Did the Rev3 Mt. Pocono half yesterday and thought I'd post about the experience. It was an awesome race on an incredibly challenging course. The race organization was terrific, super friendly and efficient. It seemed to me they'd be extremely welcoming to newer racers which may be what the sport needs. Very nice family friendly approach to the race and I love the way they do the finishing chute inviting family/friends/pets to run down the last 100m or so with you.
The swim in Lake Harmony was straightforward. Only minor gripe was there was a short segment on the back end of the half course where it got shallow enough that my hand was hitting the bottom. That didn't last long and otherwise it was an easy swim.
Bike course was gorgeous rolling hills with some steep climbs. The first half or so of the course (used for the olympic folks) was really nice and seemed very fast. Riding onto Pocono speedway was super cool and fun. I think it was shortly after the olympic turned off that there was a long sustained descent where I hit mid-40s mph. Very fun but on a TT bike qualifies as an extreme sport. From there it got ugly with a ton of climbing. The last 20 miles were essentially all net uphill. Overall about 3000 feet of climbing on the bike course, the vast majority of which was in the last 20 miles.
Run course was four loops and you run past the start/finish twice per loop so it was awesome for spectating. However, it was really, really hard. About 1000 feet of climbing total for the half run. Each lap started with a short but very steep climb and right towards the end of each lap was a sustained long climb.
Weather was nearly perfect. Some decently heavy winds on the bike but no sustained brutal headwind. A lot of crosswind on deep wheels, but otherwise not horrible. Much of the run was nicely shaded. The day got into the low 80s, I think, but was never brutally hot. Nice thing about the loop course on the run is that there were a lot of aid stations and the volunteers where about as gung ho as I have ever seen. Super enthusiastic and wanting to make sure to get you what you wanted.
I think they said there were about 800 total competitors registered across the different races, 239 finishers in the half and 334 in the oly per results tracker. Overall I really enjoyed it and appreciate their putting on a great race.
The swim in Lake Harmony was straightforward. Only minor gripe was there was a short segment on the back end of the half course where it got shallow enough that my hand was hitting the bottom. That didn't last long and otherwise it was an easy swim.
Bike course was gorgeous rolling hills with some steep climbs. The first half or so of the course (used for the olympic folks) was really nice and seemed very fast. Riding onto Pocono speedway was super cool and fun. I think it was shortly after the olympic turned off that there was a long sustained descent where I hit mid-40s mph. Very fun but on a TT bike qualifies as an extreme sport. From there it got ugly with a ton of climbing. The last 20 miles were essentially all net uphill. Overall about 3000 feet of climbing on the bike course, the vast majority of which was in the last 20 miles.
Run course was four loops and you run past the start/finish twice per loop so it was awesome for spectating. However, it was really, really hard. About 1000 feet of climbing total for the half run. Each lap started with a short but very steep climb and right towards the end of each lap was a sustained long climb.
Weather was nearly perfect. Some decently heavy winds on the bike but no sustained brutal headwind. A lot of crosswind on deep wheels, but otherwise not horrible. Much of the run was nicely shaded. The day got into the low 80s, I think, but was never brutally hot. Nice thing about the loop course on the run is that there were a lot of aid stations and the volunteers where about as gung ho as I have ever seen. Super enthusiastic and wanting to make sure to get you what you wanted.
I think they said there were about 800 total competitors registered across the different races, 239 finishers in the half and 334 in the oly per results tracker. Overall I really enjoyed it and appreciate their putting on a great race.