RR: Dam Tri Meadville, Pa
1815
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1393 days
gfd posted 20 weeks ago.
Nice job. Sounds like you had a good time. What is planned for your fall season?
"If we help someone else up a steep hill, we get nearer to the top ourselves." ~Unknown~
~Garen~
http://baldhungariantriproject.blogspot.com/
73
Member
323 days
WillRace4Food posted 20 weeks ago.
Thanks. I'd like to do another oly in august and I have a local sprint that I really enjoy in august too. Then I'll do my normal fall road racing season. I'd like to conclude my season with a marathon in October.
73
Member
323 days
WillRace4Food posted 20 weeks ago.
kaolelo wrote:
excellent job. how is swimming in a lake?
The lake is very clean and its man-made (hence the dam). Lots of PA state parks control access of outboards to thier lakes. So there are too many on the lake. (I think this one limited engines to 9.9hp). There was only one short strech where I could taste/smell oil in the water.
I was nervous in the transision area because almost everyone seemed to have a wet suit. I was very comfortable though without one.
1041
Member
839 days
TryScott posted 20 weeks ago.
Finishing with sub 7's 2 weeks after a 50k.... well done. Glad it went well and good luck in your next races.
What's the t-shirt look like? If I was the RD, it would say "I did this dam triathlon and all I got was this dam shirt." There would be a picture if the dam in the background.
73
Member
323 days
WillRace4Food posted 20 weeks ago.
Yeah as you can imagine, the dam jokes were flying at the post race awards ceremony. The dam shirts are ok but your idea is dam good though.
378
Member
220 days
prendergi posted 20 weeks ago.
Great job on finishing!
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell
408
Member
1250 days
kkocan posted 20 weeks ago.
Great race, oh wait, I am biased, I was the RD :)
We don't have a lot of races in our area and we (the race committee) have numerous IM's and other large races under our race belts and we wanted to bring that big race feel to our local area, plus I live 200yds from the bike course and train and run there constantly. Glad you were presently surprised at the quality of the event.
I can also tell you the course was NOT long. Swim was right on, certified by two GPS units and knowing the swimmers that did the event their times were just about on. The bike course was actually short, about .3 miles to be exact, but we were ok with that. The run was spot on. The slow times are because the course was HARD, as most people said afterwards. 1,400 feet of climbing and lots of turns on the bike, and the run started with a hill and the last 1.4 miles included the trail which is all uphill (slightly) and there were the two hills at the end. Not a fast course at all. And if you compared it to Edinboro, which I did a few weeks ago too, that swim is only .75 miles and the bike there is much flatter and almost 2 miles short. For comparison the same guy won both races and was 16 minutes slower at my race :). Heee heee.....
But where else can you go to a small race though and get great food, a great venue, a freaking helicopter, cash awards and a custom made beaver trophy to the winners for around $60? Nowhere but the Damtri!
The only major complaint we had was too much vehicle traffic in the park at the one intersection but we are takint care of that. Oh, and next year the bike course will be harder and feature a killer climb so be prepared for The DamTri II-Beaver's revenge.
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73
Member
323 days
WillRace4Food posted 20 weeks ago.
kkocan wrote:
Great race, oh wait, I am biased, I was the RD :) .
I did talk to one of upper level people hosting the race, but if it wasn't you, let me say first: THANKS SO MUCH FOR HOSTING A REALLY GREAT EVENT. I spoke to several of your vollenteers after the race. Many of them were just community people with no real ties to triathlon. Just came out to help. Really cool and super nice people.
kkocan wrote:
I can always hope can't I...I did add a post scipt to my original, though. I thought Edinboro was a 1500. My bad. I didn't think the bike course was too bad (I'm from Pittsburgh though). If you are from Cleveland and didn't show up with the right rear cassette it could be tough. Rude welcome to western PA:) The only bummer was the couple of hard turns at the bottom of the downhills. I played leap frog with the guys on the full tri bikes. I'd pass them on the climb, they'd pass me on the flats. :)
I can also tell you the course was NOT long.
kkocan wrote:
But where else can you go to a small race though and get great food, a great venue, a freaking helicopter, cash awards and a custom made beaver trophy to the winners for around $60? Nowhere but the Damtri!
The real highlight of the race was finishing to find a ziti and raviolli lunch waiting in the post race tent. I'm used to bagles and donuts (which you had too by the way) but the lunch was spot on. Thanks again for you hard work and much thanks to all those who helped you put the event on. WELL DONE. I really have no idea how challengeing it must be to put something like that togather.
So my first ever olyimpic distance triathlon is in the books. Competed in the Dam Tri at Crawford Lake in Meadville, Pa. This was the first year for this race so I have to admit my expectations were not high. Not only was it a new race but the event hosted a sprint and an oly (with an elite and at large class). So the opportunity for disaster was possible. I'm happy to report that the RD(s) and thier crew did a superb job hosting thier first event. Very efficient and very well run.
This was my first oly experience and I'm still recovering from a 50k two weeks ago. Since there aren't a ton of races here I decided to take my chances. The swim went better than expected. I hadn't swam in open water in about a year and a half so I was nervous. Though I hadn't been in a lake in a while, I'd really put my time in the pool and I was very comfortable throughout. But my time seemed way off of the time trials I'd done in the pool. But when I searched out some of the performances of other racers in other tri's this season thier times all of them were about 9 minutes slower at this tri. I suspect that the course was a bit long. (not a certified race)
The bike course is really nice. Some hills, mostly rolling with a couple of steep ones to keep you honest. The roads weren't closed but traffic was very light. Its a two lap course so your family can see you a couple of times if they walk out to the main drag. The course has a really cool view of the lake at one point where you could see racers in the other classes getting started.
My general lack of bike training showed in the run leg. I pushed a bit too hard on the bike and about a mile in my quads siezed up. I hobbled along for a mile (still making 7:50 pace) for a mile before the loosened up. I was able to run some sub 7 miles after that. Most of the run is on crushed limestone paths which is very nice.
All in all I was very happy with my finish for the first time at this distance. I went 2:36:35. Given what I think is a long swim and a hilly-ish bike I'm very satisfied. If I try to fit in another oly before fall season I'll be doing some bricks in the mean time!!
[ADD EDIT] I further researched the swim times from other competitors. The race I was comparing to was actually a 1200 meter swim (distance was not shown in the results). That explains some of the time difference but not really the whole 9 minutes. Or maybe the other race was short. All of the times were slower than I expected. The fastest time was 19:30 in the elite class. Not sure how much slower I should expect my lake time to be verus my pool time.