I never did the old course so I cannot compare the new course vs the old course.
The swim was good, supposedly a turn buoy was creeping away so I blame my swim split on that. Actually the results only show about 3 people breaking 30 minutes so maybe it was just a little long. The river portion was fine.
The bike is most likely similar. Some broken up roads but generally ok. The new roads were tough but the old roads were probably equally as tough.
The run through town was good for spectators, you could see your runner easily 5x.

I've done the half in Muskoka the past 2 years and did it today as well. Just checked my garmin compared to last year. Swim was actually shorter, but took me 3 minutes longer. Looks like it was a slow swim for everyone. Bike course didn't get any easier. Dwight beach road is still super sketchy. They added a real dicey turn from Britannia onto Muskoka Rd 9. I did like the new run course. Running through town 4x was a nice pick-me-up compared to just passing through once on the old course. Not real impressed with the post race food. Only 1 small scoop of each thing and no seconds.

Getting to the summit center wasn't too much of an issue. Plenty of parking in town if you want to get out right away or on site, but takes some time to get out.

I found both the swim and the run notably harder than in years previous.

From both my own experience and talking to others, the upstream current is worth 4 min give or take. As far as placing goes, my best swim to date, but not if you judge on time it was my worst in recent memory.

The bike was OK - the changes had the effect of compressing the super hilly parts into one section, where before half of it was at the start and the other half at the end. The effect was that you felt it in the legs for later.

The run was much better downtown though was hiller than the previous course. Going through town allowed for more spectators to come out and cheer everyone on. The giant hill through town is quite difficult.

From a spectator POV, my support crew were saying that it was harder to get around, which I guess makes sense given which streets they're closing,

I'd still do it again - this course is tough, and rightly so. Do it if you want the challenge, just as you would have under the old course.

My second year.. I really liked the deerhurst set up, staying there was perfect... I had to drive to and from this year, left at 430 to beat traffic... I didn't need too, I parked on a near by street.. set up transition and walked back up to the truck and traffic was still light...

Last years bike was tougher IMO, still a tough but fun ride... I felt the actual run was tougher, but made up for by the 4 passes through town.

Either way, I will make the 7 hour drive every year for this race. It's a beautiful area, the beer is good, and there is a bonfire every night.

It's a fantastic event. The Summit centre worked well, nice facility with lots of parking all around. Swim was slow due to the upriver part against the current. People I spoke with thought 5 minutes slower. The bike is awesome and there's zero drafting with the continuous rolling hills. About 15K of pavement where you have to be very careful due to rough condition but the rest of the roads are very good. I loved the run course where you go through the centre of town 4x making for great crowd support and very spectator-friendly, A great 70.3, and it's in 🇨🇦

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"No more hurting people - Peace"

I don't know about the venue, but I noticed that Kylo Ren had an awesome race. Dude was 4th overall. Let's not forget that Pubes is a legit athlete.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

This was like my 5 or 6th Muskoka 70.3. I think I've done every iteration of the course. I think the first year was the hardest ever around the golf course. Comparing this year to last year, the swim was def slower. I had the distance pretty close to bang on, but that current up river really slowed the times. Not even just the river, pretty much from the last left hand turn buoy all the way to the exit. Overall, the bike is likely a bit easier. Not a whole lot though, that's for sure. Have the run stay in town and have 4x through downtown was def better. I'd say the run overall was slightly tougher, but just glad not to have that killer hill on Cookson on the way back.

On the venue, I think it was much better having it at the Civic centre. No busing issues, but if you arrived late, you likely had a hard time getting into the main parking lot. Not having the super long run from the swim to T1 was also much better!! Overall, Muskoka continues to challenge and be one of the tougher 70.3's out there for sure!!

Done both courses. I like both venues but prefer the summit location for easier parking and getting around. Deerhurst just isn't as pedestrian friendly and not enough space. I liked being so close to the main drag of the run, made it great for the family spectating. I'd vote to stay at summit, plus deerhurst charges rediculous amounts for hotel stay during race week whereas many more hotel options in area of summit centre.

As for the course, it's brutal...but I love it. It breaks up a lot of the packs almost no drafting.

One complaint, starting the relays last was stupid. We swam over almost every wave ahead of us and was very annoying during the swim, and even worse on the bike trying to pass all the uber slow bikers that like to ride the middle of the road.

I'll chime in as I've done the race 4 times so far.

Swim - as everyone else said, the swim was a few min slow. I came in very undertrained and surprised myself with what felt like a strong swim, but seeing my time afterwards I was disappointed until talking to a few people in transition afterwards who also called out a slow swim. The lake/river swim itself was enjoyable.

Bike - I drove the first 15-20km of the course the day before to see what it was like and it was certainly hillier. My time on the bike course is skewed because I lost my large chain ring 200M straight out of transition when I shifted and the derailleur cable gave out. Went back to transition, tried to fix it, without success and rode the first 20km with only the small ring before a mechanic helped me on the side of the road. That said my highest power averages came through those first 20km. Overall my bike was 5min slower than my best times on the original course, but I don't think I lost all that in the first 20km, so in terms of speed I think the course is slower. I did appreciate I wasn't killing the legs in the last few km getting back to transition vs the old course. The roads as usual had some dodgy sections, and you need to be careful in places.

Run - I had it in my head before the race this was going to be pretty flat, and was very wrong (luckily rode some of it the day before). The climbs in and out of town were tough, but not brutal, and it certainly made it more spectator friendly. I saw my wife 4 times on the run which was great.

Summit Center - no pros/cons vs Deerhurst as I always stay at a different (cheaper) hotel so the venue is just transition + food/expo. I think Huntsville missed the mark on providing food for spectators. They could have offered some smart choices with food trucks/burger/hot dog stands rather than just the restaurants.

If voting for 2017 vs 2015/16 course I'd go with the 2017 course.

Maybe Rich can chime in, are we moving back to the old course next year?

wow - I didnt do the race, but looked at the swim map after everyone mentioned the river portion.....thats got to be one of the stranger swim setups ive seen!

I recall doing a sprint in Huntsville a long time ago (2002?) where the swim was something similar but didn't go upriver as far. I could be mistaken, I did it once and it was a long time ago.

It's actually pretty good from a sighting perspective. Just follow the shoreline.

Agreed, despite most of the swim being against the current, sighting was a breeze.

I did the race this year and last year, as well as many times with the old long course which ran out of the same venue.
Swim is great venue, just slow because of current.
Bike is about the same difficulty vs last year. Bigest difference I found was eliminating the hilly section at the start on bad road (North Portage) made it safer, no dodging people that were swerving to miss potholes, bumps etc. It was a faster finish on the bike up Brunel Rd left legs feeling better for the run. Overall this course wins because of better roads. Only bad section now is Dwight Beach Rd.
Run< my opinion differs from most I guess. I was excited when they announced the run course as similar to the old long course run, going over the highway out on Aspdin Rd, a nice quiet rolling country road. I was disappointed to see it changed to 4 out and backs in town. It was nice seeing people downtown, but just my preference that I would prefer the country road run.
Parking is definitely better in town. Just arrive early race morning and you're good.

I loved it.

Swim: Agreed, despite the fact that it was against the current, the sighting was easy except (and this is my fault) I took a wrong turn too early when I saw a few people congregated by the shore. It cost me a few minutes but I wasn't likely going to win. Overall, though, good location except I should've brought flip flops for the walk over.

The Bike: Overall it was a great course and even the 'bad' section wasn't all that terrible. Despite the fact that I am heavy (low 80's kg), I love courses like this as my upper body is extra long and I need to stretch out my neck on climbs. I can hold my position for quite a while, but I am never destined to do a full ironman on a flat course. Also, the course is beautiful.

The Run: Tough-ish but not too tough. My only complaint is that nobody, it seemed, had any idea what side of the road to run on. It was a little frustrating. The course itself I liked very much. Good crowds too!

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Dan Mayberry
Amateur a lot of things, professional a few things.

Course is basically a cross between the last Muskoka 70.3 and the old Muskoka Chase 2/55/15 course! I did not do this year's 70.3, but I like the set up better having done the old chase....and the old chase swim was always slow with that up river leg! Agreed on the logistics being way more easy. Hoping to be in good health to go back next year!

I Did the race this year, and I realy enjoyed it.

The size of the field was reasonable (may be 1300 participants), so everything gets easier from registration to trafic on the race day.
The volunteer are really nice, I haven't noticed any "powertrip" as we can experience sometimes, they were really helpfull.

- swim start was well done in therm of order.

- The swim was tough, specially swimming up the stream, but that was perfect to have a short transition: yes the time are slower, but they are slower for everyday, It was tough but fun and that's why we do it !

- Transition was quick, everybody in his own AG zone: good thing: there were no AWA zone, which is very good as it gives you the opportunity to see how many bikes have come back at the end of the swim, so you know your position (if you are here for the podium or World spot).

- Bike course: the 10 first km are easier than in the past edition where the start was from the Deer Hust, which is very good to get into it. Then it is basically the same hilly course. Yes it is "hard", which means almost no drafting (well some cheater spotted as always, but very intentionnal, nothing compare to the other flatter and more crowded races). The middle of the bike course is faster and you can cruise with a reasonable fast speed, using your last gear for speed :-)
Aid stations were well placed and well furnished.

- T2: As I said, loved the fact that you can actually spot your position.

- Run Course: this is the best update I've seen, no it is not easier, but it is much more fun :-) two loops Out and Back, very nice to see your supporter and to cheer your team mate. Aid stations were perfectly placed: It is always up and down, but not crazy hill.
-> organisation could add some time mat on every turn around to avoid any cheat (I don't think this kind of things really occur, but we never know)

- Finish line: Nice finish, you can get your food inside: I guess this could be nice if it is raining.
Post Race:
You get your finished medal, Tshirt and Hat, which is a must for a beginner. I hear some veteran "complaning" about this gears, but remember when you were starting, it is quite cool to receive this first "finisher" gift.

The food is "light" but honestly, It is enough: vegetable, Salad, real chicken, fruit and drink: did you registered for a race or for a post race buffet ? So much is wasted nowadays.

On the things I'd love to be added: it would be an outdoor expo and outdoor post race area for "chilling" + adding timing mat at every turn around on the run course.

So overall super experience, it is a perfect place to race, and when you have the chance to be in the area: you can race Syracuse or Tremblant and use the same training load for Muskoka, which make it two for one when you are on a "schedule" as I am :-)

Will be back next year with more athletes :-)

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Head coach and owner at BartCoaching.com

This was my second 70.3. I had convinced two friends to join me for their first triathlons.

I am a weak swimmer and found the swim challenging. I wish I had waited a bit further back at the swim start instead of treading water near the start buoys. I ended up panicking a bit and couldn't regain my composure and was slower than my first race where I had zero swim training.

The bike was enjoyable. There was one short high grade climb at the beginning, I remember seeing someone walking up with their bike. My garmin measured around 1km of climbing but there are no super long climbs, mostly rolling hills. I had biked the course the previous weekend and found the one rough section of decent that really requires caution. I ended up losing one of my bottle with nutrition mix there during the race there.

The run was great. I enjoyed being able to see friends on the loops, and my cheerers several times throughout. Volunteers were enthusiastic and helpful. At the finish I could hardly stand and two volunteers caught me and sat me down. Food right at the finish was great for tiding me over until I could pull myself together and have a full meal.

Great experience for us all and my two friends both say they are going to continue in triathlon. My girlfriend who was cheering now says she wants to join me in my next race. I felt very welcome here, which I did not find at my first triathlon (Challenge event in Italy). I will likely come back next year.

Someone stole my sunscreen spray that I had used at T2 :|

This was a first time for me on this course, the bike course was very scenic. Curious, what did you get for the total bike elevation gain?

Mr Pinochio, sorry I don't race with any technology on my bike :) The course description says 832m of elevation gain, translates to 2730 ft, so I assume that's accurate. Glad you enjoyed the bike course, it is beautiful. It's a special race for me, started riding a lot up there in the mid 80's, well before there was a triathlon in Huntsville. My family had a cottage on Lake of Bays for a few years and I thought the ride around the lake was heaven...still is!

Late to the party, but...

Yay, definitely.

The swim was a bit worse - upstream, and two rogue buoys that stretched the distance for me. The first had drifted off course, and the second one (the last one on course) was being ignored by everyone.
I like the bike - it was still tough. Nothing is going to change that. I like the course. The sketchy descent followed by a left turn that was pretty much a switchback made me wish for disc brakes.
The new run is great - the double loop and the downtown location means there's always someone nearby. I find this very motivating, whether they're faster, slower, or spectating. That grind up the highway on the old course between downtown and Deerhurst was soul-destroying.

Cheers!

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Munq