Updates

6-18-09

I received a few emails recently with questions that I think will be pertinent to quite a few of you so here goes.....

•The lake has cooled off slightly in the last two days. It is around 63 now. Not that cold but if you are an Olympic racer or very slow swimmer please consider a wetsuit.
•We love all this rain we are receiving.........so do the mosquitos! The Park has been working extensively with the Abatement crews in Provo but honestly haven't really impacted the mosquito population at all. Bring bug spray!
•If you are a new racer (or an old school one) you may wonder what the safety pins at registration are for. They are to pin your number to your jersey (must be on at all times except for the swim). An easier option is to buy a race belt ($8 at SBR) that is an elastic band with buttons on which you place your number. It is much easier and won't put holes in your nice lycra.
•The transition area is going to move this year to the large parking lot on the north side. You will see why when you get there, I just didn't want anyone to be surprised.
•Registration is on Friday night. I realize there are some of you that can't make it and for that reason we will have late registration on Saturday morning...but....if everyone comes up with an excuse to have to come Saturday morning the race couldn't start at 7am. Since I have to start at 7 (as per the agreement with the Park) please make every effort to come Friday to SBR. Clear as mud?
•Volunteers are always welcome and depending on what's left, I may even have a t-shirt for the altruistic family member that tags along with you to help us out (and occasionally other swag).
•On that note, since most racers do not wear their t-shirts on race day I decided to get all the same colored shirts this year. This means that your volunteers will be in the same shirt you pick up at registration. The key to determining if the person is a volunteer is if they are either pointing you somewhere, telling you to do something, or trying to hand you energy drink. Somebody standing around looking at the sky probably (not always) is a bystander wearing someone's shirt. Ask them for some water and make them feel guilty for not volunteering!
•The course on the website is accurate turn for turn on the bike. The distance however is a little long, but you are triathletes not whiny bike racers right? You can do it.
•You are welcome to have shoes at the swim exit to run to transition 1. It is only about 80 yards on pavement, but I get asked that a lot. Also, the ramp can get a little slippery to watch your step.
•When you arrive at the park, you will need to get body marked at registration (if you didn't do it the night before) and you must go to the Milliseconds Van (big, white, can't miss it) and get your timing chip, which must be placed on your ankle at all times until you finish.
•All athletes must be at the north west boat dock or floating in the water at the orange buoy by 6:55. I will make some announcements and fire the gun at 7am.
•Athlete meeting will be held at 6:30 at the finish line.
•Most importantly, please let our volunteers know how much you appreciate them. These races would not exist if it weren't for volunteers wanting to work for your hobby. If there is a problem, come find me and we will work it out (I'm the guy wearing a race shirt ;)

Thank you for your attention. I will send out more information if it seems that the questions continue but I think we have about covered it.

See you Saturday,

6-15-09 Don’t forget, the park is giving us a deal on the entrance fee but we still have to pay to park inside. The fee is $4 instead of the usual $9 either at the entrance or at SBR the night before.

6-15-09

Check-in Itinerary

Athlete check-in will take place at SBR Sports in Orem at 6pm and will

end at 8 pm. If you cannot check-in at SBR on Friday night you can

attempt to check-in on Saturday morning, but at your own risk. I will

not delay the start of the event because people are still trying to

accepted after 6 am. I need those volunteers for other jobs so come early. For

Saturday check-in we will be inside the conference room at the visitors center

at the park. Timing Chips will be available by the finish line at the van. Everything will be very easy to find, just go to the only building with lights on!

The transition area will open at 5 am. The bike racks are first come

but there will be ample room so no need to trample grandma to get

there first. I will have the majority of the transition area set up

Friday if anyone in interested in checking it out. Please do not

leave valuables as I will not have armed guards for the night watching over your

stuff.

When you check-in you must present your USAT card and Photo ID if you

are a member. If you are not a member of USAT you still must present

your Photo ID. No ID....no race. Youth must have a parent or guardian

present.

In an effort to cut down on our impact, this year we have elected to

not give out plastic bags at the check-in. If you need a bag to carry

swag, bring your reusable grocery bag. In addition, we decided to

finally make use of the milllion and one swim caps hiding in the

bottom each of our personal swim bags. This race is bring your own

swim cap. As per USAT rules, athletes are not required to wear swim

caps, but, for safety we ask that you bring your own brightly colored

one. Talking about the swim, the water at Utah Lake is currently

hovering at 65-67 degrees. Wetsuits are legal and highly

recommended. If you do not have one, they are available for rent at

SBR Sports. I swam in the lake last week and the water is chilly but

not bad.

The race starts promptly at 7am with the Olympic wave. The sprint

wave will begin approximately 10 minutes later. We ask that

regardless of which wave you are in, be prepared to swim at 7am.

The Kids Race will start approximately when the majority of the runners have finished. This has traditionally been around 10:30 but please have your children at the park and ready to set up their transition area no later than 9:45 (this means checked in and timing chip on). If you have children who would like to race we still have room for them so get them signed up.

Please check out the maps and descriptions of the courses on the

website….www.provotri.com

We finally got the weather to turn so we are looking forward to a great weekend to have a race, see ya there!

6-8-09 Registration is still open for the next two weeks but today is the last day to be guaranteed a t-shirt so hurry and sign up by tonight........

6-7-09 To everyone who is either participating or volunteering for the Provo Tri (or knows someone who is),

I have been asked by the head Park Ranger at Utah Lake State Park to put together a group of volunteers to help rebuild a small section of trail inside the park that we use for the bike course. It is only about 50 feet long and will require raking, weeding and otherwise general cleaning up. The trail was damaged during the addition of a cement pathway, which is a major improvement to that section of trail and one which we are extremely grateful for. As many of you know, we organize a small service project every year that includes some sort of park improvement so this one is just continuing the tradition. I am planning on being at the park on Wednesday, June 10 at 4pm. The work will commence at 5 and I hope to be finished by 6. The more people that show up the quicker it will get done. As a bonus for joining me, I will be teaching an open water swim clinic on the race swim course. If you would like to get a preview of the course, some instruction or just a chance to get in the lake then come on down. I know I am giving everyone an out by offering this but, if for whatever reason you cannot make the service project, please feel free to join us for the swim clinic.

SBR Sports has graciously offered to sponsor the clinic by being there with their fleet of demo wetsuits from Blue Seventy. If you haven't swam in a tri wetsuit before or just want to try out another brand come on down and jump in the lake with one for a trial run.

We will meet in the large parking lot on the north side of the entrance after you come into the park, if there is a ranger at the entrance, tell them you are there for the service project. I will be in a blue jeep Wrangler with an SBR Sports sign on the back so look for that if you get lost. If you come just for the clinic we will be on the north boat ramp near the jetty.

Here is the google map to the park.....

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100531368372855100445.00046bcd74d5b5aed6828&ll=40.23926,-111.736477&spn=0.004889,0.010386&t=h&z=17

6-7-09 Athlete check-in will be 6pm to 8pm at SBR Sports on Friday June 19. Please do your best to check in there so as to alleviate the stress of checking in on race morning. Also, as per new Utah State Park rules we are required to pay the full parking fee at the entrance unless you have pre-purchased a parking pass. These will be available at check-in at SBR the night before for $4.

5-21-09 One month to race day. We are getting a lot of work done on the park including over

100ft of new pavement on the exit trail form the park. The lake is a foot over high

water and still rising slightly so we will have plenty of water on race day.