Durban Ultra

[amr63]

The coastline on the east coast of Africa can be a wild & treacherous place, none more so than the stretch from Maputo to the Kei River mouth. Not always though, and therein lies the dilemma; We had perfect sea conditions 4 weeks ago at the TinMan 1 event.

 

David & Aurora are right though, the chances of encountering adverse conditions are high enough to question whether the time (late summer) and place are appropriate. I suspect that it’s the accessibility of a safe cycle route (closed M4 northbound) and run route (vehicle-free beachfront promenade) that make it a preferred venue. Ideally we could be swimming in the protected Umgeni River estuary at Blue Lagoon, but industrial & domestic pollution levels prohibit even entertaining such thoughts.

[IceCreamMan]

Sorry for my confusion. I see some ppl have finishers certificates an others don’t even though they have a time for swim cycle an run?

 

Signed

 

Confusedly yours

 

Ultra last year had a plan b an plan C for the swim in that if seas were rough the swim start would move towards ushaka, no such plan yesterday?

 

Lastly, B active have multiple events an do an inland event at mid mar. I have been at midmar when an entire event was canned due to weather. They cannot be held responsible for the elements or making decisions in the interests of participant safety. While I am a strong swimmer the majority of participants are not an no chances should be taken. B active do a great job I reckon an always enjoyed their events no matter where held. Damian is a top bloke.

 

Durban is the best venue in all of ZA I reckon. Just gotta sort the swim. Tri rock started at ushaka so the others can too

[IceCreamMan]

Double post sowwie

[Chris_]

Race report on Ultra..

 

Tough day out. You've read about the delays to the start, the ultra guys were delayed another 30 mins after the Sprint beach run. Decision was made to let us do a 1200m swim. 400 out, 400 horizontal, 400 back in. In general I really enjoy Ultra organised events, but there was a lot of sitting on the grass wondering what was going on.

 

The problem with the swim was that there was no getting past the breakers. It was just huuuge waves all the way out. I didn't grow up near the beach but for some reason I've never really been afraid of the ocean. But I was way out of my comfort zone on Sunday. After probably 10 minutes of ducking under waves breaking right on top of us, I still couldn't see the first buoy. I then got crushed by 3 waves in a row. Upside down, sucking water, cap off, goggles lost, I was done, and checked out big time. Made my way back to the shore amoungst a massive amount of people shouting for the jetskis. Got to shore, gave my race number in, and that was that - DNF for me.

 

Another disappointing mark for the organizers was that at some point further out towards the first buoy, the lifeguards told everyone left to head back due to the worsening conditions. My wife was one of those and when she got to shore her number was also jotted down. Assuming that was for safety and athlete counting reasons, but we later realised she had also been DNF'ed despite her effectively completing her first 70.3 later that day ( )

 

So the race then lost a bit of its edge for me from then on. We were allowed to complete the race regardless. The bike is a great fast route, but despite pushing fairly hard my time wasn't representative. The wind snuck up on us as the day wore on negating a lot of the effort.

 

The run route was a lot freer of locals loitering around this year which was great. But it got pretty hot near the end. I was happy to run/walk most of it as this was the first 21km I've run since Dec, and my knee held up perfectly.

 

As I said my wife completed her first half iron distance tri. Thanks must go to all the organizers, officials on motorbikes, officials on bicycles, medics, everyone who kept checking in with her, I think she was second last on the day (and I've never been prouder) but the bike and run gets pretty lonely out there and she was well looked after by the Ultra crew.

[UltraTriSA]

Hey Guys. Thanks for the feedback  

 

This weekends event was possibly our most testing event in the 10 year history of the Ultra Series. From an extremely tough swim call for the Sprint and Ultra races, to the heat and humidity. 

 

While we can appreciate everyones opinion on the swim call, it came down to our Safety Officials, namely SAPS Search & Rescue and our Durban Surf Lifeguard Team. Both are extremely experienced and know what they are doing.

 

They made the call for both swims, based on the danger aspect. The swim was tough, but they felt it was suitable for an Ultra athlete who should be easily competent for a 1.9km sea swim, then most should be able to finish the shortened 1.2km course. 

 

The problem we as organisers are faced with these days is new athletes attending events who are not competent in sea swimming and can just make a 1.9km swim in a pool.  Our safety team and I are of the opinion that competitors need to be able to swim in the sea competently , not only in perfect conditions like we had in 2017, but in other moderate conditions as well. We obviously don't know how everyone can swim and hence we allowed competitors to decide and to pull out of the Swim in Sunday but to still compete the Bike and run. The risk therefore falls onto the competitors, as only they know their ability in the sea. We are not for one moment saying we will send it out in dangerous conditions, but we have to consider the type of event and the average athlete competing. 

 

In regard to other comments re the TinMan Series and the Surf conditons at Suncoast beach, we have only cancelled 6 swim events there in 16 years. So that is 7 events out of approx 40 events held at the same venue (Suncoast) Yes it is a risk of the swim being cancelled, but not more so than having an accident or injuring yourself while training. 

 

We had 3 backup swim plans for Sunday, however unusually the surf actually got worse the further down you went to Ushaka. The only other suitable place to swim would have been on the right of Uhaka pier , by Vetchies Pier and we will be looking into this as a possible option. However moving this, brings up numerous other problems for the bike / transition etc. While yes 70.3 have done this, they also charge 50% more an entry and have 3000 competitors to our 300. 

 

We welcome further feedback on the Ultra Series, as we can always improve.

 

Thank you for the support and feedback. 

 

B-Active Sports Team. 

[amr63]

Thanks UltraTriSA for engaging on this forum and for the the constructive & transparent response. I for one appreciate the events you host and the challenges you face in doing so. We also take for granted when things go well and are disappointed when they don’t, for whatever reason, and look for ways to do things better. Your reply shows that you share those sentiments. Let’s keep doing it better, together.

[Chris_]

I'm glad we got we got to swim.

 

I remember a few years ago when Ironman cancelled their Durban swim and I stood on the beach moaning like a stuck pig. (and the event thereafter was a dogshow)

 

There's only one way to learn...

[EmJayZA]

Thanks for the post UltraTriSA. Welcome to the Hub.

 

I will always support the Ultra events, as I believe competition is very much needed for the tri scene in SA, especially in the longer distance events. Your entries are well priced, and I believe good value for money. However, looking at the stats, very few people made the swim. I think something like only the top 15% of the field made it? That indicates that the wrong call was made. Sure, we can all work on our open water swimming, but some of the athletes that DNF said they felt like they came out of a war zone and that they couldn't swim as they could just not get clear of the breaking waves. Most of them are not bad swimmers and can swim far longer distances. 

 

Maybe it would have been better to err on the side of caution, instead of deciding that the swim conditions were good enough for strong sea swimmers. The people inland very rarely get to do a sea swim, and probably have never experienced rough conditions or been in a situation that could induce panic. 

 

Anyway, hoping to get to the Durban event next year. I have no doubt the B-Active team will implement changes from the lessons learnt. Onwards and upwards. 

[UltraTriSA]

Thanks guys, I appreicate the quick and open feedback. 

 

I won't lie, I was concerned when the Safety officials made the call for the Ultra guys to swim. However I have to listen to my safety team first and formost. I can't pick and choose as to what I want to listen to and what not to listen to. Yes it possibly was a questionable call, but they felt that the danger was not a big concern. My Water safety team are there to advise and make the call and they are the professionals. They are the same ones to call off the 70.3 swim 3 years ago. 

 

From the lifeguard report, we had 72 competitors leave the swim course without completing it, some returning with lifeguards and others on their own. I know if we had cancelled the swim we would have had allot more grumpy athletes. However with less risk of no swim! Anyway, as mentioned, the call was made by the professionals we have there to make the call. Im not passing the buck, but mearly stating the process we have inplace as to who decides what in these situations. 

 

Luckily the next 3 events are all in Dams, so we hope to see you there without rough water conditions and hopefully less heat! 

 

Thanks again

 

B-Active Sports Team