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HITS Hunter Mountain review
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Did the Hits Hunter Mountain 1/2 Ironman yesterday and wanted to post a review. I thought it was really a spectacular race. Great scenery on the bike, swim, and run. Can't wait to go back to the venue after tri season for some hiking - looked like there are some great trails at the park. Felt like superman on the bike course for the first 40 miles, which were flat, slightly uphill, or downhill. Realty check after that as I climbed back to transition. Actually felt a lot like the Lake Placid course. Nice out and back run course with lots of hills and views of Hunter Mountain ski area. Did I mention that there were lots of hills on the run? On the negative side, you are not going to set a PR on that run. On the positive side, however, if you are a strong runner, you can make up a lot of places on that run. Also on the plus side, if you are doing a later in the season Ironman, can't imagine a better training run than that. Last few miles of the run felt like an Ironman marathon to me (maybe I need to get more fit), and I was really happy I was able to push through that pain and keep running.

Totally hassle-free registration. Parking was easy and only 25 yards away from transition. I was actually running a bit late and did not register the day before, but I had no problem registering and setting up my transition area in 15-minutes and getting to the start on time. Really friendly vibe from the other racers and the race staff. Great race - highly recommended.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Jon] [ In reply to ]
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I did the Sprint. The rain made a mess out of my bike. HITS did a superb job with this race.

It is a tough course. Hilly rough bike with speed bumps in the Park. Rocks on the swim exit. A trail run for part of it. Totally Fabulous.

I do love the Cats. Hiked up to Sunset Ledge and Artist Rock after and walked around North South Lake and a stroll up to Kaaterskill Falls on the way out.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Jon] [ In reply to ]
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I also did the Hunter Mountain 1/2 ironman and felt that the organization did a good job setting things up, very easy registration process, parking, transition area all nice. I felt there wasn't enough bike support out on the course, I got water instead of HEED on the course which I needed since I went through all my bottles. The swim was uneventful, nice lake, a bit long but nice. The bike I felt was hard, hillier than the course description noted on the website, I wouldn't characterize the first 40 miles of the bike as flat and fast, we had a nasty hill climb in the first 15 miles of that bike, some good descents, some areas of some flats but mostly rollers throughout and then the last 20 miles was difficult with mostly climbing. No real wind, not technical, some roads need a little tending too and the speed bumps coming in and out of the campground was a bummer. No-one is PRing this bike course that is for sure but it could be a great tune up for Placid or IMMT.

The run course was tough, tougher than the Lake Placid loop, tougher than a lot of 1/2's I've done. You immediately are climbing coming out of transition but then have a nice downhill for about 2 miles before heading out onto 23A, then you have some ups and downs until the turnaround. The support was fine, however if it were really hot I would of liked aid stations at every mile but it was fine, the return to the campground was just plain hard both mentally and physically, you knew you had to climb all the way back home and you certainly weren't negative splitting anything, it was tough, just look at the splits on the results. This course is a no joke course and anyone who did the full ironman I give them credit, it was hard. The organizers were super friendly, the results were up fast and the awards were nice. Thanks to HITs for a good race.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [donnafurse] [ In reply to ]
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How far apart were the aid stations on the run?
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [M~] [ In reply to ]
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I believe they were like almost 1 3/4 miles apart, they had 4 aid stations, so with the out and back you hit them twice. They had plenty of food and drinks and the volunteers were great, but we were lucky it wasn't too hot. I also didn't see ice, but again that's being picky and since it wasn't scorching out not a real issue. We had a very small number of athletes on the course, I believe only 140 registered for the half, I think only 119 finished and 27 registered for the full and only 19 finished I believe ( based on the results). The course is a no joke course and I think athletes need to know that you shouldn't go into this race without training some hills on both the bike and run, I actually saw a few people walking there bikes up some of the hills. Again, I think they did a good job for the first year and with some fine tuning could become a good race for people to do in prep for Lake Placid and IMMT. Sometimes its really nice to go to a race and have no pressure and the organizers make you feel like part of the family, it had a nice vibe to it. I would go back and this time I would be prepared better mentally for the challenge.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [donnafurse] [ In reply to ]
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Ouch, that is a long time between aid stations....
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [donnafurse] [ In reply to ]
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There was plenty of ice in the blue coolers as folks were putting it in their hats and elsewhere*(volunteer)
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Turtle443] [ In reply to ]
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thanks, I didn't see any. You guys were great and we really appreciated you out there on that tough course. Thanks for being a volunteer.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [donnafurse] [ In reply to ]
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You are so welcome, you all rocked*
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [M~] [ In reply to ]
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I thought there were 5 aid stations on the run - or maybe that was just wishful thinking....four plus one at the turnaround point.

Agree that it was no joke on the run course, or the last third of the bike. Thought the first half of the bike was easy though - traffic free roads, good road surfaces (compared to NJ) and could just put my head down and hammer...which I did, but forgot to respect the run and paid for it at mile 7 onwards.

Great event though and had a very good vibe. Volunteers were great, although the bike aid stations looked to be a bit lonely gig, even got some support from the locals in Tannersville on the run.
Well done Mark and all the volunteers - will definitely be back next year...
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [dah5609] [ In reply to ]
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The aid stations on the run were every 1.5(ish) miles. 1.5 / 3.0 / 4.5 / then the turnaround at 6.55 / and then hit the same stations on the way back. 8.55 / 10.0 / 11.5. So that's 7 stations. ...not including the one local kid who set up his own water / orange slice station on the big hill leading back into the park.

Thought it was weird how we ran through that one town where cars were parked in the road. Some people ran out in the road - some on the sidewalk. But police were at the traffic lights stopping any cars to allow runners through. That was nice.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Jon] [ In reply to ]
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Jon, thanks for the race report. One race you should look into if you want to go back is the Escarpement Trail Run. It's a trail run over the mountains to the north and it finishes at North Lake. It's a truely beautiful place. I didn't do the race so I appreciate your report. I run and ride those roads all the time, in fact your main loop is the loop I ride all the time in the other direction. What was your top speed on the hill into Lexington? I like to go up that hill and have a seven mile downhill to finish my ride. I'm glad you enjoyed the race. I think the hills back into North Lake are too brutal for a long distance race though. To me, it seems like it would be a huge improvement to move T2 and the finish to Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl and give it an in town feeling. I love this area and would love to see the race succeed, but I think North Lake is a tough finish and just to much the middle of nowwhere.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Sweeney] [ In reply to ]
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I liked the location of the race, but I was thinking it would be kind of neat to make it over the top hard and have the run be a point to point run with the finish on top of the Hunter Mountain Ski Area; make it kind of Norseman-like.
Don't know what my top speed was on the decent - I was unfamiliar with the road so I did not go too crazy. But it felt like a really fast course until Phoenicia - from there it was a reality check.
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Re: HITS Hunter Mountain review [Jon] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, everything changed for you guys at Phoenicia. From ther it's between 10 and 11 uphill miles to the top of the 50+mph descent into Lexington. After a fast ride through Lex, it's all blood and guts back to N Lake, with the worst in the last few miles. Then the run from Hell. Congratulations on your race!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law
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