Small Short Tri, Clipless or Cages???

Aren't those short distances non-competitive events? I thought those were meant to interest people in the sport by giving them a chance to try all modalities as if in a race. In France we call them Decouverte (discovery, to find out).

Again, being such a short event you may do well with cages and save a minute or so instead of two shoe changes otherwise.

If that were true, then why bother having a post-race awards ceremony to announce the top 3 winners in each age-group?  The race directors won't have to spend any money on awards.  And we wouldn't need timing chips, so more saved money.  And since the distances are so short, we won't need post-race massages or food and drinks.  Wow!  I can see my entry fees dropping to...nothing!

I don't know about you, but if I finish in the top 5 of any sprint tri that I do, I figure I've earned bragging rights.  I don't care if it's a 200 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run - it's still an accomplishment.

In the meantime, since the clipless pedals are already on the bike, I'd just practice changing shoes.  The time differences would be negligible - you can go faster on a bike with clipless, which will compensate for the changing to running shoes (less than 10 seconds the way I figure it).