Challenge Atlantic City

Jun 16, 15 7:50

Post #1 of 125 (9920 views)

With less than 2 weeks until race day and not much chatter I figured I�d start a thread�.anyway, who�s in, did you do it last year, goal, expectations, how's training, etc, etc�whaddaya got?

I�ll start. I did it last year as my first full distance. Have done a bunch of halfs and decided last year was the time to step it up to the full distance. Living less than an hour away and spending lots of summer weekends at shore towns near AC, logistically this one was a no brainer for me. Keep in mind, I don�t have much in the way of comparison for a full distance, but overall last year I was very impressed. Organized very well from start to finish. Many people last year complained about the swim, I thought it was just fine. Also this year with the addition of a half, the full swim will be two loops, so seems they have improved on that from last year. Bike was good, flat. Run on the boardwalk was actually enjoyable (for me). They did a good job with crowd control and actually the constant flow of people provided a nice distraction. Aid, support (pre, during, and post), and overall experience were all great. All in all a well put on race for a first year race. Curious to see what, if any changes they make this year other than the swim.

So far, so good on training for this one. Body feeling tired and ready to recover a bit over next two weeks and get ready for race day.

I heard numbers for the full were down which down, which is sort of surprising, but regardless looking forward to this one.
Goal: #1 finish, #2 enjoy the race, #3, improve on time from last year. Anything outside of those three would be a bonus.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 8:02

Post #2 of 125 (9908 views)

I am in for the full AGAIN this year. I loved the race last year, really enjoyed the experience and the organization even for a first time race was well done. Sure it had a few logistic hiccups but I am always willing to forgive the little stuff.

I am glad the swim course is changed to keep us from swimming out to that far bridge where the crazy current was. The two-loop idea keeping it close to transition is much preferable.

I am also glad to not have to ride 15 miles out (and back) on the AC Expressway. The two loops in the forest should help at least mitigate the crazy wind we had last year.

I know many people criticized the boardwalk run but I just thought that was the best thing ever. The wooden surface was a joy to run on when that horribly tired, and there were spectators all along the route by default even though they may or may not actually be there to see the race.

I *thought* I was going to be demoralized by having to run past the finish line 4 times (it hurt at Tahoe to go past it at mile 17 and go back out into the night), but this time it was great being able to see people multiple times.

Really looking forward to this race again.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 8:13

Post #3 of 125 (9895 views)

Did it last year but not in this year. kind of surprised it didn't get more signups this year. I thought it was very well organized and I also enjoyed the run on the boardwalk. Lots of distractions to keep the pain away. Good luck to everyone doing the race this year!

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 9:05

Post #4 of 125 (9845 views)

First full for me, making the jump from Olympic. Dreading the run - because of my run fitness, not the boardwalk part - but looking forward to the race. Part of a team, training with them has been a blast (look out for the ALS Hope kits).

Swam the course for the AC Tri a couple of years ago and the swim is two loops of that, and based on the preview ride last weekend (which covered the state forest part around Hammonton/Shamong etc, not the roads from AC to that loop) the bike course is mostly flat and fast.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 9:33

Post #5 of 125 (9815 views)

I'm in as well - but for the half. My fiance's family has a house in Margate so I'm used to the area and have run on the boardwalk quite a bit. My goal is to go faster than I did in St George in May... which I can hopefully do given that the course is supposedly flat + fast on the bike and the run.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 9:51

Post #6 of 125 (9795 views)

I'm in! This is going to be my first 70.3 distance. I really went back and forth on which one to do, but ended heeding the advice I've read on here to do the one that is closest to you for your first one.

I'm glad they changed up the swim course. It's going to better. It's basically the course for the Atlantic City International which I've done a few times. I did the preview ride last week as well. That was cool. The roads seem to be in pretty good shape.

He mentioned at the ride that there were 250 in the full and 850 in the half. Looking at the athlete guide, the half men start at 6am, half women at 6:05am. Assuming fairly close to a 50/50 split does that mean there could be 400 people in the water for the start?? I've never really experienced that kind of mass start.

Anyway, really getting amped for it.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 10:02

Post #7 of 125 (9773 views)

In for the full as well. glad to be back. looking forward to the new swim course and the bike should be interesting as well.

Noofus - i believe it's only one loop and not two. just checked the full map course. apologies, if i mis-read your post.

nothing beats the run on the boardwalk and i think Steve really did us a huge favor this year by changing the run course and having us run on the north end three times and only two times on the south end. looking forward to the run. this could setup a really huge and long finishing cute if anyone is still out there cheering us on.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [gleeclub] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 10:07

Post #8 of 125 (9763 views)

gleeclub wrote:

In for the full as well. glad to be back. looking forward to the new swim course and the bike should be interesting as well.

Noofus - i believe it's only one loop and not two. just checked the full map course. apologies, if i mis-read your post.

nothing beats the run on the boardwalk and i think Steve really did us a huge favor this year by changing the run course and having us run on the north end three times and only two times on the south end. looking forward to the run. this could setup a really huge and long finishing cute if anyone is still out there cheering us on.

Whoops! You are right. I think back when Steve was originally talking about modifying the bike course he said something about making it one-loop for half and two for full, but now that I look at the official course map I see he made it one loop for the full also. So ignore that part of my post, I was incorrect!

Post deleted by jonnies [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 10:52

Post #9 of 125 (9720 views)

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 12:25

Post #10 of 125 (9664 views)

This will be my first full. Looking forward to it. Hopefully I have trained enough and will not die on the run. If I can run the entire marathon, I will be happy.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [crown] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 12:29

Post #11 of 125 (9659 views)

crown wrote:

This will be my first full. Looking forward to it. Hopefully I have trained enough and will not die on the run. If I can run the entire marathon, I will be happy.

If you have trained reasonably well, then the one of the hardest aspects of a full IM is the mental anguish near the end. Part of that can be from loneliness, as many IM courses are dark and mostly devoid of spectators out in the far reaches of the course. This is not the case here. You will never be far from all sorts of people, and visual entertainment while you are running. The AC boardwalk is a weird-ass place to be on a normal day, let alone while trying to run. I think it is the best part of the course!

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 12:30

Post #12 of 125 (9658 views)

In for the half

Familiar with the swim and run from Tri AC the last few years. First time with the 70.3 Training is off so finishing and not getting hurt any worse is the goal.

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 12:53

Post #13 of 125 (9634 views)

noofus wrote:

crown wrote:

This will be my first full. Looking forward to it. Hopefully I have trained enough and will not die on the run. If I can run the entire marathon, I will be happy.

If you have trained reasonably well, then the one of the hardest aspects of a full IM is the mental anguish near the end. Part of that can be from loneliness, as many IM courses are dark and mostly devoid of spectators out in the far reaches of the course. This is not the case here. You will never be far from all sorts of people, and visual entertainment while you are running. The AC boardwalk is a weird-ass place to be on a normal day, let alone while trying to run. I think it is the best part of the course!

Thanks, I was thinking running on the boards, and all the people watching, would make this one of the best runs. Hopefully a nice ocean breeze too.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 12:58

Post #14 of 125 (9627 views)

Did the Full last year. It was my first full and I loved it. But, our 3rd son was born 9 months ago. So, 1 Newborn + 2 little boys = the most training I can manage for this season is for 70.3's. I was so excited when they announced the Half option. My previous best 70.3 time is 5:02. I really, really want to crack the 5 hour mark.

Oh, and I agree about the Boardwalk run. I'm really looking forward to it. I was skeptical last year, but the drunks and skanks and hotties and tourists and clueless and supporters and locals and beach and ocean make the run go by so quickly.

Last edited by: gienopes: Jun 16, 15 13:07

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [Leddy] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 13:01

Post #15 of 125 (9619 views)

I am in for the half this year....DNF'd the full last year (multiple flat tires on the second loop of the bike). Looking forward to the positive changes to the course, e.g. revised swim and bike courses. Delmo and Vigo do a great job with the races in South Jersey, should be a great day.

Jamie

Last edited by: jwadtri: Jun 16, 15 13:02

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 13:19

Post #16 of 125 (9598 views)

I am doing the full as well, its my second time doing a full so i am excited that is for sure! I did the practice ride, and i liked that it had some rollers (small) to keep you interested. The race is coming up quick! Anyone else from CT doing it?

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 16, 15 17:03

Post #17 of 125 (9522 views)

I'm in for the 1/2

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Jun 17, 15 9:44

Post #18 of 125 (9380 views)

Hennessyr wrote:

I am doing the full as well, its my second time doing a full so i am excited that is for sure! I did the practice ride, and i liked that it had some rollers (small) to keep you interested. The race is coming up quick! Anyone else from CT doing it?

In for the full. Stoked for this race! Running on the boardwalk should be a lot of fun. I am from CT 30 minutes north of Hartford.

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 17, 15 10:36

Post #19 of 125 (9354 views)

btw, numbers that may be only relevent to me, but it's good to know come race day

This was done on mapmyrun and i rounded.
Run Course (full) - N Albany Avenue to Montgomery Avenue is .7 miles away (Montgomery is the turn around point for the last lap)

Montgomery Avenue to Martindale Avenue is 1.7 miles away (significance because this is between rest stops (2 miles) and the dead area of the run). The Ventor City Tennis Courts is somewhat the halfway point from Montgomery to Martindale. Note: i believe some of us did say that we needed another aid station on the south end and it doesnt look like it's happening. So the south end/quiet section/south of N Albany Ave section of the run is about 2.4 miles one way or 4.8 miles total (we do this twice). So im carrying a small nathan bottle with me to fuel for that section.

from Martindale to Metropolitan the distance is 4.6 miles, 9.2 miles for one loop which is done twice.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [davetri1] [ In reply to ]

Jun 17, 15 11:32

Post #20 of 125 (9323 views)

Nice! I am right in the Manchester area and can't wait!

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [Hennessyr] [ In reply to ]

Jun 19, 15 12:34

Post #21 of 125 (9202 views)

So I just signed up to run the marathon leg of a relay team with Race2Rebuild. 9 days is enough time to train right?

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [jonnies] [ In reply to ]

Jun 19, 15 13:29

Post #22 of 125 (9168 views)

jonnies wrote:

With less than 2 weeks until race day and not much chatter I figured I�d start a thread�.anyway, who�s in, did you do it last year, goal, expectations, how's training, etc, etc�whaddaya got?

I�ll start. I did it last year as my first full distance. Have done a bunch of halfs and decided last year was the time to step it up to the full distance. Living less than an hour away and spending lots of summer weekends at shore towns near AC, logistically this one was a no brainer for me. Keep in mind, I don�t have much in the way of comparison for a full distance, but overall last year I was very impressed. Organized very well from start to finish. Many people last year complained about the swim, I thought it was just fine. Also this year with the addition of a half, the full swim will be two loops, so seems they have improved on that from last year. Bike was good, flat. Run on the boardwalk was actually enjoyable (for me). They did a good job with crowd control and actually the constant flow of people provided a nice distraction. Aid, support (pre, during, and post), and overall experience were all great. All in all a well put on race for a first year race. Curious to see what, if any changes they make this year other than the swim.

So far, so good on training for this one. Body feeling tired and ready to recover a bit over next two weeks and get ready for race day.

I heard numbers for the full were down which down, which is sort of surprising, but regardless looking forward to this one.
Goal: #1 finish, #2 enjoy the race, #3, improve on time from last year. Anything outside of those three would be a bonus.

Great race. Wish I could be back for year two. The run on the boardwalk is amazing. Have a great race!!!

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Re: Challenge Atlantic City [rbuike] [ In reply to ]

Jun 19, 15 14:16

Post #23 of 125 (9148 views)

rbuike wrote:

So I just signed up to run the marathon leg of a relay team with Race2Rebuild. 9 days is enough time to train right?

Sure! Hey that boardwalk run makes it all easier anyway. :)

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Jun 20, 15 14:40

Post #24 of 125 (9026 views)

Did last year and wanted to go back and race faster than my first full. Threw out my back in March and changed to half. Looking for that chance to break 5 hours as well. 5:04 PR so far.
After 3 knee surgeries l was very skeptical of boardwalk run. But it was great on legs.l was worried about warped boards like most boardwalks have. But not here. People watching helps pass the time. Especially after all the solo training. There were some people not paying attention and looking for us. Probably yelled "On your left" or "Excuse me" seems like a million times.

Re: Challenge Atlantic City [gleeclub] [ In reply to ]

Jun 20, 15 18:10

Post #25 of 125 (8968 views)

gleeclub wrote:

btw, numbers that may be only relevent to me, but it's good to know come race day

This was done on mapmyrun and i rounded.
Run Course (full) - N Albany Avenue to Montgomery Avenue is .7 miles away (Montgomery is the turn around point for the last lap)

Montgomery Avenue to Martindale Avenue is 1.7 miles away (significance because this is between rest stops (2 miles) and the dead area of the run). The Ventor City Tennis Courts is somewhat the halfway point from Montgomery to Martindale. Note: i believe some of us did say that we needed another aid station on the south end and it doesnt look like it's happening. So the south end/quiet section/south of N Albany Ave section of the run is about 2.4 miles one way or 4.8 miles total (we do this twice). So im carrying a small nathan bottle with me to fuel for that section.

from Martindale to Metropolitan the distance is 4.6 miles, 9.2 miles for one loop which is done twice.

I'm in as well. First 70.3 and super excited. Only second race ever actually, so looking forward to the crowds and getting to see family several times on the run course.

If I'm reading the above properly, there is a 2.4mi sections with no aid station? That seems like an awfully long stretch. I might need to carry something small also.

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