CDR Forum - Back to removing postings it doesn't like

[Albertatraildog]

My latest posting to the NEW DEATH RACE FORUM...
I wonder how long it will remain up before being pulled.
ATD
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I am disappointed that once again, the CDR team feels it necessary to delete posts that it deams to be critical. This happened earlier this year on the original website forum and appears to be happening again.

In fact, the post that I made (which was removed I can only assume by forum admin) was not all that negative. I mearly requested that the CDR put on a greater variety and quantity of food at aid stations. This is a sentiment that every single soloist who I have spoken with shares.

I love the race and hope to run again. Hoever, the CDR Team does itself a disservice by deleting postings such as this. If I were a first time runner reading this, I might seriously consider bringing more of my own food for the race than I might have otherwise have brought.

[Size5]

LAME LAME LAME!!!

It makes me dislike the organization even more (and Terry, you already heard me rant about it!)

I just don't get it.......... I swear I just want the thing pulled from the Alberta Ultra series......

S5

[Albertatraildog]

I'm not trying to be a thorn in their side. I'm not being mean-spirited or overly critical. I'm only bringing up observations and suggestions on how to make the race better and safer. You would think that they would actually appreciate the input. Anyway, I will continue to post honest comments. I wonder how long it will be before my account is pulled?

[Jo-Jo]

I'm not an Ultra Runner...but I popped in here because my friend Karen ran this race..solo for the first time this year...and she did very well...actually if memory serves me correctly I think she was in the top five. I want to get her input on how things went.

But...I will say...don't Race Organizers know the power of the Internet ...word spreads fast when yucky stuff happens

[Albertatraildog]

Jo-Jo, your friend ran a great race!

Don't get me wrong, the race is an increadible challenge and an amazing experience. I know of no other race in Canada that compares in terms of difficulty and the reward one feels when finishing. I will definitely run it again.

The good...
- The race course - amazing. As close to a real adventure as many will experience.
- Volunteers - a friendly and dedicated bunch. A good portion of the town seems to get into it.
- Course marking - Pretty good. Just follow the orange tape. Hard to get lost.
- Course balance - excellent. the legs are staggered in difficulty -- easy, hard, easy, hard, sort of hard.
- First Aid - Emergency Services - seemed to be more than adequate.

There are some issues though...
- Price - at $285 it is very expensive. It is hard to understand where all this money goes. General lack of financial openness?
- Registration - disorganized chaos...I could go on...
- Aid Station Nutrition - very sparse
- Accomodation - not the RD fault by any means, but accomodation in GC was very hard to get this year. There is quite a bit of hotel expansion taking place, so hopefully this won't continue being an issue.
- Results - Not posted for over a month. The results still say "unofficial" for some reason.
- Breakfast - I didn't attend, however I have been told that while they advertised this as a breakfast, there was no food. I can't confirm.
- Race shirt - Not a big deal to me, but competitors receive a simple cotton shirt. Some expect a technical shirt (especially given the race fee).
- Timing - they used a new fangled electronic timing system this year, which failed to live up to expectations. I suspect that is why race results were so messed up and took so long to finalize.
- Finishers Plaque / Coin - I thought the coin that is awarded to finishers was just fine, others were disappointed that the plaque had been discontinued.

Of course, no race is perfect. RDs can't control everything that might not go as planned. Would I race it again - by all means. The possitives far outweigh the negatives. Still, there are some things that could be improved upon. With the possible exception of the general unavailability of hotels in GC, I think that all of the issues could be sorted out.

ATD

[Tri_K]

- First Aid - Emergency Services - seemed to be more than adequate.

- Breakfast - I didn't attend, however I have been told that while they advertised this as a breakfast, there was no food. I can't confirm.

- Timing - they used a new fangled electronic timing system this year, which failed to live up to expectations. I suspect that is why race results were so messed up and took so long to finalize.

First Aid/assistance is actually inadequate (which you find out only after you need it! Last year one of our friends was soloing and had to brought down from Hamel. He was suffering from hyponitremia (sp?), but they didn't treat him or offer any assistance. They brought him to transition and let him go. His wife took him to the hospital and when they got there, there was no one around. They finally found someone, but the doctor didn't know anything about sports medicine/ultra running. They had to actually tell the dr what to do. This year they were camping beside beside some of the medical assistance volunteers who seemed very knowledgable, so they do have help but the hospital story was scary.

Another story about lack of assistance from this year - another friend DNF'd part way up Hamel because he couldn't stop throwing up. He started to walk back down the trail and saw other racers but no help. He actually hitchiked back to town! I know it's a massive course but they need to be extremly diligent in watching out for people because some people just get to the point that they aren't able to make good decisions anymore. Also on leg 4 my husband found another soloist laying in the tall grass off the trail, "waiting for the quad to come and find her." He finally convinced her that she needed to get up because they would never see her there. It's pretty scary and I'm actually surprised no one has been more seriously injured.

Breakfast - (where is the sick smiley?) you are right, there is no real food and last year the muffins were stale and disgusting. This year we knew we needed eat somewhere else.

Timing - this was actually the second year for those weird timing sticks. Last year they seemed to work without issue so I don't know what the problem was this year.

Interesting note about the forum - why do they have a section for suggestions if they are going to delete them???? We went to this race twice and I totally agree that it is an amazing race but we are looking to spend our money elsewhere next year.

[Irongirl]

I'm interested in these timing "sticks" ??? (or, more, like, curious)

can you explain them?!

[Size5]

Same principle as a ankle braclet Irongirl....

You wear the timing stick more like a ring - I found it a bit annoying but I have very tiny hands. When you arrive at each aid station, you put your chip into a reader, it beeps twice and supposedly "registers" your time.

So instead of a timing mat, there is a timing box....

It seems to me to be the same technology. I'm unsure why they don't just use the regular timing mats. I've traded ankle braclets in other races before....

S5

[Albertatraildog]

I carried mine in a zippered pocket.

I heard a funny story about those timing sticks... a fellow I was talking to was wearing the stick on his finger (there is only about an inch of velcro attached to the stick - not enough to go around the wrist). At the exact moment that he came to a two foot deep muddy puddle in the trail, the thing flew off of his finger and landed somewhere smack-dab in the middle of the water. For the next several minutes, both he and another runner waded back and forth fishing for the thing. He told me he was practically frantic... the puddle was so large and muddy that he never expected to find it. If you lose the stick, you are DQ'ed from the race... he found it.

I had a similar experience...

On leg two I was running along listening to tunes on my MP3 player. Unexpectantly, I practically got impaled by a branch, as it snapped back it ripped my headphones from my ears and flung them into the bush... the last ever saw of them.

ATD