Memorial Herman Town Lake Olympic (Page 2)

Aaron,
First off, thanks for the great events.  You guys really do a great job.  Most of my critiques are nitpicking (although the timing chip company did mess up the Bridgeland results badly - not really your fault).

Are the body markings really necessary or does tradition play more of a role than function?  I've read about several races that have done away with them.  The markings are useless for wetsuit legal races, the bike portion is covered by stickers on your bike and helmet and the run is covered by the bib number.

My suggestions:
- Mark the number on the swim cap.  Therefore, the wetsuit issue doesn't matter.
- I've read that people say the marking is relevant for the bike because in a major crash bikes might be tangled and helmets broken or off the rider's head.  Do like the M-Dot races and make people wear the bib in reverse.  If someone is so messed up from an accident that you cannot read any of the numbers and they can't speak, the least of the EMS crew's concern is who the person is.  That can be sorted out later after they have been given the proper medical attention.  See Jordan Rapp's accident earlier this year as an example.  He stated the EMS and hospital could've cared less about his identity and were just trying to save his life.
- Pointless on the run because of the bib.
- Still pissed that I have marker stains all over my white tri-suit.  

Granted, I haven't run jack and you've been the RD for a ton of stuff so I will more than take your word for it.  I just don't see the necessity. 

OK so I can do that actually. Only thing is a TON of racers love to see the age on the calf. So we will still have to write that on there. It's a good way to identify who is in your age group as you're passing people. Any suggestions there? I'm not above taking athletes advice....keep it coming, lets make this easy on you and on us. I was going to talk to race tats and see if they would donate temp tatoos for ages on the calves.

ditch michelob ultra and go with shiner. 

seriously man, don't stress much. you guys do a bang up job. 

Actually we can't have beer at this one at all. I know I know, booooo......
but Towne Lake has said no. Feel free to start a petition I will take it to them. 

No beer!!!!  That is an outrage!!!  I will not register under protest!!!

I would actually love to do the race but I'm doing the Syracuse 70.3 the week before and won't be back to beautiful Cypress until the 25th.  Looking forward to doing it in 2011.

Aaron, any thoughts to running a half iron race in the future? 

Okay, I will admit that I like the age on the calf so that I know who I'm passing or who is passing me.

You can keep marking my age, just get rid of the rest of it.  

Numbers on my arm. age on my calf. Good to go.

On a side note. Do I get some sort of time bonus considering I am racing the day after my birthday? You know,something like 10 minutes off my swim, 10 minutes off my bike and another 10 minutes off my run. I really would appreciate that. Thanks.

Actually I just talked this over with my wife and unless we are mistaken we only marked arms and calf. I don't know how it got on his suit. Maybe he leaned onto it? We had a meeting today on a lot of things, this small part was discussed. Funny thing is we decided to do just what you said IMFL does. Don't want to worry about someone getting hurt and not knowing who they are, period. So we're going to start asking everyone to wear their number on the bike as well. Makes it easier on the officials to spot drafters from a distance too. I will however make sure the body markers know to stay as far away from tri clothing as possible. Remember they are volunteers and even with us educating, sometimes things aren't done perfectly.

If I recall....number was also written on front of the thigh Never mind...just looked at my race pics....must have been a different race.

Edited by gdctex 2010-08-21 3:07 PM

It smeared or rubbed off onto my suit in three different places.  Before anyone asks... I was not wearing any sunscreen at all so that had nothing to do with it.  Some of the staining was on the shoulder strap area which more than likely happened when I pulled the suit down to use the bathroom after the race.

Anyway... back on topic. 

Sorry to hear about your tri suit. Those are really nice tri suits and difficult to come by.

I like this!

Now that we have body marking taken care of, how is the swim going to work?
I looked at the website and the map/diagram looks like an airport security line maze. Is this going to be a time trial start or is it waves for the OLY?

Also, with it being 2 loops (must be a really small lake), will we exit the water or turn around for loop 2 at a buoy?

Wave start. No maze....map updated, look again. Very simple. The lake is NOT small. Have you been out there? The two loops is more to 1) add something interesting and challenging 2) provide rest for those that need it 3) keep everyone close to shore incase anyone has issues (safety) 4) keeps it better for spectators 5) allows for buoys to be closer together.

As for the loops....You complete one 750 meter loop, get out, run around the shore and run back in. ITU style. When I moved to Texas 5 years ago I was shocked at the amount of short distance races when some of the lakes were big enough for two loops enabling a longer race. That's what we're doing, at least this year.

Next year more of their lake will be finished and extended with a lot of added things like a marina and amphitheater so everything will be a bit more spread out on the swim. However....I was out there kayaking yesterday and the lake is at least 6-7 feet deep throughout. I would guess it's 10 feet deep. It drops off close to shore so it should be a good time.

Never been out there - I'm from Austin but will be visiting my folks that weekend and am going to do the race.

I'm debating between the OLY or the Long Du. How many folks are doing each race and how close are you to filling them up?

Do the Triathlon : )

500 so far in the Olympic and 100 in the Duathlon. We're averaging about 10 per day with 30 days left basically. That puts us 650-700 for the Oly and 150-175 for the Duathlon come race day. I don't know if we will sell out or not. We're seeing really good numbers for a first year race but I would guess it's because of the quality/success of our other events plus the name "Houston Triathlon" helps too. I think (hope) we'll get 200-250 next week after the Clear Lake Triathlon. It's an Oly down here and I think a lot of people are doing that one as their first Oly distance. Once they see that they can do it we're hoping they all sign up for Houston.

Check out the Finisher's Medals under the awards section. If you're competitive the belt buckle is only for the Triathlon winners. Duathlon winners (overall and age group) basically get the finisher's medals but engraved on the back.

Any other questions I can answer? 

Swim sounds cool, different and I like that, should be interesting.  My husband will be so glad he gets a little break in the swim.  LOL   Any chance you can toss in a few hundred pounds of ice to keep the water cool for us?  Afterall, we won't need the ice to keep the beer cold



You passed me on my bike, I saw the OUL truck with the orange kayak in back - I was riding my bike north on Longenbaugh.

Wow small world! I would have slowed more if I could.... I did move over, didn't want that kayak to clip you as I was going by. Weird, when you have a kayak people seem the ride even closer to your car. Tons of tailgating yesterday, I would think they would want to be further from something sticking out of my truck. Maybe it's like a bull attracted to red?

Cool you were out biking the course. Can you say podium? 

I like the idea of a two loop swim course.  I'm doing IMFL in November and it's a 2 loop swim.  I like that I can get a quick drink after the first 1.2 miles. 

after looking at the updated map, how long of a run is it from swim exit to transition ?

Edited by mattpatt 2010-08-26 9:30 AM

1/4 mile. Plenty of time to get your legs under you. Gateway had the same. We should have carpet to at least the road if not all the way to transition. We didn't have a choice. The grounds around the lake can't support a transition setup this year and the college is perfect. Look at it this way, you walk less from your car in the morning.  

Way to look at the bright side   But how long is the walk AFTER the race when we are all worn out, hot and tired?
I was wondering what the plan is for the folks opting for the 300 swim.... do they go after the full distance swimmers are done?