It was my first 70.3 distance, and 2nd tri ever, and I thought the race was well put together, and the volunteers were absolutely amazing.

The weather was horrible, but I never felt out of control either in the water or on the bike. The winds added over 15 min to by bike split compared to what I am capable of, but overall, it was a great time.

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Go Cyclones! In Hoc Signo Vinces. Twitter @Cise_Smash

agreed! AMAZING volunteers, crown support and overall race organization! But those conditions were awful! 2-3+ feet waves on the swim(the top pro's were 3-4 minutes slower than usual), wind that averaged around 25 mph w/ gust up to 30 mph on the bike(pretty much all head and cross wind; I didn't get any tailwind) and blistering heat(95+) on the run! Around 400 DNF's for the day!

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M.S. x 2; CSCS; ATC/LAT, Functional Movement Specialist, USA Track and Field Level 1

Lawrence set a record high temp yesterday at 94 degrees, wind gusts to 36mph.
http://www.wunderground.com/...amp;req_statename=NA

Those cross winds were no joke. My HED3s were all over the place.
I was incredibly thankful for ice at every single run aid station, and the misters and sprinklers set up on the camp grounds. What a day.

How do you know there were 400DNFs? That seems excessively high for 1 1600person start. my wife said she saw alot of people abandon the race on the swim. I did see a few appear to be quiting on the bike??

1600 person start-1,176 finishers(via ultramax)=425 that didn't finish! What makes this number even more surprising is the fact that b/c the run course didn't involve any roads being shut down there was no cut off time for the run

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M.S. x 2; CSCS; ATC/LAT, Functional Movement Specialist, USA Track and Field Level 1

"Brutal" is the best word to describe the day. 3 foot waves on the swim. 35 mph winds in your face on the toughest stretch of the bike. 90+ heat for the run. This was my first Half Iron and I can't imagine future 70.3 conditions being much worse. So I have that going for me . . .

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Rock Chalk!

+1, my first 70.3 as well! If we can survive that we can survive just about anything in the future!

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M.S. x 2; CSCS; ATC/LAT, Functional Movement Specialist, USA Track and Field Level 1

It was my first HIM as well. Didn't even get close to my optimistic goal, but I finished. I agree with all the sentiments about the race being well organized. Everything that the RD could control (basically everything except the weather) was all class IMO. Volunteers and spectators on the run course were AMAZING. Every hose spray I got hit with was greatly appreciated.

I agreethe volunteers were awsome. I think the WTC should have charity groups, amatuer sports teams, etc. volunteer and then contribute to there organization. That would be giving back to the community that is hosting the event and maybe be better received by the community. Look at all the carwashhes you see in the summer to raise $$. Those groups would volunteer I am sure. but then again when you have all the volunteers you need and they do an excellent job for free......

Part of what the Ironman Foundation does is exactly what you are talking about. Volunteer groups are able to apply for grants that are then used in the communities that WTC is a part of. Check out the volunteer page for each event to get more details.

I did it the first year it was run. GREAT race, but, yeah, the conditions are rough. I was stationed at Fort Riley, KS for four years. That Kansas summer heat/humidity/wind is brutal!

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

How in the world did we not have any tail wind? It was straight on head wind or blow you off the road cross winds. Darn it if we didn't work our rear ends off going south the whole way on E. 550th and then have to turn right and not be rewarded with a tail wind the entire way back. I almost went off the road once when I was leaning into the wind and suddenly it let up. I did Steelhead last year and didn't get to swim as it was cancelled so this was my first 70.3 too. Please tell me it gets easier.

+1 on the crowd and organization. First class.

I didn't see any bike accidents, either thank god. Hope that held true.

The only "accidents" I saw were on the first steep uphill around mile 35 where you turned into a tough headwind. I saw two people come to a complete stop while still trying to pedal and fall over sideways. What a helpless feeling that must be.

Anyone know who the RD was and how to email him a huge thank you? If the volunteers hadn't been so awesome there was no way I would of finished that race. I thanked every one of them during the run!

Ryan Robinson. Great RD. I believe it is ryan.robinson@ironman.com I was told by Lisac that they even had to turn away one of her friends who came to volunteer. People must like working with the guy. Every race I have done with him as RD has been first class all around.

2:30 bike last year at Steelhead. 2:46 this time at Kansas. Still, I cooked myself on the bike and had nothing left for the run. I did a 1:36 stand alone 1/2 in May and could only muddle through with a 2:10, yesterday. Hills+wind= brutal.

I took two cups of ice at each aid station. one down the front, the other down the back. It saved me. Who thinks to have that much ice. How did it not melt during the day?

I remember thinking during the swim that the swales were breaking on the back my head as I breathed on my right side, so on the way back I was going to have them break into my face. That was the case but it wasn't all that bad.

Thanks for his name and email. I emailed him last night to say thanks. I wonder if they have any stats on how much ice they went through on the run? :)

Done 17 HIM and 5 IM. 4 ocean swims. Never DNF'd except Buffalo Spring when I went blind from no-fog in my goggles (but that's another story). Sunday was as tough as it gets, and I've done all 5 at KS. I believe last year the lake had bigger whitecaps, but somehow not as hard to swim against. I believe it was windier at year 3, but Sunday it seemed to be in your face at every turn. Only the last 10 miles had any downwind to it, and most of us were cooked by then. For the run, the sun beat down like never before, like it was boring into your skin. I wanted to quit by the first buoy. Congrats for everyone that lowered their head, gritted their teeth and clawed their way to the finish line. I was feeling bad for being :25 down from my typical time, but not so much now.

Does it get "easier"? No, only the conditions change. If you're really putting your all into the race, they're all tough. If it were easy(er), they'd call it football, eh?

Ryan Robinson, Tom Ziebart, and crew ~ Thanks again for a great race. You guys are tops!

The photo is from the finish, but it looks like I just got out of the lake! I noticed during my swim this morning that my side neck muscles hurt like hell from the waves Sunday and trying to spot buoys and breath.

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Rock Chalk!

Congrats to everyone who raced on Sunday...it was a tough day out there but you all toughed it out and had fun while doing it!

Also...thanks for the kudos to our team...it is appreciated. Somebody mentioned that "people must enjoy working with the guy"...and I think that pretty much sums up the success that this event enjoys. The event was started as a Family event and remains that way...the success belongs to everyone involved. It's not work if you enjoy what you do and love the people your are with.

Over the years we have assembled a great team in Kansas...a team collected of other RD's that come into handle different parts of the event.

Swim - Zach Ukich and Kelsey Deery...and my two older brothers Jason and Shane.
Bike - Brian Myrick (RD of Muncie 70.3) - Bryan "Amazing" Mayes - Nick "The Prick" Gardner
Run - Andre Lapar (RD of San Juan 70.3 - Providence 70.3 - Miami 70.3)
Garbage - Tom Ziebart (Carnie Legend)
Site Supplies - Tommy "Kansas" Hutchinson
IronBand - Scott Kinner and Dave Schultz for everything they do. Watch out for their new soundtrack "Mammas don't let your Babies grow up to be Carnies"
Volunteer Director - Angie Zeller. (Most Valuable Carnie)
Registration - Camille Evans and Erin Erickson...and my Mom. A thankless job...these are the people that deal with all of the tri-baby tantrums;)
Announcer/Sound - Dave & Melinda Downey. Boulder County Communications. Best Event Sound company in the country.
Transition - Glenn "The Godfather" Bohannon. He sets the mood for the entire event!

Thanks again,
Ryan

I don't see any mention of "The Godfather", better edit that post ;-)

Just edited the post...

Never going to hear the end of it now... :)

Tough day for sure, but definitely got spoiled by the volunteers. I hated to grimace at them during the run, but I simply couldn't put a smile on my face.....(I promise I tried!)

You folks are simply awesome with the set-up, flow of the event, course (- wind would be awesome), everything involved. Post race tent is great and very much appreciated. I wanted to hug the folks handing out chocolate milk!

I'm about as anti-Jayhawk fan as you'll find, but I love this race and it's location and find you make it top-notch.

Ryan your team is amazing. There is a reason people (myself included) come back Every. Single. Year.
Thanks again - will be back for more next year.