I did CPH last year, it was overcast and windy at the start and was shivering before the swim. The water itself is really shallow and the temp in that is fine once you get going. I was cold on the bike for the first hour and also when it rained, however when the sun came out on the run it did get quite warm.

In short, the swim is ok temp wise and depends on the day as always in Northern Europe. It is a good race, good atmosphere on the run and a nice city, sort the logistics out and race hotel in the centre and you will be good to go.

Did it last year as my first full (live in CPH too).
The water is fine tbh. It not warm but around 20 degrees clecius (18-22). It is in a laguna so very calm water, very easy to navigate so great for firsttimers (easy marks to swim after).

The bike/run weather was sub optimal in 2017. Normally it would be the typical danish weather (so 18-22 degrees) but i guess it could be anything from 14-27.

Overall the race is really nice, things are well coordinated, good routes etc.

I did this one last summer. We checked out the swim course a few days earlier and never had any cold. We rented a house boat and basically swam every day for 2 weeks. So I'd say it should be fine in August. There was also a swimming event the week after where people swim around a castle in the middle of the city. Would have been fun to do if we knew about it in advance.


The times I have been cold during a race it was mostly because I suck at swimming and whatever movements I did were not enough to warm up. I tend to get in a 'flow' which costs almost no effort, but is of course very slow and just cools me down. Kinda like if it's a bit colder and you would bike very slowly so you would not get any heat going. The proper thing to do is to bike harder, and for me at least with swimming I need to also consciously up the effort. Not saying you have the same issue but who knows.


Anyway, Kopenhagen is a great location. Just been there for work last week (was a bit colder) and enjoyed the memories coming back when I passed by some race spots. Make sure to have some Danish hot dogs while you're there ;)

I also did Quassy in 2017. It didn't seem particularly cold to me. I did Copenhagen in 2015. I would say the water at Copenhagen 2015 was probably a bit warmer than Quassy 2017 but I have no idea really. All I know is that both water temps seemed fine to me.

Copenhagen 2015 was what I would consider pretty much ideal weather. It was a day for personal bests. Sadly I was feeling bad even before the race started so I didn't get one.

I once did Frankfurt when it was overcast and rainy. The high for the day was 49 degrees Fahrenheit. Now *that* was cold. For the entire bike it was so cold that I kept dropping my food because my hands were number.

It made the bike miserable but it also made the run ideal...

Did it in 2016. Water temp was fine... was actually a lovely day. Copenhagen an excellent maiden race, in my opinion. Nice, protected swim, gentle, scenic bike... and an extremely well-spectated and hugely fan supportive... and flat... run course in the heart of the city.

If you want more info give me a shout I live in CPH right by the course and I have few club mates who have done it since its inception.....

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

As others have said the water will be fine as it's shallow and sheltered . I did this as my first in 2015 and would highly recommend it. The swim is easy to navigate, the bike is nice with rolling hills. Geeks Baake and the cobblestones were fun and crowded with people. The run is packed with spectators all around the loop. It's great for family too, they can walk the swim, meet you on the bike and see you plenty of times on the run. My family met me at Geels Baake and parked themselves at Nyhavn all evening. Copenhagen is a great city with very friendly people. We stayed in the city at Wake-up Copenhagen Borgegade.

Thanks for making me think about this issue since I am going to participate in the ITU long distance in Odense, Denmark. I think I am going to bring stuff for my hands and feet. I get the same symptoms very easily.

Love to hear more about this one!

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

Its a really great race, really well supported. The weather is normally quite a good. You swim inside a lagoon so there are basically no waves at all. The past few years there have been rolling starts with self seeding which I think is safer for everyone (I believe there were around 2700 participants last year). Denmark is quite flat so the course is quite fast. The only thing you may have to contend with is the wind on parts of the course especially when you leave Copenhagen and head up the coast. If you aren't used to the Danish wind its easy to get blown around. Some people use deep dish wheels but I would suggest using a 40-50mm wheel on the front unless you are a quite good bike handler (just being cautious). The run course is in the center of Copenhagen so you get see all the sites while you suffer and as I said crowd support is really very good.

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I loved this race! With higher humidity it did not feel that cold to me. I have a Raynaud’s Syndrome and will easily lose feeling in my hands and feet if I get cold. I got a bit chilled before the swim waiting around but warmed up nicely during the swim. I brought cut up tube socks for the bike which worked out great to keep me warm during some of the rain episodes. Loved this race! It rained during the bike and run in 2017, but did not mind the temps until I crossed the finish and had to change right away out of my wet clothes. Highly recommend this race. Pretty countryside, fun city and huge crowds!

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No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
Laura

To follow-up on my original post I actually did end up doing this race back in August. It was a ton of fun. Since I get cold so easily I wore this thermal swim cap under the race-issued cap: https://www.trisports.com/...ty-thermal-skull-cap . It worked way better than I thought and I was actually running a bit warm for the swim (much better than the alternative though).

I threw on a wind vest for the bike and it was pretty much perfect. Had some gloves in case it rained but didn't get a drop. I also put an old cycling jacket in the special needs bag "just in case" but wasn't even close to needing it.

I raced in 808's without an issue at all, though you are exposed while riding up the coast so it could get breezy.

Run was awesome as others have said, the city really gets behind it.

The only thing I didn't like about this race was forcing us to walk down a flight of stairs after finishing to retrieve the bikes.... that was just cruel

I'm thinking about doing this race and looking at the logistics of Copenhagen.

Can anyone tell me how you got to the swim start without staying in the host Hotel. Are there taxis around at 4:30 in the morning?

Its on a sunday so yeah taxis drivimg home drunk people all night, but it is by far easier to just take the metro, runs directly from downtown to a 5min walk to t1

metroride is 12 mins and runs every 10 mins.

As was mentioned by someone else the metro system is a great option. I ended up staying at the race hotel but took the metro to the start line as it was seamless and quick.

I also recall that there were a lot of taxis in the area, it was a pretty big event for Copenhagen so they seemed to be well aware that they would be getting a good amount of business even at that hour.

Drop me a line if you need some advice I live here in Copenhagen (in fact right by the swim course).

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I did Copenhagen in 2018 and loved it. That summer was the warmest on record for Denmark so the water was warmer compared to other years from what I heard. I thought it felt lovely and refreshing. One of the many reasons I chose Copenhagen was the cooler temps compared to most summer Ironmans.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

+1 - did 2016 as well.