Richmond was all fun for us... but here are my two cents.
The Could-Be-Better:- Some fast teams got faster due to seeding, and slow teams had a disadvantage for the same reason. True that this is the case for all festivals, but because this is on a river and is such a small festival, could maybe take this into consideration?
- Recycling bins.
- Congestion to get in line for burgers after the races... perhaps the burger stand could be outside of the building?
- After looking at a bunch of teammates' burgers, I wasn't hungry anymore... they looked a bit like hockey pucks.
- Not everyone racing in 3 races. It wasn't very long ago when Banana Fusion was the last of the boats. I'd be horrified if I had to wait hours for the results, and then be told to go home because we didn't qualify. I totally agree with IronGiant on this one.
- 20 minutes between heats? Granted there are only 4 boats to race with, but 20 minutes? and 50 minutes break between sets? The whole festival could've been cut down by hours if it was condensed a little.
- My team went into this festival wanting to have a good time. We were there to win something, but definitely weren't planning to ruin the day for anyone else. I was wearing a retro 80's workout outfit [think Jennifer Beals in Flashdance] for team spirits.
My team and all of the familiar teams from Vancouver were joking with me, laughing and taking photos with me. But right before the Awards Ceremony, LITERALLY while getting ready for the photos, I was "censored" and "strongly suggested" to wear someone else's very ugly XL basketball shorts. Apparently I had "quite a number of complaints", she says.
Why did that person wait until the awards ceremony to censor me? It looked exactly like a one piece bathing suit. So, I'm thinking some people don't have a sense of humor, or that person would go out on a regular basis and report anyone wearing less than a tank top?
Oh well, I kept those shorts.
- One person timing 4 boats.
The Lets-Do-It-Again:- The medals were pretty, and engraved on the back unlike Alcan's.
- Venue was very pretty. Everyone had a superior view of the entire race course.
- Good draw prizes, I heard.
- Pretty well organized festival for something that isn't run by the dragonboat specialists.
Overall I had a great experience up until the point someone told me to wear someone else's clothes and handed me a pair of random shorts.
Finally, this isn't Richmond Festival organizers' faults, but it was disappointing to overhear some teams smack talk us, that we cheated/stacked etc.
Richmond 2010 is a maybe, verging on a No.
Congrats to all the teams who raced today, and hope to see you at Harrison, Kelowna, or Last Gasp!!!
