Huge shout out to the race organizers and all the volunteers on this course.
In the running/triathlon world, there’s been a few blog posts gone viral lately about races dropping the ball taking care of later finishers. Many races even run out of water, or don’t man aid stations, even within cut off times. Late finishers often cross a finish line with minimal acknowledgement while it’s being taken down.
This was not the case at all at Cyswog. As a less fast triathlete already, I had a mechanical issue on the bike that left me carrying my bike with three km left to go. There was an awesome volunteer (Vince) who actually traded bikes with me and carried my bike the remaining km to the transition zone while I rode his in. I then completed the run as the third last finisher.
I have done over a dozen triathlons, and at least as many stand alone running races. I have never before received such an awesome level of support at every aid station.
When I know I am a late finisher, I am always mentally prepared to feel alone on a course. I can’t say how much it meant that I instead heard cheers, had water sprayed, and never got the sense that the volunteers were annoyed at those of us that were still on the course so late. Thank you. I’ll be back next year.
Deb Johnson, Castlegar