I entered and took part in the 2017 dualthlon at West Bay (10k run, 26k bike, 5k run).The race briefing explained that the signs were easy to follow and there were maras halls out there directing us in the right direction. How wrong they were! We were also told that on the cycle route that at every right hand turn we were to put our right foot down otherwise it was instant disqualification. The 10k run was a farce, it equated to 11.5k in total. I got lost as the signage was terrible and there were only 3 marshals (2 of them in the same field) along the entire route. Granted, it was a beautiful setting, however in a race scenario you don't have the time to appreciate natural beauty. You're just keen to finish! There was a water station at 5k and that was it for the entire dualthlon race!The bike event was even worse. The Marshall who stood at the end of the harbour did not point another competitor and I in the right direction, so we ended up getting lost within the first 0.5 mile. The Marshall was far too busy looking at visitors to ensure he did his job well, if at all. Once we thought we were back on track, there were no marshals to ensure our right foot turns were carried out and the signage, again, was useless. The only event which was relatively well sign posted was the 5k run, however this consisted of a lap of two fields which even I can do without signage! At the end, there was a small stall with cookies and bananas for post-race nutrition. Not exactly what you expect after 2.5hrs of competing! Sadly, I have written on Beyond Events Facebook page with a brief overview of the above, telling them of my frustrations and my comment (and proceeding comments from other competitors) has been deleted from their page. I have since emailed them requesting a full refund and surprisingly I have not heard from them! I urge anyone NOT to compete with Beyond events as their organisation, marshalling, signage, race briefing, rules and overall set up is by far the worst I have experienced. Unfortunately they're not doing themselves any favours by deleting negative comments and not responding to emails. It clearly is not a well run company. This race was NOT worth the £35 entry fee.
Organiser replied:Thanks, but i'm sure your aware we have responded to your emails and as was explained in those emails , you managed to miss signage and as a result ended upon the wrong route (Where clearly there would no signage).
Also as was stated you cant win first place if you don't complete the entire route, hence why we have had to relegate you to last place, we didn't want to do this but to be fair to all those that completed the correct course it was the only option.
As for the post race nutrition, this was in-fact the feed station for after each element of either the triathlon or the Duathlon, and did in-fact have, bananas, cookies, nachos, energy drink and water, this was done as we are trying to encourage new people into the sport,and they not have brought any race nutrition with them, this isn't something you would get in many events at all.
But we will take your comments on board and try to use them to improve on what was a great event for the Majority.
