Midlands Ultra Triathlon - Thoughts?

[8848]

Hi everyone,

 

For those of you that did the Midlands Ultra (or sprint) Triathlon yesterday (Feb 6th), what were your thoughts around the organisation, logistics etc?

 

For what It is worth, on the positive side:

good registration process

good race briefing

decent transition

 

BUT, I thought that the

marshalling was shocking

the referees on the cycle route were not imposing the non-drafting rules

the traffic cops were disorganised and not up to scratch

the marshals sent some cyclists and runners on the worng route

The shortage of water was a disaster in that heat, I passed 3 stations with no water on the run

 

I get the impression that the organisers did not brief the marshals, cops and helpers properly. why were these helpers handing out 3/4/5 sachets of water, if they did not have enough to do so? why were the marshals ignorant about teh route etc?

 

I feel it was a poor showing.

 

your comments?

[Prozac]

Hi everyone,

 

For those of you that did the Midlands Ultra (or sprint) Triathlon yesterday (Feb 6th), what were your thoughts around the organisation, logistics etc?

 

For what It is worth, on the positive side:

good registration process

good race briefing

decent transition

 

BUT, I thought that the

marshalling was shocking

the referees on the cycle route were not imposing the non-drafting rules

the traffic cops were disorganised and not up to scratch

the marshals sent some cyclists and runners on the worng route

The shortage of water was a disaster in that heat, I passed 3 stations with no water on the run

 

I get the impression that the organisers did not brief the marshals, cops and helpers properly. why were these helpers handing out 3/4/5 sachets of water, if they did not have enough to do so? why were the marshals ignorant about teh route etc?

 

I feel it was a poor showing.

 

your comments?

 

I'm sure you mean 6 March and not Feb ?

[FC&P2C]

I didnt do the race but my friends who did are all complaining about the same thing. With a R690 entry fee you expect a well orginised event with enough of everything.

And it was the SA long distance champs!!!

[Belgo]

Hi everyone,

 

For those of you that did the Midlands Ultra (or sprint) Triathlon yesterday (Feb 6th), what were your thoughts around the organisation, logistics etc?

 

For what It is worth, on the positive side:

good registration process

good race briefing

decent transition

 

BUT, I thought that the

marshalling was shocking

the referees on the cycle route were not imposing the non-drafting rules

the traffic cops were disorganised and not up to scratch

the marshals sent some cyclists and runners on the worng route

The shortage of water was a disaster in that heat, I passed 3 stations with no water on the run

 

I get the impression that the organisers did not brief the marshals, cops and helpers properly. why were these helpers handing out 3/4/5 sachets of water, if they did not have enough to do so? why were the marshals ignorant about teh route etc?

 

I feel it was a poor showing.

 

your comments?

[andrewbell]

i agree with your comments. the organizers were also aware of how hot it was going to be, there should have been more water and ice.

 

i also think that there should have been a water point at the turn on the bike.

[Belgo]

Hi everyone,

 

For those of you that did the Midlands Ultra (or sprint) Triathlon yesterday (Feb 6th), what were your thoughts around the organisation, logistics etc?

 

For what It is worth, on the positive side:

good registration process

good race briefing

decent transition

 

BUT, I thought that the

marshalling was shocking

the referees on the cycle route were not imposing the non-drafting rules

the traffic cops were disorganised and not up to scratch

the marshals sent some cyclists and runners on the worng route

The shortage of water was a disaster in that heat, I passed 3 stations with no water on the run

 

I get the impression that the organisers did not brief the marshals, cops and helpers properly. why were these helpers handing out 3/4/5 sachets of water, if they did not have enough to do so? why were the marshals ignorant about teh route etc?

 

I feel it was a poor showing.

 

your comments?

At one level the organisation was very professional and slick. Starts and transitions went smoothly. I couldn't agree more about the standard of marshaling. I don't think marshals were adequately trained, or had the first idea about what the event was about or what runners needed. I do feel for some of them however, as in some cases they'd been standing in the heat not having eaten all day and having had minimum refreshment. The traffic cops and roadside marshals need to get more involved in traffic control, especially later in the morning when vehicular traffic started clogging the road, and we saw the accident caused by a careless driver. There was a timber truck on the Dargle road for heaven's sake. Even so, the swim and the cycle were, for me fantastic and free of incidents (although why, oh why, were wetsuits allowed when the water was lukewarm?) And then there was the run. Shattering. and to have two water tables without water was devastating, and the response time to rectify the situation too slow. Either someone wasn't paying attention, or Plan B wasn't sufficiently thought out. I do wonder too, for an event of this nature, why only water and Coke at the tables? Why no isotonic drinks?

It certainly was a character testing endurance event, and I'm chuffed to have done it, heat, marshals and dry water tables and all.

[mosey]

Ja, everything was fine until the run.. I was pretty dehydrated and needed fuel, but couldn't eat much as there wasn't anything to wash it down with, an dmy mouth was as dry as the morning after a case of beers!! So ja, first lap a real mission, second lap was much better as was able to re-hydrate myself..

Got to the last water table and the guys there just looked at us (with no fill cups on the table), so we started pouring our own water.. They said they were tired because they had been pouring for so long!! Clearly a long day out for everyone...

 

K-Swiss and Future Life need to up their sponsorship so they can get more water next year! If they could close the roads for the bike that would also be a bonus...

 

Just glad I finished though!

[Scooterza]

Yes - I was there! And I finsished! 7 hours and 7 minutes. Swim - lovely. Have to agree regarding the wetsuits though - I was actually hot after the swim and had no wetsuit on. So I am sure those that did must have overheated a bit. Ride was good. I think they could (should) have tried to stop all the big trucks that were coming off the one district road for a few hours - they threw up a lot of dust and were a road hazard. Saw the rider that was knocked over - anyone know what happened?

 

But the ride was mostly good - the road only had the odd small pothole and the course was pretty flat which made for quick times.

 

The run was a bitch. My polar said 35 degrees average and 40 degrees max. This was on my wrist to I guess you could take off 2 or 3 degrees for body heat etc but that is still fiery hot! And yes, us plonkers at the back of the pack had to make do with the scraps in terms of water and drinks. The guys manning the tables were bitching and moaning about the heat. I felt like telling them to try run 21km in that same heat! You know it is hot when all the plants start to droop and that was definately the case on Sunday. I think to run out of water on such a hot day was more than bad organising - it could have caused a serious health issue. I heard one lady saying she was feeling really sick and needed water. Luckily Midmar dam has lots of ablutions where you could go and quench your thirst.

 

My first 70.3 so glad to finish. I was told this one was supposed to be pretty easy but I gather that this is actually not the case (especially when you factor in the heat). I hope not, because I was suffering at the end!

[Joobs]

Results are up:

 

 

This will download the XLS File