Threshold Racing LLC

I’ve only done one splash and dash evening at stevens creek reservoir and I love the shirt, but wish they would have asked people to only take one slice of pizza at a time, with a limit of 2, since they ran out pretty quick before my dairy eating friends could get some. The rest of the food selection was limited, but there was plenty to drink and awards were done promptly. It would have been nice to get a transition time, since it got lumped into either the swim or run, not sure? Also the lack of bathrooms did cause quite a line to form. Otherwise I agree that it is nice and low key without a lot of advertising paper waste.

Threshold Racing organized the Splash and Dash on Sunday, August 19 @ Stevens Creek Reservoir. The organization reminded me of the worst that USA Productions has demonstrated… and this is NOT a compliment.
1. Website did not give start time for the one mile swim. So everyone showed up for the 9 am start time, only to discover that the one mile swim started at 10:15. All the on mile swim participants were surprised, to say the least. And not in a good way.
Um, use your website in a 21^st century manner. After all, we are 12 years into the 21^st century!
Also, directions to parking said to watch for the obvious parking lot on the left.” Obvious to who? Themselves? The obvious parking lot is below Stevens Creek Road and not at all obvious.
2. Finish line was a joke. Announcer literally stopped one one mile swimmer to ask her if she was also running (since you keep your chip if you’re also running but have to turn in your chip if you’re only swimming the one mile). Well she was also participating in the run so the announcer basically stopped a participant ‘s momentum. WHY?
3. Finish line again: two people (from SVE) tracked chips. But one stationed herself across from the second woman, right by the plastic bucket that holds the turned in chips. The one taking chips from finishers reached across the finish line, stopped finishers or those going to the run. Um, how about having the two finish line women AND the bucket on the same side of the finish mats?
4. Lots of drinks donated but not a lot of bananas and oranges. They did bring in pizza, so thumbs up for that.
5. ONE friggin’ porta potty.
The organizers also seem pretty insular. Apparently, Threshold holds Thursday night events, and the announcer kept describing the course as «the opposite of Thursday night.» Um, do you want new participants or is the Sunday Splash and Dash only for Thursday participants?
Watch out if you see an event that this race organizer holds. They are pretty bad. Understaffed. They might want to look at how the Pacific Grove Tri or Santa Cruz Tri are organized. Those groups do seem to see their job as serving the clientele. I hear Threshold is a spin off from USA Productions. Stands to reason. Neither race organization groups has the remotest idea on how to service its clientele.
Again beware of any Threshold event.

This is the first season I’ve participated in Threshold Racing events, and after finishing the last event of the season yesterday I was so pleased with my experience that I feel compelled to write a review. I did the San Jose Metro Triathlon (which turned into a duathlon), Morgan Hill Tri, a weekend Splash & Dash, and a weekend Norcal Open Water Swim. All the events were well organized, with good pre and post race food, well staffed water stops, clearly marked courses, and awesome shirts (they just needed a few more porta-​potties at the Splash & Dashes). What impressed me the most, however, was how well they managed problems. When the swim portion of the San Jose Metro Tri had to be canceled they sent out clear communication, provided a discount on a future race, and donated money to a nonprofit. Most importantly, they still put on a great race, even without the swim.
Threshold races attract a lot of tri clubs and competitive age-​groupers which was intimidating at first for this back-​of-​the-​packer. But the vibe was always very encouraging and welcoming. Plus, competing with all these high level folks really prepared me for my first Half Ironman. The races are reasonably priced and I love all the different options with the Splash & Dash events. You can swim 1 or 2 miles and then run 3 or 6 miles or just swim without the run. It’s such a great way to get in a brick workout and get some practice racing too. Thanks for a great season Threshold. I’ll be back!

I’ve done the Stevens Creek Reservoir Splash and Dash. It’s a small race. I like how informal it is, and that they don’t give us a ton of paper (ie trash). And I really like that they gave us pizza afterwards! Everyone was nice, helpful, casual, and there for a good time. Go for the fun, not for the PR :)

For transparency sake, this is the owner and founder of Threshold Racing, Andrew Ferguson. We wanted to make the following link available to all so that they may make an informed decision when evaluating us in the future and the handling of the cancellation of the swim portion of our most recent race.
This link provides a letter we wrote to our athletes, which includes a time line for the decision, and an explanation going into the cancellation.
The link also includes a summary of the water reports and tests from this year and last year.
Maybe most importantly, it also includes a document summarizing the feedback from our customers and clients.
We stand by our decision, and the events that we put on. While we respect the right of our customers to voice their opinions, we wholeheartedly disagree with the negative, anonymous, posts regarding the race on the site.
Most specifically we think it is important to point out that in CM’s post they actually retreat from their criticism after partaking in the event:
«Okay. I was a tad bit harsh yesterday with the two stars. The event was well put together, very fun, the bike portion is a great route, and so I more star for you, Threshold Racing. «
Additionally, there has been a triathlon race for more then 20 years at this location, in this lake, and this was the first time it has been canceled because of poor water quality.
We work extremely hard to meet the expectations of the athletes that partake in our events and we will continue to do so.

What a schlocky race organizer. They picked Lake Almaden for the swim leg of the race and it turns out to be infected with e coli. Andrew (the race organizer) sent a lengthy email arguing that it was not his fault that the lake was infected and that the city would not allow him to allow swimmers in the lake.
No Andrew, it IS your responsibility to pick a venue that doesn’t get infected. It is NOT enough to cancel the swim portion and pretend you are still offering a triathlon. Run Bike Run is NOT a triathlon. And refusing to refund entry fees is not acceptable.
Unprofessional all around. I recommend avoiding all events organized by Threshold Racing.

Almaden Lake is closed for swimming. Everyone knows this. Organizing a triathlon from a lake with existing problems means you have to address those existing problems. Duh. What does Threshold Racing do? They screw it up, cancel the swim portion of the race the day before, do not offer any refunds for the race fee, and they blame it on the City of San Jose. I love the excuses. The race director, says in his response, «We will overcome this obstacle, we will persevere, and we will race.» Uh, no. We are not going to overcome the obstacle. The obstacle is the inability to swim in the lake, and you cancelled the swim portion of the race. You did not overcome anything. You failed, and then you gave me a lame platitude. Double fail.
The race director also claims that these are the facts: «one, this was out of our control; two, we did everything we could to have a swim.» Let’s break that down.
Who is responsible for the race? Threshold Racing. So if the water quality was not addressed in time and corrected, how was that out of the race director’s control? It wasn’t. This problem didn’t sneak up on anyone. This is always a problem with Almaden Lake. The race director simply cannot accept the responsbility for his failure and blames the City.
The second part, about doing everything the race director could have done. Also not true. On the morning the swim is cancelled, the race director sends out a letter to the athletes stating, «We have identified four water quality control initiatives with the city prior to the race next year.» The race director then lists four obvious corrections. So obvious, one wonders why they were not done in the first place. Threshold Racing did not do everything they could do to have a swim, they did the minimum, hoped for the best, and when that failed, they did not accept the responsibility and instead blame the City. Epic fail.
(Post-​race follow up.) Okay. I was a tad bit harsh yesterday with the two stars. The event was well put together, very fun, the bike portion is a great route, and so I more star for you, Threshold Racing.
But don’t screw it up next year.