Kemah Triathlon. Official Thread (Page 8)

Sounds like a good race all around, sorry I had to miss it.

Are you guys still looking at doing your own timing?  Any chance of real time updates if you do?

Thanks for keeping all the racers safe out there.

Great race. I don't always agree with everything Aaron does, but the improvements he makes from race to race are substantial and appreciated. As a participant, I felt that race mgmt had me prepared, protected, and valued. Course layout, event staff, volunteers, food, beer: all were top-notch. Police presence on the bike course was probably the best I've ever seen. The cold water and ice bags at the finish were great. The 2 things I was most apprehensive about going in were Sprint/Oly congestion on the bike course and the disposable chip strap. Neither was an issue for me.

The swim conditions were challenging but fun, and met my expectations. I heard Sprint racers complaining. They had to swim out into the waves, then across, before coming back. We had "following seas" the whole time, which is pretty much gravy. Only real complaint is the no-slip surface on the boat deck cut toes on both my feet when I jumped off. It stung a little for the first few minutes of the swim, then I forgot about it until T1. Ouch.

In my wave/place in the pack, I didn't notice much bike congestion. Yes I had to time passes and yes there was some three-wide passing, but as long as I paid attention there was not a problem. BTW I'm pretty sure the results added exactly 1 min to my bike split. I heard several other racers had the same. It's not an issue if everyone gets it. Just a curious thing.

On the chip strap: Had a club member lose his chip on the swim, so I know how awful that must feel, but I was impressed w/how well my chip strap held.

Thanks to Aaron, staff, and volunteers for another great race!

eztoregister.com

Hey man.  I have no issues with Run Wild.  Somehow between the time I left Kemah and the time the results went up I dropped a minute off my time and jumped a place in my AG.  LOL.

That was an awesome race; it really challenged me on several fronts.  First off, jumping into the choppy bay water off "The Colonel" paddle boat 0.93-miles away from land was a great shot of adrenaline - which is something I like.  There was no "warm-up" or acclimation period.  It was "jump in the water and start swimming before someone else jumps on your a$$."  Not 100-meters into the swim I went into "freak-out" mode.  I started to hyperventilate, and briefly panicked before I calmed myself down by thinking to myself "come on sally boy...you can get through this just relax and enjoy the moment."  It was a tough swim.  The water was very choppy and I had to calm myself down a few more times.  When I'd get into a nice little rhythm some wave would come through and crush the dream.  After less than forty minutes I finally made it to shore. It was tough, at least for me but this is why i started doing triathlons less than a year ago.

The wind was also relatively brutal. Outbound down hwy 146 the fighting was tough.  Riders were bunched up, drafting and unable to pass.  The refs came by and were just writing penalties left and right.  I kept up a hard pace, passing people and I was only averaging about 14-mph out bound.  Finally making a right on 197 in Texas City we got a little reprieve from the wind.  Once we were back on hwy-146 heading northeast the wind was to our rear.  It was great, and my return trip average speed was about 24-mph.  There were three different bike wrecks on the return trip, although i don't think they were too serious.  The right turn towards the dismount area came up fast.  Other riders were slamming on their breaks.  Even the crowd was telling us to slow down.  The bike was slower than I'd wished, average speed overall was just just over 18-mph.

The run was great, as were the crowds.  Personally my run suffered because the swim and bike kicked my butt.  I finished the run in just over 53-minutes for a three hour race time.  While I was disappointed at a few things, I was very pleased overall.  The race, my first Oly, was a challenge which is what i like.  

Great job Arron.

QUESTION: Was the swim longer than "advertised"? I overheard a lot of discussion after the race that the drop point for the swimmers (OLY) was supposed to be the 2nd brown/orange bouy. Which would have measured the 1500m and solve the issue from last year. I counted about 200m out from that last bouy when I jumped in the ocean (awesome experience IMO). There were, from boat to coast, two different colored bouys followed by 8 yellow bouys.

Thoughts? Comments?

Not sure on this. IF it was it's only because the winds were about 15-20mph when we got out there. I do know that had the unload taken longer the captain would have stopped it for a little bit due to the fact the anchor was not holding. Tough stuff.

Hey Aaron,

Some of my time is missing (T1 specifically) - is there a way to make sure it gets added back?

Thanks,

twomarks

https://secure.eztoregister.com/results/default.aspx?event=11884

Despite the tough conditions, I really liked the race again.  Pretty much the best I've done from start to finish.  

Aaron, I mentioned this to you Sunday, and will send you an email as well, and this is clearly not your fault, but:

If anyone hears through the grapevine that someone accidentally picked up the wrong bag in transition, it's probably mine.  It's a black/gray TYR transition bag (the huge one) with a bunch of men's clothes, running shoes, etc.  It was against the fence near the pro/elite racks.  I'd love to have it back!!  Not looking forward to re-buying everything 

2013 Race Date:  Sprint - Saturday, April 27, 2013    Olympic - Sunday, April 28, 2013   Hurry and book your hotel/B&B, Holiday Inn is already sold out!

www.Onurmark.net