RDs who put on races!