This is a weird thread. You want to start an IM Boulder-bashing thread just for the fun of it?

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

The only complaint is that the city of Boulder doesn't allow aid stations to use sponges. That's it.

IM Boulder is a damn fine event top to bottom. There is no better WTC event in NA with the exception of Kona.

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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com

Way to many enthusiastic volunteers! Helping out athletes all over the course. Z

I went for a ride today on many of the roads that were used for the bike course, as l do often. The shoulders were littered with gel packs and food wrappers. Pissed me off. Who is going to clean that up? The wind?

I haven't heard any complaints. First class host & well run event

Very much a well run event...but for a city that boasts miles and miles of trails...they use a sidewalk to run the marathon. Which has become an
accepted practice I know...I'm just critical of it. Their 1/2 IM OTOH is run mostly on dirt, which is a order of magnitude more friendly than concrete.

Just my $.02...

This is like the airing of the grievances thread.

Pink font on

WTC does not supply enough oxygen for us sea level folks in Boulder!!!

Pink font off

Ok decent point on the run course.

For people who aren't from Boulder or don't otherwise know, the Boulder Creek Trail (where the marathon is put on) is not really a "sidewalk" as people understand it. It is a wide pedestrian/cycling path which covers most of Boulder. Since it goes under the roads it cuts down traffic interruptions wholly for the run portion. It is narrow at times and it is still open to the public (stoned tubers don't pay attention to the special events sign) but it is a very valid place to do a run. Hell, they do a huge cycling event in Boulder every September that utilizes the path.

In retrospect, replacing chicken broth at run aid stations with warm patchouli was a poor choice.

Pat, I was referring to the surface of the sidewalk, which is concrete...;)

Warm water went wet suit optional. I was one of the last nom wetsuits into the water. I was kicked and beat up worse then I've been at an IRONMAN swim because the wetsuit wave was so close to us. Felt like less than a minute behind.

Rolling starts are great. But the advantage is gone when you have a wetsuit wave. This is a criticism of WTC wetsuit rules, not necessarily of this race.

Other than that, top knotch event. Course was fair, and the bike was a much better course than last year.

where did you get the idea im bashing? relax. deep breaths my man. im just fascinated by how huge of an event this was and was curious to see if anyone had complaints

No complaints from me. Loved the fact that we were given a $25 voucher to eat at local spots instead of a crappy pasta dinner. Locals are awesome and friendliest folks I've ever met. If offered the chance, I would move there in a second.

As a spectator, I was really disappointed in the number of non-support casual cyclists on the run course. There were beach cruisers and hybrids constantly weaving through athletes. The path was narrow enough as it is given all of the passing in both directions on a multi-loop out-and-back course. I'm surprised that no one got hit/hurt (or maybe someone did).

Other than that, it was a phenomenal event.

I agree with this. Although it is an open public pathway that is a main artery of the transportation system in the city, it is one of the few routes that is well shaded, next to the cold creek, which gives WTC the ability to hold a continuous run route without shutting down the busy Boulder streets. Concrete stinks, there would be better routes for the athletes that may be slightly less shaded, but not better for the pains of having this race right in the city. My least favorite things about this race are:
1) The concrete, over-crowded bike paths. It just sucks & can be dangerous to those casual non-race involved people, as well as the athletes who are dodging each other.
2) The water quality is complete rubbish. No matter what the *tests* show, the "Rez" has a history of poor water quality & is shut down due to high levels of bacteria pretty much yearly for various periods of time (I see it in the newspaper & reported as such). Not to mention, all the heat in August festers it like a petri dish accelerated...
3) It is an August. It is so bloody hot, WTC needs another early summer/spring race & if Boulder could do a swap with say...the Boulder Sprint /70.3 (or just shoot for late May) race to have this earlier, it would be a much better race.

That said, it is a well run race given the circumstances dealt to Mr. Dave/RD & WTC with the city permits allowed. You only have so much to work with there.

I bought cheap sponges at Walgreens and stuck them in my T2 bag. Kept me cool during the run. Soaked them at every water stop.

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John Snyder @URNotAsCoolAsMe

I really liked those big orange Ironman-type plastic statues pointing directions on the swim and bike turns. Very helpful visual aid.

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John Snyder @URNotAsCoolAsMe

Loved the plastic direction guys too. Was this unique to IM Boulder?

3rd week of July is statistically the hottest week of the year in the Denver area, so they almost surgically pinpointed the hottest average weekend to hold the event. The timing obviously isn't terrible, but there are definitely nicer times of year to be in Boulder.

Your right. Having run that path many times, it can start beating you up after a while. The 70.3 course is nice in that regard but it would be a solid nightmare to do a full marathon out there.

I thought T2 was a mission to get through (and probably had the longest distance to run with a bike of most any other tri).

I also thought the entrance to T2 was a bit of a disaster in the making (not much could be done other than a wholly different set up), since there was a corner guard rail that jutted out into the T2 patch right after the dismount spot. I saw that the day prior and knew it would be a yard sell of collisions and tripping, and what did I see on race day...yep, the guy ahead of me on the ground with his bike caught up on the railing.

The bit of orange tape they wrapped it in did not remove the obstacle, and since it was unmovable, a race official should have been right there to wave and notify people to take their time and go around safely.

Otherwise, the event was pretty smooth (save for the swim start, which was thoroughly muffed up).

Jack

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

Xfire. I do personally. I will be riding the area extensively over the next few weeks. I do this as it is too hard to spot items from the vehicle. the only way to spot trash is to seek it out from the saddle.

I will do my best to jam it all in my jersey pockets.

DC

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DC
Dave Christen
IRONMAN Race Director and Operations Manager
dave.christen@ironman.com

Some good points raised here on this thread. I enjoy hearing these items as it helps me improve where we can.

A few comments to add from the RD - who has finally caught up on some sleep

The run course is concrete - this is documented well in this thread. I agree with everyone....i would rather run on dirt trails. I love the feedback on this one as I think the group puts it into good perspective. Ideally we would love to be on asphalt or trail but we all know why it is on the Boulder Creek Trail. Shaded course, low community impact, and what people do not mention here is so many safe places for your friends and family to spectate from and see you many times.

The sponges on the aid stations....i love this one. We are a zero waste event here in Boulder and sponges are incredibly hard to to dispose of and are not something you will see added to Boulder anytime soon. I hear people loud and clear on this one, but we wont be adding sponges, sorry.

Wetsuit swim and non-wetsuit swim - I was chatting with the other RD of Boulder races that morning and neither of us could remember a time in which the water temp was above the limit. Certainly an anomaly. I would be shocked if we saw that again. In retrospect, i should have built in more of a time gap between the wetsuit group and the non-wetsuit group. I will note that in the future, as it sounded like people were catching the westuit people very quickly and ended up swimming through a large group early on. I totally can see that and will adjust in the future.

All in all these are great comments and I would love to hear more. IRONMAN Boulder will always be the friendliest IRONMAN on the circuit and we want to get better each year so keep the comments and feedback coming.

DC

IRONMAN Boulder Race Director

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DC
Dave Christen
IRONMAN Race Director and Operations Manager
dave.christen@ironman.com