I've only done HIM Chattanooga but venue was awesome. Sells out fairly quickly not sure how quickly though.

Chattanooga sells out fast. Louisville not so much.

Chatt swim is fast point to point in the river with a no stress time trial type of start. Fast times are put up by all even the weak swimmers. Louisville is also in a river swim and has a time trial start but you swim 400-500meters up stream in a somewhat protected section...Louisville will likely be wetsuit legal...Chatt has not been in the 2 years it has been raced. Chatt is a faster swim no matter what your ability. If you are strong swimmer neither is difficult. If you are a weak swimmer Chatt is easier.

Chatt bike is faster and easier than Louisville (but it is 4 miles longer). Good flow with the back side rollers allowing you to carry speed into the next. Louisville has a revised course this year with the bigger climbs of the out and back removed but hills added in the loop section so you do them twice, so it remains to be seen what the outcome is. Louisville is much "choppier" and doesn't flow from one hill to the next so speed doesn't carry in much of the course and it also has more elevation gain. Chatt is an easier bike course.

Chatt run is significantly more difficult than Louisville. Louisville is about as flat as you can get. Chatt..not so much, with the last 5 miles of each loop containing significant hills.

Finish line atmosphere is better at Louisville. The Chatt bike course is more scenic. Louisville run is more spectator friendly but Chatt is good too.

Logistically the races are similar and both are well run. The time trial starts and the river swims, along with some hills somewhat early in the bike, seem to help avoid some of the huge draft pack issues you read about in races like FL.

I prefer Louisville. It is really a great race, very under-rated IMO.

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I have done both, enjoyed both and generally agree with everything bet laid out above. I felt that on the Louisville run course all spectators are congregated within 1 mile of the finish line, so you only see them at mile 1, mile 13 and mile 26. The Chattanooga run course spectators congregate in multiple areas, especially on the brutal hills.

Water quality and clarity is much higher at Chattanooga. The river there is very clear, which, I think, leads to much less contact in the swim. The Ohio River is like swimming in a glass of chocolate milk and you can't see past your goggle lenses.

Final point: Lodging is much more limited in Chattanooga, which means it is much more expensive. Both have a fair number of hotels within 1 mile of the finish line, but you will pay almost double to stay at one of those hotels in Chattanooga.

Thanks for the info. There is some stuff to think about.
Cheers

I did 'Nooga 2014 and Louisville 2015. Chattanooga is a better destination to visit IMO. Louisville is in my estimation about 10-30 minutes slower if that means anything to you (totally subjective I might add). Both have pretty bikes, Nooga a much cleaner and interesting swim, and Nooga has way more support on the run, plus it goes through nice parts of town, especially compared to Lou.

Chattanooga:
Swim, faster no matter what
Transitions are shorter
Bike' is 116 miles is around 15 to 20 minutes faster than Lou Drafting at parts might be an issue
Run, all the gains of the fast swim and fast bike are going to be lost if you are not ready is a hilly tough run specially the 2nd loop (have not happer
Finish line better if you have kids


Louisville
If you don't have kids and grown ups are with you best finish line. more than 5 bars that your friends can drink and wait for you.
The city does embrace for real
Swim, might have or not might have current, last year met a guy that went 1:02 with out wetsuit on 2014 on 2015 with wetsuit on better shape went 1:09
The transitions are longer
Bike, hillier drafting after mile 40 shouldn't be a issue the last 30 miles are slight down hill but a head wind will neglect it.
Run flat but, a slight up hill in the first part of each loop, Aid stations might be crowded
Again best finish line for an Ironman in the US

TG, I'm curious where you would choose to start with the time trial start. Be first out for a clear course, or start a little ways back to have some carrots and "sling shot" factor?

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OK, I am not TG, but I started at the back (last five in the water) and KQ'ed last year (but old man's division + one roll down). I actually felt that the channel was less crowded than in my prior IMLOUs (typically starting about 10 minutes after first age groupers) -- the really slow swimmers do whatever they can to get to the front of the line for fear of cutoffs -- my perception is that they clog up the channel at the start of the swim. With a 35 or so minute head start, they are mostly past the turn buoy before me. After the turn, the river is wide, so lots of room to get around folks. The one main reason not to start in the back has been eliminated -- now that the 1694 out and back is not there, no need to get to mile 15 of the bike before the big crowds. To me, the biggest remaining downside is how crowded the changing tent is in T1 -- but I think the benefit from the mini-drafts (and the slightly warmer bike ride -- last year it was 46 at the start) more than outweighs the extra minute or so in T1.

Good luck.

The time trial start is a great option if you want *free-speed* yes, but I just like Louisville better as a race venue, a course etc.

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Not TG but a pretty good age grouper... I started way back at IMChoo two years ago for the lower stress wake-up call and slingshot factor. I suspect I'll start sooner this year, but I'm also not planning to be as fast overall.

As a relatively weaker cyclist, it was nice to not spend 5.5 hours getting passed all the time.

I've done Lou 3X and Chattanooga once. On the TT start it doesn't really matter. I've been first 20 in the water (which means waking up really early) and in the middle of the pack and it doesn't make any difference. I think the extra sleep will benefit you more than being at the front of the line will. We have a local who starts dead last every year to raise money for his charity (https://ironcology.org) and he finished 5th or so overall last year so it doesn't slow you down. Some would argue that you get the maximum amount of legal drafting possible this way, both in the water and on the bike.

Anyway, to the OP, heed everyone's advice about the Chattanooga hills on the run. They're for real.

The run in Louisville is flat, but hot as the inside of an active volcano, like the place Obi-Wan pushed Anakin into the hot lava.




The run in Chattanooga is a 2-loop course, hilly.

The Louisville ironman is in October now so the weather, during the run, should be close to perfect. When the race was in August, both the bike and the run were pure carnage with the combined 90+ degree temps and high humidity

Is the 70.3 in chat(world champs) the same swim as ironman chat? Not in distance obviously, but downstream and fast and not wetsuit legal?

No. The 70.3 has an upstream segment right at the beginning. 400-500 meters maybe. Bike is slightly different also as it cuts off a portion of the loop from 140.3 (it ads a hill that is not on the 140.3). The run cuts off some of the hills from the 140.3 loop (but not all because it goes out and back on a couple of the bigger hills on the run.

Did louisville ~10 years ago and of 12 IMs it was my least favorite race. Nasty swim water, team trial start, choppy up and down bike (with roof tacks thrown on the road the year I did it) and run was through the ghetto-naked kids and syringes along the route. If you do it, make sure to look over to the side of the road as you near Churchill downs and check out the petting zoo.Post race food was cold pizza 4 blocks away from the finish. Maybe its changed, hopefully anyway. The Ali museum is worthwhile checking out.

A bit tangential... but how would Nooga run match up to Madison?

Taking my bias out of the hometown race, I have to say that Madison is a fantastic race, venue, and town. The crowd support on State Street is the most impressive I have seen at any race and you can't beat the backdrop of the Nation's second largest capital building. The run course is quite difficult IMO.

Louisville was difficult because of the heat when the race was in August. Now I have to imagine it is one of the easier courses out there in October. Chatt didn't seem to have quite the support of Madison. I prefer the Louisville finish line to the Chatt, but it doesn't beat MOO.

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Thanks...sorry, wasn't quite clear in my question. I've raced MOO twice and love the course.

From reading this thread, sounds like Nooga's run course is "tough" - which is fine with me. Don't have a lot to personally compare with as I've only raced two other Ironman-distance races: Copenhagen (run is... not tough). And Norseman (run is...well...ridiculous).

I've always felt Madison's run course is tough, but doable (ran a 3:36 and 3:50 something in my two times there).

So interested in how you would compare difficulty level of Nooga and MOO runs. Thanks!

Folks here have already summed up the courses well, i'll just add that it probably doesn't matter as much where you line up this year at LVL - the congested and dangerous out/back section has been taken out. If that were still in I'd suggest getting there early to get through that section before the masses. Dare I say it here on ST, but if you need the full 17 hrs, LVL is one of those races that starts a bit late due to the time of the year so review the full schedule and cutoffs.

Also, while both are great, easy finish venues for spectators/family, Nooga has a more young kid friendly stuff 2 blocks from Transition (Aquarium, climbing gym, kids museum). In LVL you can walk to the swim start, Nooga you take a bus. LVL has more adult friendly activities - bourbon tastings and tours. :).

IMO, the Nooga run course is harder than MOO, but less crowd support along Amicola and River except where you are near the bridges.

I think they are nearly identical in terms of difficulty, but the Moo course can prove tougher because the bike course is much more demanding if that makes sense.

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Without knowing Chatt bike course, it makes sense. Thanks.

One MOO (my first IM), I rode within myself (a 5:30) and followed with about a dead-even 3:36ish. Second one, two years later, gunned (at least for me) a sub-5:15 and paid the price with a 3:50-something. And all during the second half of run, swearing it was my last IM.

I like the idea of courses with challenges that can still be relatively "fast". My swim is my swim...trained I'm somewhere between 1:03-1:07. No faster, no slower. So figure that will always put me where it puts me, whether swim is fast or slow.

Choo is fast fast fast for the bike.

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