Columbia Downtown Triathlon - Triathlon

Weakest event. I'm glad I stayed back. I had to do backstroke almost the entire race. I just wasn't ready. I have been practicing in a 25-yard pool & I don't do flip turns, so the difference between lap "breaks" in a 25-yard to 50-m pool is significant. (For me)

Get more practice in the 50m pool.

I was slightly confused as to where to mount and had to re-asses which slowed me down a little.

I need to practice a running mount with shoes already clipped in.

Coming out of T1 into a hill was brutal. Most of my training has been done on a flat bike path. The hills murdered me. I was one of the strugglers the other commenter was referring to, but beginners have to be in triathlons too.
(Race course was not 10 miles - according to my GPS, it was approx. 9.57 miles)

I need much more practice on elevation changes so that I don't lose speed/power in the bike.

I was zonked after the ride, so I must admit I rested a little in t2.

I need to be more focused on my transitions to be more efficient. I also need to be more organized so that my transition area isn't a mess and I can find everything that I need quickly.

Felt pretty good coming out of T2. I started out at a less than 8 minute/mile pace, but slowed after the elevation increase.
(Run course was also not 5k according to my GPS, it was closer to 2.78 miles) This looks good for my "time" but I know that it wasn't correct.

The race volunteers were less than helpful for the most part. The biggest complain is by far the lack of restroom facilities. Many people travel from out of town for races, and you expect to have a bathroom (at least a port o john) available to you.
The man who opened up the PE center was less than helpful, and was actually smug and condescending when asking where things were. It was like he couldn't believe that we didn't know our way around the PE center and he kept referring to signs that didn't exist. He was "friendly" when you walked in, when he greeted you, but woe to you if you asked him any questions. I don't know who he is, but he should not be in a position to help people.
Additionally, the volunteers on the run course just stood there. There were portions of the run that were not fully marked and the volunteer just stared at you until you asked which way to go.
The police presence was wonderful, but the volunteers were not helpful at all. In packet pickup, most volunteers were woefully unaware of where things like body marking were going to occur.
In the future, if the packet pickup is at 715, the "facilities" should be open at that time. Also, if parking is not available adjacent to the race site, a clearly drawn map should be available for out-of-town participants.
Additionally, sticking to the swim order would have made this infinitely more efficient. I hung back on purpose, but it was quite obvious that some people should have done the same as I saw instances of 2 & 3 people overtaking slower swimmers.
The race ended up going well, but the volunteers were not properly informed of all of the race details and many were unfriendly or scoffed at you if you dared to ask them a question. I don't understand why you would volunteer to help if you didn't actually have an interest in helping people.
I created an account on this site specifically for the purpose of giving this feedback as my 2 biggest complaints were the bathrooms being unavailable and the bike/run courses not being the published length.
(Also would it be too much to ask for additional race "swag" for completing a SCTS event? It would be nice if there was a finisher item, in addition to the registration tee, and the AG winner should definitely get a better price than a hat).