Website says there will be 40 qualifying spots for 2014 Vegas 70.3 FAQ's

Last year there were only 30. Glad to see them increase that number as supposedly it is the largest Ironman 70.3 in the world in terms of registrants.

Initially there were 4 spots allocated to M35-39 and M40-44 before rolldown. All other groups had less.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

http://www.ironman.com/...etes/faqs.aspx#faq20

Would expect normal distribution and spots that are hotly contested.

I meant to say is it sold out yet. I'm not worrying about qualifying yet for the big boy races.

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The only easy day was yesterday.

I don't think it is sold out yet. Great venue and nice moderate to easy course. The ride is through some beautiful horse farms.

If you are on facebook, the page devoted specifically to Augusta 70.3 is a good way to keep a check on the registration numbers.

As mentioned before, Augusta is the largest 70.3 as far as registrations go (In 2012 they allowed 3,400 people to sign up). I would bet you've got quite a bit of time before it fills up.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

My bad. On July 26th last year, the Facebook page said they they had sold out. So you have some time. Great race, though, so put your big boy pants on and start training!

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Already training for this season. Unfortunately hemorrhoids have knocked me out for a week. And I'm glad to hear that it sells out in the summer, that gives me more time to save up and potentially do that and Miami 70.3... If you know, how competitive is the 20-25 age group?

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The only easy day was yesterday.

http://www.ironman.com/...s.aspx#axzz2LNIMdaqX

Looks like more than 25% went sub 5 last year.

I'm betting the seriously "downhill swim" played a part in that.

jake

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Get outside!

I'ts pretty competitive at the top. I went 4:31 and finished 6th last year. It's my favoriate race of the year though, awesome course, especially the run.

I thought it was the relatively easy bike and pancake flat run (of which I blew up on).

It's a fast course, no doubt. Last year the cloud cover helped the run from getting really hot. Funny thing about the bike that I've heard a lot of people say is that if you expect it to be flat, it will seem hilly. But, if you expect it to be hilly, it doesn't seem too bad. It's all about perspective, I guess.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

No. I went 4:52 at Augusta last year. It was the overcast and slightly drizzly conditions that made it fast.

If you compare the run times from last year to the year before, that was the big difference. Without sun and excessive heat, it made for a very fast run. The swim was more or less the same as past years.

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"Whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right."

Always one of my favorite races of the year. The swim is straight and fast. The bike is beautiful, not to challenging, but enough going on to keep you focused. Nice tree cover over some rolling hills. The run is flat and fast... The heat and humidity dictate the pace;) Last year I PR there because it was overcast and not to hot. The year before I struggled on the run because it was so nasty hot. The venue is as good as they come in the southeast. Best of Luck!

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Please forgive typo's and poor grammer. Most posting performed on my not so smart phone.

Yup. Did it in '09 and it was a hot one. Coming in underprepared and not knowing a good bike pace will make any run seem hot though. Was my first HIM and thought it was a great race and great venue. Especially the swim...great swim.

Did you wear a wetsuit?

I signed up for it this year. Looking forward to it.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Yes. I am MOP on a good day and I would say there is absolutely no need in Augusta if you don't already own one. The year I did it I think a floating piece of styrofoam beat me and I did 28min.

From what I remember, 95% of the people wore wetsuits. Good Luck this year!

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

What do you mean by competitive? You can search the age group results time on the Ironman website. I was in that age group last year. There were 2 slots and it rolled down to 4th place. Not sure if that is what you meant.

How do you ppl think Augusta compares to B2B? Pretty close?

I've done both multiple times and Iike the Augusta course better. Mainly because I don't like flat bike courses. Prefer a few rollers. Which Augusta has. B2B is a great course and can be very fast. But the swim does require a little bit of navigating. If you get off course, or miss the current at B2B, you will have a hard time getting back on course. Augusta's swim is heads down and go. Just don't hit the bridge and be on the look out for the exit.

B2B...the weather is a toss up. You WILL encounter winds on the bike and last year they shifted mid ride. So we actually had a head to cross wind the whole time. Some years the weather is warm, other years cold. And sometimes, very cold then warm later in the day. Just don't know what you're going to get that time of the year in NC.

Augusta...run course is easier than B2B. Augusta is pancake flat and multiple loops of the downtown area. So TONS of crowd support all the way around the run with the exception of one 1/2 mile stretch just before completing the first loop. Other than that, expect to be cheered on. B2B has a few short steep kickers on the run. Nothing major or horribly long but enough that you'll notice it. The crowd support is great but there are stretches where there isn't really anyone.

I will say, B2B seems to get better every year though. SetUp Events does a great job and listens to its athletes. The move from the battleship to the downtown area, last year, made the event even better. A few kinks to work out on the run but I have no doubt they'll address that.

In a nutshell, Augusta: Heads down fast swim, rolling bike on great roads, fast, flat well supported run.
B2B: Fast swim as long as you navigate it well, flat fast bike with winds, run course with a few hills and great crowd support in spots.

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Check out {re}vici Upscale Casual Triathlon Apparel

As of right now there are 1,317 people registered, plenty of slots left

Agreed easy swim, rolling to hilly bike, flat run. The run is the kicker. If its hot its miserable. Last year it drizzled/rained - and that was amazing. Id say a perfect course for a crappy swimmer, good cyclist, and average runner.

That describes me to a T. Well, the crappy swimmer part is being generous. Did it the first year, rode .75IF because of the heat and still fell apart on the run...brutally fell apart. Guess you could say I over biked the conditions, but damn it was hot!

i have done it the last 2 yrs. an d wore a full sleeve both times. It is a "hot" wetsuit swim, I was beginning to feel really hot. My 27 min swim did make me feel like a real badass though. lol (not a fast swimmer) pm me if you have ?'s

Gone. Facebook page says they are sold out. Hope everyone got in that wanted in.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Wow, this is the earliest I remember seeing Augusta sell out.

Yea, it's typically around August or late July. I was hoping to have my schedule figured out by the end of the month to register, but it doesn't matter now. Great race.

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Indeed. Better get on it early next year.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Wow,. I got lucky! Just signed up this week!

I'm sure the early sellout is related to the buzz surrounding last year's ideal race conditions. Even in the heat and sun, Augusta is still a desirable race, but last year was near perfect. Overcast with a slight mist and little wind made for fast times, and with 40 Vegas slots up for grabs, it makes sense that we saw more entrants this year.

I'm skipping it, though, and doing IM Louisville, which might make Augusta look like positively chilly by comparison from what I've heard. It's going to be a big heaping pile of suck, but I asked for it....

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"Whether you believe you can or you can't, you are right."

Signed up yesterday! Glad I didn't wait.

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http://www.researchms.org/trifest/

Good luck! I keep almost manning up for that race...

Well crap ... lol. I had it on the agenda, never thought it would sell out that fast

Wow. Pulled the trigger 2 weeks ago. Can't wait!!

Good luck at IM Lou. As a two time Louisville finisher, I bet you'll love it!!!! Even with the heat, etc. Awesome course with even better finish!!

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Augusta is a little over 40 days away.

I raced Augusta in its inaugural year, but as it was my first HIM, I don't recall too much about the experience. B/c I had no idea what I was doing, racing or training, it was mostly a blur. The thing I remember most about the course was that cramped hamstrings and quads hurt really bad.

Fast forward a few years and I have a slightly better idea of how to train and race.Can anyone provide a refresher of the bike course? What are the best sections to hammer? Where are you going to slow down b/c of bottlenecks or other obstacles (rough roud, sharp turns, windy section, etc.)? Most of that course is on good roads, right? The rollers aren't too bad, from what I do recall.

If there are any other things that stand out, list them here, too.

Thanks!

Just off recollection of last year. 1st 15:pretty fast. Next 25: rollers, still fast but don't push to hard. Last 16: Super fast.

I think when your wave goes off also impacts your perception. 2 years ago it was warmer and I went off in the 1st wave. I seemed alone on the bike course but really threw down trying to hold a certain avg. Last year it was cooler and I went off in the next to last wave. I felt like the bike course was super crowded but got to slingshot the whole course and ended up with a bike split 1 mph faster than the previous year.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the River's current level? I heard it was pretty bad a few weeks back. This will be my first HIM and I'll be pissed if the swim is cancelled. I've had enough swims cancelled or shortened from conditions this year. You'd think I'd be happy... it's not like I excel at the swim or anything.

Thanks.

Bad as in low? Or bad as in high? Wy would it be cancelled?

I'll let you know this weekend! Headed down to swim and ride the course on Sunday.

The river has been extremely high the past month. Currents were all over the place, and was closed for swimming. Its back open now, and should be good to go for the race.

Yes, relatively flat the first 17 miles, rollers for the next 23 miles and then kinda downhill the last 16 miles. Last year I hammered the first and last segment, and just tried to keep it together in the middle.

I started in the 9th wave, and the bike was pretty crowded for the first 30 miles.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Glad to hear it it. Hopefully the rain (so sick of the freaking rain) will stay reasonable and the river won't swell again. I did the Chattanooga Watefront (I realize it's a different river, but the SE has been crushed with rain this summer) in July and our swim was cancelled and the tri turned into a duathlon (grrrrrrr).

So, you guys running discs at Augusta? Since it's a fast course, I would think this would be the way to go.

I have before and was fine. It was in 2010 and wet conditions.

Rode the course this weekend with my pops. Nice organized ride, so traffic was a non issue. Here's my Garmin file if anyone's interested - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365514935 . The river was still to high to swim. Check out the Tri Augusta FB page for updates on the river. Or here's the link to the USGS stats - http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?02197000 . Its at 16500 right now. Average is about 7000. Just to put it into perspective, at 16500 a 30 min 1.2 mi swimmer in the river (about 2:00/100 yd in normal conditions) would swim the course in under 20 minutes.

How's road quality? I had watched the video of the guy driving the course, but it's old so....

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Abell

From Jackson to New Ellenton the road sucks. Everywhere else is fine.

I swam the river yesterday. It took me 15 min to swim halfway up and I was putting a little effort into it. I turned around and came back in 3 min. I'm betting I could swim the 1.2 in under 15 min if not faster. Last year the backed the water up by closing it off down river. In my opinion if they can do that then I don't see why they couldn't slow it down for the race. I wouldn't recommend a weak swimmer entering the water right now.

Hopefully the rain will hold off for a few weeks and the flow will normalize. But I'll take a sub-20 minute swim any day ;)

I'm just wondering if backing up the river, with all the rain we've gotten, is a good idea, especially if the rain continues at a similar rate... don't wanna flood anything just so a bunch of alphas personalities can swim.

I think they would just reduce flow out of the lake. It can come up another foot or two without bothering much. Over the weekend they let the lake out and it came up several feet, hence the higher flow. I'm betting its fine.

hmmm, if they cancelled the swim, how would they do it? Run bike run? or just bike run?

WOW!! Your Garmin shows twice the elevation gain that WTC advertises. How accurate do find your Garmin to be?

Its usually spot on. But who knows! There's definitely some climbing involved. But lots of downhills too.

My 910 had 2,215 feet of elevation gain for that course.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

I wouldn't call it spot on. Clearly from your Garmin file the minimum elevation is -32ft it slightly off......

The course is a fast bike course. You can stay in the aerobars for 95%+ of the ride as long as you are cool descending 3 deep while passing people at 40+mph.

And I would exactly agree with your description of "descending 3 deep at 40+ mph". There might be one place you can go over 40, and that's just for a few minutes.

Just tryin to help.

Wanted to pass this along to anyone racing Augusta. TriAugusta club and the Saint Paul's church by the Augusta 70.3 swim start have teamed up to offer a Saturday night Pre-Race Pasta Dinner. A great chance to be with new and old friends! Bring your family! The location is perfect, on the Riverwalk adjacent to swim start and just a few steps from the Marriott and convention center.

More information at the link.

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/...83&llr=ab5u84dab

Water temp now at augusta?

According to the river keepers.. 8/12/13 70.4F

http://www.savannahriverkeeper.org/

Weird in the email I got this AM it says 'Average Race Day Water Temperature' is 79* !!!

Has this race ever NOT been wetsuit legal?

No. Always been wetsuit legal.

There was an issue with water level/flow a few weeks ago. Does anyone know the current status?

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?02197000 - This is the current water level. Just to put in perspective, its running at about 10K cbs, which "above average." The problems last month were when it was running OVER 20k. When the river was running over 20k, averge swimmers were swimming the 1.2 mile course in 19 mins, but had trouble getting out! Should be a ok for race day.

RW