The Road to the Podium is Paved In Transition...Twice.

.Not so many years ago, I looked at triathlon results to see how fast I'd need to be to achieve my own goals, move up in my age group, not get trampled (as much) by a stampede of runners, etc. 

These days I'm more race director than triathlete and spend a weird amount of time sifting through your results and how you, as a group, move about the course.  This study of spreadsheets helps us configure things like wave starts, turnarounds, and when to have the pancakes ready.  But while looking at the data for those elements, you notice other things. And here recently I noticed how specific athletes jump around in the standings based on your times in each of the 5(!) legs of the race. 

Here's today's excel sample:  The Men of the 2017 Lake Meridian Sprint Triathlon.  The chart below shows the Top 10 men and the top 5 finishers highlighted in different colors. It shows them at every critical point of the race:  Swim exit, T1 exit, T2 exit, and finish.    

See anything interesting?  Want to win a triathlon?  Work on your bike and run, and don't poopoo transitions - because they matter - at least in this very small sample of one Raise the Bar triathlon. 

Wondering if it's any different in the women's field?  So was I. It seems the women have a bit less sporadic path to the podium (at least on this day)  Here you go:

I thought the most interested thing here was that Kelsey Morfitt - who ended up 3rd overall - doesn't show up in the top 10 until she gets back to T2 in 4th! ..and picked up another place on the run on her way to the podium.  Kudos to you, Kelsey! There's no substitute for strong cycling and running. Sorry Swimmers. :(

Of course the shorter the distance, the more important transitions are.  If that's the case, the overall Olympic results shouldn't be affected as much by transition times - which does turn out to be the case and you can see that on the LMT Results from last year Here.

Wondering who had the fastest combined Transition times? Me too!  Andrew Richards who ended up 2nd overall had the fastest with a combined time of 1:33.  HOWEVER, 46-year old Clare Osborn beat up on all but the top 3 male finishers with a combined time of 2:04.  Clare - you are the hero of this blogpost.  

There are a lot of cool things you get to be a part of when you help put races together - and we're looking forward to sharing those with you on Mondays this season in a "Race Director University" series.  Where lessons are taught NOT in a clinic, I assure you, but by making changes (and mistakes), and looking closer, and trying hard to give you the best experience on race day.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions! 

Thanks for racing at the RTB events - we are in full swing getting ready for you and we know you are doing the same.  Wishing you Happy & Injury-Free Training!

Patty Swedberg & the RTB Event Staff 

  

---