Rate the Race with Firstoffthebike
When a triathlete is trying to make a decision about their next big race, the process of event selection can be hit and miss. An athlete might be fortunate enough to know someone who has attended a particular event, but more likely the inputs into the decision are second hand and, worse, potentially biased.
Recognising the power of the Internet, triathlon portal firstoffthebike.com has adapted the basic Race Calendar to deliver a new tool to take some of the risk out of race selection.
The tool is based on the proven model used by major travel advisory companies like Tripadvisor.com and relies on athletes’ own experiences to make its recommendations.
“The decision to go interstate or overseas for a race is a major investment, both financially and physically,” according to Phil Wrochna, Managing Editor of firstoffthebike.com.
“The financial costs can run into the thousands of dollars, with flights, accommodation and vehicle hire.
“But there is a potentially bigger cost for some triathletes, particularly those doing Ironman who only participate in one or two major events a year.
“Picking the wrong event can literally be a waste of a year athletically.”
Recognising that the decisions about which race to attend was too important to be left to chance, the firstoffthebike.com team have compiled a calendar of events that athletes can rate to help others make informed decisions. Athletes are also able to add comments about each event, capturing their thoughts on the event experience, location facilities, travel tips and local highlights.
“The triathlon market is competitive, and the quality of events varies not only from event to event but from year to year. This tool will give athletes the most up to date insights into athletes’ ratings of events before making their decision,” Wrochna said.
“I can see a time where no athlete will sign up for a new event without checking its status first on firstoffthebike.com. It might not even be the major input into the decision, but it will provide the athlete with a bit of extra insurance.”
How it works
The rating tool allows athletes to search an event by month, location and category (e.g. Olympic or Ironman). The tool will then bring up a listing of events that match the criteria, but importantly will do so in priority order according to the ratings that athletes have given the event.
“In true Web 2.0 style the athlete is in control – we simply facilitate the collection and dissemination of information.”
Firstoffthebike.com’s Race Calendar tool is located on the firstoffthebike.com website and is free to site visitors.
“Our initial priority is to get people contributing to the ratings. The tool will become more valuable over time but already there are clear messages about which events athletes prefer,” Wrochna said.
