Confirmed by Chandran Race Director.
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This reminds me of IM LGK 2005, when up to 2 weeks before the event, there was actually no news. As soon as I decided to not read their web-site, they announced it was ON. There was no entry fee since they said it was in aid of the Tsunami. I didn't believe them, Dr Tan however went and all the twenty plus participants that finished, qualified for Hawaii. I never made fun of them again.
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They have also let me down many times. One, they didn't bother to respond to my friend's e-mail enquiries from Canada. I was hurt, other things too.
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Please do not give Lyn or Liem a hard time. I know everyone had a field day with the SCKLM organisers. Do you know that Lyn is a single mother? Do you know how hard being a single mother is? Do you know sometimes her children sleep with her at the office as she has so much work? Who cares her service sucks, her heart is in the right place. She has been so instrumental in organising the ten IM we have had so far. This year I was in pain from the jelly fish stings, the day before the event. I just tagged behind Lyn for what seemed ages. I knew she had forgotten about me. When she did remember I was there, I didn't get angry with her, she had 200 other things to do.
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Do not get angry with Liem or any Triathlon organiser like Mr Chan. If we knock the organisers and they stop organising, who suffers, us. I tell you if there was no Triathlon in Malaysia since 1989, my life would be a big fat zero. This year's Langkawi provided me with some of my life's nicest moments. In many ways it was even better than IM Busselton. Even Dr Tan opined that the aid stations were better than Hawaii no less. Remember the run at Langkawi, we kept on seeing our loved ones over and over. We knew half the people cheering by the road and half the people racing. At Busselton, strangers were cheering like crazy for you, thats a different kind of feeling. I was more than happy to pose with Dato Seri Ram Sarma at the finish. He and Lyn gave us in Malaysia the Ironman.
11 comments:
yea...we sometimes forget organisers are human like us too...
Fully agree! I guess its the post SCKLM induced paranoia. So easy to complain...
Time to take a look at the man in the mirror... and make that change!
I totally agree with you Sofian but I must also add that CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is essential for improvement and unfortunately most Malaysian organisers not only refuse to embrace input but take it as a personal insult. I've learnt to keep my mouth shut as much as I possibly can (although it goes against my nature and I'm not doing a good job of doing it here).
What would be nice is if all event organisers from the TdL to running events to triathlons to duathlons would have an open forum on their websites called "Race Feedback" where constructive comments can be encouraged and then used to improve the events.
You only have to look at the MNCF and see what a mess things become when you have big egos and no accountability.
I am so grateful for the tri scene in Malaysia - it's a huge part of my life. I'm totally with you that no one should play the BLAME GAME but let's all work together to find ways of making the scene even better.
Agree with Simon especially on quote "CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is essential for improvement and unfortunately most Malaysian organisers not only refuse to embrace input but take it as a personal insult....."
You mentioned before if you kill the goose that lay the egg, we will not have an ironman. Honestly, I believe there are other organisors hungry to take on the job & do it better if there are "no barriers to entry".
Anyway, there are other ironmans & triathlons events elsewhere where the organisors are hungry enough to do a good job for participants & I have been fortunate to witness it.
I am already cutting down my participation in races here after realising that there is virtually no improvement (despite forgiving their mistakes continuosly) for umpteen years now.
And I agree with Simon and John!! If I train and prepare well for a race, I want to be confident in the safety and organisation of a race. I have been disappointed with the standard of races here and where possible I will travel to find a ( non drafting!!) race where I can be confident I will be looked after. We have been considering doing Putrajaya 70.3 but with no race maps, little info and no reply from my attempts to contact the organisers by phone/email we have all but abandoned the idea and will wait for Philippines or Singapore 70.3. It is astounding most Malaysian race organisers refuse to bring in experienced advisers and don't improve events even after glaring, embarrassing and potentially tragic mistakes are made. Even more frustrating when there are so many knowledgeable people here with vast experience in triathlon/running events whose offers to help (often for free) are refused!
Thank you for reading and thank you for your comments
And thanks for letting me get that off my chest, Sofian!
Well said Sofian...emotions always get ahead of us in situations like this, when sometimes we should stop and rethink. yes this is me talking...the hot head..not so diplomatic one! But I am trying and learning to approach life...not just triathlon in a calmer manner and that means not jumping down the throats of the first name you can get hold of when a HUGE booboo like this occurs. IMMY this year was one of the best days of my life. I did not think it could top my first experience in 2008 but it did. It is like racing at home, it is my home and as such I urge people to try and get over this, move on and SUPPORT local races WHOEVER is the organiser...these people enable us to affordably indulge in our sport. Where else in the world can you sign up for an IM for RM500?? or a half for RM350?? And don't let me get started with Mr Chans races - such value for money!! Do you realise a half iron (unofficial) in the states will set you back nearly USD300!!! What do you get? A great day..but no goodies. Without the local organisers (faults included, that only through constructive critisum I hope can be improved upon) we would all be couch potatos!!!
Wow Emma,
So well said. Gosh its the best piece of writing I have read.
Take care
As they say......pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Thanks Sofian, I hope that you are feeling better soon. Perth LD championships??? Why didn't someone tell me about that little nugget!! Sounds ultra cool :) Train smart and see ya in Desaru!
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