Trilaois.ie

Portlaoise Sprint
Triathlon
Portlaoise Leisure Centre
Portlaoise, County Laois
6th April 2013
Race Licence
Insurance for Competitors – Message from Triathlon Ireland

“All competitors must show their Triathlon Ireland membership card at registration. This card is grey in colour. If you do not have your membership card, please contact the Triathlon Ireland office at least one week prior to the race so that they can post out a card to you. If you do not have a Full, Student or Junior membership card, you must pre-purchase a One Day Licence through the Triathlon Ireland website. This must be purchased by midnight the Thursday before the race. A competitor, who cannot show their Triathlon Ireland membership card (grey in colour) or a One Day Licence at registration, will not be allowed to race as they will not be covered by insurance. Do not wait until the week before the race to apply for your TI membership as you will not receive your card in time. Please apply for your TI membership at least 2-3 weeks before the race to ensure you receive your card in time”. RACE BRIEFING
Distance
Car Parking
There will be no parking available in the Portlaoise Leisure Centre Car Park as this must be kept free for Gym members. The Gym will be open from 9am onwards. Also there will be no parking allowed in the immediate vicinity of the Leisure Centre as these are the roads that will be used for both the cycle and the run. There is parking available in the County Council Car Park which is on the Ridge Road at a cost of €2.40. There will be marshals around on the morning of the race directing people towards this parking. There is also parking available in the Train Station and in the Church Car Park. Please do not cause an obstruction in the immediate vicinity of the Leisure Centre. It is in you own interest Registration Process
Registration to take place between 19:00hrs and 21:00hrs on Friday evening 20th April in the foyer of Portlaoise Leisure Centre. There will be a VERY limited registration allowed on the morning of the race
between 07:00hrs and 08:00hrs. TI Membership cards will be checked at
registration and one-day licences must be presented where required. All
competitors will be required to sign the disclaimer. Competitors with any
medical conditions and/or disabilities will be required to inform us at the time
of registration.
Race Start
The race will start at 09:00 with Wave 1 of the senior race. Remember that there is a Junior Aquathlon also on the morning of the race and this will start at 08:30. Rules and Regulations
The race will be conducted in accordance with the Triathlon Ireland Manual of
Guidance. This document is available on the Triathlon Ireland website:
www.triathlonireland.com and we would ask that all athletes refer to section
3.8 – ‘General rules for competitors.’
Appeals/Protests
A competition jury will be appointed in line with the rules set out in the Triathlon Ireland Manual of Guidance. NOTE ON MARSHALS
Ignoring the instructions of marshals will result in disqualification. Marshals
are there to make sure you have a safe race – so listen to them and be
courteous at all times. They have your best interests at heart.
Verbally abusing a marshal will result in immediate disqualification. The only
reason you are able to participate in this race is because a marshal has
volunteered his/her time to enable the race to be run. Don’t forget this
when the adrenaline is pumping.
The Routes
Swim Plan
PLEASE NOTE: THESE TIMES ARE JUST INDICATIVE AND ALL ATHLETES MUST
MONITOR PROGRESS OF PREVIOUS WAVES AS WAVES STARTS MAY BE
BROUGHT FORWARD IF EVENTS ARE BEING COMPLETED FASTER THAN
ANTICIPATED/PLANNED.
The swim will take place in Portlaoise Leisure Centre in a 25m pool. Junior Aquathlon will start at 08:30 (1 Wave) Wave 1 of Senior Race will start at 09:00hrs.
Each wave will start as soon as the previous wave finishes. As there is a 30
minute time limit on each wave it is hoped that the waves will start after every
30 to 35 minutes. This will be progressively quicker as each wave is completed
as Wave 1 will have the slower swimmers progressing onto the fastest
swimmers in Wave 7.
5 lanes will be in use with 6/7 athletes per lane. The athletes will be seeded based on the times they supplied during online registration. However this seeding was not just based on swim times. A combination of swim time and run time was used to come up with the optimum mix of waves. Water Safety
This is a 25m pool with 5 lanes. We plan to accommodate 245 athletes in 7
Waves. The swim cut off time for the Senior race will be 30 minutes.
Swimmers who have not completed the distance in this time will have their
times calculated on the distance covered. Wetsuits or other buoyancy aids are
not allowed. No Diving or Tumble Turns are allowed.
General Safety
The Portlaoise Leisure Centre will have its full complement of life guards on
site. These life guards are well trained in all life saving and first aid techniques.
Each lane will have 2 lane counters per lane. These lane counters are members
of Trilogy Triathlon Club and Piranha Swim club and can easily spot if any
swimmer is in difficulty.
Swimmer Identification
Each swimmer will wear his/her own swim hat. In the event of two swimmers in the same lane having the same coloured swim hat, the lane counters will allocate a different coloured hat to the first swimmer. This is for swimmer identification. The lane counters will then use a specific form for each wave to count the lengths covered by each swimmer (as noted by colour of swim hat) as the race progresses. The Swimmer will receive a ‘pat on the head’ from the lane counter with two lengths to go. Swimmers will be advised to let faster athletes pass at the pool end wall. Retiring Swimmers
Athletes who retire early will have their timing chips removed by the Water Safety Officer. They are free to finish the course but will not receive an official time. Pool
Layout
Transition Area
The transition Area will be in the Astro Turf pitch behind Portlaoise Leisure
Centre. THERE IS NO NUDITY ALLOWED IN TRANSITION.
Transition will open at 07:00hrs on the morning and will close at 08:20hrs SHARP. All athletes must leave the transition area at this time as the Junior race will start at 08:30. The race brief for the Senior entrants will take place at 08:30hrs in the reception area of the Portlaoise Leisure Centre. You will not be permitted to re-enter transition until after your swim. Bike racks will be identified by ‘Waves’. It is the responsibility of each competitor to remember where their bike is located. Marshals will be on hand to provide directions to the competitors. DO NOT REMOVE YOUR BIKE FROM THE RACK UNTIL YOUR HELMET IS ON
AND FASTENED.
On returning to transition do not remove or unfasten your helmet
until your bike is back on the rack.
After the race, you will not be permitted to remove your bike until a Marshal has deemed it is safe to do so and will not hinder any athletes who are still completing their race. No ear phones of any description are allowed on the bike route.
Senior Bike Course
Competitors will exit the transition area and mount their bike after crossing the timing mat. All athletes must fasten their helmets before touching their bikes. Competitors will head out of the town on the Borris Road in the direction of Ratheven, they will then take a left turn followed immediately by a right turn and head for Straboe. From Straboe the will head towards The Rock. They will return to Portlaoise traveling through Larkin’s Cross on the Ridge Road. All turns and busy junctions will be marshalled and where appropriate a member of An Garda Siochana will guide traffic. It is the athlete’s responsibility to have a road worthy bike and wear a hard shell helmet. When an athlete is entering the transition area to set up, he/she will be required to demonstrate that their bikes are roadworthy e.g. by spinning wheels and pulling brakes. Marshals will alert competitors to dangers and descents. Adhere to marshals at all times. It is in the interest of YOUR safety. Drafting is Prohibited
Drafting rules will apply. There will be an official Triathlon Ireland Draft Buster on a Motorbike to ensure that no one will be able to break this rule unnoticed. Drafting occurs when a cyclist is in a position to potentially gain an advantage by closely following another athlete. It is prohibited in age-group racing because it can offer a time advantage and it is dangerous. The draft zone is a rectangle which has the lead cyclist’s front wheel at its front and centre. In all race distances up to and including Standard (Olympic) the draft zone will be 12m long. As a following cyclist you cannot enter the draft zone unless performing an overtaking manoeuvre which must be completed within 20 seconds. The overtake is deemed to have been completed once your front wheel gets ahead of the other cyclist who is now obliged to drop back out of the draft zone within 5 seconds. It is common to see athletes responding once they have been overtaken and immediately trying to retake their lead. This usually leads to the formation of a ‘2 up’ time trial scenario whereby both competitors are cheating and breaching safety rules.  Competitors are not allowed to Draft and all competitors must reject any  A competitor who does not clearly avoid violating the drafting rules may  The draft zone of one competitor may not overlap the draft zone of  A competitor is overtaken when the front wheel of another competitor’s bicycle is ahead of theirs. It is then his/her responsibility to drop out of the draft zone, either sideways or by dropping back. Failure to drop back the required 12 meters will be deemed to be drafting.  It is not allowed to gain unfair advantage of officials’ escort vehicles or vehicles being used by media etc. Minimum bicycle/vehicle separation will be 35 meters long by 5 meters wide.  A competitor may enter a bicycle draft zone (subject to official’s judgement) in the following circumstances: o If the competitor enters the draft zone and progresses through it  For safety reasons drafting will not be enforced: o At the exit or entrance of a transition area. o Approaching or leaving roundabouts for 20m. o If race officials exclude a section of the course because of narrow lanes, construction works, detours or for other safety reasons. Marshals can instruct cyclists to “pull back” without giving penalties but also note that it is not necessary to give warnings of drafting, if marshals deem an offence to be worthy of a penalty  2nd Penalty is immediate disqualification. If you are shown a yellow card or asked to stop by a marshal, you must stop, dismount your bike, raise both wheels off the ground and proceed when Draft Marshall signals. Failure to dismount will result in a red card and immediate disqualification. You will be permitted to continue the cycle but will receive no time. Draft Marshall will record your race number. If cyclists are found drafting as a group they will all be dismounted and signalled to continue at 15 second intervals at Marshals discretion and/or penalised/disqualified. Senior Run Route
On completing the bike section, competitors will dismount their bike at the ‘Dismount’ line on the Ridge Road before entering the transition area. Helmets must remain on and fastened until the bike is racked. The run is a 5.4 km loop. It goes out the Dublin Road, down Colliers Land and returns to the Leisure Centre on the Borris Road. There will be a water station at the half way point on Colliers Lane. No ear phones of any description are allowed on the run route.
The Finish
The Finish line which will be clearly marked and will be located on the green area between the Leisure Centre and the main Car Park. Thank you
Trilogy would like to take this opportunity to thank you for entering our race. We hope that you have an enjoyable experience and if you are a first time triathlete, we would love to welcome you into our club. Check out www.trilogy.ie for details.

Source: http://www.trilaois.ie/sites/default/files/RaceBrief_2013.pdf