Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for the feedback. The signage back into transition should have been in place so I apologize if it wasn't.
Brian
Jennifer Place wrote:
Thank you for the feedback. The signage back into transition should have been in place so I apologize if it wasn't.
Brian
Jennifer Place wrote:
Hi,
I was a competitor at the Harryman Olympic race this weekend. I'm hoping the feedback I give you here will be taken into consideration for future events.
I chose Harryman as my first race back after an injury put me out of competition for half of last season. As such, this race meant a lot to me. Also, given that my last triathlon was in June 2009, I needed a good benchmark for my fitness level and Harryman was to be that marker.
Racing a bike course that has absolutely no mile markers sort of feels like a cruel joke and is very difficult. As athletes yourselves, you shouldn't need someone to point this out to you. What wasn't funny was that at the end of the 21 miles, I had no idea how far I had rode and, with no signs clearly pointing me back to transition, I quickly tried to get the attention of someone, anyone, standing at that intersection to tell me which way to go. Nobody seemed to be able to do that, so I kept going straight. At this moment, I was the lead female. Now, I was forced to descend and climb that long hill a second time and wait until I got back to the top where I could cut safely across the road and head to transition.
My spirits were completely deflated; to say I was angry is an understatement. I continued to race anyway and finished second, knowing that the winner finished only two minutes ahead of me. I'm still shaking my head over how easy it would have been to add a few signs along the way. I know I wasn't the only person who was confused out there, so I hope you take this as an opportunity to improve what could be a great race.
Sincerely, Jennifer Place
4 comments:
Heartfelt, right? Hey - at least you biked closer to the distance on the award than everyone else did!
Haha. Hi Lauren! Yeah, I could see him shrug his shoulders right through the e-mail. I thought they may offer me an invitation back next year, but I didn't even get a sincere apology. I had to laugh when I saw the distance on the award, too. Yeah, I guess you're right.
I hope you're doing well and your husband's road rash is healing quickly.
Jenn,
Even as a spectator, the race was very horribly organized. I was standing with a group of spectators at the turn to transition when you went by.
What's interesting...is when you went by, not only were you the first female, but you were the first......overall...for Oympic.
I was eagerly awaiting the first male from the Olympic to come through, and then we saw you go through....I'm guessing that's why when you asked which way to go, everyone assumed you were doing the HIM, and told you to keep going.
After you went by the turn...it was minutes....before the first Olympic male even came through, then we saw you coming up the middle/cutthrough road.
Probably not something you want to hear, but, is it possible you mistakenly took a sooner turnaround the first time around?
I know it was REALLY poorly marked.
Hi Joe,
Wow, that's funny you remember me. I don't recall any other point on the course where I could have made a wrong turn. I just took another look at the map and course description and I don't think it was possible. Of course, I chose to not wear my Garmin watch, so I had no clue where I was on the course or how fast I was moving.
I passed a lot of guys, but I had no idea who was HIM and who was Olympic. What a confusing race.
You guys must have been wondering WTF when I came back around. I seriously thought I was out of the race by then, but when I got back to transition and saw so few bikes, I regrouped and figured I must still be in the race after all.
Thanks for your comment and for offering your perspective. No matter what, it was a good day of racing and I got to meet some really cool people, too.
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