The Pearl Qatar Triathlon 2015
“Potential for improvement - The site is perfect for a race like this, but organisers must improve on the following: race course signage and marshalling, traffic closure must be enforced, other products like gels and energy drinks at the aid stations, a race director with experience in triathlons organisation. The transition area was very well planned, the race pack and chip delivery was simple and expedite, the prizes for best athletes in each category were awesome.”
“Good, but could be great - Very good event, but a few things to improve: Don't have water stations on the fastest part of the bike course (at the bottom of the underpass); dangerous. Provide turn point in transition, so everyone runs the same distance in transition. Athletes close to the exit had an advantage. Brief marshals better. On the course they didn't really know what was going on. I got sent the wrong way on the run. Marshals tried to make me do extra laps of bike and swim. Close one side of road for bike lap”
“A great course. Well run event - Marshallers were non-existent for many of the critical turning points.. Particularly for the run route. Swim exit marshaller also stopped me when I was trying to get out if the water, &told me to go back and swim another lap.!I was competing in the sprint distance, so this was not correct. As a competitor the focus is on the race, and having an official stop you can cause a large amount of confusion... The bike/run entry & exit area was also a little tight. Move it to the road, or widen it.”
“Enjoyable - Course needs to be more precise in terms of actual distance. KM distance signs for run and bike. Larger buoys to mark swim. A very scenic route and great camaraderie.”
“Poor course markings on the run - The run course indicators were terrible. It was lacking marshalls throughout the run (only saw 1 person) and at minimum it needed cones indicating where to go. At critical points there was no one directing (or cones) which makes for a frustrating run when you're not sure if you're going the right way. ”
“Completing a tri before 9am! - Great support stations - encouragement and smiles. Thank you! Patronising organisers and rather sarcastic in their info delivery. Fought through one and a half hours of traffic to get race pack and missed the info delivery. Just tell people to collect on the morning of. Thanks for all the great refreshments. Course signage very inadequate.”
“Congratulations - Everything was awesome!! Congratulations!! Just a few comments for the next year: - Put bigger buoys. - Better signage along the race and more marshals. - Let them know who is signed up before the race. More pre-race information. Thank you so much for the effort!!!”
“Nice Event, but could be better - Pros: Nice venue, Marshalls were supportive, nice giveaways, good food, appreciate the pre-race briefing the night before. Cons: Small buoys, Not enough space for the bike rack ( some of my Personal gears have been taken my mistake by others athlete),Poor signaling for the bike route, out of water during the run, Prices giving while athletes still competing...thi was not respectful... ”
“Nice event - The event was very nice and i would participate again. I would however change the pre-race communications and the way the race packs are collected. I was unable to collect them from the Pearl and the information was not sent out in advance. Not everyone can make the collection point or pre-race briefing at a set time - perhaps go in with Go-Sport to have the collection point there a week out. Keep the transition area free of people and clear of marshals. Apart from that - good job & nice course”
“Nice - Was an excellent course, suggestions for next time, keep the transition area free of spectators, when I came in I couldn't get past all the people just standing around. The Marshall's need to be informed as to the course when asked about where to go they just said I don't know. And they need to be more attentive to the race, not sitting on their cellphones, as not giving water, and talking to each. More water as it ran out. Prize giving done while participants were still competing. Terrible!!!”
“Great job overall with a few areas for improvement - Pros: Toilets at start/finish. Aid stations well staffed. Volunteers great. Cons: Anouncements coud not be heard with a magaphone. Perhaps a fog horn to initiate the start. No toilets on bike and run legs. Transition area too small/chaotic. Move food and beverage to another area and clear Sprint finishers while Olympic still competing. Traffic and bike marshalling was poor and witnessed one accident and several near misses with cars speeding and confused traffic. Cyclist turnaround confusion.”
“Great fast course - I had a great time, only downside was that the run final km (after last roundabout) was not signalled superbly causing a lot of runners to go straight instead of the long route back to finish.”
“More often - This event should be held more often. It is the perfect location and has the potential to become something big ”
“Overall rate for is 95% - Toilets are missing on bike and run route.”
“Could be great, needs to tighten up - The bike drop area was too small and chaotic so perhaps you could separate Sprint and Olympic athletes. The bike and run routes were longer than advertised which annoyed lots of people competing for times. The roads were not closed and I had to avoid an articulated truck that stopped across a roundabout. ”
“For me the event is almost perfect - Excellent”
“Great Event - with a few niggles - Really enjoyed the Pearl Triathlon overall and will do it again. Food, Beverages, Aid Stations and Giveaways were great and considering everything it was fantastic value for the entrance fee. There were a few niggles: marshalling and direction on the course needs to be better. Transition area should only be for athletes transitioning, keep the finish line and catering in a completely separate area. Having finished the Sprint by 8am catering still wasn't open at 9am. Congrats overall UDC :-)”
“Great Event - It was a nice race overall with few acceptable loopholes. 1. Buoys are not well visible. Too small for sighting specially when the weather is dark and cloudy. 2. Bike rack were too crowded, transition area is too small. this definitely needs an improvement. Bikes racked near the entry and exit has the advantage over those that were racked in a distant. 3. Bike marshals are not enough specially in RA. Safety bike marshals were using the same lane during the bike (which is already too narrow. ”
“All very good, nice location, reasonably organized - Not acceptable that the bike segment was almost 44 k and the run almost 11. That's why the course gets 0 in my rating.”
“Sort out signage and marshals for next year please - There were holes in the course where signage was missing or wrong. When asking marshals, they didn't have a clue what was going on.”
“A great event at a great location, well done. - Another great event, well organised and at a great location. Great to see last year's suggestions of more toilets at the start / finish area being taken on board. The volunteers did a great job at the water stations, but some locations on fast parts of the bike route didn't work so well. Great job, I look forward to next year's event.”
“Can still be better - Kudos to all who took part, and the organizers. Some improvements on the race, but still a few let-downs. Event set-up is one thing but you need to get the TECHNICAL side right. Get a RACE DIRECTOR! Positives = toilets, giveaways, meals, water stations, ...much better Negatives = swim buoys, bike course 3km longer, water station under bridge... why?, safety - roads NOT closed, mount/dismount area bike/run in-out area... chaos, sand at bike turn point, announcer, poor pre-event communication, ”
“Super good value for the registration money - Keep up the good work”
“A few points - If you have marshals, they really need to know how to marshall, ie. Know where to direct people. If you have a row of cones in the road, you need to state what side you need they to be on when racing. If you have turn points, it's also a good idea to have big signs saying ' turn point' rather than relying on people's memory of a map or 'last years race'. A big sign saying 'run route' would be useful where the run route splits from the bike route . It was a lot slicker last year. Disappointed”
“Few more improvements, overall great event - Always an event of the year everyone is anticipating. Some few things need to improve: 1. MARSHALS must understand the event, the course, and importance of their role specially regards to directions and safety of all 2. TRANSITION AREA must be secured/clear/athletes only area and put security do not wait for a bike/gears to be lost. 3. SPONSORS/EXPO - use the local bike shops, I did not see Carbon Wheels, Flash Bike, Skate Shack to provide bike support mechanics and last minute gears. ”
“Organization at finish line should be improved - Overall I think it's good. This is my 1st Tri, so my comment might be wrong. I also need to mentioned that I missed the briefing @ night before the event (was driving from Saudi), so I might not get the whole information correctly. Bike racking seems unorganized to me, orange (sprint) & green (olympic) stickers bike are mixed in the racks. IMHO it's better if they are separated. Bike area need to be clear until race ended. Early finisher can't get fruits because its located near the bike rack.”
“Missed big picture details - We were told that roads were to be closed. I saw a competitor nearly get run over by a truck at a junction. Aid stations were positioned very poorly on cycle course - at fastest stretches and turns... Sand at the turn on cycle route. Ran out of water on run course. Transition area was a joke with too many people hanging around in there.. No management. However, value for money was superb!”
“Very well organized - Thanks much for nice event”
“Great - All arrangements were good. The event started on time. Track was good and well secured. Need a better finisher medal though!... ”
“Thank you, keep it up! - Swim & cycle great. Marshalls for the run did not know where the turnaround was. Please place distance boards on run. ”
“Great event but some room for improvement - Great event, well organised but buoys for swim could be bigger, more space for bike racking, better marshalling in transition area, too many people who are not competing in transition, some confusion on route for the run coming back to the finish (some people did not go through Qanat Quartier but went straight to the finish). The setting is fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“Fantastically organised event - The best organised event I have ever participated in. ”
“Great event, but not good as last year - Very nicely organized, excellent timing results feedback, some nice marshalls. The exit and out from transition was too small there were too many people just wandering around the transition area. But all in all - very nice. ”
“A great morning - Real improvement on last year, well done to all organisers. Much better showers / toilets etc. Mostly well marked course, good marshalling and drink stations. Timings worked well. Next year please keep spectators out of transition areas. Please have bigger, more visible turn buoys for the swim. Difficult I know, but if possible, please have an accurate measured course. Also, more seats in shaded areas. I really enjoyed the event, and would love the chance to compete again next year. ”
“Great event, improvement from last year! - Reasons for the non-awesome ratings: hardly any pre-event communication or hype/ramp up leading into the event. Support stations (water guys) were sometimes a bit distracted or on the phone - but very friendly nonetheless. Some confusion on the run route in terms of directions. The course is ok (if a tiny bit hilly) but a lot of cars & trucks on the road. Still, overall an awesome event in a beautiful setting and great atmosphere. Big improvement from last year with give aways. Thank you!”
“Another awesome event - Fantastic venue and super atmosphere. Up there with other major UAE events. Would welcome larger marker buoys in the swim. Great support team and loved the foot baths! Transition areas were well marked and entry and exit points clear. Would have liked the food as I finished my event instead of having to wait and the transition area needs to be kept clear of people until the last competitors have gone through. Having to go to race briefing the night before isn't convenient for many people”