What NOT to do in a triathlon
Written by Marc ThompsonLet me start off by saying that I have just now, 09/21/2009 at 10:12:52 pm downloaded and thoroughly read the official USAT rules (updated March 2009) available at the USAT website. Please visit the USAT website to see any rules as publishing them without permission is not allowed.
I can’t think of how many times I have finished a triathlon and run back down the run course to find a friend or cheer on other athletes or gone back out on to the bike course to get in a cool down ride. On a few occasions I have gone to watch a triathlon and used the course as part of my training. I always keep the race and the competitors in mind and stay clear of anyone else on course as to not impede anyone’s race. I know of other athletes out there that can say that they are in the same boat. This I feel is a common occurrence but I want to warn you that it could cost you dearly.
As I found out at a recent triathlon there are some race directors that think these activities are an infraction of a USAT rule and would be willing to file a complaint to have a person banned from USAT membership and barred from USAT races for a full year. The rule in question is 3.5.a. A USAT official explained that based on her interpretation of the rule is that any of the above mentioned activities should not take place in any race, although that because it is an open course there is nothing that she can do about it. That is a little bit confusing. I personally don’t read the rule in the same manor. But, none-the-less, I am not a USAT official and the officials can make decisions and interpretations of these rules on their own and appealing a USAT official’s judgment will cost your time and money based on the USAT rules.
Now let me explain myself and everything that has happened in regards to this issue/event. I will leave out all names other than my own as I hold myself responsible for my actions and my mistakes.
Some friends and teammates of mine traveled together to a local triathlon not too long ago to cheer on our fellow teammates and friends as well as get in some good training. I arrived at the race site about 45-60 min before the race started with a friend and a teammate. We began getting our gear together to train as well as pump up everyone we knew participating in the race. At one point while we were getting ready (about 50 yards from the transition area) my friend noted the race director, got his attention, and asked directly if he minded if we got in our training of swimming before the race started and then hit the bikes right afterward. The race director said “sure” and we proceeded to get ready. Based on time and potentially getting in the way of the race we clipped the swim and went straight to our bike workouts. We started pedaling about 10 min before the first wave was set to go off in the swim so we were well ahead of any bike competitors at this point. Two of us lit out pretty well and were working a strong steady pace together. The girl that was riding with me was working my draft as she could get her workout in by “holding on” to my wheel. As we neared the end of the bike course we turned back out early to finish another outer loop of the lollypop style course. We rode mostly on the yellow line well wide of any racers that we passed unless we were on our own in which we would go back to the right side of the road as the race is an open course (cars, tractors, bikes, people, etc can be on the road). A few times we would vocally call out to other racers that we were not racing along with our cheers to keep pushing. At one point a USAT official (the same one I questioned after the race) rode next to us on a motorcycle. My training partner that was in my draft called out to the official that we were not racing. The official then waved, tapped the driver of the motorcycle, and went on without any other motions or notifications of anything being wrong. As we finished our bike ride back in the park we pulled even farther out of the way into the oncoming lane to get back to our bags (again about 50 yards away from transition).
When we stopped our bikes the race director was on top of us yelling and having a fit about how we were going to be banned from USAT for being on his race course and that we almost ran him over. My first reaction was “Whoa, I’m sorry. What’s going on?” as I thought I must have done something and not known it. This race director was very rude and yelling at us. The only thing I could do was question what he was claiming. He even threatened to call the police on us for being in his park (this is a public, government run park that only reserves cottages, picnic sites, camp grounds, and group shelters).
After the race director grew tired of not getting any of our information he stormed away saying that he was calling the police. I was dumbfounded at this point. Aside from the people that witnessed the altercation saying that the race director acted poorly and inappropriately I was determined to find out if I had truly broken a rule that I somehow missed. While waiting for a USAT official I discussed the chain of events with a few folks that all had mixed opinions of what the rules stated about people being on a race course. After a few minutes I was able to track down a race official and question the allegations of the race director. AT NO POINT DID A USAT OFFICIAL CONTACT ME OR MY TRAINING PARTNER TO TELL US WE HAD VIOLATED A RULE. I contacted the USAT official to question the validity of the race director.
I already mentioned what I learned from the USAT official. I promptly apologized to her and admitted that by her interpretation that I made a mistake and that I would not make the same mistake twice. I then asked what some proper alternate options might be so that I could share my experience with my friends and teammates that often swim, bike, and run on race courses as training. She mentioned doing the bike and run in the opposite direction and even pinning a note to your jersey stating that you are not a race participant. I can’t agree more as with the vagueness of this rule, 3.5.a, any USAT official could interpret the rule in their own way and submit you for violation or ignore your presence all together. Again the appeal process could be a pain so avoiding it all together will be our best bet.
I won’t go into any more details of the ordeal here as this is not the place or time. I just wanted to let everyone that I can possibly reach know what happened to me and to help prevent anyone getting called out for a violation of rule 3.5.a. This has even caused grief for an athlete that was in no way involved with the issue due to our lovely team kits that always show power and dominance in racing and training.
So, if you are going to a race and not participating but want to train consider these things…
–Swim in another portion of the lake/ocean/river away from the race course
–Bike on roads not affiliated with the race or bike in the opposite direction with visible markings that you are not participating in the race
–Run on trails or roads not affiliated with the race or run in the opposite direction with visible markings that you are not participating in the race
–Never bike or run on an out and back course if you are not participating in the race
–Avoid transition areas
Sorry for the long post but I hope this helps everyone out there, teammates, fellow athletes, spectators, officials, and even race directors. USAT rules are good rules even if they can be vague at times. I suggest that we all take the time to read and understand the LATEST set of rules.
Forward this post to a friend
This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Articles, Marc Thompson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on October 15, 2009 at 1:05 pm Smokey wrote:
In short just use common sense………..
Unfortunately, you only briefly mentioned how your actions caused additional stress for another athlete on your team. I’ll explain that in more detail so that the record can be set straight.
Shortly after that triathlon a member of the all3sports team that WAS racing got an anonymous letter in the mail accusing them of drafting during the bike leg of the race. This letter accused this person of sitting on a non participant’s wheel during the bike portion of the race. Furthermore, the anonymous accuser threatened to turn this person in for drafting and demanded they disqualify them self from the race.
So it turns out that the person that was drafting wasn’t even in the race but somehow got mistaken for someone that was in the race.
on October 16, 2009 at 7:38 am Frosty wrote:
A girl was holding onto your wheel? That says enough right there.
on October 16, 2009 at 10:35 am Mr McTan wrote:
Seriously, when you have to call out to other competitors that you aren’t racing, or you have the USAT official having to spend time monitoring what you’re doing, you would think at some point you’d notice that what you’re doing is disruptive to a race.
on October 19, 2009 at 8:26 am Grouper Sandwich wrote:
Disruptive to the race?? Oh come on only a handfull of people complained to the RD about the people in all3sports team kits on the course drafting during the race.
on October 20, 2009 at 9:53 am Kenny B wrote:
Wow. This post was a great opportunity for you to score some goodwill for both yourself and your “team.” Instead, you used it as a chance to make fun of and complain about the USAT and the race director, and bring more negative publicity to all 3 sports. Specifically, calling him/her rude and accusing him/her of yelling. Then, instead of a simple mea culpa, you follow your apology with complaining about the alleged vagueness of the rule and how it’s so difficult to appeal a penalty. Get over it - every set of rules (for every sport) is written in a way to best address the most possible matters.
I’m willing to bet you’ve never made an effort to volunteer your services to USAT to help re-write these awful, arcane, ambiguous rules. As is, they seem to work pretty well for the rest of us. But it’s clear they don’t for you, and this whole mess wasn’t your fault. As for your difficult appeal process that costs you time and money? Well, don’t screw up in the first place. How would YOUR appeal not cost YOU time? What about the time of the others involved (USAT persons) that you’re taking away from more logical pursuits with your tomfoolery? So, Latrell Sprewell chokes his coach and is permamently barred from the league. One appeal later and it’s suspension and he’s back, and NYers are cheering for him (he and his lawyer found vagueness in the rule, and took the time to appeal)
As for your team, well, yes, the females do seem to show “power and dominance” when racing. but your implication that any of you are somehow better than others that aren’t as “powerful and dominant” . . .Well, let’s just say I was spectating at the race in Augusta, and I saw a lot of guys in your kits doing neither of those things as you limped home. Either way, you come across as a bunch of tools based on your statement.
Bottom line: These rules and race officials are awful. They got in the way of your training day. Maybe it’s so bad you should find a new sport
on October 20, 2009 at 1:59 pm MarcT wrote:
Mr McTan,
I totally agree with you and will admit that I can sometimes not make the best decisions. But don’t we all make mistakes? Again, I admit my mistake and apologize to those who have been effected.
Hindsight is 20/20.
on October 20, 2009 at 3:01 pm Ken Brown wrote:
Just to clarify, the above poster, Kenny B was not me. I am not that articulate.
I will add that every time we train or race, we are representing the All3Sports brand. His honesty about the situation is a good reminder to all of us what can happen when we have on our team training/racing kits.
on October 21, 2009 at 10:29 am Grouper Sandwich wrote:
Yeah, the real Ken Brown would never say “mea culpa”. That’s way too “fancy” for Ken.