race

The race organizing was much better compared to the 2008 one, the
first one we attended. Bus schedule was better. Much better, at
least very reliable and not like 2008 when bus drivers refused to
drive and everyone had to fend for themselves. Well, a little of that
yesterday (Sunday) after the race. That just made me mad.

We won't be going back for this race. We have agreed. Don't get me
wrong, the volunteers were exceptional (before lunch/dinner breaks).
Attentive (before lunch/dinner breaks). Still the Chinese style. ;-)

Hotel, the Crown Spa (the main event hotel) is quite far away from the
city; on average, Taxi fare was about RMB 50.00 one-way. Taxi drivers
were not happy to drive there as chances of having return passengers
were next to nil. Every time we took a taxi back to the hotel, we
added "extra" as compensation for the taxi drivers. We felt bad. The
drivers were happy and you saw a grin and happy face. There was no
supermarket close by. So "regular" shuttle runs by the hotel and the
event organizer made traveling a bit better; not regular enough. A 15-
minute one-way trip to the closest supermarket after passing all those
grandeos provincial gov't buildings taking up blocks of land. How
many Standing Committee members does this province has? Not enough to
justify having buildings in size comparable to joining many football
fields together.

Athletes need water to be hydrated before the race and to fill various
hydration systems. Hauling litres of water into the hotel just waste
energy. The night before the race, we went to a Costco-like French-
based supermarket to buy water. Six bottles of 1.5L water for RMB
19.50. Then a RMB 50.00 taxi ride home. The hotel had free bottled
water. Two per room, about 350ml each. To buy water at the hotel, a
large bottle was about RMB 30.00. I bought a can of Coke for RMB
25.00!!!! It was only a RMB 3.50 item.

Hotel food. Well, the best dish I had was lunch on Saturday. I had
an Asian dish invented by a Singaporean and had nothing to do with
Hainan Island, only in name. It was Hainan chicken rice at a cost of
RMB 48.00. For iron-wife, Western food was not prepared to what the
menu described and at least RMB 20.00 more than my dish. Maddening.
The night before the race, we went to local restaurant with 8 people
(including the two of us). The cost was RMB 310.00 for 9 dishes!!!
Steam fish, veggies, dumplings, steam buns, mushroom hotpot, fried
rice, duck.... At the hotel, RMB 100.00 plus to have a lunch buffet
of 3 kinds of pasta and hot dogs. Various sub-par deserts. Good
thing we had vouchers for b'ast. Otherwise another RMB 100 per
person. Inflation? Or Gouging?

We skipped the Carb loading dinner at the hotel. RMB 200.00 for two
people. by 645pm, reported by some athletes, there was no food left.
Ran out. Yo... how could restaurant ran out of pasta? And the meal
was between 6pm and 8pm. Went to a Hunan/Sichuan local restaurant for
some good food instead.

O back to this Crown Spa hotel. It was classified as a 6-star hotel
by Chinese rating system. Well.. The sound insulation was so thin, I
could hear someone taking a leak in the bathroom when we were waiting
for the elevator one morning as if the door was opened. In our room,
we could hear the other room's telephone rang just like it was in our
room! And the water damages along the wall. The guest slippers in
the room looked used. And sure enough, at check-out the receptionist
insisted all slippers were to be found. Otherwise, we were to be
charged an additional fee. The tiles in the bathroom were a bit
moldy. Same as the plastic shower curtain. Room was more like a 4-
star International rating, if that. Free Internet though, fast!!!

The race itself. The Transition Area was kinda in the middle of
nowhere too. There was no stores or small shops around for spectators
for food. No shades! I waited over 3 hours for the bike portion of
the race by staying under the shadow of a group of palm trees. I
tracked the sun with it. Good think I had over 2 L. of water in my
backpack. However, I darn not drink too much. Reason? Well, there
were only 8 portable washrooms that everyone used, from athletes to
spectators. And the portables? Not the chemical types. Just a hole.
Can you imagine the smell under a 34C heat. With athletes wanting to
shed internal bodily waste as well as early morning bowl movements,
just a mess!!!! And no lights in there, aiming at the hole was a
challenge when you had to squad. Two local cleaner was cleaning for a
while, after 830am disappeared. In order to get to these portable
bathrooms, I had to track over 500m across the race course. Good
thing I had this orange wrist band identified me as a "family
member". Or I could not enter places I should have been! Needless to
say, by the end of the race, I was a bit "short" in output. And at
the finishing line, the only portable for "us" to use were a line of 6
portables at the entrance to the "restricted" area. What a joke! The
doors only opened about 12 inches because the fence roping off the
"restricted" area was in the way! I couldn't get thru the door with
my small backpack. A staff saw my dilemma and offered to hold my bag!
Stupid! And there was no "shops" to buy anything to eat and drink in
this "restricted" area. I was in a park! The biggest park in the
middle of downtown Haikou! I had to find an opening among those metal
"fence" in order to gain access to the "common" area of the park to
buy an ice-cream! Insane!

Transportation, after the race athletes had to make their way on their
own power back to the Transition Area from the finishing line
(downtown) to collect everything from bikes to run bag to bike bag.
That was a 20-minute plus ride bus ride. After we were dropped off at
the Transition Area, the bus sped off leaving us stranded. Had to
wait for another bus, about 35-40 minutes away! Now, think about it!
Bus with bikes? They didn't mix well consider an athlete with all the
equipment as well as family members. There was a big line-up!!! And
there was an empty bus. The bus driver refused to take athletes as it
was for volunteers and officials only! And there was no such
qualified people insight. 35 minutes later, that bus left -
empty!!!! People were pissed. Trying to flag down taxis, even
offered cash to passer-by trucks for a ride. It was like a mini
disaster zone people trying to get out. But hey, the crowd thinned
and we got on to the designated bus eventually. The staff member that
was suppose to be there got called back to the finishing line; last I
was him there; he did nothing but walking around with a clip board. I
sensed the finished athletes were like "a thing in the past". The
"show" was focused on the real Ironman finishers.

We noticed this year's field was smaller. And the vendors
participated were SMALLER. Funny, the ironman still used the word
"village" where all the athletes meet for briefing and product selling.