IMUK70.3 a story to tell!!!!
ckyork2012
Posts: 12
in General Chat
Hey guys,
just thought would like to share an experiance i had at imuk70.3 this year as have now chilled out enough to write this without throwing the computer out of the window.
IMUK70.3 was my second ever half and i was really looking foward to it, arrived the day before after a 6 hr train journey from york getting ready for the race, did the best swim time i could have ever hoped for, that is when the good ended.
Some bloke had a gearing malfunction infront of me and due to the narrow overgrown nature of the beggining of the the bike course i was unable to overtake him, i promptly crashed into the back of him fell sideways and dislocated my knee, i was in an awfull lot of pain but as there was no marshal around i had to somehow get back to the one i had seen at the bottom of the hill, i get on my bike with my knee sticking out the side and rolled down the hill were i stop at the marshal and burst into tears. Some man who i dont know the name of helped me off my bike as the marshal stood there staring at me. after he had realised my leg did not look like it was ment to he phoned the ambulance crew, they took 35 mins to arrive due to the single track nature of this part of the bike course. The man who helped me off my bike then offered to take it back to tranistition as otherwise it would have to sit there untill the end of the race and i would never see it again. I thought at least now i would be delt with swiftly, but no!
The ambulance did not know how to get back to the medical tent it drove though fileds (really painfull!!) and finally found the tent by snapping though the tapes put up to mark out the run course!
At last i was seen to and finally taken off to hospital through the tape again and back over the fields! At last i thought nothing else could go wrong but how wrong i was! I was competing with my partner who was only an hour into the bike course, well i could sit and wait and the organiser of IMUK70.3 had said to me he would get a message to him to come pick me up as soon as he was finnished. well 6 hours go by in hospital still no word then the nurse comes over with the phone, my boyfriend had finnished and got the message that i was in hospital and could i phone, well after doing the hardest 70.3 in the world he didnt have any spare cash to use the broken pay phone.
He eventually found a phone in the shop tent and used that, he asked what would happen to the bikes as we wouldnt be back before transition closed and the director yet again said he would sort it. I having spent 7 hours in hospital after having my knee put back in and after the doctors having worried due to the fact the blood supply had been cut off due to the movment in the ambulance got back to the race venue.
only to find tranistion was closed and bolted up, my boyfriend then had to find someone with a spanner to open transition and the carry the bikes and all the gear to the car with the help of a passing stranger! all of this done we headed home, a few days later my partner emailed his disgust at out treatment to the imuk70.3 offices and still have had no reply.
this is just a warning i dont blame the marshals i know they are volunteers, i dont blame the ambulance driver who was never briefed i blame the organisers who lied to me time and time again and could have caused my injury to become a lot worse, if it was not for the help of those who were watching my bike would probably still be in a ditch somewere!
at least the organisers could have the courtesy to reoly to our email but they seem to negate that responsibility also, as well as spening well over 100 pounds to enter this event it is the least i think we deserve.
just thought would like to share an experiance i had at imuk70.3 this year as have now chilled out enough to write this without throwing the computer out of the window.
IMUK70.3 was my second ever half and i was really looking foward to it, arrived the day before after a 6 hr train journey from york getting ready for the race, did the best swim time i could have ever hoped for, that is when the good ended.
Some bloke had a gearing malfunction infront of me and due to the narrow overgrown nature of the beggining of the the bike course i was unable to overtake him, i promptly crashed into the back of him fell sideways and dislocated my knee, i was in an awfull lot of pain but as there was no marshal around i had to somehow get back to the one i had seen at the bottom of the hill, i get on my bike with my knee sticking out the side and rolled down the hill were i stop at the marshal and burst into tears. Some man who i dont know the name of helped me off my bike as the marshal stood there staring at me. after he had realised my leg did not look like it was ment to he phoned the ambulance crew, they took 35 mins to arrive due to the single track nature of this part of the bike course. The man who helped me off my bike then offered to take it back to tranistition as otherwise it would have to sit there untill the end of the race and i would never see it again. I thought at least now i would be delt with swiftly, but no!
The ambulance did not know how to get back to the medical tent it drove though fileds (really painfull!!) and finally found the tent by snapping though the tapes put up to mark out the run course!
At last i was seen to and finally taken off to hospital through the tape again and back over the fields! At last i thought nothing else could go wrong but how wrong i was! I was competing with my partner who was only an hour into the bike course, well i could sit and wait and the organiser of IMUK70.3 had said to me he would get a message to him to come pick me up as soon as he was finnished. well 6 hours go by in hospital still no word then the nurse comes over with the phone, my boyfriend had finnished and got the message that i was in hospital and could i phone, well after doing the hardest 70.3 in the world he didnt have any spare cash to use the broken pay phone.
He eventually found a phone in the shop tent and used that, he asked what would happen to the bikes as we wouldnt be back before transition closed and the director yet again said he would sort it. I having spent 7 hours in hospital after having my knee put back in and after the doctors having worried due to the fact the blood supply had been cut off due to the movment in the ambulance got back to the race venue.
only to find tranistion was closed and bolted up, my boyfriend then had to find someone with a spanner to open transition and the carry the bikes and all the gear to the car with the help of a passing stranger! all of this done we headed home, a few days later my partner emailed his disgust at out treatment to the imuk70.3 offices and still have had no reply.
this is just a warning i dont blame the marshals i know they are volunteers, i dont blame the ambulance driver who was never briefed i blame the organisers who lied to me time and time again and could have caused my injury to become a lot worse, if it was not for the help of those who were watching my bike would probably still be in a ditch somewere!
at least the organisers could have the courtesy to reoly to our email but they seem to negate that responsibility also, as well as spening well over 100 pounds to enter this event it is the least i think we deserve.
0
Comments
Hope you have recovered OK
i hope that the organisers can aknowledge your issues, and maybe consider how they can incorporate your issues into improving their future races.
Any incident like this needs to be learned from as no matter how much an event gets planned the unexpected always creates problems. At the very least I would have expected some communication especially with regard to ambulance access.
Fully sympathise with what you went through but most worrying for me (not being the one driven over a steeplechase course injured you understand) is did your BF really just unbolt the secure fencing and leave with your gear without at least being challenged?
Good luck with the recovery.
Did you not see him slow down ? Why did he not get you help as ossosed to doing nothing ?
Amb crew - private firms are ALWAYS poor I have found. They are badly trained and poorly informed. Did they splint it - vacum splint - pain relief - what did they give you ? Did they do your BP, etc ?
With regards to the letter - what are you looking for ? a simple sorry or just an aknowledgement of their failings.
Finally - all power to you for dislocating your knee and getting on your bike - that is a painful inj.
Heal well
the recovery is going weel over 2 months now did my first race last sunday on a 5 mile run and got a 2 min pb which was very odd, doing vitruvian this sat just hope i finish in one peice not going for a fast time though....