Well organized and run. One of the second biggest triathlons in Michigan maybe behind or ahead of steelhead 70.3. Due to the space constraints the transition is about .25miles long. The oly bike is flat and the roads are good based Michigan standards. The run has a decent hill on the way back home. Lots of people with the 3 distances so you'll never be alone and good support from volunteers. Last year they also separated the transition areas for the distances so you don't have to wait an hour plus for your race to start. You should sign up...good talent shows up and a good early season gauge of your fitness.

I've done the race once. It's a great race with beautiful scenery and good support. Transition is a long section of road, which is a bit unusual, but it works out fine. I haven't done it since because I haven't been in shape that early in the season, but if I were I would definitely do it again.

I've done the Oly each year since the race started. The first year the T area sucked. The second year they moved it to the current location. Huge improvement. The third year they separated T area into the three distances. Thus they don't need to close the entire T area when the race starts (Oly goes off last).

The swim is perfect. Coming back in, the sun can be a factor. I think last year was the only year I could actually see swim exit without the sun frying my eyes.

The Oly/Sprint bike is a pancake. I'm seriously. Flat. I do recall seeing so many dead Raccoon's on the I started to wonder if they'd be extinct. Last year there was one car that was very upset about the race and the passenger was flipping the bird as they went up the road. Other than that I've never had an issue. Cops and USAT everywhere.

The run is also very very fast. Aid stations galore. There is one good size hill at the halfway point (unless you're sprint). Other than that, a great run, lot's of people cheering.

Below are links to my TrainingPeaks data from last year. It should show you the GPS data.

Here is a link to my swim
Here is a link to my bike (including elevation)
Here is a link to my run

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I think I've done it every year since it started. Others have described it pretty well. The only thing I would add is that the bike course does have quite a bit of chip-seal which I think makes it a bit slow.

The only thing I would add it is usually hot and humid early season race.

It will be my first Olympic. Many of my teammates do it every year and all have good things to say.

So did you race?

I was pretty happy with how things went off yesterday even with the crappy weather. Now if only I could learn how to swim and bike faster.

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Yes, it was very wet! Dan Stubleski took second this year after winning it last year. Lionel Sanders won the race in 2011. I also did the half and got my butt handed to me. I achieved a PR thinking I may have won my AG but a 57 yr. old did a 4:21 and beat me by more than 30 minutes. Where do these people come from? I better get back to making some more cake. Maybe a bit more frosting would have helped?

Weather sucked a little. When it rained, it rained HARD. The breaks in the weather seemed to work well for me. I went off at 8:20 (OLY). Okay swim of 27 minutes. Heart rate seemed to be very high. My bike was good at 1:02, but my run was awful. As soon as I started running in T2, my hamstrings seized up. My goal pace was 8:30ish. I was at 9:30 the first two miles and started to wonder if I need to stop before I really injured myself. I managed to finish the run in 57 minutes, so I did speed up a little. I immediately wondered if I pushed to hard on the bike, but I hit my power targets. I was very aware of my body during the bike. HR was steady, legs didn't feet overly taxed. I felt great on the bike. I've never had my hamstrings seize up like that.

I also had crappy transition times. In T1, my little pocho used to keep my stuff dry got caught up in my bike. Then in T2 I dropped my sunglasses at bike entrance, so I had to limp all the way back to bike entrance, then run all the way to the other side for run exit. We all know how long that transition area is. SUCKED. lol

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Did my first Oly yesterday. 2:49, not too bad by my standards.

Thought the T-area was not as good as last year. The isle for the HIM and oly distance was way too narrow. Saw lots of collisions with bikes going two different directions at once in the narrow isle. Last year they did something a little different, they had HIM all in one area, and sprint in a different area (someones yard) and oly in their own area as well. This year they had HIM and oly all in one LONG area, and sprint in someones yard.

Bad season for weather in Grand Rapids. Rain for the Fifth Third 25k, rain for the GR Tri this year as well as last. I dont mind racing in the rain but it makes transition setup more of a challenge.

Anyone else think their time was a few minutes off? My official time was 3 minutes slower than my Garmin. We started right on time at 1:15 on the race clock, but yesterday my live tracking showed start time as 1:12 race time. I suppose that would make everyone's time 3 minutes slower, so not a big deal.

I saw the hill on the run eat a lot of souls. I picked up a running buddy at the turnaround and we kept each other moving.

Great event though. I am excited for their other event, Michigan Titanium, in August.

Being the same age, and not in the same zip code, I ask myself this all the time. I see that his time would have won the M40-44, the M45-49 and the M50-54 as well. This guy has some fantastic results, but is not a frequent racer and doesn't have a long history (about a dozen tri's only going back to 2012). Frankly, given my own experience with aging after decades of competing, and the current competitive climate, I simply don't believe these results. Maybe someone will come on here and testify that this guy is clean, but whenever someone is that far ahead of other top age group cohort you have to wonder how you do that given all the top Age Groupers are working their tails off. If he is clean, then that sort of performance deserves front page attention.

I helped volunteer to setup transition and a teammate is in charge of it. I will pass along your concerns

This was my first Oly and it was awesome, despite the weather! My stretch goal was 2:45 and I ended up at 2:42. I panicked a bit early in the swim and had to use my sweet ninja skills on a couple of sharks/sticks but was able to settle down for a time of 29 minutes. I just started swimming last fall so I was definitely happy with that. Transition went well but I couldn't get my HR down on the bike like I wanted. I decided to bump my target heart rate by 10 bpm based on perceived exertion and was happy with the change. The first half felt too easy but I think that means I did a good job of pacing myself and leaving some gas in the tank for the run. My stretch goal here was 20 mph and I ended up with 20.3. Rain held off for most of the bike. I did learn a valuable lesson about trying new things on race days... It's definitely not the time to try a running dismount, in the rain! Running is generally my weakest event and I was able to run at an 8:46 pace, which is better than the stretch goal of 9 and better than my stand alone HM pace. In fact, I set a 5 minute PR vs a stand alone 10k I ran last year. Overall it was a fun race despite the weather. It's a nice course and I now have a goal for Tri deal Sol next month. I am encouraged by my progress considering how little I swim and bike and the fact that there is some low hanging fruit out there to help improve my time (aero helmet, better hydration system, better tired, etc), plus the newbie gains that come along with improving my engine.

I did! I was also happy with the weather for how bad it could have been. Rain held off on the bike and swim, but the run was wet. It's still been so humid I'm having trouble drying my shoes, helmet, etc. today haha. Transition area was absolutely horrible.. My biggest complaint. With no room to pass, I got stuck behind a guy walking his bike out of T1 while I wanted to run it.. And with people flowing in the other way from the sprint into T2 there was just no way to pass. Very frustrating, but other than that it was a good day. Decent swim (lots of seaweed), decent bike, and not my worst run of all time. And Jet's pizza was a nice treat after the race!

Yea as the rest said the weather was challenging, rainy run which felt good. Always like going up that big hill than going down on the run. It's a fun event and great gauge of fitness.

This was my first oly (second triathlon). I thought it was great, the volunteers were awesome, especially given the weather. I was happy with my result, 3rd for my age group. I learned how important sighting in the swim is though, my GPS said I ended up going off course so much that I swam 1.55 miles!

I did the half Sunday and it was my first time doing that race. I used to live in the area and have ridden/run may of the roads. It was nice being back, reminiscing about desperately trying to hold onto the back of some group ride...

Once I accepted the fact that I was going to get wet (4:30 that morning), it wasn't so bad. I did the TTT this year and that was three days of rain!

The race was organized very well. They did a great job. I managed a 4:52 and 5th in my old dude age group.

I passed one guy on the bike who had a full 3 inches of butt crack showing. That was a first!

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Talking with Ann, I know one neighbor wouldn't allow them to use their yard again. I'm thinking that led to transition this year. Also, I don't think T area could be any wider with the ran. There were some deep running water on the side of the road.

My official times are different as well. They have my bike time one minute slower. I started and stopped my Garmin at the timing mat so there is no way they can be that far off.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I raced on Sunday as well! The weather was very cooperative for us in the Olympic race, with the rain holding off until the run. I was happy with the course except the run was deceivingly difficult! The false flat heading out of T2 made it hard to find a rhythm for the first mile. At mile 5 there was a pothole on the road that I didn't see... I accidently stepped in it and rolled my ankle which caused my hamstring to cramp up! Luckily it loosened up and let me run home for the win!

I really like that the race has prize purses for all the categories; a nice $300 check helped justify my questionable decision to race on achy plantar fascia :)

See you guys next year!

Congrats on the win! As I was going thru T2 I heard them announce that the Oly winner was coming in and remember thinking crap, I've got a 10k left to go.

I thought the race was great. My first Oly in 5 years (over an hour faster this time) and first tri since the inaugural GRTri where I did a sprint. Swim course was well marked and since I'm a slow swimmer I spent plenty of time seeing buoys. But I was only about 4 minutes off my goal pace so I'll take that. Bike was good other than the wet roads which I'm sure cost me many watts and seconds. Somehow I overcame all that and was within seconds of my goal pace. I loved the run, just one hill of any significance and that was long after my legs were used to running again after being on the bike. I ran steady and with the exception of the last mile all my splits were within 5 seconds of each other. Overall I thought it was a great race and I was within 4 minutes of my goal so I'll take it.

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Great race indeed! Pre race setup was annoying with the rains but was quite welcomed during the race itself.

It was my first half iron distance and boy did that hill on the run humble me! Took a big chance on the bike and paid dearly for it the final 25miles of the race. Learning curve for sure!

Very happy and grateful for all the volunteers and fans helping out and cheering in the miserable weather. Especially the final 200m when everyone was cheering me on to finish off the race. Will be coming back for sure!!

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Alex Arman

Strava

Did you notice about 1mph slower once you hit the Ionia county roads? I was holding my watts pretty constant and once I hit those rougher roads I could see my speed drop.

Chip seal crap. Not only does it require more watts but the vibration can cause chafing. At least the chip seal is semi smooth but still rough.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I didn't notice the drop going onto those roads but I noticed how much nicer it was coming off of them. I thought they did a pretty good job at posting about upcoming rough roads. I also tried to ride on the white line when I could because it felt noticeably smoother.

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Riding on the paint is smoother but when wet can be very slippery.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.