Course controversy at LA triathlon - and a surf photo.....

There were several pro/elite guys talking about this over on ST. Alot of people said it was poorly marked.

Only read about this snafu today, but I can confirm what Chris has said already: the out and back spur was easy to miss. I might have pedaled right by if it weren't for one kid, a yellow-shirted volunteer, who sheepishly pointed the way. I thought I heard him say "Olympic" as I passed, but I was confused about what that might mean. It was the only moment during the whole race where I actively wondered, "Can this be right?"

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear that something so small undermined the event in such a big way. I feel badly for the DQs who came out here to pursue their livliehood and came up empty because of poor course marking.

Yes, the athletes have a responsibility, but that fits hand in glove with the responsibility of race officials.

Edited by Xan 2006-09-12 9:26 PM

I can understand the confusion given the way the course was set up. As ChrisM described, the sprint bike course was exactly the same as the olympic bike course with the exception of a 3-4 mile out-and-back detour for the olympic racers about 10-12 miles into the course. Those doing the olympic distance were to make a hard right and those doing the sprint distance were to continue straight. When I came through during the sprint race, the turn was marked with about 10 cones and a volunteer shouting "olympic to the right, sprint straight ahead."

(For those who are interested, here is a map of the course.)

What I don't understand though, is why the option to go straight was even available for the pros, the elites, or the faster olympic distance racers in earlier waves. The pros went off in the first two waves and waves 3-12 were all olympic distance waves. By the time the first sprint wave (wave 13) was hitting the water, the pro men were probably finishing the run. Nobody should have been continuing straight through that intersection until 30+ minutes after the sprint waves started.

If it were up to me, the sprint course "go straight" option would have been blocked off completely at least until the first sprint wave started (if not for 20+ minutes after since that point was 10-12 miles into the bike course). That would force the olympic racers to follow the course with a clearly marked turn.

I guess I can understand the confusion once the sprint riders started getting to that point and half of the field was supposed to turn but half was supposed to go straight. There really isn't any excuse for the pros and elites though. Pre-race meeting and athletes' responsibility to know the course notwithstanding, I think the race director and staff have to shoulder the lion's share of the blame for the confusion during the pro race.

That said, I thought the rest of the bike course was spot on. (The other) turns were clearly marked and traffic control did a great job of allowing cars to cross the course when it was clear but holding them back when there were riders coming.

The run course wasn't marked so well, either -- one of my teammates ran the 10K instead of the 5k during the sprint! There were guys yelling to turn, but I guess some people didn't hear (the ipod users probably, although not the guy I know...).