Napa Valley Vintage Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I thought it would be a good idea to review this half iron distance (1.2mi swim, 56 mi ride, 13 mi run) since there are not many reviews on it. These are the things that ***I*** experienced. I know there were several other people who shared my same concerns and even more. I will just touch on a few

First the good things I experienced:
- The smaller (less than 200) number of participants was nice.
- The volunteers were very supportive and helpful.
- The run aid stations were set up at ideal locations.
- No confusion on where to go on courses.

Now on to the bad things (which unfortunately there were several):
- The bike profile and elevation show a total climb of around 1,900 feet on the races website. My garmin and strava both showed over 4,000 feet of climb. That is a huge difference and I would have adjusted my training accordingly. With that much climb it could be a deal breaker during the race for a lot of people.
- The bike "aid stations" were lacking. There were a couple locations where people were handing out water bottles and one location which had Gatorade. Neither of which fit in bottle cages. There was no food that I saw at any of them.
- The road during a majority of the portions of the bike was absolutely terrible. Some of the worst roads I have ever riden; potholes, broken sections of road, etc. This caused a couple of crashes and some people had to pull over just to adjust their handlebars which had been rattled loose. Everyone in the race complained about the roads.
- At the run aid stations (with temps over 90 degrees) the water and Gatorade was luke warm. Can we get some ice please??
- Near the end of the run they began to run out of water and we were told we could not dump the water on us to cool down. At a nearly $200 entry fee I expect better and to run out of water on a hot day is very poor planning.
- One of the things I was VERY disappointed with was the way people were told they had not met the cutoff times for the race. Towards the end of the race I sat to watch and cheer on people finishing. I realize there has to be cutoff times but people would come in and staff were already picking up tents and aid stations while people were still on the course. The athletes were looking for the turnaround and had no idea what to do. A half iron distance is a big accomplishment for a lot of people and the way it was handled by staff was disappointing. Some people chose to tear off their numbers and finish the race despite the staff..Good for them!!
- There was nothing in the entry packet other than a t-shirt and the required equipment which was in a paper bag. I'm not asking for anything fancy but it seemed a little put together at the last minute.
- The results to the race were not posted until 2 days after the race and the results were all wrong and confusing. People who competed in the race were not listed.

Overall I was pretty disappointed in the race. The only thing that keeps me from giving a 1 star rating are the triathletes who are some of the most supportive athletes around. I would hate to dissuade people from competing in triathlon based on this review. I mainly wanted people to be prepared for the event in the future. I have competed in several races and this was my least favorite of all of them. The two main things were the misrepresentation of the bike elevation and the way the staff treated the people who had not met the time cutoffs. Hopefully this event will improve in the future, but since it was the 8th annual (I think) I am not very optimistic. Good luck