I don't have a race report handy---I am old school and like to write them down on pen and paper, otherwise I found I never do them.

In a nutshell -
Whitelake
(havedone the fall race twice as a training day)
Swim - non-wetsuit legal last two years. Calm water. More buoys this past year made it much easier to site.
Bike - mainly flat with a few slight 'hills'/false flats, road conditions are not ideal. Water only at bottle exchange, so make sure you are not relying on the aid stations. Rode an 11-23 with a disc and 808 front.
Run - out and back course where you run on the shoulder of a regularly traveled road for about a 1/3 of the race. Good aid station support, especially in the middle where you hit them multiple times when turning around.

All in all, it is a good venue to train though the race, but other than that just not appeal. Also not much lodging around there--White Lake is a town that is stuck in the 60's and never came out. I have done this race twice leading into an Ironman (LOU in '15 and NC in '16).

Lake Logan
Done this race twice as well (p.s. I live in Florida).
Probably one of the nicest race venues, and just all in all good experience. I will be going back to this race quite a bit in years to come if it works out. Venue is in a large field, nestled between two hills/mountains, etc. Great vibe all around. Stayed in Waynesville one year, and with a friend in Asheville another. Nothing really close unless you stay on site at the church facility.

Swim - Gorgeous lake, wetsuit legal, wave start. Rectangle swim finishing under a small bridge, and climb up on a small dock. Swim to the dock, don't walk like you will see alot of others do. Practice the exit route leading into the bridge and past the day before--it helps!

Bike - Favorite bike leg for a 70.3. Start out right away with a little climb, and then get a decent descent to get settled back in and have the HR/LP stabilize a bit. One pretty good solid climb (again, I am from Florida) in the middle about mile 30-35 I believe, I can check my bike files when I get a chance to confirm. Rode an 11-28 with a disc and 808 front. Water only on aid stations (2 total). Air was pretty nice both years, though did get a tad warm on the back half of the bike headed towards T2.

Run - 2 lap run course. Mostly shaded. Slightly uphill 3 miles, then downhill 3 miles. Repeat. Work on your downhill running--made a huge improvement for me in the two years I have done this. My quads were chewed up the first year from downhill running poorly.

Great food afterwords (not pizza and chips like most races).

All in all, set-up does a great job. I raced with them quite a bit including Lake James 50 (definitely recommend).

Hope this helps.

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IG: NCGregory8778

Amazing, thanks!

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

I'm in for White Lake Spring half and just noticed this good news on the website: "It's taken twenty years but Hwy 53 has finally been re-paved. This means that the 20 mile stretch back to the FFA Center will now be nice and smooth. No more seams every 10 yards." That plus the beautiful swim and run setting in/around White Lake should make this a fun event. Plus, SetUp has done such a great job at B2B through the years I am sure they'll do the same at WL.

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"Some guys they just give up living, and start dying little by little piece by piece. Some guys come home from work and wash up, then go racin' in the street." Bruce Springsteen

I love White Lake and can't count how many times I raced there! Here's a link to the last time I did the half there in 2011.

http://favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com/...alf-iron-572011.html

Hope you have a great race! So cool to read the post above about the final highway being paved finally!

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

White Lake Spring Half (April) or White Lake Fall Half (September)?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

One thing to be aware of - during last year's spring half, they did not offer gels on the run course. So, if you rely on gels during the run, bring your own.

It's great they've repaved the return section; it really sucked with those seams every few seconds. Didn't help that you're sometimes riding into a headwind on that section as well.

I haven't raced the 1/2 @ WL, but I did the International, last year. Flat course. Town is stuck in yesteryear. Lake is fine. It's a pleasant experience, but I don't care to go back (I live in NC, but it's a 3+ hr ride for me).

Lake Logan is beautiful. Lake is pristine. Don't let anyone fool you. The bike course is a real 70.3 bike course. Besides having to climb out and back into the race site, there's hills galore....including a 6-8% grade for 1+mi. around mi. 42. I saw 3.5 mph, there.....lol. Run course is a slight incline going out......and decline coming in....two loops. The grade is nothing to worry about, though. If I was wanting to PR a 1/2......I'd go to WL. For the overall experience, I'd do LL again, hands-down. My tri group will be in Lake Logan again this year (we stay on site), but I will NOT be racing. I did that bike course the only time I'll do it, last year :)

Good luck.

Interesting that you think the Lake Logan bike course is so difficult. Now, I'm not saying its a walk in the park, but in 2015 I did both WL Half (May) & Lake Logan Half (August). I was only 3 minutes slower at Lake Logan. And White Lake is pancake flat. There is no flatter 56 mile course anywhere.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I am somewhat interested in the Sandling 50, but only 80 total entries last year and I'm not sure it will seem like much of a race. And the bike route goes right by my driveway, so I would want some racing if I'm on the same roads I always ride. Y'all have nearly talked me into Lake Logan!

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Team Zoot - Great Lakes

i've heard that LL is a hard bike course. Isn't it also long? I think WL is tough in a different way. The wind can be brutal there and the run (usually the fall race) is why that place is affectionately called White Bake. I haven't raced LL, but have raced WL 3x...and never had a great race.

I don't think it is long. You may be thinking that the first year (2014) it was 4 miles short (and advertised that way). Beginning with the 2015 race, it has been almost exactly 56 miles.

And, you are correct, White Lake can be greatly affected by wind. 2015 must have been a moderately windy year. 29 days later I did the Raleigh course 6 minutes faster. And of the 5 times I've raced WL Half, I have a 13 minute delta for the bike segment alone. 2013 was especially windy, that was my slowest bike time at WL.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

If you rode 56 miles.....and one course has 3K feet of gain (I don't recall what the actual # is)......and the other has basically 0 gain in elevation.....and you were only 3 minutes slower on the harder course.......I agree.....that's interesting.

It was a tough course, for me.

WL Fall 2016 was the first time I ended up in a med tent with IVs sticking out of my arms...finished, but it wasn't pretty.

I'm one of the few people that did the Sandling 50 last year (its debut) and really enjoyed it. It obviously had a different feel to it than a race with 1000+ people in it but the combination of unique distance, time trial start, well marked and well run course made it a hit for me and I plan on going back. Having the run through the closed park was probably the best part, although the run wasn't nearly as flat as I expected. Last year they also had a sprint race the same day, I would anticipate some of those people joining the 50.