Heritage Park Triathlon

One part of my life that I haven't been bragging, er, uh, blogging about is that I enjoy participating in triathlons. I like that the work outs have more variety and the swimming and biking give my joints a welcome break from running.

I signed up for the Heritage Park Triathlon which was yesterday. As you all well know the weather was a little less than stellar.

They get a pretty major FAIL for the event in my book, er uh....blog.

First of all the lazy bastards decided on Saturday to CANCEL the swim. Lazy. The weather in this town changes by the hour and to call it a day in advance to me simply means they didn't want to set up the course. We knew it would be cold. Just the time of the year alone you knew the water would be cold. That is just the way it works. Yes, there was supposed to be Katie Horner type storms approaching and true to form while it did rain/drizzle a bit there was no lightning and really no wind......in other words.........no reason to not do the swim. I mean what is the big deal with some rain? You are going to be wet anyway, right?

You say big deal........well..........here is why it is a big deal to me. They only reason my cheap ass will pay $70 for a race isn't the cheap poser T-Shirt it is for the open water swim. I can bike and run anytime and almost anyplace. Lap swimming isn't the same as a supported open water swim. Not even close. Why pay $70 so someone can put an official clock on my ass and certify that I'm slow? Actually, I was pretty damn fast (for me).

So, needless to say I was a little upset at the race organizers. I talked to several other racers as well and they were pretty much saying the same thing. When is it appropriate and acceptable to cancel a portion of a race to which people have paid hard earned money?

So instead we did a duathlon which is a run/bike/run. It was actually pretty fun. I've never done one before but certainly not the same.

They should make it a rule that if they want the event sanctioned by the USAT.....and they usually do........that they must NOT cancel portions of the race in advance and GO AHEAD with it if conditions are safe.......meaning no lightning and dangerous winds. Racers should decide if it is too cold for themselves.

Lastly, there were an obnoxious amount of flat tires on the ride. I'm not sure why. I wonder if running a street sweeper the morning of or the day before would be too much to ask? I don't think I've ever seen so many.

It just makes me think that attention to detail and a well run event are what make you want to do an event year after year. I like this one simply because it is so close to home and it is a great way to kick off the triathlon season. I'm not sure for the money it is worth it and unless improvements are made I'm not sure I'll do it again next year.