The epic customer experience of competing in the Virgin London Triathlon

The Virgin London Triathlon(http://www.thelondontriathlon.co.uk) is the largest triathlon in Europe with over 10,000 athletes competing over two days seeing large stretches of London's road network closed to accommodate the cycling. The event is centred around the excel arena in East London right next to the city airport making a dramatic backdrop to the open water swim in the docklands. The arena itself plays host to the transition area for the many competitors alongside an exhibition area where many suppliers attempt to tease a purchase from nervous individuals pre-race time or broken bodies after the event. All of which playing to their specific needs and attempting to tap into this consumer base. The customer experience as an athlete is somewhat overwhelming as you realise the scale of such a competition which runs hand in hand with very prescriptive timing. With the volumes of people the logistics need to be spot on and at London this is certainly the case. The web site, emails and race packs are all provided and offer detailed briefing throughout.  For me the physical surroundings is all that lets it down and is a real shame for the organisers as it is the only bit they cannot influence. To make it epic I think a move to a new site could be in order. Running laps around an industrial estate is my day to day training. Come race day I want something special to really deliver that epic experience.