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2014-06-30 12:52 PM
in reply to: chirunner134

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
Curious did anyone other than me try to take there bike on the CTA coming home from the race on Sunday?


2014-06-30 1:49 PM
in reply to: #5018637


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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
Yup. I tried to get on the brown line and was stopped by the agent and told no bikes on the trains. I stared at her and said "You realize there was just a big race downtown, right?" Ended up having to take a bus, which was then re-routed because of Pride.

Aside from that I thought the race was really fun! Got totally overheated in the run (stopped sweating and was getting chills, which I'm pretty sure is BAD), but otherwise had a blast (the bike was FUN - not nearly as scary as I had feared, although I did see two bad crashes).

So so happy to have my first tri under my belt, and already strategizing for how to make the next one go better!!
2014-06-30 6:57 PM
in reply to: hjbo

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
What did everyone think of the course?!

Heard there was a lot of confusion on the run course - I wasn't sure where they started counting the laps either but managed to get thru it OK.

It was a great event and was surprised that the course never got as congested as I expected it to.
2014-07-01 10:41 AM
in reply to: tzcoaching

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU

I'll eat my words.  Most fun I've ever had on a bike portion of a tri and I've one close to 40 races.  And I killed it.  Finished the bike in 1:02:xx.  

I didn't think the run was confusing at all.  3.5 laps.  Easy peasy.

2014-07-01 10:53 AM
in reply to: crowny2

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
I did the sprint.

It was confused until right before the swim start they said you passed the fountain 3x and it all made sense. 2.5 would not be hard except first loop had a little extra to it. I did not not know if that was considered a half a lap.

on FB sounds like there was a lot of people who only did 1.5 loops on the run.



2014-07-01 11:50 AM
in reply to: chirunner134

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Peoria
Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
My thoughts on the OLY race overall (including comments I have seen around the various websites)

Swim - a bit cold but overall pretty nice to be swimming in the lake again. Although I did have on coming swimmers after the turn around who had swam into the middle of the reverse portion. My time was pretty much where I thought it would be - however I am hearing the distance could have been anything from .9 to 1.2 to 1.4 miles in length so who knows (this theme continues through the race)

T1 - longish run in, but that was expected.

Bike - Ill eat humble pie here - amazing course. But like most people have pointed out the distance might have been short so time wise who knows. No officials on the course to sort out all the drafting, and no way of tell if people really did the full bike course.

T2 - Really unnecessary run in - should just have had the bike in/out in the same place.

Run - great looping course, but as some have pointed out this might have been short also. Also like a number of people have pointed only one sign saying 3 laps then in - which in the bustle and heat of the day is quite confusing, only thanks to questioning my watch did I have a clear idea of what was going on. Then I got drained out by the heat on the last half lap.

Overall I PR'ed all round and for this distance, so I was pleased.

I will say the one thing that let this event down was communication before and during the event.


2014-07-01 11:54 AM
in reply to: dspursusa

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU

Originally posted by dspursusa My thoughts on the OLY race overall (including comments I have seen around the various websites) Swim - a bit cold but overall pretty nice to be swimming in the lake again. Although I did have on coming swimmers after the turn around who had swam into the middle of the reverse portion. My time was pretty much where I thought it would be - however I am hearing the distance could have been anything from .9 to 1.2 to 1.4 miles in length so who knows (this theme continues through the race) T1 - longish run in, but that was expected. Bike - Ill eat humble pie here - amazing course. But like most people have pointed out the distance might have been short so time wise who knows. No officials on the course to sort out all the drafting, and no way of tell if people really did the full bike course. T2 - Really unnecessary run in - should just have had the bike in/out in the same place. Run - great looping course, but as some have pointed out this might have been short also. Also like a number of people have pointed only one sign saying 3 laps then in - which in the bustle and heat of the day is quite confusing, only thanks to questioning my watch did I have a clear idea of what was going on. Then I got drained out by the heat on the last half lap. Overall I PR'ed all round and for this distance, so I was pleased. I will say the one thing that let this event down was communication before and during the event.

Only thing about that it is to do that would give certain people close to the bike in and out an unfair advantage unless you move the run out.  

2014-07-01 12:03 PM
in reply to: dspursusa

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
This COURSE WAS INSANE FAST! The bike portion was amazing, I just wonder how much faster the course would have been if they took out a 180 degree turn.

I've run across a lot of race reports with distances errors. I had my GPS going, my claimed that the bike was was about right. But then again, hard to get consistent signal in lower wacker. But the run did come up with .3 miles short, but funny my run time was about right.

As far as reports of people cutting distances and such. The ITU website for results are a bit clunky, but there were a LOT of DQ's for people shorting laps, or even yikes cutting corners? If you search by race numbers you can see all the DNF, and DQ. It was somewhere around 20-25% of the OLY field. On Facebook I did see a lot of Sprint distance athletes complaining of race directors or volunteers misdirecting people.

The event you can tell was new and as time went on the race officials were polishing the rough edges. The swim there was buoys floating away, people not sighting correctly or following the loose buoys swimming into on coming traffic. And as time went on the race officials were adding buoys and finally getting some of the buoys to stay put.


Great race overall. I loved the course. But I was not impressed by the race officials, it seemed to be like this was their first rodeo.

2014-07-03 9:48 PM
in reply to: Fastpony58

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
I thought the event was great! There were a few rough edges; like a lot of people disqualified because of the laps. I usually do a lot of Xterra races, that most of them are lap courses and I remember that for most of them there's always volunteers marking you off as you lap.

They have their markers, and either right a line on your wrist, or on your bib as you run by. Sure you slow down a few seconds (I never had to stop, it was always really quick), but then you looked down as your half tired and know how many laps you've done without losing count.

The course was a bit off I think as well. I think the bike course was cut, but hard to tell with GPS not working well on Lower Wacker; and, I think the run course was long (as least for the sprint, I keep seeing files that say 3.5 - 3.6, not including transition).

Overall I thought it was a great race! Here's the race recap on it over on my blog.

http://www.tzcoaching.com/2014/07/03/race-report-chicago-itu-triath...

2014-07-06 8:35 AM
in reply to: hjbo

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Woodstock, Illinois
Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
I too thought it was a great event even though I was one of the people who was DQed. I found the run to be very confusing, a little more direction would've been appreciated. I thought the bike was awesome despite not being able to see as I entered lower Wacker. The one thing I've been searching for is information on the man that went down with an apparent heart attack during the bike. I was on my first lap, just making the first left on lower Wacker and a man was down and people were performing CPR. As I exited lower Wacker, an ambulance was arriving, but I've yet to find any information about the incident. My thoughts and prayers are with the gentleman and his family.
2014-07-07 10:26 AM
in reply to: jcwise

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU

I had a woman, during the Olympic, start to fly by me asking how many laps (I'm sorry but it was all over the maps, they must have said it at least a dozen times before each wave AND there was a sign right out of transition, anyone saying there wasn't enough notice wasn't paying attention).  She asked just as we were looping around the fountain for the first time.  She then proceeded to run right through the finish line thinking it was the direction to go.  They pushed her back out AFTER she crossed the finish line.  

Frankly, I don't buy the excuse.  You and you alone are responsible for knowing the course.  You don't know it, you get DQ'd.  Your fault.  Not trying to be a jerk, but there were notices everywhere.  Not quite certain what else they were supposed to do.

 



2014-07-07 2:18 PM
in reply to: crowny2

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Woodstock, Illinois
Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
Crowny2, thanks for your input. I take full responsibility, have from beginning. I need no excuse, I'm in good enough condition for what I want to accomplish in this type of event. What confused me was what constituted a half a lap, that's it. Once I heard that you pass the fountain 3 times, I got it, but I didn't hear that instruction till I was done. As far as your comment about you not wanting to be a jerk, thanks that means a lot, but you sure came off as being one. The more important part of my post was what happened to the man who had the apparent heart attack. By posting that here, I was hoping that someone could give some insight as to what happened and how he is doing. I wish you the best of luck the rest of the tri season.
2014-07-07 6:13 PM
in reply to: #5019483

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
Gah. That You was meant as the Royal You not YOU you. Anyway, now that you point out the 1/2 lap aspect, THAT I can understand.

As to the guy that went down this is the first I've heard if it and I too hope he is ok.
2014-07-09 10:15 AM
in reply to: crowny2

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Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
I too was confused by the half lap. For the sprint, we didn't run all the way back to transition. So was the 1/2 lap considered as the run from transition to where the loop started (running onto Columbus), or was the 1/2 lap considered running around the fountain half way and into the finish shoot. It was the later of the two.

Other then that I thought the race went well and lower wacker funner then I anticipated.

As for the guy, I heard back from World Triathlon and they said he's in stable condition. They also passed along our concerns to him directly and stated that "our concerns and sportsmanship are appreciated".

2014-07-21 4:10 PM
in reply to: tzcoaching

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Woodstock, Illinois
Subject: RE: Chicago ITU
Thanks TZ for sharing the news about the downed rider, it's greatly appreciated!!
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