Southend Triathlon

Photos by Jon Wagstaff Mixed set 3 from the bike, run and transition.

Tag yourself if you are featured in video 1 from the Sundried Southend Triathlon 2018. https://www.southendtriathlon.com/…/sun dried-southend-triat…

The Race Organisers would like to announce that they will be using a different chip timing service provider next year due to the severe issues this year so that it is not repeated again and participants receive the quality experience you deserve.
Additionally, they will be using a different events company to provide better marshals as well as crowd control barriers so that the transition area runs much more smoothly.
Finally, they have asked the sea to behave next year!
... Thank you all for your excellent feedback and we very much hope to see you again next year at a vastly improved Southend Triathlon.
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Entry for Southend Triathlon 2019 is open!

Thank you all for your patience while we upload the race results.
The events team was on site until 9pm last night clearing up so we hope you understand the delay.
An email will be sent out later today with the link to view your results.

Photos by Jon Wagstaff Mixed set 2 from the bike, run and transition.

PARKING The organisers of Southend Triathlon have worked extremely hard to be able to offer FREE PARKING for Southend Triathlon competitors right at the race HQ. There will be 3 car parks to choose from: Thorpe Esplanade Car Park which is located between Maplin Way and Thorpe Bay Yacht Club's boat park, Uncle Tom's Cabin Car Park, and Shoebury Common North Car Park which is accessible via Waterford Road.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING CAR PARKS Due to the road closure for th...e bike leg of this race, Thorpe Esplanade Car Park and Uncle Tom's Car Park will become inaccessible between 1pm and 6pm. **If you park in either of these car parks, you will not be able to move your car until the road re-opens at 6pm.**
If you or your family wish to move your car freely throughout the day, we recommend you park in Shoebury Common North Car Park, or elsewhere. There will be absolutely no exceptions for moving cars and the car parks will be marshalled by event staff.
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Just over a month to go! Don't let nerves get the better of you. Read our guide so you can make the most of Southend Triathlon if it's your first.

What a brilliant event! First triathlon and definitely not my last, marshals were absolutely brilliant and the whole event ran very smoothly and very well organised. Thank you!

This was the best triathlon event I've done, incredibly well organised, such fantastic and friendly people and the course was stunning! Thanks for a great day!

This was my first triathlon, despite the wind conditions that day I have really enjoyed the experience. I felt that the Marshall did a good job at telling us where to go on the course, great support all along. The only thing I would have liked is to have a better idea where exactly we could mount our bikes and get off our bikes, I know the marshals were there to tell us but a sign or a clear line would have been a little easier. Overall, very good triathlon, great atmosphere I shall be back!

This should be an annual event. Everyone involved from the voluntary marshalls to the official marshalls, Virgin Active giving out water and encouragement, trinswimwell with the wetsuits, all gave support to anyone that needed it. For many it was their first tri and I think it won't be their last. I have read the negative comments about the bike leg but it was always advertised as being on public roads and to follow the Highway Code. Sometimes you have to use your brakes!! Overall, a brilliant experience, give it a tri!!

This first tri and was a great experience. As a novice wasn't 100% sure of how the day would go plenty of friendly, helpful people around to help with anything I was unsure of. Although my aim was just to complete the course I would have been annoyed if the traffic lights were on red when I come to them, luckily green so didn't slow me down. Def something to try and sort for next year. Marshalls and signs at other junctions on bike route were great. And let's try get it to the full 750m swim next year if possible. In short, thanks for a great day!

Really fun and well put together event. Very positive Southend now has a triathlon race. Looking forward to seeing it grow.

My first tri - and an excellent event ! I'm a local to Southend and fully used to the effects of the weather on the seafront ! A few comments to help next year :



1. anchor down the swim buoys a bit better please ! - having to swim onto the beach to round the end markers wasn't easy !

2. improve the turning circle / mount / dismount area on the bike - it was a tight turn anyway on a road bike, and i noticed many cyclists unclipping from pedals at that turn ancipating carnage !

3. by the time i started cycling, the 10m between cyclists rule was genuinely impossible to maintain due to the number of people on the course, and just kept getting busier and busier due to the non-swim waves being presumably able to start biking earlier than planned ?

4. put some signs up on the run please - i approached a very empty run course and a sign/arrrow saying "1st lap this way" would have helped massively instead of having to ask the marshalls where to go !



Overall the organisers and marshalls all did an amazing job and look forward to joining you in 2019 :-)

My first and definitely not my last, really well organised, very friendly and great fun.

As a first timer the amount of expert advice and help on hand was brilliant. Thank you Sundried if you will have me I will definitely try again next year.

Loved it, was great to do my first triathlon in my hometown... roll on 2018!!

I had some initial concerns about how well the race would go, but I'm pleased to say that it was a roaring success in my eyes. For the first year there will always be teething pains, most of these things are easily remedied for next year (which I will enter this week).



My feedback for next year would be;



1. Put carpet/astroturf down for the swim entry aswell as the exit (cockle beds were cutting peoples feet)

2. The bike course loop should be the other way round so racers do not have to cross paths at the Star lane mini round.

3. Have a few more marshalls at turning points to direct around the course.



Hopefully, the tide next year will be a bit earlier in the morning so there will be less road traffic for the bike and foot traffic for the run.



Its a great course and is really flat and fast so will be great for people who want to push get their PB's down.



Thanks for putting it on you did fantastic.

Great day, really well organised but not on the results table 😞.??

First triathlon, found everyone so helpful, absolutely loved it and have already booked for next year!

First one, yes a few issues i.e. timing and weather but everyone, spectators, marshals really supported with cheering clapping which makes the majority of the event. I'll be back next year and I'm sure timing issues would've improved, weather will be different and a few more trained marshals but if the support is the same I'll be a happy tri-guy regardless. Thank you for your hardwork!

As others have said an excellent event that was really well hosted. As a first event there will always be some teething troubles so don't want to sound too harsh, but.



Three hours before high tide is a little optimistic.



The bike course shouldn't have had bikes crossing at the roundabout at star lane. We could have turned right at pointers lane and gone through wakering high street. It's the way us locals go when we are training.



Other than these like I said the tri was really well hosted and supported by sun-dried, tri n swim well and others. I've already signed up for next year.

I was in wave H and the swimming conditions were crazy. You can't control the weather so no one at fault. I would say there is a little room for improvement on the bike. 1) move the entry/turning point to the junction with Waterford Road. This widens the turning point and a good use of cones will make the entry and exit easier and safer. (maybe using part of the slip road that leads to the beach). 2) I don't see the point of the no drafting rule (except for the waves A+B) because (i) the course is too small and so too many bikes to make this practicable, and (ii) you are relying on cyclists to keep their own lap count.



I don't want to put a dampener on things because overall I loved this event and have already entered next years. Well done on a day where the weather played it's part.

For for my first triathlon this was the perfect introduction to the sport. It's safe to say that I'm hooked! As others have said the bike course was awful with potholes and traffic etc. I'm signed up for next year already!

Amazing atmosphere for my first triathlon, absolutely loved it. Great supportive volunteers, though you might want a Marshall on those traffic lights for next year! :)

Good swim/run course and excellent support should make this a 5 star tri...except it was let down by a terrible bike leg - unfortunately the worst I have ever experienced. Firstly dangerous (2 traffic lights which I saw a couple of cyclists jump at full speed; several stretches of having to cycle into oncoming traffic because of masses of parked cars in the road - I saw several near misses; heavily potholed stretches; build up of traffic at junctions; spectators jumping out into the cycle path near the end) and secondly poorly marshalled (several signs hidden from view leading to nearly missing turns, and one marshal directing me for another loop of the bike course which added 5km to my overall ride before I realised - not ideal).



I'm sure a lot of this is first-year teething pains and has already been noted but thought I would lay out everything I saw so it can be sorted for next year! The foundations are great, particularly the support, but it just needs a bit more thought and polish. At an absolute minimum a triathlon bike leg shouldn't go through traffic lights - either redirect or get the roads closed.

This event was riddled with issues, by way of example registration processes were clunky, transition wasn't marshaled and I didn't see any bike checks being carried out. The swim course wasn't thought through resulting in some poor soul standing waist deep in water acting as an additional buoy to avoid the otherwise inevitable head on collisions. I was in an early wave but after 100 minutes of starting procedures two waves didn't get to start. There was no specific mount dismount lines and some road marking seemed to be the default. It also appeared to being marshaled by a member of the public and no flags. This lack of management also made it dangerous for new riders to join the course as they were having to release themselves in front of existing lapping riders. Similar issues with the run course where again members of the public seemed to be taking up the role of marshals to make up for the lack of marshals and signage. Unlike most events, no splits were available at the end and more than 24 hours after the event, no results are available.