Callaway Gardens Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 2)

Oh, yeah.. Before I forget:

The transition area is more spread out than at a lot of races and it's not hard to lose sight of your spot, esp. coming back to T2. I counsel taking a moment to get your bearings before you head out for the swim start. Basic tri strategery but I wish I'd thought of it before my first time at Callaway...

Good luck to all racing.

Not quite to either the trail by the lake, or the road at the other end, but almost. Fairly wide, too.

You exit for the run by the lakeside trail, opposite side of transition from the bike exit.

Road the route again tonight.  Felt much better.  Pavement was dry and the roads were clear of most of the trash that was there on Sunday.  Still struggling on the long inclines but it was better, averaged 17.3 mph.  That will put me somewhere near last in my age group but that is the best I can do!   

Looking forward to meeting other BTers at Callaway this weekend.

Is the bike course marked at this point?

I'll be there tomorrow and would like to ride it, but still don't feel confident in the maps.

It wasn't marked yesterday and I doubt this race director will have anything marked today.  In fact, if he marks it before Sunday morning I will be surprised.  When you get there start from the parking lot by the beach area which is where the transition area is.  Coming out of the parking lot turn left.  Ride around Robin Lake towards Mrs. Carson's Garden.  At the stop sign by Mrs. Carson's turn right and go through the gate and head to the main entrance.  Take that road around back to the park and go left around the big lake.  You will be on the right course and circle back to Robin Lake from there. 

Best of luck!

Perfect racing conditions today! I hope everyone had the race they wanted...

c

It was great weather!  Running in temps 30-40 degrees colder than I have the last 3 months felt great.  I love Callaway Gardens but the mix of runners, bikers and cars doesn't work.  They need to close the roads for the race.  Anyone have any details of the person injured by the car?  I heard the car pulled out in front of the bike? 

Hope the person is doing well.

I wasn't at the race so I can't add any information but I hope the cyclist is alright.  I'm sure the motorist is fine!  I heard that 2 participants died at Louisville on the 29th, one from a heart attack and the other from a bike accident.  I couldn't find any information on-line about it (I wasn't there either).  Even if you're careful you can still get hurt.

My brother was there watching me race and he saw the accident. The car turned without paying attention and the rider couldn't stop. He said that the rider got up and seemed ok. I almost got clipped by a car passing me without enough room. I had heard that it would be a mess with all of the traffic, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. A few cars on the course which was frustrating, mostly because they didn't know how to pass cyclists so hung behind which slowed those of us behind the car. And the families walking three across on parts of the run were annoying, but all in all it was pretty good.

I did think it was a good race, and I had a great race, but overall, I was not impressed with the quality of the race.

The traffic on my second loop was terrible (on the bike). The ambulance was loading up the cyclist as I screamed by, and sadly, a group of people walked out from behind that ambulance. Me and them almost got tangled and turned into another accident, but thankfully they stopped.

The fact that the volunteers were yelling left and I passed transition, yet yelling right as I topped the hill, and then yelling left again as I approached the ambulance, didn't help. Highly confusing. Very irritating.

And was it just me, or did you all find the transition area about as disorganized as possible? I mean, there were people laying their bike down on the sides of the areas, leaning them against trees, and then spectators were still crossing through the area like it was open season. And, to top it off, one of the volunteers kicked our runner (part of our relay) out of the transition area and he had to argue that he was part of the team - even though he had numbers on his arm, leg, and belt.

Oh well. Fun race. I placed for the first time, but I don't see myself racing that one again.

The bike ride near the transition area and hot air balloons was the most disorganized part to me.  Volunteers were yelling left and right which was confusing.  What was even more confusing to me were the volunteers yelling for me to slow down on the race course.  It's a race??  There weren't any people crossing the road so I wasn't sure why.

Other than that, I didn't find too many problems that were the fault of the race organizers.  There were lots of families on the run course, but it wasn't a closed course which was fine.  The transition area was a mess, but that was mostly due to a lot of inexperienced people not knowing what to do.  This was my first tri; but even I thought that maybe some people should have known better.  It took me forever to get on the bike because people kept stopping at the exit to transition to get on their bike instead of getting onto the course first and letting the rest of us out.  I saw quite a few people with ipods on the bike and then they freaked out when they didn't hear me call out my pass.  I also saw a few people cut the run course short; not sure if they were confused or cheating, but whatever.

Callaway Gardens is a great venue for a race but they have to improve the management of the race.  The race director, Dave Johnson Enterprises, needs more volunteers.  The turnaround on the run needs someone there to check off runners to ensure everyone is completing the distance.  The mile markers need to be in the right place if you are going to put them out.  Mile 2 was very short; mile 3 was the longest mile! 

Safety is an issue on the course with all the traffic.  Either change the route to a less traveled area or close that road for the 2-3 hours.  I have heard different reports on the guy that was hit by the car.  One person on active.com claimed he is a friend of his and reported he is doing better but has a broken shoulder, broken knee cap and a other injuries.  Others said he was fine and walked away.  Either way, the potential for a bad accident remains with runners, bikers, foot traffic and cars on the same crowded, down hill section of the road.

With this being the 30th running of this event I expected a little more than just another plain cotton t shirt.   I really hope Callaway will change the race director or insist on a higher quality event.  I love the course but really expected more from Callaway Gardens.

Hello all.  My name is Patrick Johnson.  I'm the athlete that was involved in the bad crash last weekend at the Callaway Triathlon.  If any of you witnessed the crash or had a family member or friend who personally witnessed the crash, would you please message me on this forum or alternatively email me at:    [email protected]  Thank you in advance.  Patrick

Triton, thats what I said in a eairly post. Dave Johnson events are starting to be a joke. He was good 5 years ago and the events have gotten to big for him and his staff to handle. Thats why I opted out of the Callaway Tri this year, not worth getting hurt on that bike course 2 weeks before Augusta.
I dont plan on doing any DJ events in the future. As you said, for the money and how the activity has grown you need more then a cotton t-shirt and un-safe courses.
There are to many other well run races in the ATL area.
Enjoy the rest of your season and SAFE racing!!

FM
"The" Cube