Ironman China promoter Murphy Reinschreiber
was kind enough to answer questions for us about the event and venue.
This is part I and addresses race morning issues, spectators and renting race wheels.
Shuttle
buses-lines on race morning:
One of
the biggest probleIms on race mornings have been the long lines for pretty much
everything from body marking, to restrooms, to shuttle buses. It seems that the
host hotel is a little too far for athletes to walk on race morning, just about
everyone will need access to the shuttle buses. What are your strategies (other
than suggesting people arrive early) to stave off a problem with race morning
bottlenecks?
THE
HOST HOTEL IS ABOUT 3KM FROM THE TRANSITION AREA. RACE MORNING SUFFICIENT
IRONMAN SHUTTLE BUSES WILL RUN BETWEEN THE TWO MAJOR HOTELS AND THE TRANSITION
AREA. THIS IS NOT THE USUAL IRONMAN WHERE 2500 ATHLETES MUST BE TRANSPORTED,
MARKED AND RELIEVED BY 7AM. AT LEAST AT THE START, IRONMAN CHINA WILL HAVE THE
FEEL OF A MUCH SMALLER RACE SINCE THE FIELD WILL BE DIVIDED INTO TWO START TIMES
(7AM FOR FULL-DISTANCE/ 9AM FOR THE 70.3). WITH THE SPLIT STARTS, LIMITED RACE
FIELD, AMPLE BUSSES, AND AMPLE VOLUNTEERS FOR BODY MARKING, WE EXPECT TO KEEP
BOTTLENECKS TO A MINIMUM.
REGARDING
TRANSPORTATION ALSO NOTE THAT IRONMAN SHUTTLE BUSES WILL RUN RACE WEEK BETWEEN
THE MAJOR HOTELS, TRANSITION AREA AND IRONMAN VILLAGE. ON RACE DAY, SHUTTLE
BUSES WILL LINK THE FINISH LINE, MAJOR HOTELS AND THE TRANSITION
AREA.
BUSES
WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ATHLETES, FAMILIES AND FRIENDS.
Race
morning food:
Will the
host hotel open its restaurant early on race morning to accommodate the very
early eating? Is there a supermarket near the host hotel?
THE
HOST HOTEL’S WESTERN COFFEE SHOP RESTAURANT WILL OPEN EARLY AND STAY OPEN LATE
TO ACCOMMODATE ATHLETE NEEDS. THERE IS NO SUPER MARKET NEAR THE SHERATON HOTEL.
THERE ARE SUPERMARKETS NEAR THE DOWNTOWN HOTELS.
Spectators:
China is
a very technologically advanced country. One of the things that I’ve always
wondered was why isn’t there a way for spectators to more easily track where
athletes are along the race course. Since athletes are wearing timing chips,
shouldn’t it be possible for spectators to know when their athletes have passed
certain parts of the course so that they can know when to expect them? Do you
have any plans to do something like this or something
similar?
CHINA
IS VERY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICALLY. NEVERTHELESS THIS IS REALLY A QUESTION FOR
IRONMANLIVE AND CHAMPIONCHIP OUR LIVE WEB COVERAGE AND TIMING PARTNERS. APART
FROM THE TECHNOLOGY OF MOVING DATA FROM A TIMING MAT TO WEB COVERAGE, THERE IS
ALSO A PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS: THE COST AND AVAILABILITY OF TIMING MATS TO RECORD
TIMES ALONG THE RACE COURSE. WE HAVE HAD TO HIRE TWO TIMING COMPANIES
(CHAMPIONCHIP BEIJING AND CHAMPIONCHIP BANGKOK) TO HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES (MATS
AND STAFF) TO COVER BASIC TIMING NEEDS (SPLIT TIMES AND TURN-AROUNDS). TIMING
MATS ARE EXPENSIVE TO SHIP – ESPECIALLY TO AN ISLAND DESTINATION. WE WOULD LIKE
TO OFFER REAL-TIME ATHLETE TRACKING BUT THIS NUT IS BETTER CRACKED WITH A GPS
BASED SYSTEM DUE TO THE PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS OF A CHIP + MAT SYSTEM. ASSUMING
THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE, GETTING IT TO SPECTATORS INVOLVES REQUIRES THAT
THEY HAVE WEB ACCESS (OR CELL PHONES IF BY SMS). THIS COULD BE EASIEST PART OF
THE EQUATION (PROVIDED SPECATORS HAVE CELL PHONES WITH WEB ACCESS) AS HAIKOU HAS
AN EXELLENT GPRS/EDGE DATA NETWORK.
Renting
race wheels:
At some
of the Ironman races (in the U.S. at least), companies have started renting race
wheels for the event. Do you know of any such plans doing this at Ironman
China?
WHEEL
RENTAL IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF FINALIZING A
RETAIL & SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH A MAJOR BIKE RETAILER IN ASIA. I WILL
DISCUSS WHEEL RENTAL WITH THE RETAILER BUT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I’VE SEEN IN
ASIA BEFORE AND IT IS UNLIKELY THAT A PROGRAM CAN BE CREATED BEFORE OUR FIRST
RACE.
Thank you Murphy. In short, the promoters are planning on having ample transportation resources on hand but as with any race it will pay to be early--especially a race that you traveled 10,000 miles to participate. Food should not be an issue at the hotel (at least the host hotel) but if you have your own ritual for what you like race morning you will need to either bring elements with you (e.g. instant oatmeal) or visit on of the markets in town.
Spectators will face their own challenges. Watching an Ironman race is never easy. It is simply a very long day for friends and family to catch a few glimpses of you as you swim, bike and run by. The payoff is at the end when they get to see you finish. But since finish times vary it can be hard for them to tell when you'll be coming in. This is particularly import on courses, such as Ironman China, that do not loop. That's why I think it is important that Ironman figure out a way to better communicate to spectators where individual participants are along the course. Everyone has cell phones, it seems so easy to have a system set up where people would receive SMS messages as their athletes crossed timing mats along the course. Perhaps this will happen at a future race but I think everyone would benefit.
The race wheel question was just thrown in because I've been considering trying the race wheel rental arrangement and thought this would be a good one to try. My Rolf's are showing their age and it'd be fun to ride on some light, aerodynamic wheels! Oh well, maybe next race.