So, the inaugural Midnight Man Long Distance Triathlon has waxed and waned.
A huge” Congratulations” and “Well done” to all of you who took part. It was awesome to see so many dedicated triathletes in activity all the way through the night. We were so fortunate with the weather. Not so with the Dartford mossies regrettably though! The difficult we can manage, the impossible takes a bit longer!
So, did you enjoy it….? Well, here’s a collection of edited feedback from TriTalk, our Facebook page and Beyond Going Long. Thank you for all the fabulous comments!!:
“Well done John for organizing a brilliant event. I enjoyed it enormously (in spite of the above – nothing worth having comes easy) and can’t wait for the next one. For us it was worth your months of stress! A big thank you to the marshals – you were great and your time is hugely appreciated. Thanks for keeping happy throughout the night. And very well done the crowd”
“Well done John and team for this. Great little event, and hope it happens again.”
“That was fun! Good to meet some of you… thanks for your words of encouragement. Loved the night time racing, but speed bumps drove me mad. Thanks to John for putting it all on. ‘Till the next time!”
“Whatever the outcome – great day/night – T shirt fits as well – always a bonus!”
“That’s why I’m beering it – hopefully will get some sleep. And can anyone tell me how I got moonburn? It’s like sunburn, but you get it at night, seemingly.”
“The support on the bike/run course was amazing; to be that happy all night isn’t normal, so fitted in perfectly with an event like this!”
“Tributes: First of all let me pay homage to those who made my race. Obviously first off huge thanks to John and all the great marshals, your hard work all paid off. Thank you for making some people’s dreams come true. Lots and lots of happy faces on the finish line. Spectators: Even without the chicanes and dead turns or lap1-brain-testing run course, there were no excuses to fall asleep at this event with the great support on offer. In most particular the posse of escaped loonies at the turnaround roundabout were high on life all night. Their support will be remembered in years to come as legendary. It must be post-Olympic fever. Marshalls: You were great. Like the chap at the turn roundabout who clapped every one every single time they came past. That’s a lot of clapping and support. Lots of banter and amusement to be had with the nice ladies efficiently handing out bike bottles too”
“Loved this event! Massive thanks to all the organisers, volunteers, supporters.”
“The more I think back on this race, the more my enjoyment of it is increasing. There are a number of reasons for this which have been posted by others, but include:
1) the absolutely barmy support up by the turnaround on the bike course.
2) the laps were great for pacing and timing your nutrition on the bike, but long enough to avoid boredom.
3) closed roads are fantastic.
4) the lighting seemed to remove the tiredness/sleepiness that can often kick in during the early hours.
5) I loved the run course. Not being the quickest person in the world it was great to be able to be running around with the speed merchants. It was also great to be able to measure where you were in relative terms as far as the race was concerned.
6) it was incredibly friendly. Constantly seeing the same people means you strike up a great bit of banter
7) the marshals were fantastic
8) not having to queue for the loo either pre or during the race
9) the post-race food included beer/lager at 7.00am in the morning (a real touch of class!)
10) The format takes so much of the cost and hassle out of a long-distance event that it makes it much more manageable for people with young families to look after at weekends.”
“…It was ace though wasn’t it?”
“Thank you for organising a great event – and special thanks to the enthusiasm of the wonderful marshals and supporters who must have felt like they had done a long distance triathlon by the end of it! I hope there is another one.”
“Thanks for organising a brilliant event- I had a great time and enjoyed myself! Special thanks to the spectators and support at that last roundabout- the group of ladies (you know who you are) who made a lots of noise and a huge difference to my evening. You were amazing!”
“Thank you for a superb (and unusual) event! Well done to everyone.”
“Cheers for an awesome event, for my second ever tri I had a great time!! I didn’t expect such awesome support from the sidelines too!! Hope there is one next year.”
“Organisers, marshals, and spectators all made this a fab memorable event. More please.”
“Thanks to everyone for organising and making this event what it was. I don’t know where you hired the supporters from, but they were brilliant, as were the marshals and everyone else there. I know you said it was a one off, but I said that after my first marathon, so hopefully over the next few weeks it will seem like it was good fun and you will do the whole thing all over again.”
“Despite some concerns by competitors about a confusing run layout – the race in general was very well received and there have been calls to repeat it next year. Whatever happens, Midnight Man offers British long distance racers another exciting and unusual race on their doorsteps and the calendar would be poorer without it.”
We would also like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to all the enthusiastic supporters – you have certainly made history!
We enjoyed putting on the race – always a bit nerve wracking for the first year. We do appreciate there are things we could have done better e.g. clearer indication on the half – distance run route. Thank you for bearing with us.
So, the big question…..will we do it again next year? Why don’t you come back here at 23.59 on Monday 27th August 2012 and see……..
