IRONMAN UK
tomo13
Posts: 24
in General Chat
Hi
Travelled 3 hours to go and watch some team mates compete in the IMUK. When we got there we were told to go and queue for a bus to take us to the reservoir. Remebering that this is 5.30am, we were told that the last bus back was at 7am, or you will have to wait until mid afternoon, or you can walk back (3 miles), we were also told that we would not be able to get anywhere near the water or transition area and that we were only spectators, so tough. we were then told the best place to watch was in Bolton centre were we could watch on a big screen and cheer them on from there ! I can shout but i dont think they could hear me from there. As we had to be back for our children we were only going to stay for a few hours to cheer them on and head home. So we decided to drive as close as we could and walk in. Got a spot on a corner and watched from there, not too bad in the end got to cheer them. I dont know if its me but i thought the tansition area was the main viewing area so you could see more of the race than you would stood on a street corner where they only came round on the bike 3 times and that was all you would see of them. I can imagine it is a nightmare to organise but it seemed a bit unorganised. Sorry.
Travelled 3 hours to go and watch some team mates compete in the IMUK. When we got there we were told to go and queue for a bus to take us to the reservoir. Remebering that this is 5.30am, we were told that the last bus back was at 7am, or you will have to wait until mid afternoon, or you can walk back (3 miles), we were also told that we would not be able to get anywhere near the water or transition area and that we were only spectators, so tough. we were then told the best place to watch was in Bolton centre were we could watch on a big screen and cheer them on from there ! I can shout but i dont think they could hear me from there. As we had to be back for our children we were only going to stay for a few hours to cheer them on and head home. So we decided to drive as close as we could and walk in. Got a spot on a corner and watched from there, not too bad in the end got to cheer them. I dont know if its me but i thought the tansition area was the main viewing area so you could see more of the race than you would stood on a street corner where they only came round on the bike 3 times and that was all you would see of them. I can imagine it is a nightmare to organise but it seemed a bit unorganised. Sorry.
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Comments
The whole organisation was, in one word, a shambles and certainly took the gloss off the build up to the race. Th race itself was fine great cometitors and good crowds and a great feeling of achievement when crossing the line.
I'm still too tired to run through the list of things were'nt right with organising but some serious reflection need to be done by the organing team before next year. Perhaps in hindsight with Sherbourne pulling out they should have missed a year to get the event properly organised. It was the attention to detail that was missing- believe it or not it does sometimes rain in england in the summer and trying to get 1500 competitors plus family and friends on to a cow field is taking a risk too far.
I look forward to hearing more on the subject
Ps 11hrs 36 - hoping to go a little bit quicker but suffered on the run. But can't grumble just finishing an Ironman is good enough for me
i know the anderton centre are very restrictive of their area and that they put their foot down in not letting crowds onto transition...they should have instructed the marshals better in getting good viewpoints on the road at the side of the resi......i actually thought (from a pure spectators point of view) that they were doing a good job mostly....the crowds were a good turnout with some tiny roads and people parking cars al over the place.
the atmosphere was great though and i think their priority (and rightly so) was for the athletes....and come on...its a massive area and there were a million places to watch and cheer people on!
Once again well done to the guys that finished...i think it was an amazing and awesome event, i can only dream of one day taking part (lets get a couple more sprints out of the way first eh??)
But looking at all the info about parking - and how cars were going to be trapped in the car park until 1pm, I thought the chances of getting there in time and parking were too slim. All the info on the site seemed very spectator unfriendly. Tsk Only 11hrs 36. And I was expecting so much more from you! Well done though.
Perhaps just as well the BBC and the rest of the media did their usual STUFF ALL and instead continued to fawn over yobbos, I mean footballers etc.
As for the organisation ... yeah definitely leaves a bit to be desired! Whoever thought it would rain in the UK and turn a cow field into a mud fest, have none of these peoiple ever been to a music festival! More than one portaloo on the course would have been appreciated!
12hrs 05mins of pain and joy all rolled into one!