Lake Las Vegas Triathlon : Official Thread

So just a couple of comments about this event. I have done this event three years in a row including this year. I have also participated in Sunset's other event the Showdown At Sundown also at LLV. I like the course (it is fun and challenging) and it is a great venue for first timers. That being said, I am truly disappointed with the organizers of this event. Every year there seems to be some issue - people cutting the course, last minute changes, directions not consistent with the course maps, course not well marked, etc. This year at LLV was no exception. I was first out of the water in the swim and saw every woman that passed me (only 4), so imagine my surprise when I finished and saw that there were 5 women ahead of me, 1 of whom was in my age group. I immediately said something to the timing folks who sort of half acknowledged me and then walked away. I stood at the finish line somewhat dumb founded and then realized that my complaint didn't matter. I left the event feeling completely defeated. When the photos of the event came out and the times were posted, I simply became angry at Sunset Racing. The times for the woman in my age group that supposedly took first place were missing for the bike and run. As for the swim, she was 15 minutes behind me and 7 minutes behind me in transition - just based on these times alone she would have had to run and biked at world record pace (or I would have had to fallen completely apart) for her to finish 1st in our age group yet her finishing time was 5 minutes faster. This suggests she either cut the course, the timing was wrong, or she flew - but I never saw her pass me. It is totally defeating to work hard to race, and to race with integrity, only to have the "system" fail. There were no referees at the bike turn around and it is hard to know if anyone was keeping track on the run turn. While I am not the fastest athlete out there, and I can accept if she beat me, the times alone suggest otherwise. I complained at the end of the race and nothing was done. My husband sent an email to the race organizers with no response in the last 48 hours. Needless to say, I simply want a response from Sunset - I'm not asking them to change the results, but some acknowledgement of what happened would be nice, especially when I paid $100 for this event.

So if you are thinking of doing this race in the future, enjoy the venue, have a great time and take on the challenge, but don't expect accurate results.  

My first tri was the Showdown last year, and I was truely angry and disappointed in the management of the event.  I have heard nothing but negative things with Sunset Racing, and will not waste my money on any of their events.

There are plenty of events in the Las Vegas area where my money is better spent with more satisfactory results.

But of course that is just my opinion.

I remain optimistic about my first Sprint Tri on Sept. 26th...   Hope all goes well..

OH I so {heartily} agree with Molly.   I saw some Olympics go on the SPRINT bike course at the turn around point (and one guy I know is on the relay, and I think it's impossible to avg 34mph!). It's SO easy to cheat on the bike and the run because there's no timing mat to make sure you passed it the split.  They had a timing mat at halfway point for IronGirl. Why can't they do that for Lake Las Vegas?

Not only that, but I was so dumbfounded that there was ABSOLUTELY no one manning the transitions!! The Olympics were still on the bike (slower bikers), and run course. ANYONE could have gotten in the transitions and snuck away with expensive equipments (Garmins, shoes, etc).

Plus, wth is going on with putting the T1 mat WAY after the swim?! I walked to transition because I knew that i needed to catch my breath and slow down instead of running.  Swimming? Forget it - Very easy to cheat.  I can almost promise that the course felt longer than normal...I may be totally wrong, but it felt more like 850m to 900m.

Although I PR'd in this race, but I will not do this race again. I'm disappointed.  

I'm excited to do the Las Vegas Triathlon AND the Pumpkinman. That should help me forget the issues that I had with LLV.


I was obviously not the fastest on the course, but I do try my best and just have fun. However the management of this was just not that great, so I'm disappointed with them (isn't the RD a triathlete?!)

Edited by CyborgQueen 2010-09-19 7:01 PM

I have to agree with the previous comments about the Lake Las Vegas Triathlon. This was the second year I did this race (Sprint) and third event I have done under the Sunset Racing group and agree it is a very poorly run event. The swim I agree having a timing mat a good quarter mile from the water is ridiculous. The climb out of T1 is not good for newbies who are not very good with getting clipped into pedals, you have about 10-15yds to get clipped in and then your on a hill. The turnaround for the Sprint was RIDICULOUS you had no room whatsoever to turnaround and if you came in too hot to the turnaround you were going to eat it hard. As with Showdown at Sunset in March alot of People cheated on this course or at least had potential to cheat, as there are no timing mats at the bike turnaround or at the turnaround for the run. I mean come on guys I have done many races and everyone i've been to has had timing mats at the turnarounds to prevent cheating or at least weed out the cheaters. I'll give them credit the volunteers were good and I have no complaints there and the snacks at the finish line were great. I'll be honest though if I had to do any more races in Nevada I'd stick to the Las Vegas Tri that is this Sunday and stick to Pumpkinman, Rage, Silverman then any other races head west to So Cal where the races are WAY more organized and have there stuff together. Plus $100 for a Sprint is ridiculous when all you get is a lame cotton t-shirt that will be used as cleaning rag. Come on guys if your going to be giving out swag make it something that is functional like a head sweats hat or visor or a tech t-shirt that you can actually lose. Like I said this was my third race with Sunset Racing and it will be my last one I'll take my race schedule to California where they get races done and setup the right way.