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Santa Cruz Love
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It's easy to rant about what's wrong w/ a race, and there's never a perfect event, so I just wanted to give a shout out for the Santa Cruz 70.3 I've raced all over the country and this race was run as well as any large even I'd ever done.

Pre Race - people have complained about parking, but I went to packet pickup at the most crowded possible time and managed to snag street parking about .5 miles away. Bike check in was was easy peezy.

Morning - stayed 1mile from the start so we walked to transition. We got there super early (5AM) and there was still a good deal of parking w/ in a mile of the start even when I was warming up around 5:30. The fog could've cancelled the swim, but the RD and the race organizers did a great job at least getting us into the water. It looked like a logistical nightmare trying to get that done and I tip my hat to them. The coral seeding was even attempted to be implemented, it was the racers screwing that up, not the organizers. I don't know how many times they announced that the athletes need to still seed themselves, yet as I was chilling in the first 20 people I was surrounded by athletes discussing their fear of swimming and how lucky they were to get in the front....

Bike- the course was great and safe for anyone near the front. I saw a lot of bike traffic on the way back so passing may have been tough, but again i think it was more due to all the slower athletes getting in the water before they should have and then crowding up the road. Roads were clearly marked and the police/volunteers at every turn did a great job of stopping traffic. Aid stations were long enough to get everything you could need without slowing down too much.

Run - same as the bike, a solidly hard, but not too difficult scenic run course. Great crowd support the first 2.5 miles and the last 2.5 with the middle. Also clearly marked and the aid stations were plenty long and well stocked.

I'll be back every year they put this on.
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Re: Santa Cruz Love [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Agree with all points above, they did a great job with that race. Could have had more porta johns both in transition and along the course, but that's minor.
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Re: Santa Cruz Love [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Absolutely agree - kudos to RD and staff for getting us the swim, and making all those logistics happen quickly. Every staffer I saw had that look of intensity and 'get it done' - very appreciated by the athletes. It could have been much much worse.

I think the issue with porta potties at transition is that they are not allowed to have them on the soccer field (my guess), and there is only so much room right outside the gate for them.

Continues to be a favorite race - well done!
Last edited by: Johnny_G: Sep 12, 17 17:28
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Re: Santa Cruz Love [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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It's my new favorite race. I plan on doing it every year. The entire weekend is easy. Parking isn't an issue. One transition makes life much more simple (I've done Vineman half/full since 2012). It's a 25 min drive from my gfs place. Love the race.
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