Triathlon wave start?

[AeroEngy]

I am doing my first tri at Timberman next weekend and just looking at the wave start assignments Is it typical to have the older slower groups go first (after the pros)? Seems backwards to me since that will make the faster groups have to deal with more traffic causing a safety issue especially on the bike.

 

[Doppel]

Generally the faster do go first, this way they don't have newbs to deal with ahead of them, plus those newbs won't get flattened in the swim. However, if the old/slow people are going first it could be that the race director doesn't want to spend all day waiting for them to cross the line (and hold roads up), so he gives them a head start.

 

[marmasatt]

Generally the faster do go first, this way they don't have newbs to deal with ahead of them, plus those newbs won't get flattened in the swim. However, if the old/slow people are going first it could be that the race director doesn't want to spend all day waiting for them to cross the line (and hold roads up), so he gives them a head start.

This. If it's only like minutes apart, and/or not a very big race, they literally run the waves in order of age groups - beginning with Pro/Elite and then on through to age 60+. However, if it's a longer race, or huge race perhaps, they may release some slow folks or wheelchair folks, etc just so they can get a jump on the course. You can't release slow people in large numbers ahead of everyone or they will clog up the course - especially the swim. (Spoken as a true middle of the packer who has made the mistake of lining up too far in front in the swim only to have Elite swimmers literally push me under and swim "over" me...):thumbsdown:

 

[AeroEngy]

This. If it's only like minutes apart, and/or not a very big race, they literally run the waves in order of age groups - beginning with Pro/Elite and then on through to age 60+. However, if it's a longer race, or huge race perhaps, they may release some slow folks or wheelchair folks, etc just so they can get a jump on the course. You can't release slow people in large numbers ahead of everyone or they will clog up the course - especially the swim. (Spoken as a true middle of the packer who has made the mistake of lining up too far in front in the swim only to have Elite swimmers literally push me under and swim "over" me...):thumbsdown:

There are about 2000 people in the tri with 17 waves. I will be in wave 15 (30-34M). If I had to guess I should finish in the upper third. So I will have at least 1100 people to pass with this wave setup

 

[adlep]

This is a weird setup honestly...
I am running mine in a week btw...
Good Luck with yours.

 

[marmasatt]

There are about 2000 people in the tri with 17 waves. I will be in wave 15 (30-34M). If I had to guess I should finish in the upper third. So I will have at least 1100 people to pass with this wave setup

That's pretty large. Not enormous, but not a small 400-500 person race either. How could you be in the 15th wave when you would be in like the 3rd age group with that age, lol :\ Maybe line up pretty far ahead in the swim (if you can swim that is) to get out of the water first perhaps?

 

[AeroEngy]

That's pretty large. Not enormous, but not a small 400-500 person race either. How could you be in the 15th wave when you would be in like the 3rd age group with that age, lol :\ Maybe line up pretty far ahead in the swim (if you can swim that is) to get out of the water first perhaps?

Unfortunately I don't have a choice M30-34 A-K is wave 15 (100+ people). Each wave has color coded swim caps so you can't sneak into a different wave. So even if I line up in the front of my wave there are still like 1500+ people ahead ... most of which will be slower.

The only positive thing I see about this wave setup is that the wave directly in front of me is Women 29 & Under Should make for some nice distraction.

 

[AeroEngy]

I finished the race so I thought I would update the thread with a short race report.

Swim - 39 Minutes.
I lined up at the back and outside since this is my first open water swim with lots of people. In less than a minute or two I was in the middle and to the inside ... somehow. Passed loads of people including some from the previous couple waves. Overall it was much easier than expected.

T1 - 4 minutes:
I had zero balance when getting out of the water which I didn't expect. It was an effort to half jog to transition without falling over. It felt like I was still rocking in the water for probably 5-10 minutes. I took my time getting ready for the bike.

Bike - 3 Hours
Felt pretty good most of the time except for the big hills at mile 10 and 45. I paced myself trying to save some energy for the run. The roads were pretty crowded and I never went more than a minute without passing someone or getting stuck in traffic. The 4 bike length no drafting rule was difficult to obey since there were so many people. Parts of the road were in terrible shape and rattled me and my bike. I had to stop at one point and bolt by bottle cage back on when it vibrated loose.

T2 - 4 Minutes.
Took my time and streched a little. Again I was not in any hurry.

Run 2 hrs 4 minutes.
Lots of traffic. I didn't get to see the course ahead of time but for some reason I thought it was flat ... I was wrong. My legs felt like blocks of wood, my feet got wet from people spraying runners with hoses. So I got a couple blisters by about the half way point. I can run a 1/2 marathon in about 1:40 and I was thinking maybe 1:50 or 1:55 after the bike. However, the run was much harder and much slower than I expected.

Overall - Approx. 5 hrs 52 minutes
Next time I will incorporate more hills and bike/run bricks. Running after biking is hard. For my next race I will pick one much smaller.