MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series

Your Surveys Help Make Us Better

For the past eight years we have had an online post-race survey available for completion by those who raced at a given event. We have had thousands of surveys completed during that time. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to do so; they are all read by me personally.

The vast majority of the responses range from constructive criticism, positive feedback, and simple suggestions to glowing praise. There are a few, very few, athletes who respond in a manner I would consider mean spirited. To those athletes I would ask that you try and be constructive in your criticism and if you would like to make suggestions for improvement we are happy to hear from you. If you are really upset with a situation at a race then please contact me directly by email or by phone at 519-453-3255. I am always ready to talk to a customer and hear their perspective.

In 2011, as in past years, we have used your feedback to make changes, and we hope improvement, to our races. In some cases it has also given us some insight into the need for us to help people understand some of the limitations we face in order to make suggested changes. We have also looked at some comments and realized that we need to provide educational articles on things such as drafting, racking a bike properly and etiquette. We hope those articles have been and will continue to be helpful. Examples of this can be seen on our Racking Your Bike or Getting Ready to Race web pages.

After reviewing the 2010 surveys and thought it might be a good idea to post a response to the comments you made. In this section I will be addressing the race specific comments and the changes we have made. I hope my comments will either help clarify some issues, help you understand why we have to do some things in a certain way and/or tell you how your comments might impact a race in 2011. Thanks again for taking the time to respond to our surveys.

John Salt - Founder and President, MultiSport Canada

Look For These Race Changes in 2011 - Your Survey Input Helped!

Based on your comments in the 2010 Surveys in conjunction with our thoughts on how to make some of the races more interesting we are making the following changes to races in 2011. For general interest we are posting the overall customer ratings and the likelihood you would refer the race to a friend for each race.

Sportstats Timing

We are very excited to announce that SportStats is now the Official Timer for MultiSport Canada races.

Woodstock

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 99.4%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 97.7%

The Woodstock event has moved to the second weekend in June (11^th & 12^th), which is the same weekend as the former Lakeside I race. It is now is the only major event in the province on that weekend so look for an even stronger field in 2011.

Based on customer feedback, we have decided to change the distances of the Woodstock races to more closely mirror those of the former Lakeside June race. The Sprint Tri will now be a 500m Swim – 20km Bike – 4km Run and the Sprint Du remains unchanged at a 3km Run – 20km Bike – 3km Run. The Triathlon will be a 750m Swim – 30km Bike – 7.5km Run and the Duathlon will now be a 7.5km Run – 30km Bike and 3.75km Run. We cannot create a course with equal run distances for the Duathlon, so we are basing it on a percentage of the International Distance.

As with all races we produce, the Bike Course will have KM markers every 5km. We do recognize that additional signage will be required on the Run Course in 2011. 2010 was the first year for Woodstock and it appears that there might not have been enough signs on the loop in the wooded area. At this time there are no plans for the Conservation Area to repave the parking lot beside and above Transition. This means that the mount line will be in the same location and there will be a diagonal run on the grass to the start of the bike course.

Binbrook

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 96%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 91.1%

Give-It-A-Tri - Here is a case of feedback causing change. We have known that some people would prefer the Give-It-A-Tri to be on a separate day so that the participants in that race did not have to deal with traffic leaving the park. Over the past few years the Give-It-A-Tri has grown enough that we can now devote a race day to that event. We have received permission from the Niagara Regional Conservation Authority to now have the Binbrook races over two days. This will allow for more parking and eliminate any issues as it relates to restricted access to the race site. Once the last racer is off the bike each day, the park will be open to normal traffic.

The Give-It-A-Tri will now be on its own day making parking, registration and racing more focused on the GT12.9 racers needs. The distances will remain the same as in past years with only a minor change to the run course. Instead of heading West to complete the “Old Campground Trail”, racers will use the first and last 1.25km of the Triathlon run course and head East towards the Binbrook dam. The Triathlon and Duathlon will be hosted on Saturday June 25^th and the Give-It-A-Tri will take place on Sunday June 26^th, both with an 8:30AM start.

New run for Triathlon and Duathlon - There has always been a mixed reaction in the post-race surveys to the run course and the amount of running that is "cross country". We believe we have the solution. We have increased the distances of the Triathlon to a 750m Swim – 30km Bike – 7.5km and the Duathlon to a 5km Run – 30km Bike – 5km Run. We have done this by taking the majority of the run courses outside of the park onto paved roads East and North of Binbrook Conservation Area. All courses are now out-&-back. We know that returning racers will still see some of the variety of terrain that was the norm for the old course, but now on a course with more pavement and less turns.

Welland

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 97.2%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 95.5%

New Run Course for the Welland Half Iron Triathlon/Duathlon

We have listened to the feedback from last years race and redesigned the run course so that the entire run is on one side of the canal. Check out the new and improved changes here.

We are returning to the original “Looped” Bike Course for the ½ Iron Distance event that was planned for 2010. As many of you might have read in our newsletter and on our website, we were forced to alter our Bike Course in mid-June due to the majority of the OPP officers in the area being called away to work at the G20 conference in Toronto. With the reduced number of available officers the only solution was an out and back course.

With things returning to normal in 2011, we are very excited to bring you the course we had intended to use. It will still travel in and out of Welland via Canal Bank Rd, Forks Rd and the Feeder Rd, but it will now turn North at the end of the Feeder Rd and traverse a 45km Loop bringing it just East of Dunnville, down the Northshore Rd through Stromness, across Lakeshore Rd at Lowbanks before heading North to rejoin the Feeder Rd and head back to Welland at 77.5km. This change will mean that for the majority of the course ALL athletes will experience only one-way bike traffic.

Given the poor acoustics in the arena we intend to have the awards outside. In case of inclement weather the arena will be used as a back-up location.

Gravenhurst

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 98.1%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 93.6%

We will be changing the swim course configuration so that the sun is not an issue for sighting during the swim.

There is a possible change in Gravenhurst as it relates to the Olympic Distance bike course. Jones Rd. is a road on the course that had degraded over the past two years due to frost heaving. The Town of Gravenhurst had communicated to us that Jones Rd. was scheduled to be resurfaced this past summer. That did not come to pass due to budgetary restrictions and this project may fall victim to the same situation again this summer. We should know the status of the construction within the next 2 months. If there is not budget to fix the road for summer 2011, we will be forced to remove this section from the course. This will result in one of two possibilities. 1) A course that is 34.5km in length or 2) We are looking for an alternate route that will give us a 40km bike until Jones Rd is resurfaced. We will update you in the next month.

We will also be increasing the number of Aid Stations for the final 10km of the Olympic Triathlon to six for 2011. This will result in Aid Stations at 1.5km, 3km, 4.5km, 5.5km, 7km and 8.5km.

Bala Falls

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 98.4%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 96.6%

The major issue was the number of cars on the bike and run course this year. Unfortunately there was a major accident on Highway 400 and the OPP had to close sections and reroute traffic down the road on which we hold the race. A highway closure causing a major detour is a very rare situation and unfortunately out of our control.

Aside from the above, there was not alot of comments regarding any other areas requiring improvement.

Bracebridge

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 100%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 98.9%

Half Iron Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 100%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 95.9%

It seems that everyone who raced the Bracebridge Half Iron races loved them. Unfortunately after three years the race has not grown and we take that as an indication that our customers are looking for something different. We have therefore decided to change the Half Iron Distance Tri/Du in Bracebridge to an Olympic Triathlon/International Distance Duathlon. This will bring an Olympic Distance race to Central Ontario in August, something that has been lacking for a number of years.

The bike course will use many of the same roads as the Half Iron, but will turn-off of Rd 118 at 17.5km on to Ziska Rd. There will then be a 2.5km out and back section. The turn-around is now on a very quiet road with minimal vehicular traffic.

The run course will use the first/last 5km of the former Half Iron course along Beaumont Drive along the south bank of the Muskoka River. The course is fast and flat once you reach the south side of the river as the only inclines in the course are exiting from and returning to Annie Williams Park.

We know that that those who raced the former Half Iron will miss it, but we encourage you to come-out for an equally enjoyable day and race the Olympic Distance.

The other comment from our athletes was that the wave starts are getting a little crowded. To give you a better and safer race experience all races in Bracebridge will now use a Time-Trial Start format. Racers are marshaled in bib number order (Elites then Youngest to Oldest) and are sent-off on a five-second interval. We have used this format very successfully for the past 9 years on bodies of water that are a bit narrower. Now that the Bracebridge event is growing in popularity, particularly the Sprint Tri, we feel the time is right to move to this format to ensure a stress-free swim for all.

Cobourg

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 100%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 95.1%

Three years ago we moved the Cobourg race to a date later in August. In all the years preceding the move we never had unsafe wavy water conditions. Two out of the past three years we have had to either shorten or cancel the swim because of very wavy conditions. (Last year we were lucky and everything was perfect) We have completed some research of weather patterns and spoken to local residents and it appears that the best solution to reduce the possibility of wind and waves is to move back to a date earlier in August. We have therefore moved the Cobourg race back to the early part of August with the goal of increasing the likelihood of calm water on race weekend.

We hope to see you back in Cobourg in 2011.

Toronto Island

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 94.1%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 93%

Last year there were lengthy line-ups for the Ferries returning to the city after the race. We have already arranged for the double deck Ferries and anticipate that this should not be an issue in 2011.

In order to ensure we provide the safest possible race on Toronto Island it is necessary to space out the waves with much longer times between the waves, yet still have the races finished before most of the masses come over for an Island visit. Otherwise we would have far too many athletes on the bike course at the same time and/or more pedestrians, which would be unsafe. The ramifications of this are a very busy Transition Area with a different flow of athlete traffic. The reality is that there is not much we can do about this if we wish to offer the safest race possible given the limitations of the Toronto Island venue and the road surfaces we have available.

For all who made suggestions for a simple run course loop I would ask that you look at a map of Toronto Island. If we could find a simpler run route we would change it immediately. Unfortunately if we want a race on Toronto Island we have to design a course with the limitations the Island presents us.

Wasaga Beach

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 97.8%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 95.3%

We will be expanding the layout for registration this year. This will cut down on the line-ups for race kit pick-up and the length of time it takes. We will also be moving the location for the post-race food to an area adjacent to the awards.

Lakeside

Post-Race Survey Customer Rating from 2010 - Good to Excellent - 98.6%, Likely to recommend to a friend - 94.7%

There was one major comment and it related to length of the Sprint Bike course being short. The simple and honest answer is that we made a BIG mistake. Unfortunately the crew setting up the bike course were distracted during set-up and miscalculated. My only response is my sincere apology that this happened. The one customer comment that appeared to go along with the short course marking was everyone did the same course distance and it was still a fair race for all. I do appreciate that everyone who commented did seem to be happy with all the other aspects of the race day.

In next months Survey Responses I will address the issue of course accuracy, especially in this day of more athletes wearing GPS watches.

Summary

The responses above are of a more general nature and cover off what were the major areas of customer feedback. We will also be posting another page in April which will deal with the other aspects of the races such as post-race food, t-shirts etc. If you would like to offer any suggestions please send us an email. We also suggest that you take a look at the Training Resources Section of our website where you will find information on basic training, racking a bike, race day guide and more.

Thanks To All Of Our Sponsors

We extend our thanks to each and every sponsor and the local bike, running and triathlon shops in the communities where you race. Race entry fees never cover the complete cost of a particular race or series of races and without the sponsors there is no race or race series that would survive without their support. We hope that you all take a moment to check out our Series Sponsors below or visit the sponsors page and see what they do and look at the products they sell. Please thank them for supporting the sports of Triathlon and Duathlon by trying and using their products. If you do visit them please take a moment to thank them for supporting Triathlon, Duathlon and Kids races in Ontario.

MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series

We are extremely grateful to have the support of our sponsors. Please support all of our sponsors. You can visit their website by clicking on their logo.