Probably a few threads on the race from the previous years. IMO it's a great race. Super fast swim, the water isn't the best but certainly not terrible. Bike can be really congested if you go off later. Run has tons of fan support and goes through Central Park.

One of my favorite races... as a new yorker, its a blast. I've done every single one since it started in 2001.

The atmosphere starting at 4am race morning is amazing. Like anywhere in NYC , you will not be alone from the time you show up at transition until you leave the race :)

Its close to 4000 people in the race, as a time trial swim start. The swim is down river and super fast.

The bike is is pretty quick (but closer to 25.8). Only 1 -2 climbs each less than 1 mile.

The run is is hilly and the only quiet you will have all day is at the top of the park, in between the two biggest hills on the course.

The support is amazing. All the local tri clubs are out. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

I did it the last 2 years and I am in the lottery for next year. I was 54 the first year and started at 7:45. I was 55 this year and got in the water at 6:08. There are 2 transition areas and I moved from the second one to the first when I changed age groups. I would have thought twice about doing it a second time if I had to wait around as long as I did in the first year. That said, it's a great event and should be a bucket list race for everyone.

Great, thanks for all the feedback so far! I'm almost convinced. Price tag is a little steep.

I did it last year for the first time. I really enjoyed it. For the size and it's location, I think they do a hell of a job with organization.

There is definitely some climbing on the bike. For some reason I refused to believe it.

The only reason I wouldn't do it next year is I age up and will be in the red transition. That would make pretty crowded by the time I get out there.......

I'm 32....would I have a favorable start/transition?

http://www.nyctri.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-NYC-Tri-Swim-Waves-V2.pdf




I think they basically do it this way every year. Looks like you'd be at the end of the 2nd transition.

no, i did the 30-34ag last year and you go off almost last.

the swim is a war zone, but as mentioned before, super fast. I think i swam over 10 people (it was just so crowded)

the bike is so crowded too but its fast, you have to pay realllllly close attention as you're passing

the run is fun, i was in misery on the run but as mentioned, lots of support.


cool race, but for what its worth, my favorite hometown local sprint tri is now the same weekend and I rather do the local tri.

I did the race in 2014. i really enjoyed it. i was able to avoid some of the high price by fundraising my entry and staying at a friend's place. check in is a bit of a fiasco. the hotel is at Grand Central and you must sit through the 30 minute dissertation from the race directors. then you get your packet, your goodies, the stop at the souvenir spot and head out. then you've got to bring your bike to check in at transition which is a few miles away, meaning, i had to move my car from one parking garage to the other. the hudson was fine, i didnt mind it. its fast. my swim time was a lot faster than normal. like 12 minutes faster. crazy seeing the pros! some did in under 10 minutes. quite a bit of a hike to T1 from the water. tough on the gravel. the bike gets crowded. its a bit of a free for all. good news is that he west side highway has been repaved in the past 2 years so its a lot smoother. i raced in 2014 and it was raining, so the course was really dangerous. slick from water and oil leaked from cars over the years. there were a few really nasty wipeouts. but its a pretty fast course, just a few steady climbs, but nothing too crazy. the run is nice. its a gradual uphill from T2 to the park, which is about 1 mile. once in the park, there's a few uphill spots. then after you start heading south, its nearly all downhill. the run can get congested by people. not just the athletes, but the NY'ers there. not all of which respect the race. i had a few people just ignore police and walk in front of a group of us becuase they wanted to cross through the park. having lived in NYC for 10 years and my whole life in the area, this is typical, NY'ers just dont give a shit. they will cross when they want. after the race is over, you can get a complementary horse buggy ride back to transition to get your gear.

This is definitely a fun race; my only complaints are all about logistics. 1) having the check in process so far from the race means you spend a good deal of time and money moving around the city. 2) if you are in the first wave, you have to wait after the race for quite some time to get your stuff out of transition and leave. 3) if you're in the 2nd wave, you have to wait quite a while to start. 4) you cant bring your transition bag into transition. they give you plastic bags to bring in. since i wasnt staying at a hotel and had nowhere to leave my bag, that meant i had my race gear and a change of regular clothes and such with me. just took up a lot of limited space.

i was thinking of doing it this year, but logistically, its just too much of a pain in the ass for me. i live an hour away in CT and if i didnt want to put up the $300+ for a hotel, i'd have to drive in the day before and go home, then go back race morning. then wait for a while to leave.

Can anyone who has done this event talk a bit more to the swim. Watching the replays it doesn't look like anyone is wearing a wet suit and that they won't be allowed. I'm traveling from across the country and was wondering if it is even worth it to bring a wet suit, or just the swim skin?

I'm going to a race info session tonight at Tailwind Endurance...I can report back tomorrow.

I've done it twice - both times wetsuit legal. It's worth bringing it along.

My hunch is that because the swim is so fast, many people opt to go with out it.

it depends on the temperature of the water. if it's hot the week of the race, which it often is, then it possibly will be non-wetsuit. because so many people do it who barely can swim, the RD will do everything possible to make it wetsuit-legal. it's also worth noting that although the swim usually is lightening fast, it takes hours to get everyone started so the tides will change dramatically during the course of the swim. some people will have a massive tail current while others might have no tail current while still others might have a head current. for that reason, comparing swim times across age groups isn't really fair.

I think you're right, but if you can get out of a wetsuit in 10 seconds, it's still worth it. I think I can get out of a wetsuit just as fast as a swim skin. The water temp was about 75 last year if I remember correctly.

Thanks for the info! Would love to hear any sort of interesting info from your info session tonight. I've raced every distance, and now I'm all about trying new races in new destinations. NYCTri was a must. Even if it's just once.

I'd be stunned if 90% of the participants aren't in wetsuits.
I've raced every single nyctri since 2001 (the first year) and can't remember a non-wetsuit swim (there was year 2 when the swim was cancelled... but thats seperate).

As far as the changing currents, The tides just dont change that fast. We are all in the water in 2 hr. Yes, there is definitely a difference maybe even a few minutes between fastest wave and slowest wave, but regardless of if the tide is going out, at slack, or just barely starting to come back in, its still a lightning fast swim. With the current "against" its still going to be a sub 20 minute mile for most. The race moves dates each year to ensure the tides are at the right spot on race day.\

If you have any questions, feel free to ping

I have done this race every year. And every year except the 2nd was wetsuit legal. In fact, that 2nd year the current was AGAINST us in the early wave! There is also an undie run in Central Park on Friday night that while much smaller than the Kona runs is still fun. You need to sign up for it though

I did the race last year and started in the open/elite/premier amateur (whatever they call it) wave, so right after the pros. The water temp was about 76 so it was pretty split in my wave between wetsuits and no wetsuits. I went with one figuring it would help even though I am a pretty strong swimmer. I wasn't a fan of the water at all. I got sick to my stomach and puked around 400m in. I essentially floated the rest of the way down the river because I couldn't put out any type of effort. It sucked. The run to transition is very long, especially if you are in the yellow corral, so practice running about 600m on concrete.

Bike was pretty good. Draft fest as usual when you get people who think they are better than they are (myself included mostly). The course was pretty wide open for me, but looking at the other side when the later waves were around it looked pretty packed. Also, they say it is hilly but I didn't think it was bad. I didn't come out of my big ring the whole time.

Run was good I guess. It got cut to 5 miles last year bc of the heat. Running through Central Park was cool I guess, but it wasn't that special for me personally.

Overall a good race if you like the city, but one to avoid if you don't like it. Logistics suck. Don't try to get your bike out of transition early, they won't let you and the "security" they hired last year were absolutely terrible.

I did the race last year. In addition to Gskalt's observations, there was a 400m barefoot run from swim to transition on pretty rough asphalt -- caused a little foot damage. Pre-race there's about a mile walk from transition to the swim start. Very few toilets at transitions and a severe don't-pee-in-the-trees policy can make an uncomfortable mile-long hike to the toilets at the swim start. The swim is with the current. The run was shortened to about 4 miles because it was hot, even though it was in the 70's when I finished. All in all, the race was good, but the hassle of bike check-in, 30-minute pre-race video, transition bags, etc. are a pain. You can read through the athlete's guide to get a better idea.

http://3gzz2m1jgu9e1wzqqr28o34h10tv.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/...te-Guide-FINAL-2.pdf

I thought the race was worth it, once.

2002 not only was no wetsuit but also had a massive head current (IIRC nobody was UNDER 20 minutes on the swim). contrary to what you think, the tide currents DO change a lot during the course of the swim. as you can see in this chart, the currents likely will change around 2 knots during the swim:

http://tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/2121.html

2 knots from behind versus a slight head current is a very different swim experience.

some people stash shoes under the park benches near the swim exit for the LONG run that isn't swept or carpeted. i guess if you are really sensitive to pebbles, that is an option, but that's a huge time suck (getting the shoes on and then off again in t1).