St. Croix.

Yes, it is part of the United States.

Good one, I figuired Kona, or Miami would get top ranking.

Well...Honu is hot that is for sure but the course is a sweetheart compared the St. Croix. I think it is one of the toughest 70.3 races around.

Eagleman can get ugly

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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True about Eagleman, but I'm thinking something mid summer, midwest could be the worst.

Racine can get pretty brutal on its day....2011 & 2012 were brutal. Low - mid 90's with very high humidity.

Last year however was damn near perfect...mid-70's, low humidity and wind.

Just depends.....

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Muncie

Buffalo Springs can be brutal as well with the heat index 110F+ sometimes, windy, and hilly.

Florida 70.3 - Haines City.

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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!

Kansas was brutal the 5 years I did it.

Windy as fuck
Hot as fuck
Humid as fuck

Man I'm gonna miss that course.

Not 70.3 brand, but Patriots Half has the potential to be very ugly. Run takes place in/around historic Jamestown, which is basically a swamp. I intentionally DNFed at mile 1 of the run, but I can't fathom having to run 12 mi more in that heat and humidity.

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IG: idking90

I did all 7 Kansas, 4 Buffalo Springs, and 3 Branson, as well as several singles and 5 St. Croix. St. Croix wins in all categories. Can't wait to go back in 7 weeks and have a go....

I haven't done many listed thus far, but Buffalo Springs can be a beast. Not humid, but they've had 108+ temps a few times, windy as hell, some steep climbs on the bike and run (the swim is flat), and there is no shade at all.

smooooookin

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"It's Simple, if it jiggles, it's fat" Shwarzenegger

St. Croix and possibly Wildflower even though it isn't a Ironman branded event.

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I cant believe there aren't more votes for Buffalo Springs. That race is nasty compared to races like Kansas.

A close friend of mine went 4:23 in Kansas and 4:58 at Buffalo springs. Similar watts, similar effort.

Mid April, you got to be kidding me! Then again I'm only 70 miles from there so it' snot a biggie for me. Miami end Oct has a much higher percentage of being hot and humid.

OP, pick any race in the SE/MW during the summer/early fall months and then pick based on course difficulty.

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St Croix for CONSISTENTLY high heat index as well as one of the toughest courses. Others may have high heat in a given year, but St Croix dishes out misery year after year.

Ok with non IM branded events, should have just said Half Iron distance. Looks like St. Croix is the clear winner for brutality. Contiguous lower 48 states, Buffalo Springs seems to have the upper hand on pain and torture. Shall we now move along to Olympic Distance? I know in the old days (pre 2000) Memphis in May had a badass reputation and the old Gold Coast races (which included a Half).

Yep. Thought it was a fluke and went back 2 years later. That one sucked even worse. If the swim water temperature is 86 degrees at 7 am you know life is going to suck later.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Okay so Haines City is brutal in the past but they've changed the date so I think now it's a little better. I hope so because I'm actually racing it this year.

We kind of specialize in brutal hot miserable events down here in the tropics in the summer. The weather normally stinks for Miami 70.3 but it's normally not above mid-80s it just comes with rain and wind for that race. Seriously that race has a bad track record with weather.

Last year's sufferfest here was a new local race called MiamiMan speedway. They are doing it again but I would guess that very few folks are repeating it because it was miserable. May in Miami. Blech. Anyone who can get out of town will. It's so hot in Miami already in May that the ocean is like soup and this was in a lake. Luckily a deep lake. Heat index of a million degrees. Okay I exagerate but it was super hot, humid, buggy and windy. Just awful. I didn't race it because... well I knew it would be hot as hades. I went to watch my friends race (who had either gotten free entries or couldn't come race in Raleigh in June). You actually ran at the end on the speedway course. The Homestead speedway which is famous for its banked turns also acts as a funnel for the sun and it is just insanely hot to stand on the ground there with all the black asphalt radiating heat around you.

My first half was called Motivation Man in palm beach. It was 92 degrees on the run. That was just ridiculous. That race doesn't exist anymore.

That being said. I have heard that the Kona 70.3 in the lava fields is an insanely hot run. But at least then when you finish you're in Hawaii and not Homestead (I like Homestead ... but it's just not Hawaii).

Eagleman, I've done it several times with temps in the 100's and NO wind.

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Brian
“Eat and Drink, spin the legs and you’re going to effin push (today).” A Howe