Chesapeake Man...the water is border line but should be wetsuit legal by mid Sept...the bike course is flat - always a chance for winds. But typically winds are lighter in the fall than spring/summer. The winds can vary from calm to 11mph...average 5 mph in Sept. Normal temps would be low of 60, high of 73ish.

I did C-man and Eagleman on the course and it is flat...no shade...it rained like crazy the year i did C-man and several of the roads flooded....not the most exciting course but closer to home so why not!

The swim is a crap shoot---easy some years---currents and choppy other years---and sea nettles or something that sting but more of a nuisance then a real issue...

Im in for this years IM Maryland and plan on signing up for 2015 also....just hoping they keep the Kona Legacy program alive as Im getting there....


BTW--the Athlete guide is now posted....

Hello Im from the UK and one of my athletes is racing here where is the best place to fly into as i was looking at washington then driving 2h to get there any help will be welcome thanks mark

BWI (Baltimore Washington International) or Ronald Reagan Airport in DC are about the same distance away.

I did Chesapeakeman (CM) last year and Eagleman this year. Quick summary, different swim course, similar bike course, totally different run course.

• The Chesapeakeman swim course was moved for IM MD to match the course used in Eagleman. The water is shallow (you can walk the entire way back in if you need to), as others have mentioned the currents kick up a bit from time to time.
• The bike is flat, but the wind is significant (both times I've raced there). My guess is that it was a sustained 10-12 mph, gusting higher. For Eagleman and CM it was a headwind on the way out, tailwind on the way back but it looks like IM MD will be following the loop in a clockwise direction (opposite Eagleman) so reverse that.
• The run is a totally different course than CM, similar to Eagleman. It's pancake flat with very little shade but you can catch a nice breeze off the water if it's blowing the right way.

Enjoy! If you see a "heavier" gentleman on a black and white Felt wave as you go by!

I did it in 2010 when it was above 90 and windy in the morning. We had a good tide/current kick in during the swim and lack of shade on run course took it's toll with the high temps.

Thanks for the guide update...just read it and I don't see it mentioning any detailed swim start information. The website talks about a rolling start and the official start time based on the event schedule is 6:50am but nothing in the actual guide itself. Strange...also it mentions that pre-swim is under the athlete's discretion, does that mean we can swim on Friday possibly before bike check-in?

Another interesting tidbit is if you sign up for 2015, the date is Oct. 3rd so I guess they are making it later in the season next year for some reason.

Where did you see this? URL?

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Your athlete has three choices. The best is probably Washington Dulles (IAD). It's a 2-hour drive from IMMD but has direct flights from London. Virgin Atlantic for instance flies there. (Definitely my choice when I fly to London.) Your second choice is Baltimore-Washington (BWI). It's the closest at about 1.5 hours away and is also an international airport. But I don't think they have direct flights to London but I could be wrong (and I of course am only flying from London). The third choice is Washington National aka Washington Reagan (DCA). It's about a 2-hour drive as well but is not an international airport. So your athlete would need to get to DCA from some other international airport such as JFK in New York City to process customs. I'd focus on IAD or BWI.

It's on page 22 of the athlete's guide.

It's September in Maryland, where over the past few years it's much more likely to be on the warm end than on the cool end. Last year was in the 80s by midday.

• Swim: been doing races out there for a decade, and last year was the first time I'd seen the Choptank River really live up to its name. Swims are swims. You can either go one way or the other. It was fairly choppy, pretty warm (wetsuit legal, though), very salty and that time of year there's always a good chance of stinging sea nettles.
• Bike: think of the most boring ride you could possibly do. Then double it. The only elevation changes are the couple of tiny bridges you go over. Last year was pretty windy. I just raced out there this weekend and even when it's not terribly windy, it feels windy.
• Run: last year's run course was a triple out-and-back on this unshaded road. Each time you came back you did a lap around the track. I've heard they changed it now so that transition is all within Great Marsh Park (like Eagleman) and the run is going to be a couple of out-and-back, out-and-back through the neighborhood and then into "downtown" Cambridge. This will make it much better for spectators and probably a little more palatable because at least you can't see where you're going for a few miles.

When it was Chesapeakeman, maybe 150 people did the iron distance. I've heard there are something like 1700 signed up right now for this year. Put that IM on it, lipstick on a pig. Good luck though, hope you enjoy it! Be sure to check out the town of Easton, which is pretty nice and just about 15 minutes from Cambridge. October 3rd date for the future is probably to mitigate the chances of it being in the 80s and help get the water temp down a little.

Thanks :)

Interesting. They are moving both Louisville and Md to a later date. I wonder if there is a new IM that's about to come on board for the late August/early Sept time frame.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

For the record, the first IM in Maryland was called: "Continental United States Ultra Triathlon." The date was October, 1991.

I prefer that name.

I agree. :)

I finished 2nd in the 20-24 AG in that race.

(I also finished last in the 20-24 AG). Such a lonely run.

The run was lonely. My bike was lonely too.

Remember how half of the competitors were lost in the swim because of the oyster shells?

I'm really proud of doing that race.

I think there were 31 finishers or so. I remember how cold the air was (55 degrees in the morning and I think the water was the same). I remember a post-race massage was promised. I asked Fletcher Hanks (long time RD and good guy) about the massage and he called over his wife (she was certainly in her 60s if not older). I politely declined.

I still have the article on this race. The article says the air was high 40s to low 50s and the water temp was 55 to 60 degrees.

Fletcher Hanks was a true pioneer of our sport, and as you know, he started the Bay Swim.

That's a funny story about his wife and the massage.

I can still remember Fletcher and Vigo waiting for me in the dark at the finish line. :)

Is it safe to assume this won't sell out at this point? Participant list shows about 1400-1500 from a month ago, and someone here said they heard 1700 more recently.

Seems like this is a pretty good turnout compared to what was expected.

Haven't signed up yet for the only reason of not locking it in case I got injured. Since it's not sold out, figured might as well wait as long as possible.
Just dont want it to surprisingly sell out on me or have them close registration.

I think in the past I remember Louisville registration was closed and a 'sell-out' announced but not until much closer.

Any thoughts on how safe it is to wait another couple weeks before i officially sign up?

I'm racing Louisville this weekend and only signed up two weeks ago. I realize it's a different entity, but I signed up for Chesapeakeman last year the day before the race. (note: online registration had closed a week prior and I contacted them, they let me sign up)

I'm sure there's an actual reason why you would close a race before it's full, but I don't see why you can't leave it open until the very end. It looks like you can still register for Louisville, by the way. So I'm sure for Maryland you're fine to wait until the week of if you feel like it.

Just don't contact them to ask how many are registered or when they expect it to sell out. They'll just send back a message like "Oh man it's really really super duper close and we expect it to sell out any second you better register now now now"

Louisville closed for registration last night, so you can't wait til the absolute last second to register for Maryland. Oh and here's exactly what WTC will say if you ask about participants or selling out (this is form Louisville):

"Thank you for reaching out. Due to a recent policy change, we are unable to share registration numbers. However, in previous years (2012), this race has been known to sell out. In order to guarantee a slot, I recommend registering as soon as possible. Online registration will be closing next Monday at 11:59pm EST. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions and have a great day!"

I stalled on IMLou and decided registering at the last minute to race in 96 degree heat was stupid. I could do Maryland if I still want to get my first Ironman in this year, but it's a long way from Illinois.

FWIW for anyone considering this race - my parents live in Cambridge, on the water, and go out in their boat regularly. My dad happened to mention that the jellyfish/sea nettle population seemed to be way down this year. Good news for anyone considering the race.

thank you so much for this info its for me the flight as my athlete is coming from Canada so virgin fly i will have a look thank you great help