New tri event 5/5/2013 on central east coast Kennedy Space Center: Sprint+, Olympic+, HIM

I agree!  I may have to sign up for the HIM when registration opens in Sept.

I've wanted to do the SpaceCoast Marathon for a few years now.  My training partner is a Pacer this year.  But since that is usually held over Thanksgiving weekend family obligations take priority and it never seems to happen.  This Tri might help offset that!

Bill

I am brand new to the sport and in the beginning phase of getting myself back in shape and had previously set a couple of goals. One goal is to be prepared to complete a sprint by Apr 6.  This event is only 1 hour from where I live and thought it may be a good opportunity for my first go. Not knowing anything about the organizations that hold these events I would like to know if anyone familiar with USAT would or would not recommend this event for a first timer? If so or not, can you please explain why or why not and help point me the direction I should be looking. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Thank you.

Greg

The company putting on this event has had a checked past when it comes to hosting their sprint triathlon series. No real issues for the 13.1/26.2 they host. I would rank all the tri's so far based on feedback a 3 or 4/5.  Have had some course snafus (1/5) and others have been fine without problems. I volunteered at one of their events two years ago after a plea that many were needed.  I think they are putting a lot on this event. 

One nice thing about the new race venue will be the bike course, shouldn't have a lot of vehicle traffic, but for the "sprint" distance that's a long bike ride (34 mi).

There are many events held ~1 hr of this venue and early year events will likely require a wetsuit unless you're comfortable in "cold" water.  I've done several of them and after the first I bought a wetsuit!

The SommerSports tri's in Clermont are nice events.

There are some early year events held at Moss Park by MCO (Orlando Int airport).  Not the best venue for a tri IMHO, didn't care for the bike course, loved the run though.

Pineappleman is held in early June in Melbourne Beach and sells out in weeks, great race.  Registration has been opening in December.

Another nice event held in Oct is the Battle of the Bridges in Melbourne, great race course, all roads have been repaved in the past few years.

Sounds interesting, particularly the long bike course.  Might help to offset my lack of running ability. 

Mark

The Classic sounds perfect.  Late winter & spring will be great for a lot of weekend riding up that way, and also be ready for the Pineappleman event a month later.

I took the liberty of posting a link on our club's FB page... it's a closed group tho, but members will see it.

Sounds great to me.  G'luck!

Smooth Running does put on a Melbourne & Beaches Music Marathon/Half Marathon that I would rate at a 3.5/5.  I think they are trying to mimic the Rock & Roll series.  They have some live music out on course, but the majority is a DJ or stereo. They are notorious for running out of water/Gatorade on course, and running out of post race food and refreshments.  This has been the "A" race for Smooth Running, and race participant numbers have been declining year over year. I believe this race just completed its 4th season?  I might be off +/- a year there.

There is also a Game Day 5K that they put on that coincides with a local minor league baseball team's home game. Race participants are allowed free entry to the game later in the day.  This past year there were race participants missing turns due to a poorly marked course, and lack of volunteers.

At the Ron Jons Cocoa Beach Triathlon (the most recent event), there was a huge snafu with the timing that delayed the results by about two days. The bike in/run out was right next to each other which caused some VERY close near misses. They had port-o-lets, plenty of pizza after, and good police support. However he ran out of water on the run course (on going problem), volunteers walking off of the run course before all participants completed (on going problem), and again no security at the transition area.  Race participants and spectators could just come and go in and out of transition without anyone stopping them to verify they had a race number and/or body marking that matched their equipment. If you're looking at upgrading to a nicer bike (or have your bike disappear), this might be the race for you.  This was the third year of the triathlon series and VERY FEW improvements were made and the only triathlon put on by Smooth Running.

Smooth Running also has a "Beach Running World Championships", which they were advertising as a USATF Certified Course.  When a local publication and other locals inquired about how you can possibly certify a beach course, the answer back from USATF was a no brainer, you can't. The USATF has since been taken down from the event website, but from the attached article link, you can see that Smooth Running had been advertising this Course Certification for quite some time.  While it may or may not be fair to call this a World Championship race, there is some deception on the part of the race director in my opinion with this certification.

http://spacecoastmultisport.com/news/2012/6/25/when-is-a-world-championship-not-really-a-world-championship.html

With the deception and the skimping of race essentials in other Smooth Running events.  I think you need to question how they will handle 3 races (sprint, intermediate, and half distance) in one day when they haven't shown the ability to handle one?  

x2 When I saw this event I was so excited.  Looks amazing.  Shame a better organizer couldnt get hold of it.

Saying that I'll still do the race - its an amazing venue.

@triste

Like most races.. and for many race directors.. there are learning curves.  I trust the RD has stepped up their game. Don't let one critic ruin your enthusiasm. Some people are just unhappy folk who find fault in others for fun.  It will be my first HIM and I look forward to being part of the inaugural event ( however rough around the edges it may seem, typically races take 5 years to get the wrinkles out)

I hope I see you there in and you have a great time.

 It's only depressing if you believe one sour grape's opinion. SO over exaggerated BTW.. I hope to see ya..

I may be the only one person posting critically (although Donto above briefly mentions the company’s checkered past as well), I think you have to face the question of what did this organizer do to have one person speak so negatively.  You are saying it takes 5 years to work out the kinks in a race? Kinks like no port-a-lets? Kinks like no security at transition? Kinks like lying about a race certification? Kinks like
a poorly marked course?  These are all very elementary parts of putting a race and should never be an issue.  For $125 for a Olympic distance race and $250 for half iron I don’t think anyone wants to wait 5 years for them to get their act together. Why hasn’t the course maps been released yet either?  Shouldn’t
this be as simple as putting a mapmyride or mapmyrun link to the website?  Again all very basic things that haven’t been done by the RD.  I expect a race director to present his race day plan up front to the consumer, not pay me your money and I’ll slowly release information about my race.

I share the same concerns.  The website says the course maps won't be posted until early 2013.  That makes me suspect that they don't have all the necessary permits in place yet.  I don't feel good about forking out money for an out of town race until I know for sure what I'm paying for.

Mark