Back of the pack gripe!

what?? Tell you to speed up?? You must be thinking of a different website......

What happened to you today was unconscionable. If it were me, the problem I would have is not knowing who to be more mad at! First, the RD should have waited for everyone to finish before handing out awards. And second, why didn't your own TEAMMATES speak up?! With support like that, who needs a team anyhow?

I guess I'd start by writing to the RD and informing him of what took place today. He may not even be aware of the situation, but that doesn't make it right. Then I'd also address the team. There are some teams out there that are elitist, snobby, and could not give a rats a** about anyone except the top finishers. If this team is that way then you are better off without them anyhow. If not, then they need to know how you feel about what happened today.

I am so sorry you had a miserable experience today. Don't let this stop you from competing again. Most races I've been to are very warm and encouraging and I've never heard of this happening to anyone before. Congrats to you for finishing under what must have been a trying situation.


Ellen

Hi Frustrated,
I too would never tell you to speed up!
I agree that maybe you should write your RD and ask if he/she could move the awards ceremony back a few minutes.... but for the sake of playing devils advocate.
I don't know what your time was or how long after the top age groupers finished the awards started. But you have to think that the awards are for the people who finished in the top 3 or whatever. I know here we have people (depending on the length of the race) finishing hours after the pros and elite. If they held off on the awards until after everybody finished, that wouldn't be fair to the people who finished 2 hours earlier. there is only so much to do at the post race expo and nobody except the pro's and elite would stick around.
I don't want to come off as a jerk because it has happened to me. In one race they were announcing the winners (who were already in street clothes) before I even started my 2.5 hour run. I would have liked to see everything and even buy a finishers shirt (which was all sold out), but I understood that they shouldn't have to wait for me for their award.
Again, talk to the RD, they might not even be aware of the problem.
Sorry for the excesive use of ()'s
Take care
Tom

I would never ever ever tell you to speed up either! How dispiriting for you. Please stick with it and don't let the bad taste in your mouth ruin things for you! Too many of us are out here pulling for each other.

I can't agree with Tom though (sorry Tom!). If the more "elite" among racers don't want to stick around and wait for us "newbies" to finish, they should stick to races with a set minimum time for each leg. Athletic competition is a wonderful thing and all, but so are camaraderie and spirit of sport.

Cindy

I think you should be writing some letters...

THanks everyone. I did it in 3:30. My husband did the NYC tri in 3:05 and did this tri in 3:30. It a very tough course.
Some members of my team waited around and some I saw driving away.

How about having a "party" or more festive atmosphere to help with the wait for the back of the pack-ers? I totally understand the elite not wanting towait around, but if you make the event fun enough then it won't seem like a wait.

I'm not discouraged, just need to let this one go. I guess I was spoiled by a small tri that I did where they waited for everyone to present the awards and raffle.
Thanks! ;-)

Last year at a race there was a vehicle driving behind me picking up the cones on the run!  That's ok! I know deep down inside that you didn't do the race to make it to the post race activities, you did it for yourself!  Keep up the good work!

I understand how you feel. I did it as well and finished 3h22m. I actually used the people leaving as motivation to get faster for the next race, and then I started to laugh at how slow I was. Almost everyone who was leaving still yelled words of encouragement at me which I appreciated. I also understand that many of these people do a lot of tris and lead busy lives, and look to get home after the race. So yes, it is discouraging to see people leaving, but I guess that is part of the deal.

This happened to me over the weekend. Sure, I was slow (my first!), but as I was on mile two of the run, I heard names and rankings being called out. By the time I got to the end, the bike racking area was nearly empty, and although the cheers were loud, there weren't many people there. A little sad and discouraging, but remember, you're doing this for YOU!! You finish when you finish (at least you finished!!).