Worst 1/2? IM? In all the land....jeesh

Triathlon Forum
1

Well…took the four hour drive up to the race that was an hour from Minneapolis…figuring it was that close to a major city, I thought that there would be a shit ton of people in it…or 153, what ever. Got to the hotel and checked into the room…they offered a Jacuzzi room “to relax after the race” - I of course accept…little did I know the room was going to be what it was…so, I had a picture taken of me and the bike, sleeping…in the round bed with mirrors on the ceiling…nice, mirrors on the ceiling…

http://tinypic.com/5x0co3

Well, get up and go to the race…water is FULL of weeds…milfoil to be exact. The swim is ACTUALLY a 1.5 mile! swim…so much for 1.2 I guess…huh…the swim is in a dual lap baseball diamond, counter clockwise. They had us all get in the water, gave a two minute warning, 4 seconds later the cannon went off…as did we. My swim was okay, 4th out of the water…

Get on the bike…this was the WORST marked course EVER…there were TINY arrows pointing, at one place myself a 6 others could not make a corner that was poorly marked, covered with gravel and down hill…we all went into a corn field…nice. The bike course though challanging never got better…I finished the bike in 4th place over all…though the 3 in front of me were not the swimmers. Did I mention that the bike was 68 miles, not 56? On the bike there was ONE and only one aid station where you could get a syrup mix of Gatoraid, and water that was hotter than the day (it was in someones trunk). Nice…

Got to the run…felt great, I knew I was making no time on the runners in front of me, but the guy in 5th was WAY back, I figured that I had 4th, and my 1st AG locked up. Well, the run…a 12.6 mile run (20k) at the 10k mark I was instructed that I was at the turn around…so, as the guy at the corner said…I turned around - felt great at about a 7:20 pace…again treated with Syrup Gatoraide and hot water…when I got back to the start (now running with MANY folks who were doing an off distance oly race)…I was looking for the turn for my next 10k…turns out there was none…I was supposed to keep going, but the people on the course did not know that there was a short, and a long race and instructed all to turn back…so…DQ…DNF…what bullshit…I was having a great day too…damnit. I figure, and Tracy figures that I have 4th at heart…I know I was not going to catch the guys in front of me…but, I was going to be able to maintain my pace. Turned out that the guy who got 3rd argued with the guy at the turn and just kept going…first and second - this was neither of their first years here and both new better…sure wish I had…guy on a course tells me to go that way - I go that way…dumb I guess.

me at the end of the bike…and no, I dont tan assholes!

http://tinypic.com/5x0g79

2

Ding, Ding, Ding. I think we have a winner for worst race ever. Unbelievable how poorly executed an event it was. I can understand distances being slightly off, but that much off of advertised distances is inexcusable. Tough luck on the misdirection on the run course. You would think the course monitor would have gotten a clue after the first three guys kept going and maybe said something. Sorry the end results weren’t as good as they should have been. Next race. :slight_smile:

3

great race report,

Do they make those tri shorts for men???

Heheheheheheheh, jest joking

4

Damn, that sucks. I mean, I was once in a race where they had changed the bike course to two loops, but didn’t tell us (man was I surprised when I came up to the guy telling me to turn), and then ran out of cups on the run (I got a plastic baggie full of water at one of the last aid stations), but that doesn’t even compare to your race. 68 miles on the bike? Can they not count? Could they not tell the volunteers that there were two races?

You definitely got 4th overall. No question.

-Colin

5

I could almost beat that race report for the worst half ever but it was a race a friend of mine put on so we’ll just stop there. Needless to say there were less than 100 people and one CA competitor who had flown out here referred to the tiny transition as “cute” I was in 2nd cruising the whole way and sure was glad I was as the leader got to make all the mistakes, and there were a lot of them. It was hilarious

6

who was the race director?

This many problems, did anyone contact USAT???

7

Our messed up distance race started at 8:30…the messed up Oly started at 9:30, cant blame the voulenteers for being confused…more than 80% of the people there were short course, they had already seen a large mass of them come, turn and go…I was only the 4th person on the long course, 2 had done the race before and knew, the other had to argue…but had driven the whole course the night before…as should have I. At the end of the day I can only blame myself.

Oh…and other notes…

NO marshalls on the bike…I had a guy draft me for no less than 20 miles…so, after asking him to stop, and after other cyclists did as well, I had to spit…alot.

Only thing on the bike course was water, some (not allot and they ran out) Hammer Gel, and the Gatoraide syrup…no banannas or anything. Same for the run. On the internet and on their brochures they said that they would have oranges, banannas, and ice as well as water and Gatoraide on the run…nothing but water and syrup…no ice, and it was 85.

NO pretzels on the course, or at the end…this to me means no salt. I had Thermotabs so it was not an issue for me…for others, it was a HUGE issue.

At the end there was nothing but more of the same Gatoraide and water…that was it. Again, nothing more. If you wanted food you had better have your wallet on you - and then your only option was a Brat or a Hotdog.

No tech support, or Sag on the bike…

many unmanned corners, at one my lovely Tracy and another friend directed bikes to their “second loop” for long course and another direction for short course…a police officer was kind enough to offer them a Stop sign for traffic and cones…the was THE most important corner and there was no race staff there at all.

None of the corners were cleaned at all. There was a major section of gravel, one road with VERY bad pavement and many poorly marked corners. The only support station on the bike was in the middle of a serious climb…again…dumb.

8

The people I know who did that race all knew ahead of time what the real distances were…so I assume this was communicated ahead of time as was a description of the run course. Also, if you were really supposed to turn around, you would have seen the guys you were chasing coming back at you at some point.

edit: maybe you should have looked at the info online http://www.tinmantriathlon.org/tmcourse.htm

9

who was the race director?

This many problems, did anyone contact USAT???

Oh… I will call…THEN THEN after talking to me about the short course with the damn MICROPHONE in her hand for all to hear…the later announced ME as the over all winner of the long course…I tried my best to embarass her. I walked up and said that I had not won cause I cut the course as instructed by her staff…

Note: the guys who got 1st and 2nd stopped me, thanked me for outing myself and mentioned that they wondered where I was as they were both worried I was going to chase them down. Two very nice guys who both understood what had happened to me. They each awarded me 4th over all as well…

10

Maybe I missed this, but was it a USAT race, and what was the race fee for this fine triathlon experience? And I’m sure the t-shirt measured up to the high standards of the event as well?

Now maybe if you hadn’t been so exhausted after a passionate night with your P3 under the mirrors you would have kept going at the turnaround.

11

Did they advertize it as a half ironman? From midwestevents.com:

Menomonie Tinman Triathlon
Menomonie WI
Long 1.5, 58.5, 20k - International 3/4, 32.9, 10k
**Contact: **715-664-6428

12

What i got in the mail (how I found out about it) does infact say “Long Course Half Ironman” I guess they are serious about long. In addition, at check in and this morning the “long” race was called the “half” by race folks. No matter the distance, the course was great (could be great)…the management SUCKED.

13

I’ll bet you’re already marking you calendar for next year.

Come out to the Honu Half instead. We guarentee you accurate distances.

14

I’m sure the race was just as good as the inaugural last year but I heard that the run was really really challenging! I like hard runs, so don’t let any whiners change the course!

Marty

15

Last year? hell they were bragging about this being the 24th annual…seriously…24…

16

He means the Honu not the Tinman. The Honu run was tough but it was also gorgeous so I doubt they’ll change it. Man if we hadn’t had ice, ice water, cold sponges (I’m guessing Record10Carbon is salivating right now) that Honu course would have been impossible. It was worth it though. Marty, you better get your ass out here next year. And before you do, email Zwack and tell him to practice that thing he does in the water, I think he calls it swimming but it takes him soooooooo long;)

17

On the first picture - shoulders are too low.

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I’ll bet you’re already marking you calendar for next year.

Come out to the Honu Half instead. We guarentee you accurate distances.

Me? Well, okay. See you then. Thanks again for a great (tough) day.

Aloha,

Larry

19

Well, Zwackinator got a slot so I’m not going to tell him to change his training! Actually I thought he had a pretty fast swim for what I’m sure was about 5 swims in the last 2 months. Heh did you get a slot? Tim had to be pretty excited about his race. Who was the head official by the way, and you said that the penalty list was too low, huh? That’s too bad – maybe Football Mom can fix that for next year…

20

Yeah, I guess you can’t argue when he bikes everyone down and gets a slot;) I got a slot but didn’t take it. I was pretty much cruising out there and got a flat early on the bike so I was way back, 85th or so off the bike. It was pretty funny, I guess my going so slow on the way up to Hawi kind of messed with some people, Jay Paul got all confused wondering if he was going to fast when he blew by me early on and I didn’t follow. Tim was really excited, bummed about losing it in the last miles but happy in the end. Ricettello was in charge of the officiating but I don’t know if that makes him the head official. I liked the officiating but there were a lot of irritating position penalties that were not called.

A racer we shall just call the BIG CL, rode nearly the entire bike out in the road. Although if he had actually followed directions it would have been entirely out of character. He then proceeded to melt in the last miles of the bike somehow only getting off 1:30 in front of me. He had fun trash talking me at every turnaround.