Act Acting » Acting Courses » Chattanoga Dam Triathlon

Chattanoga Dam Triathlon

Question:

Terry of Ga Tech spewed forth: It’s only a small local race, not an IM qualifier.. Stop acting like a 4 year old and get over it. Truth be known there’s plenty of time to pick up your race packet morning of the race and take your run gear to T2 before the start. I’ve done it many times in Chattanooga. It is a race, and what used to be a good one. I go to race. I have seen small, dinky, little ones run better than this years Dam Tri. Since they do not post race numbers prior to the event, you have to do a morning packet p/u at T1, before you can drop equipment, if you choose not to drive up the night before. They only began that 1 hour before race start this year. Time you wait in line and get your stuff, there is not time to get to T2, drop stuff, and get back to T1 setup stuff and be on time for start. I have done race before, and seemed to have had time to do that before. This year was different, or so it seemed. I firmly believe in problems with races being discussed. Dangerous courses should be brought to everyones attention. That is how problems are corrected. If nobody says anything, problems do not go away. I would hope this does not happen to anybody else again at that race. I hope they make changes to bike course. I am sure it will not happen to me again at that race! Also people have emailed me wanting to know what happens with race director, and how this all turns out. They are interested because they have to decide if they want to do the race in the future. Funny we live in the same city, and I have never, ever heard of you. I know most good triathletes here. Are you carrying a resentment? You seem to take this personally for some reason? Got a problem you need to discuss? Hope you feel better later in the day. Tim —- Posted on http://www.etin.com – the FREE public USENET portal on the Web Complete SEARCHING, BROWSING, and POSTING of text and BINARY messages!

Response:

It’s only a small local race, not an IM qualifier.. Stop acting like a 4 year old and get over it. Truth be known there’s plenty of time to pick up your race packet morning of the race and take your run gear to T2 before the start. I’ve done it many times in Chattanooga. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Mike Madzin spewed forth: <snip misinformation Yes I was quite upset! As I should have been. I did not at any time yell AT any volunteer, although I was yelling. They were also upset, and seemed to be trying to do all they could. I had just posted the 6th fastest bike split of the day, not bad for a 38 year old, and was feeling ready to run. I was having a great race. It ended quickly. I was screaming for my bags. I did not know if they were there and not put out or what. I wanted to find them and try to salvage my race. I ran yelling to where they had piles of bags, many  marked and not put out. I did not realize that my stuff was in a different truck, which was meandering through town. We were going through the stuff. I kicked a trash can a few times. After my HR went down I talked with several of the volunteers. They were nice, and understood my frustrations. This was a very upsetting thing in the middle of a race. Emotions are part of my race! The only one who seemed to have hard feelings was the lady who had been one of the ones misinforming us about the T2 stuff. I also was mad because I almost was run into a van parked in the center turn in front of the bottle drop (Dangerous and stupid!)- I had to swing all the over into the oncoming lane to avoid a head-on, which I was lucky did not cause another. I was almost forced into a highway lane on a very dangerous bike course. I also had to dodge numerous bottles around all the RR tracks. I was not thrilled with the bike portion of the race. If the lead vehicle is going to turn off, the racers shoud be notified of that. Anything that deviates from standard procedure, like a 2 stage transition, needs to be covered and addressed. I have never seen a race where the lead biker was not supposed to follow the lead vehicle. And it would have been nice if somebody had waved him off and pointed him in the correct direction. According to him they did not. I like Chattanooga, visit there often. I like the Aquarium. I like the people, and I really like the people who volunteer for the race, they were all very nice, with one exception mentioned above. The race director did a horrible job, I feel. I have done that race before, and was much more impressed. "Ignorance is no excuse", and you should research before you post. I really do not care what YOU think I should do, I will do as I feel. I do not feel like I will do such a poorly run race again. Nor would I want to do a race where I feel I am in danger! Triathlon should be a fun sport, not a life and death adventure. And that is a shame because between the people, the great run course and the nice swim it has potential to be a great race. I do hope you never have a good race shut down as quickly as I did in Chattanooga. Tim —- Posted on http://www.etin.com – the FREE public USENET portal on the Web Complete SEARCHING, BROWSING, and POSTING of text and BINARY messages!

Response:

Mike Madzin spewed forth: <snip misinformation Yes I was quite upset! As I should have been. I did not at any time yell AT any volunteer, although I was yelling. They were also upset, and seemed to be trying to do all they could. I had just posted the 6th fastest bike split of the day, not bad for a 38 year old, and was feeling ready to run. I was having a great race. It ended quickly. I was screaming for my bags. I did not know if they were there and not put out or what. I wanted to find them and try to salvage my race. I ran yelling to where they had piles of bags, many  marked and not put out. I did not realize that my stuff was in a different truck, which was meandering through town. We were going through the stuff. I kicked a trash can a few times. After my HR went down I talked with several of the volunteers. They were nice, and understood my frustrations. This was a very upsetting thing in the middle of a race. Emotions are part of my race! The only one who seemed to have hard feelings was the lady who had been one of the ones misinforming us about the T2 stuff. I also was mad because I almost was run into a van parked in the center turn in front of the bottle drop (Dangerous and stupid!)- I had to swing all the over into the oncoming lane to avoid a head-on, which I was lucky did not cause another. I was almost forced into a highway lane on a very dangerous bike course. I also had to dodge numerous bottles around all the RR tracks. I was not thrilled with the bike portion of the race. If the lead vehicle is going to turn off, the racers shoud be notified of that. Anything that deviates from standard procedure, like a 2 stage transition, needs to be covered and addressed. I have never seen a race where the lead biker was not supposed to follow the lead vehicle. And it would have been nice if somebody had waved him off and pointed him in the correct direction. According to him they did not. I like Chattanooga, visit there often. I like the Aquarium. I like the people, and I really like the people who volunteer for the race, they were all very nice, with one exception mentioned above. The race director did a horrible job, I feel. I have done that race before, and was much more impressed. "Ignorance is no excuse", and you should research before you post. I really do not care what YOU think I should do, I will do as I feel. I do not feel like I will do such a poorly run race again. Nor would I want to do a race where I feel I am in danger! Triathlon should be a fun sport, not a life and death adventure. And that is a shame because between the people, the great run course and the nice swim it has potential to be a great race. I do hope you never have a good race shut down as quickly as I did in Chattanooga. Tim —- Posted on http://www.etin.com – the FREE public USENET portal on the Web Complete SEARCHING, BROWSING, and POSTING of text and BINARY messages!

Response:

As for the motorcycle leading the biker off the course, you even said it yourself, the course was dangerous.  This is precisely why the volunteer on the motorcycle was instructed only to make one loop and then cut off the course.  Can you imagine riding a motorcycle through all the bikers on the second loop?  Anyway, the racer should have known it was a two loop course. I happen to know the volunteer on the motorcycle, a fellow triathlete.  He followed specific instructions from the race director.  After the motorcycle, he also went and volunteered at one of the water stops.  He’s not the one to blame, in fact he should be thanked for giving up his time to help with the race.  Ignorance is no excuse. The incident regarding your shoes is unfortunate.  You should demand a refund from the race director.  Your shoes should have been there.  However, from the recounts of the spectators who saw the incident, you made quite a spectacle when your shoes were not there.  I understand you were upset, but cursing and creating a scene was definitely not the right approach.  There definitely is a better and more mature way to conduct yourself.  Your an adult, and should act accordingly.  I spoke with many volunteers and fans after the race and all they talked about was this "screaming maniac" who could not find his shoes.  Better off that you don’t come to the race again, because the good people/volunteers of Chattanooga don’t deserve this kind of behavior.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!! Two stage transition. They do not post race rumbers on the web, so if you pick up your race packet the morning of the race at the first transition, you really can’t run to the second transition to drop you T2 stuff of- they only start packet p/u 1 hour before the start of the race. Supposedly, they will take a bag over and drop it at your numbered bike rack while you are riding. (They also p/u anything left and drive it over) Me and a bunch of people were asking volunteers where to put these bags, they were saying leave it by your bike with the other stuff. We asked more people, vague answers along the same line. Finally said, "Okay" and did just that. How many people see where this is heading? I beat my T2 bag by about 10 minutes. Of course my race was over, hard to get on the podium with a 10-12 minute transition. The volunteers were real nice, and felt bad, and it certainly was not their fault, but man,…come of the bike flying and,…..no shoes! I was not about to risk my season running barefoot, or with somebody else’s shoes. I do not know how many other people this affected, but many bags came in the seond load with mine. I just got my stuff, told the race director who I was and to expect an email, and I left. While waiting for my shoes, I met the leader on the bike. He was a bit upset The lead car lead him right off the course and out of the race. (And some pin-head is about to say, "you have to know the course"- but when you go to a race you expect and should recieve and well marked course, volunteers who know the course, and certainly a lead vehicle that knows the course.) This race has a great swim, a great run, andsome great hardworking volunteers, but they need to work out a few kinks. The new bike course was very dangerous in my opinion! Thin lanes on highways, rough pavement on the thin lanes and exit ramps, and many railroad crossing that were very rough. One in particular had about 20-30 bottle scattered across the road after it. There was a cycle computer there also, but after I ran over it, I doubt it will work. Curious to hear if anybody else was affected, and what they thoght of the bike course. Tim

Response:

AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!! Two stage transition. They do not post race rumbers on the web, so if you pick up your race packet the morning of the race at the first transition, you really can’t run to the second transition to drop you T2 stuff of- they only start packet p/u 1 hour before the start of the race. Supposedly, they will take a bag over and drop it at your numbered bike rack while you are riding. (They also p/u anything left and drive it over) Me and a bunch of people were asking volunteers where to put these bags, they were saying leave it by your bike with the other stuff. We asked more people, vague answers along the same line. Finally said, "Okay" and did just that. How many people see where this is heading? I beat my T2 bag by about 10 minutes. Of course my race was over, hard to get on the podium with a 10-12 minute transition. The volunteers were real nice, and felt bad, and it certainly was not their fault, but man,…come of the bike flying and,…..no shoes! I was not about to risk my season running barefoot, or with somebody else’s shoes. I do not know how many other people this affected, but many bags came in the seond load with mine. I just got my stuff, told the race director who I was and to expect an email, and I left. While waiting for my shoes, I met the leader on the bike. He was a bit upset The lead car lead him right off the course and out of the race. (And some pin-head is about to say, "you have to know the course"- but when you go to a race you expect and should recieve and well marked course, volunteers who know the course, and certainly a lead vehicle that knows the course.) This race has a great swim, a great run, andsome great hardworking volunteers, but they need to work out a few kinks. The new bike course was very dangerous in my opinion! Thin lanes on highways, rough pavement on the thin lanes and exit ramps, and many railroad crossing that were very rough. One in particular had about 20-30 bottle scattered across the road after it. There was a cycle computer there also, but after I ran over it, I doubt it will work. Curious to hear if anybody else was affected, and what they thoght of the bike course. Tim

Response:

DANG!!  I would be more than pissed if this happened to me.  I’m glad to read your account because that is one race I was planning for next year (live outside of Nashville) but I will truly reconsider now that I heard how poorly planned the transitions/equipment transfer was.  I really hate that you and others were affected.  Please let us know what the race director says in reply because I will not enter if things don’t change for next year. I value my time/money/health more than to waste it on one race that some idiot ruined because it wasn’t planned out very well. KG

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – AAAGGGGHHHHH!!!! Two stage transition. They do not post race rumbers on the web, so if you pick up your race packet the morning of the race at the first transition, you really can’t run to the second transition to drop you T2 stuff of- they only start packet p/u 1 hour before the start of the race. Supposedly, they will take a bag over and drop it at your numbered bike rack while you are riding. (They also p/u anything left and drive it over) Me and a bunch of people were asking volunteers where to put these bags, they were saying leave it by your bike with the other stuff. We asked more people, vague answers along the same line. Finally said, "Okay" and did just that. How many people see where this is heading? I beat my T2 bag by about 10 minutes. Of course my race was over, hard to get on the podium with a 10-12 minute transition. The volunteers were real nice, and felt bad, and it certainly was not their fault, but man,…come of the bike flying and,…..no shoes! I was not about to risk my season running barefoot, or with somebody else’s shoes. I do not know how many other people this affected, but many bags came in the seond load with mine. I just got my stuff, told the race director who I was and to expect an email, and I left. While waiting for my shoes, I met the leader on the bike. He was a bit upset The lead car lead him right off the course and out of the race. (And some pin-head is about to say, "you have to know the course"- but when you go to a race you expect and should recieve and well marked course, volunteers who know the course, and certainly a lead vehicle that knows the course.) This race has a great swim, a great run, andsome great hardworking volunteers, but they need to work out a few kinks. The new bike course was very dangerous in my opinion! Thin lanes on highways, rough pavement on the thin lanes and exit ramps, and many railroad crossing that were very rough. One in particular had about 20-30 bottle scattered across the road after it. There was a cycle computer there also, but after I ran over it, I doubt it will work. Curious to hear if anybody else was affected, and what they thoght of the bike course. Tim

Response:

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