[RACE REPORT] Hy-Vee Triathlon, Pt. I: Registration & Event Website

Part one of this three-part series covers Event Registration & Website.
Part 2 (Course Preview & Athlete Guide) can be found HERE.
Part 3 (Event Expo & Race Day) can be found HERE.

The event's official website can be found HERE.

Here comes the another multi-part race report! This will be for the Hy-Vee Triathlon, site again of the 5150 Triathlon Series' U.S. Championship. Of the events I do yearly, this easily the highest-profile, with professional triathletes from around the world flying to corn-fed Iowa to compete. Last year I got to watch two of my favorite triathletes each take their second wins for this event: Javier Gomez (SPA) and Emma Moffatt (AUS). Watching these guys duke it out with a better-than-front-row seat is truly exciting, not to mention being a part of the international event.

This will be my third year competing in the Hy-Vee Triathlon's relay division. Though the swim and run's routes have changed over the last year, the cycling route hasn't, and is still one of my favorites to ride, likely simply due to the event's notoriety. This year, the triathlon will remain the same as it was in 2013, including all three routes. I will cover each of them in a moment, but first, the ins-and-outs of registration.

Event Registration
Registration is via the event's aptly-URL'd website at www.hy-veetriathlon.com (don't forget that hyphen!). For 2014, there is a registration button near the top of the screen on the right side.

The event's home page, including registration (and volunteer) buttons.

Clicking on the button/box will bring you to another registration screen, including a description of the event, which is actually outside of the event's webpage, and in to the registration host website, active.com.

The event's first registration page, which looks like the same site, but is actually through active.com (note the URL).

Simply click the green "Register Now" button to continue on.

Active.com's login screen.

Now you're on active.com's login screen. You can login if you already have active.com credentials, sign up for new credentials, or simply sign in as a guest to skip the whole "new account" stuffs.

Pick your poison: Individual, or team?

Yes, the Hy-Vee Triathlon is expensive. But race alongside people like Gomez?? C'mon! Choose your associated category to continue...
-Individual Option: You're at least 15 years-old and want to compete as an individual.
-Team-Captain Option: You are going to race as a relay team, and the team has not yet been set up. Double-check with your teammates to be sure one of them didn't already start the team! It's a pain in the but to un-register if you accidentally double-registered your team. If you already have a team, then you'll choose the....
-Team-Member Option: For this one, the team fees have already been paid and you're just joining an already-existing team. Just do a search on it on the next page. The captain will verify that you're on the team.

Then you got your legal mumbo-jumbo and the signin-your-life-away verification of liability.

Sign in blood here.

Click the green Agree & Continue button, and then you got the page where you enter your deets, such as address and emergency contact info. If you have a USAT license, this is where you enter your number. If you don't, you'll be charged a one-day license fee upon check-out.

Gimme your deets.

After that, you pay the fees and what-not. I won't show screen shots of that, because I don't trust you people with my credit card information.

All is said-and-done, check your email box to confirm that it all went through okay. I'd recommend clicking on the "View your complete registration details" at least once to make sure all of the deets you put in are correct.

And idea of what the confirmation email looks like, sans black scribbles.

That's it! You're registered. Take some time out to play around the website after that. Particularly in the "Athlete Information" section of the site, including training tips, USAT rules (VERY important if you haven't already browsed them), course maps, travel and lodging options, bike shipping (if you're doing that sorta thing), and past race results (look for me!). You can even search for other teammates for your relay if you so choose by using the TriMatchUp option.

The Athlete Information page. Links for each sub-page are down the center and along the right side.

Info on course preview to follow soon!

Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds

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