New St Louis Triathlon

I got in before the price jump as well. Pretty much impossible to pass up a race that is less than 5 miles from my house. It will be my first Olympic, although I did do Border Wars in '14 and trained almost exclusively out of Creve Coeur Park.

I was going to do this (short course) as my first since this is the area where 95% of all my training is.....but found out have to be at a wedding in CO the same weekend....oh well...

Did you do any of your swim training there? I think I remember seeing signs that swimming isn't allowed?

If I am right that they don't normally allow swimming there, does anyone know why not?

I saw the videos on the St Louis Tri web site where the RD drinks a bunch of the water to prove it is safe and clean but part of me still wonders...

It's true that they do not allow swimming in the lake. I'm not certain what the exact reason is, but I can venture a few guesses:

The north end of the lake (where the swim will be) has a boat ramp that small sailboats can use. There are also ramps on the eastern and western rims. The southern end of the main lake (kind of where the run turn-around is) has a rental shack where you can get kayaks, SUPs, canoes, windsurfers, etc. They also have crew teams that practice there, again based out of the northern end of the lake. With all of the water traffic that exists there on a typical day (at all times of the day), swimming would be very dangerous.

Lastly, there is no lifeguard anywhere on duty nor any sort of first aid whatsoever near the lake. The Robertson Fire Station out near Riverport/Hollywood Casino is equipped for water rescues, but they are focused on boating accidents since swimmers aren't allowed.

I had much larger concerns about the river swim for Border Wars than I do about the water at CCL.

Edited by CycloneVM 2016-01-07 12:06 PM

I swam in CCL in the 70's almost daily........never had any ill effects and I'm sure it's cleaner now then it was then, when algae blooms from farm fertilizer runoff were a constant.  For that matter, it just got a complete flushing during the flood.  I'd swim in that lake without a single worry.

Edited by Left Brain 2016-01-07 3:56 PM

Good to know the lake is clean enough.
Thanks!

I'm in for this one.
I'm assuming it's the same folks who were behind the race that might have become the branded HIM. I guess they prefer to protect their brand selling a license (?) to an established race. In case people go away grumbling about the IM brand....and if they get it all running smooth before it's branded, then they can count on the licensing income for years to come..

The only...potential kink I can see in this....is the run. That trail's good and wide and I know they regularly have fun runs and such there...I've been "in them" without being IN THEM. I run those trails while my kids are at lacrosse practice. But, when I did the Hy-Vee (granted it was cut from an Olympic to a Sprint), the run was on a trail. And coming out of transition....you had trees on one side and snow fence on the other. And it was TIGHT for about maybe a quarter of a mile. I mean PACKED. Elbow to elbow. Fortunately, there's was nobody on their way back yet. They would not have been able to get through.

This path is pretty wide. It looks like transition will be up there....I'm guessing in the field between the boathouse (the real one, not the restaurant) and the parking area....where the snow cone place is. It's definitely wider there, until you get towards the bridges.

Not too terribly worried about the water. I'm sure it's not great, but probably no worse than a ton of stuff I've probably been swimming in over my lifetime. I'm more worried about all us swimmers churning up the Asian carp. I might wear a football helmet. Although, the quick heatup in water temp last year killed a bunch of them off.


Edited by jhaack39 2016-02-17 10:36 AM

I just looked at the DNR website.
Looks like the creek that runs off to (or from?) the south end of the lake has 'issues'.
If you can call it a creek. I don't see a ton of water in it regularly. It's mostly from urban runoff and there's a lot of concrete there around where it goes under 141.
The lake itself isn't on the list to be "listed".

The carp bother me more. 'Cause I hate them. In my mind, they're just mini sharks. I know...they don't bite. But I have that irrational fear of sharks. Put me in anything bigger than a hot tub and if someone hums a few bars from that movie, my head's on a swivel.

I always thought the swimming had to do with lifeguards/safety. The fact that it's a county park, but Maryland Heights is the closest EMS/fire. I was there once when some folks were having trouble in a canoe. I was taking my shoes off and getting ready to go in when the fire department pulled up with a boat. From backchannels (and this may be TOTALLY wrong and heresay), Maryland Heights fire ends up having to take on (what's no doubt a more expensive/training/equipment level) to deal with water safety. And if you added unattended swimming to that, they could be out there every other day.

Edited by jhaack39 2016-02-17 10:40 AM

You are correct - the path is pretty wide but given the number of mindless walkers that are there all of the time, it could become an issue for the faster folks I guess. I'm not sure what the race capacity is set at, but I wouldn't think that it would reach a level where there wouldn't be room on the trail for everyone. Luckily we aren't doing the leg that is on the East side of the lake between the boat house and the rent-a-shack - that always seems to be the worst for mindless traffic. Plus, if you are doing the Olympic distance, the "middle half" of the run will be less populated as the sprint folks won't be on that part of the course at all. I may ask the RD at tonight's meeting about capacity and thoughts on "other" traffic on the trails during the race.

The RD came and talked last month at the STL Tri Club meeting and said that the heat last year killed off ALL the Asian carp. He has a bit about it on the website at http://stlouistriathlon.com/timeline/excellent-water-qualitywhere the Dept of Conservation put their $0.02 on it. I agree, though, if those fish were still in there then I'd be anxious about swimming as well - anyone that goes to CCP has probably seen the video of them "attacking" the crew teams out there.

I still think it is the Robertson FPD that takes care of the lake. I say this because I took my kindergartner there for a tour last year and they were talking all about the water rescue aspect of that station vs. a typical station in STL. That station is off 141 by Riverport and would be pretty quick access to the water without having to weave through traffic coming down Marine Road like you'd have to from the station that is up on Dorsett.

Never seen the videos...I'll have to look that up. I'm up for a giggle.
Thanks for the info on Robertson. I had to look them up. I know we have a crudton of municipalities in this town, but I would have thought I'd at least recognize them. I guess it's not now (maybe never was) incorporated. Basically just hired guns. I would assume then, the County must have to pay them for coverage in the park? This county can be a real mess.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......I just found the videos.
I laughed for a second.
Then soiled myself.

Ahhhh.....they got in in previous flooding.
Many were killed last year.
Of course, it flooded again this year.

I PROMISE you that there are again large numbers of Asian carp in that lake after the flood.......no way around it.   I hunt at a duck club up in the St. Charles bottoms.....when it floods there are always THOUSANDS (maybe 10's of thousands) of asian carp leftover when the fields are drained back down.  When the water gets to about 10 inches deep they look like paranha in there.

 

Edited by Left Brain 2016-02-17 6:25 PM

Yeah I'm a transplant but the way this place is organized is pretty insane (and immensely cost inefficient). They have another station between BMAC park and the Rock Rd, so I really have no clue how large their jurisdiction is. Heck there's a station on the Rock Rd between I-70 and Fee Fee that may be theirs too now that I think about it.

I didn't mean for the videos to make you soil yourself - ewwww.

I'm drawing a blank - how late into the year was last year's flooding? If it was approaching fall (which I think it was) then you've got a good point that we may have a whole new batch of those dudes in the water this year. Luckily when I swim I look nothing like a boat - that matters, right? Right???

Edited by CycloneVM 2016-02-18 8:57 AM

I'm assuming the lake was effected by the flooding right before New Year's. I don't know how bad.
I just saw a couple drone videos on Youtube.
Knowing those carp, they probably made it in. And snakeheads. And probably some bull sharks and a megaladon or two.


'93 was just astounding in it's vastness, but 2015 wasn't too terribly much better. It certainly had a far greater traffic impact than '93. Didn't last as long, obviously, but some heavily populated areas were darn near marooned for a day or so.

Megalodon wins - well played!

Marine was still drivable but covered in a small amount of water. So yes, it definitely got up there.

I hope my kid's lacrosse helmet fits.

Anybody else do it?

Fast bike course for sure. No wind yesterday. Flat as a pancake except for the one bump to get over Page. Nice that they put plywood down on the train tracks, even nicer that they freakin' beveled the edges! Transition was the roomiest transition imaginable. I setup shop on an 'aisle' and felt like I had even more room....and still didn't need it. And to wind up being parked about 75 feet away from where my bike was in transition? That's about as good as it gets. And I did not get there super early. Not 'late' either. I was in and ready to go before they delayed by the 15 minutes or so.

Shady run. A little odd dodging a stroller here and there. It wasn't 'too' crowded, even with the casual park visitors....at least not when I was out there.

Swim....water was fine for most I'm sure. 66-68 depending on who you talked to. I don't like it cold, but it was OK enough for me. Between that, and the fact that I was in a large wave that did not self select very well (myself included)....made the most frustrating swim I've had yet. I still don't know where I sit these days as I'm such a better swimmer than before. I was kind of behind a wall for the first 150-200 meters. Which, in the end wasn't that big of a deal because it took me 500 meters to "settle in". It's the colder water that does it to me. I don't breathe right and can't find my best rhythm. I know my bike went better than usual, my run went about as good as I'd expect or usually could do after a decent length ride. Swim? No clue. I don't have a good enough watch and they haven't posted results anywhere.

There's a lot I'm sure they learned. Despite some pretty significant curveballs they got (a fire in the casino the night before) and some other unknowables they maybe could have prepared for a little better....I'm guessing that went pretty good for a first time race in a first time location with 850+ racers doing a sprint, Olympic, and Exterra. I can't imagine with the detail they put into things like transition, and beveled plywood that they'd not take some of those bumps and capitalize on them and prepare for them.

Lest anyone think they were "big" issues. They weren't. Grand scheme, minor annoyances. And not experienced by all. And further, I would be SHOCKED if they didn't make adjustments. As I noted, the detail they paid to some things would lead me to believe they will just get better and better.




EDIT:
I see they sent an email on Friday with all sorts of details....that had I checked my email....the two biggest questions I had would have been answered without me having to find out or ask someone. So, there ya go. Details. These folks understand them.

Great job Race Director!

Edited by jhaack39 2016-05-23 9:28 AM

Agree - great race!

Swim was definitely the most challenging part for me. I should not have started at the back of my wave - my fault for making the start worse than it should have been. But then when we got to the part where we merged with the sprint swimmers - that was really crowded. Might not have been a problem for earlier waves but definitely was for us old guys they made start last. It would be nice if some sort of adjustment could be made there.

Loved: great parking; all the room in the transition area; flat course; shaded run; lots of room on the roads for the bikes; my pint glass!

Extremely well organized for a first year event. Looking forward to doing it again next year!

Results were out there yesterday.
http://www.bigriverrunning.com/race/results/
I see the results don't show right now... must be having some sort of glitch but I'm sure they will be back up soon.

I'm a better swimmer than I think, but a lot has changed for me in the last year. Ranking 90 out of 435 is testament to what getting in the pool 2-3 times a week and paying attention to what's going on there can do for you. I'd say I usually averaged in the 60th percentile for age group alone in swimming. I just didn't realize how much better I was. I should have been up a little further, but I was almost the last one in to the holding pen. And, for some reason, they had me in the wrong wave. All those young bucks in the 40-44....it was a bigger wave than if I'd been in with gentlemen my own age....45+

I figured I'd go pretty wide at the turn and not be afraid to drift eastward since the finish was pretty far to the east. Which didn't happen. I found myself almost inside the triangle not too much past the turn. After that, I made a conscious effort to keep angling to the right and got pretty far from the buoys and 'met up' with them a bit towards the end as the triangle widened. This kept me pretty far away from where the sprinters were turning to join the last leg.