Spudman triathlon
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ChunkyB posted 27 weeks ago.
It actually filled up in about 10 minutes. I was able to sign up, but my brother and sister-in-law kept getting kicked out of the system, and it was full when they finally got through. It's cool that it's so popular, but it's pretty lame that some people that are online the second the registration opens weren't even able to sign up. It kind of defeats the purpose of using a third-party (active.com) to handle the registration. Anyways, I just thought I'd vent a little bit.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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Sully800 posted 27 weeks ago.
It is lame that not everyone can sign up for popular races like this, but I can't really think of a better way to handle things. Unless they were to greatly expand the field or make two races, theres no way that everyone is going to be able to sign up. And it seems like if a good race fills up quickly one year it will only be worse the next year, because everyone who missed out will sign up as soon as possible.
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TryScott posted 27 weeks ago.
The alternative to filling up so fast is having the race cost a lot more money, which isn't good either.
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Sully800 posted 27 weeks ago.
True, good point :-)
But in the same manner, that is a reason why Ironman triathlons are so expensive. The price is outrageously high and they still sell out in minutes after registration begins, so why charge less?
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ChunkyB posted 27 weeks ago.
The alternative is that you get third-party host with enough bandwidth to handle the load. It's pretty simple. Then, the people that get there first would actually be the ones who get to sign up first.
Mostly, though, I'm just bitter. It's obviously a popular race, probably because you swim in a river, and you swim with the current the entire time. I can't imagine anything better.
Apparently they had lots of problems with the registration though, and I think they might have to do something, because there were lots of problems (not being able to get through, rejecting valid information, etc.) and they were pretty widespread.
Anyways, if I do end up racing, I'll be the one floating on my back and letting the current carry me. Remember the lazy river at the water park. Maybe I can even pay a few bucks to rent an inner-tube.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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Sully800 posted 27 weeks ago.
Hopefully the river water is deep enough! My first race was downstream in a river, but the water was so shallow that your hand scraped the bottom with every stroke. Its tough to enjoy the lazy current while you might swim face first into a boulder at any second :-(
You're right about the bandwidth issue though....there are few things more frustrating than planning everything out properly and not being able to get through because of registration problems. I've had the same issue with registering for college classes- log on early, submit the info within a few seconds of the site going live, and then getting locked out of the system due to no fault of my own. Computers are definitely glitchy when masses of people try to do the same thing at the same time.
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Captain Mal posted 27 weeks ago.
Thanks for venting my frustrations for me ChunkyB. My venting would have probably included significantly more profanity aimed directly at Active.com. They really don't do anything but offer an inferior product, charge you too much for the privilege of using that product, and then give you the finger. This ins't the first time we have had problems with the site and our complaints always go completely unaddressed.
The First Mate (wife) was so excited to do this race as her first Oly distnace and has already started a training regimen based on the race date. I was so bummed for her more than anything else. I kept trying every 10 minutes or so through the day just in case there were widespread technical issues with the slim hope that we could get her in. Didn't happen. Hoever, her friend did the same thing and ended up getting registered at about 2:00, well over an hour and a half after the race was supposedly full. I'm happy for her, but even more angry about how Active.com hosed so many of us poised at our keyboards to sign up.
"Faster would be better!" -Captain Mal, Serenity-
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ChunkyB posted 27 weeks ago.
Yeah, I figured I'd help you out with the venting. I didn't want you getting banned or anything.
That's freaking messed up that people were able to register later in the afternoon. I'm still really hoping that they do something for the people who were there at noon and got screwed. I don't want to race alone. Well, I'll obviously race alone because I'm a clyde and I'm slower than everyone else, so I start at the back and don't move up at all. But, you know, I don't want to do all the pre/post-race stuff alone. I hear there's going to be an awesome pasta eating contest the night before. I like my chances of winning that.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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Iron Dan posted 27 weeks ago.
Your last comment gave me an idea ChunkyB. They should create a triathlon/eating contest. You would have to consume a predetermined amout of food (Pasta would be a good idea) every so often out on the course. You have to eat right before the swim, right after the swim, every 5-10 miles on the bike. and every mile or two on the run. That should even out the competition between the Pros and the Joes. The rules being if you spew, you DQ.
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kylie posted 27 weeks ago.
Sounds like the beer mile ;)
And on the active.com issues -- yes, their site should seriously make some improvements. This same rant appears most years around IM signup time as active does those as well.
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
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ChunkyB posted 27 weeks ago.
Iron Dan wrote:
Your last comment gave me an idea ChunkyB. They should create a triathlon/eating contest. You would have to consume a predetermined amout of food (Pasta would be a good idea) every so often out on the course. You have to eat right before the swim, right after the swim, every 5-10 miles on the bike. and every mile or two on the run. That should even out the competition between the Pros and the Joes. The rules being if you spew, you DQ.
I love it. Maybe mix some pizza or lasagna or steak in there. I'd own that competition.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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triNick posted 27 weeks ago.
I remember reading the inital entry from this thread and got frustrated even though I wasn't registering for the race. I haven't been back since, wow. After reading the race's blog I ended up writing a little, hopefully not too nasty post on TRIjuice.com
Spudman Triathlon and Active.com Infrastructure
How'd I do?
TRImapper.com - visual triathlon finder
TRIJUICE.com - triathlon resource blog
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Sully800 posted 27 weeks ago.
ChunkyB wrote:
Iron Dan wrote:Your last comment gave me an idea ChunkyB. They should create a triathlon/eating contest. You would have to consume a predetermined amout of food (Pasta would be a good idea) every so often out on the course. You have to eat right before the swim, right after the swim, every 5-10 miles on the bike. and every mile or two on the run. That should even out the competition between the Pros and the Joes. The rules being if you spew, you DQ.I love it. Maybe mix some pizza or lasagna or steak in there. I'd own that competition.
You're on!
I'm sure most triathletes are confident in their ability to eat large quantities of food, but I will wager that I'm MORE confident :-P
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Iron Dan posted 27 weeks ago.
Good post, but don't worry, you could have been a lot more nasty. :)
Is there a place to voice you disapproval with active to either active or race organizers other than just sending an email or is that the best way to do it.
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Nobody posted 23 weeks ago.
I haven't posted in awhile--just getting back into things....little did I know that Active.com would be my biggest obstacle in registering/attending events!
1) their search features suck big time. Used to be ok, but now it's unusable.
2) this upgrade account nonsense is a nightmare. I'm already upgraded, yet it takes me through the upgrade process (or attempts to) each time. Then when I try to bypass it by logging in off the home page, the password that worked in the previous screen no longer works.
3) I reset password, then log in successfully. Only when I click on "edit password" to reset it it takes me to 'create account' page
4) When I went to see my races, they had nothing. Hmmm...I'm forced to register through active.com for all my races, yet they don't have any records of them. So I go to add a race and BAM--Apache Tomcat/5.5 Error report.
Is not there a competitor to Active that Ironman could use? I mean, I imagine if, say, Dell computer outsourced it's ecommerce but then f'd up everyone's orders, you think that they would eventually just do it themselves or outsource it to someone else. This is NOT rocket science.
What a nightmare. Active.com has to be the worst site I have ever encountered.
Greatness is only achieved by those who perpetually raise the expectations of themselves to the point where it ruins their life.
Holy smokes! The Spudman triathlon (Burley, Idaho) registration opened today (January 7, 2008) at noon. It filled up (~1,400 entries) in about 30 minutes.
That has to be a record, doesn't it?