Congrats...but it's hard to get excited about another race in late Sep.

And to those who are asking where the slots are coming from; Ironman Weymouth fell off the calendar after its initial run this year.

I hope this race does well. I think this would be a great destination race for an extended trip visiting Umbria and Tuscany and topped off with IM Italy !

Finally?

Italy has these iron distance races (that I know of):
Challenge Venice
Elbaman
Livigno Xtreme


Do people just hit refresh on the Ironman site when looking for races?

I'm pretty sure I wrote "IM" ;-)

Elbaman, done.
Would never ever ever swim in Venice water.
Livigno has only been organized once and a little too extreme.
Personal opinion :-)

I'm very interested in this race. I just wish it had been announced a few weeks ago before I transferred from France to Copenhagen. I would have picked Italy for sure.

Damn, another race in the fall! How did WTC turn a summer sport into a fall sport. Look at the Southern Hemisphere races and they are all in their fall too other than IM Western Oz....and I understand that a summer race in Italy would be hot but so is Hawaii!

I think this has to do with how busy Italy is in the summer. Everywhere is wall to wall tourists.
Venues want to fill up hotel rooms after the crowds have left.
As someone who does all my triathlon from June to August, I sure wish there were more summer races.

Cooler weather in many areas in the fall and more time to train for first times are the big drivers of that trend I would assume. They've certainly overloaded certain areas with fall races though. For example, one of Chattanooga, Louisville, and North Carolina could easily be moved to the spring.

You know....I get that a fall race allows for water to heat up, it allows for training all summer and it fills hotels when hotels are no longer full after tourist season. BUT DOES EVERY RACE HAVE TO FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY. Magically Whistler and Lake Placid manage to be summer races and in theory it would be better to fill the hotel rooms in September and people would have all summer to train. Sorry for the rant.

Me personally, if/when I get back to racing, I can race any time of the year since my son is a junior in college and I can take vacation whenever I want to (unlike say teachers or other professions locked into certain dates for vacations). It's a drag for many though if the race pickings are all in the fall. As I mentioned above, same deal in Southern Hemisphere (actually IM Cairns is a winter race, but I can understand why you don't want to race in Cairns in January).

That's because you're American. The OP is an Italian. It doesn't sound like it's hard for him to get excited ;)

Does anyone know what the weather (water/air temp) is like during that time period? This definitely goes on my list of races to consider for 2017. Are they going to serve pizza at the finish line? I wished they did that at North Amerian IMs

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__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

the below will be PITA




REQUESTED DOCUMENTS


- Membership card of the national triathlon federation - Two possible cases:

A - You have a valid membership card issued by the national triathlon federation - During registration on site, you will be asked to show your valid triathlon license.
B - You do not have a valid membership card issued by the national triathlon federation - During registration, you will have to purchase a daily license. The cost of a daily license is Euro 20,00; the amount will be paid on site, cash only. Additionally, it’s required to produce a valid medical certificate for the practice of triathlon. In order to meet all legal requirements the medical certificate must be issued by an authorized Italian center for sports medicine. We therefore recommend, to register to your national triathlon federation and to bring your membership card with you at the Race Office. In this case, it is not necessary to bring a medical certificate.

- A valid ID
- Signed waiver - for download, click here


Originally from: http://eu.ironman.com/...s.aspx#ixzz4O9eb2YsY

No, it's not because I'm American since fully half of my IMs are outside the US. It is exactly because of what I said ... another friggin' September race.

For US racers such as myself, wouldn't that just be your current USAT card? If so, you can print a replacement card from the USAT website so therefore could do it even on short notice if needed. If that's the case I wouldn't expect that to be too difficult to comply with.

My question would be if they have timing mats to make sure all do the entire course. There are way too many stories of course cutters......

I got pizza both in CdA and Kona this year at the finish line and ate plenty of it. Just the beers were missing 😊

To the topic: Being Italian I only believe it once it actually happened and probably would not do a first time race there; let the logistics etc play out for a year and do it in 2018.

Cheers
Roberto

That's because you're American. The OP is an Italian. It doesn't sound like it's hard for him to get excited ;)

Since the OP's user name is "juliainitaly", which i would interpret as "Julia in Italy", I would guess that the OP is a she rather than a he. Perhaps he/she will fill us in. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Italy in the summer is an absolute tourist zoo. Also, many Italians take their vacations, and many shops and facilities in cities have restricted hours of operation as residents flock from inland towns and cities to ocean/lake vacation spots.

Italy in shoulder season is an absolute dream.

I get the griping about fall races, but, I wouldn't want to do this race in the summer.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Yes, they use timing mats in Italy :-)

Unlike Roberto I will be signing up for this race and it will be my third IM full distance after Zurich and Barcelona. I raced the very first IM 70.3 in Pescara and found it well organized. They even brought the German IM team down to deal a lot of the race logistics.

They cannot have an Ironman during the summer in Italy because a) too many tourists and no hotel availability b) temps are well over 100°f

September weather nowadays is still quite warm, this year still about 75°f and humid.

Not sure about the finish line pizza - LOL - but there are plenty of inexpensive pizza shops lining the beaches :-)

As for my own excitement, I've lived in Italy for 35 years and have been racing triathlons since 1997 so yes, I am excited that Italy has another Long Distance race, no matter what the brand is.

Anyone have any info on why the first IM Italy ( IRONMAN Civitavecchia) was canceled? Seeing this announcement made me curious... searched but couldn't find anything.

Wise decision not wanting to swim in Venice waters. My GF participated this summer in the first edition of Challenge Venice, and was hospitalized for 3 days with a bacterial infection from the poluted water. So much for the start of a romantic holiday...

Didn't hear of other participants suffering as well. Maybe could have been just bad luck on her part.

Apart from the murky waters, the run was just plain horror. A full marathon within the Parco San Giuliano. Constantly twisting and turning, switchbacks, short and long out and backs. I was sherpa and unsuccessfully tried to cover to course from the opposite direction. Confusing like hell...

Regarding Full Distance triathons in Italy, I'm eyeing on Italyman 226, in the Lake region (Como).

So who is signed up for this?

My wife's friend from St Petersburg RU is doing the race so my wife wanted to go support her and since she knows me so well, asked if I wanted to do the race as well. :) How lucky am I?

Registered last month!

Who else is going?

This will be my second IM. Anyone have any information on how the bike is compared to Ironman Wisconsin?

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Max

I just rode the course (maybe I lost some intersection) the day after Easter;
how hard is course? It's easy, one hill in Bertinoro to climb two times, about 200 meter positive elevation. The only think that can disassemble your performance is the head wind that you'll likely face twice on the last 20/25 km of every loop.
The pavement is ok, few roughness.

My personal opinion is that they could have design a so much better course. There's such a beautiful country and there are those amazing hills just 20 km from the starting line, wonder why that they decided to avoid all of that.
I'm italian, my sister lives there, I have friends already signed in, but I still have to decide for myself.

Thanks for the information Paolo.

I am from the Chicago land area and the only hills we have are highway overpasses and multilevel parking lots unless we go a bit up-north to Wisconsin.

Hows the water and the swim looking? I am pretty comfortable in the water but just want to be prepared.

Whats stopping you from signing up? Join us!

This will be my first time in Italy so I am very excited. Still need to find an apartment to rent for my family and our friend. :)

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Max

I found a hotel on Booking close to start/finish. If you need any help with travel info in Italy feel free to PM me, I've lived here for over thirty years and now live in the same region as Cervia.

Maks, the water should be salty, drinking not recommended.
By the way, is not the best sea, but, unless storms happen, it should be rather clear in the morning, you'll see the bottom of the surface pretty much the whole swim. The depth of the water shouldn't exceed 3-5 meters at the most.

Thank you Julia.

We are flying in to Bologna. Whats the easiest way to get to Cervia from the airport?

I am still trying to figure out if renting a car would be more convenient. We are planning to go to Venice for a day or two and then Rome.

Also, we are looking to rent an apartment so if you know anyone renting, please let me know.

Thank you for your help!

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Max

Thanks Paolo. Love swimming in clear waters, then again, who doesn't.

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Max

Max,

clear water if there are no waves 😂

I would reccomend you to rent a car during the ironmandays, then I'd return and use the train to Rome and Venice.
Either Bologna and Venice airport are good picks, you want to look for a baggage/bike deposit too after the race.

Lets hope for calm waters then :)

I am actually renting a road bike just to make travel easier.

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Max

From the airport there is a bus to the train station (6 euro) that takes about 20 minutes.
To look at train schedules you can go here: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

You're leaving from BOLOGNA CENTRALE and your destination is CERVIA - MILANO MARITTIMA
There's a train leaving every hour until 8:00 pm - you'll have one train change in Ravenna. Cost varies from 10 to 20 euro depending on what train you choose but with this route they all take around 2 hours to get to Cervia.

Cervia to Venice = 3 hrs and two train changes for 25 to 45 euro
Venice to Rome = 3 hrs and no train change for 42 to 70 euro

By the way, I saw in the comments that you are renting a bike - If you were bringing your own I would definitely choose a car but if you don't "need" a car , the train is a much better choice. No worrying about crazy Italian drivers, the very expensive freeways (and lines to pay at) and the 4 x what it costs to fill up a tank of gas in the States .

For your apartment in Cervia I looked on AirBnB and they have plenty of choices for apartments right in the center of town so I think that's where you can go to look for your abode.

J

Thank you Julia.

One more quick question for now. We are flying in from the states so will be flying in late. What are our options of getting to Cervia in the evening?

Thank you for the tips on renting and not renting a car. Still trying to figure out the easiest way of getting around. We will have a 4 year old with us :)

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Max

What time does your flight arrive in Bologna?

With a four year old a train is definitely a better choice ;-)

j

We are landing at 7:30 pm.

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Max

Ugh. Last train is at 8:15 pm and you won't make it.
Either stay at a hotel in Bologna in front of the train station that night and then leave early in the morning or go for the car rental option, maybe just for the Cervia portion of the trip.

A third option would be to take a train that same night to Ravenna (last train at 10:00 pm) and then either stay in Ravenna that night or take a 12 mile cab ride from Ravenna train station to Cervia.

I think we will probably have to rent a car for Cervia part.

Our friend is meeting us there so maybe she will already get a car and will pick us up. Now i just have to coordinate with her.

Thank you very much for your help!

Are you looking forward to the race? Any other tips for traveling in Italy or even doing a race in Italy?

Can I buy CO2 cartridges there? Should i worry now about my prerace meal?

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Max

I'm really looking forward to the race since so many of my friends have already declared they're coming to spectate. :-)
I've raced the 70.3 in Italy and IM does a great job so you should have no problem with race logistics.
You'll find plenty of vendors selling CO2 cartridges. Pre-race meal, depends on what you are looking for but I'm going to say no worries there.
For travel tips let me know if you have any questions.

j

Will do when i think of some. Thank you for your help and I am looking forward to the race and see Italy. Very excited.

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Max

Julia,

In an effort to cut down driving time, we are looking at other cities that we can visit between Cervia and Rome instead of going all the way up north to Venice.

Florence is closer. Would you recommend anything else that can be found on the way to Rome. If it was up to me, i would visit all of them but i think we have enough time for 1-2 cities at most.

Thank you for your help!

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Max

Florence and then Siena, both on your way to Rome. Siena has smaller roads to get to it (not a freeway like Florence) but absolutely worth the scenery driving.

j

I am signed up for this one.

I get what people are saying about the late season races, sort of, but to be honest I'd take moderate temperatures over the heat of summer. And quite importantly the average sea temperatures in July and August make a wetsuit legal swim really unlikely any earlier than mid September.

It works amazingly for my season as well. I trained in winter, did IM South Africa at the beginning of this month. Summer will be some shorter races and 2 70.3's (Staffordshire and Zell am See) and then end the season with IM Italy. And then start drinking aggressively for a couple weeks.

I don't know anything about IM Wisconsin unfortunately but from looking online it looks like it has roughly double the amount of elevation gain as Italy so you're probably in for a slightly easier (or faster) day.

Cannot wait.

Max, what are your plans for shipping your bike? I haven't traveled internationally from the US before and a traditional bike box and shipping seems complicated.

Alex,

IT does look complicated. Since we are going to do some traveling after the race as well, I just decided to rent a bike. It will not be a bike I trained on but it will be much cheaper and less hassle then bringing my own.

Renting my bike from these guys: http://www.rentalbikeitaly.com/

Just getting a road bike with aero bars, triathlon bikes are a bit more expensive.

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Max

I have read of people doing this but it seems to go against everything ironman training tells you. I wish there was a company like Tri Bike Transport. Even if you had to send the bike 1 month in advance on boat container....

That being said I am an average biker with IM times about 14 hours so being on a different bike doesn't concern me from a performance perspective but simply a "fit" point of view. I am actually looking at 2018 if they keep the race around so I would be interested in hearing your experience once it is all said and done. Thanks for the reply.

I understand and totally agree but I am going out to do this race for fun and actually the bike I will be renting is the same company I ride now so hopefully that will help.

I will definitely let you know how this turns out and maybe do a short report after the race.

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Max

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to this race. Can't believe its only a few short months away.

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Max

Hi Julia,

Hows training going? Hows the heat out there in Italy?

We decided to go from Cervia to Rome via Perugia. Will stay one night there and explore the town and then head to Rome. Any suggestions?

Also, do i need to worry about the water temperature in September? Will the swim be wetsuit legal? Do i need to plan for what to wear if wetsuits are not allowed?

Thank you for your help!

Just 2.5 months left until race day :)

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Max

Hi Max!
Training is going good :-)
The heat is hot and we are heading into our second over 100°f heatwave.
We have to wait until September to know anything about the water, each year it's different but it was still "warm" last year though not hot. I would think that the water would not be hot in September though and wetsuits should be fine.
I have no idea about Perugia - haven't been there in a long time!

Happy Training -
Julia

"you want to look for a baggage/bike deposit too after the race. "


Do you mean that you suggest we find a storage facility to lock you bike in for days that you remain in Italy and travel? Can you suggest any such places?

I don't know any specific place, but I'm sure if you bring the bike to a local bike shop and ask for regular maintenance they will keep the bike while you are travelling. I don't believe there will be any extra charge for storage.

That's a good idea! Thanks!

Greg

I have lived in Italy for the past 10 years, now moving back to the US in 4 weeks (so will not be racing cervia).

Fwiw, I intentionally avoided racing in the summer as it was simply too hot. Also, the summer months are a complete zoo as everyone is on vacation which means hotels don't have availability and the prices are really steep. So, I think it is a wise choice to choose September.

Be prepared that September can be quite cool (my first half was in 15 - 20c temp) which was fabulous. Although the last one was 28c and muggy.

Enjoy Italy. It is a stunning country with amazing cycling!

Hey Julia,

Just over 4 weeks left until race day!!!

Quick question for you. Do you know if i need anything more than the USAT license in order to race in Italy?

Thank you for your help.

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Max

Your USA tri card is all you need :)

Perfect....then I am ready to go :)

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Max

Ironman Italy will be my first full distance event! Craving for the taper to start and very much looking forward to the event. I did not sign up with great expectations course wise, but the more I dig into it, the more I realize it could be absolutely fabulous.

The only thing I'm struggling with at the moment is the license. I was planning to buy the one-day license with a medical certificate issued in my home contry, but as mentioned before in this thread and as shared by Ironman Italy on the fb page, this is not possible. https://www.facebook.com/...sts/1329680393811142

The organisation suggests to get a national triathlon license and bring that along, but for me personally that's quite an expensive option as licenses cost 120 euro in my country.

To the Italians in this thread: I plan to arrive a couple of days in in Italy upfront. How feasible would it be to get a medical certificate from an Italian doctor and use that for the one-day license?

Cheers,
Euroracer

consider signing for a foreign federation instead

Hi Julia,

Hows the taper coming along?

Quick question for you. Do I need an International Drivers Permit to rent and drive a car in Italy?

Thanks for your help!

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Max

To the Italians in this thread: I plan to arrive a couple of days in in Italy upfront. How feasible would it be to get a medical certificate from an Italian doctor and use that for the one-day license?


I completely discourage this as it would not be worth the hassle. The type of certification they want for something like that is a competitive sports certificate which involves a urine test, a heart stress test and pulmonary capacity measurement. The price will set you back between 50 to 80 euro but it has to be done by a sports medical doctor and when I have it (obligatory) done once a year there is always a 2 month waiting list.

Taper is going good and I'm in the "let's get this thing over with!!" stage.

Yes, you do need an International Driver's license :-)

j

Max,

Hope you had a good race. How did everything go? Did renting the bike work out? I think I noticed you stayed in a hotel. I'm looking at renting an AirBnB. How was your experience?

Alex

Alex,

Great race, transition was a bit long, seemed like a mile. Registration and everything else was pretty smooth. I wish I could have arrived a couple of days before the race. It was a bit hectic running around all day Friday trying to figure everything out between getting my bike, registration, set up, expo, etc.

I did rent a bike and it did not end up being that great. About 30 miles in, my back started to hurt and then shoulder and arms went. I thought i was going to have to walk the run but shook it out and did ok. I would recommend bringing your own and trying to figure out what to do with it later if you are planning on traveling in Italy.

We actually did AirBnB and that worked out fine. We were about 1.5 miles away from the start which was not a problem for me but a bit of a problem for my wife and 4 year old son who came to see me finish and saw me throughout the run. The good thing is that the apartment was right on the run course. No problems renting at AirBnB. very good experience and we also did the same in Rome when we drove there after.

I would recommend this race to anyone. Water was still and chilly which worked out perfect for a wetsuit swim. The temperature did not get above low 70's. I would do this race again in a heartbeat but maybe get an apartment a bit closer to the expo.

Are you registering now?

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Max

Reading through the thread i see only positive feedback for this event, Italians did an awesome job with this FIM attracting a lot of tourists and locals
Only positive stuff for the Emilia romagna not the same for the other full distance held in Venice

Max,

Good to hear the race overall was good. I registered the day it went online with a friend of mine. I am going with my wife, daughter, and my parents. My daughter will will be almost 2 at that point. I am trying to find a villa big enough for all of use but that seems challenging.

My current plans is to fly the Tuesday night from NY and arrive in Italy Wed morning. This gives me a day to get to the area and get settled. Feel like sharing the AirBnB you used? My thought was to be on the run course and close to swim start, transition, and finish. Sounds like that is basically what you did.

I'm sorry to hear that renting the bike didn't work out. I was hoping it went amazing and it put my fears to bed about renting a bike for such a race. Do you think that having such a short time with the bike before having to check it made a difference? Ideally I was going to have it a day or two before to help try out the fitting. If I remember right you got a road bike with aero clip-ons. Think that impacted the fit? I was going to stick with a road bike to try and match training the best I can. While the fit didn't work out, how was the company you recommended? Was the logistics good?

Did you meet anyone else there that shipped their bike from the US? I am at a dead end on how to do that.

I appreciate you taking the time respond.

Alex