Excited to be back for the full this year. The people are wonderful and the island is amazing. Enjoy!

I'm at Palace, right across from Chedraui (or Cheddar as my English only son would say) and Palace has a live band going to cheer people on. It is REALLY cool.

And while the locals may not think there was a current out there this morning, when it takes me 15 minutes + longer to do a half swim (my watch read 2.1Km instead of 1.9) either there was a current or the Salt water is thicker slowing me down :(. But, I beat the swim cutoff (not everyone was so lucky) so my cyclist (one of my sons) is out there now. The other son is gearing up for the run, he'll be the one in the full racing wheelchair and with this weather should smoke the course. Anyway, need to help him to T2 soon. It is a great time!

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

i saw him and yelled "GO DON'S SON" twice but i don't think her heard. I'll keep my trap shut about the swim. :) My feet are meat but we stopped and had salbutes again and now my belly is very happy. hope you guys had a great race!

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

i disagree. cozumel full was the worst run 140.6 i have ever been to (been to 4 diff venues, returning to AC next year and signed up for MD).

john

Really, I've few more then that and would have to disagree with your disagreement. Maybe you just don't inbrace the Mexican life....its a little more go with the flow.

the thread is giving props to the cozumel races. the races themselves were poorly run. cozumel itself was awesome. i loved my time there, met folks, made friends that i am still in contact with and enjoyed the island for 2 weeks.

if you're talking about that, then yes, it was great.

if you're talking about race organization etc. then no. it was significantly sub par compared to IMWI, IMLP, CAC and any of the WTC 70.3's I've done and even some local 70.3's.

perhaps we have different standards.

john

Hmmmm, interesting. I've done the Calgary 70.3 a couple of times and it is IM branded. And while I haven't done it, I've been a volunteer at a few IM Canada's in Penticton.

Now, having done the swim segment of the race here in Cozumel (and having volunteered last year), I don't see any real issues with the race. I like the signage at the swim where in a gigantic sign they show you your wave start. I liked the individual name plates for the bikes in T1 and thought that was generally well run. I didn't like using a port-potty in the dark but I didn't think to bring a light, my fault. There were 7 water / gatoraid stops on the bike, that was lots, even for the schorcher it was today. T2 is in a great place, much cooler in the parkade than outside. Yes, a bit of confusion with the team hand offs, especially when one of your team members is in a racing chair. But that was sorted pretty quickly. Finish line was fine, again took a bit of convincing to have us there to help our Challenged Athlete across the line (and there is a really vicious ramp there). Medical tent was great (where he had to be taken). Finish area was crowded but no problems getting food, water, pepsi (OK, I would have really preferred Coke). There is a party tonight that we'll go to.

Yes, there are some cultural differences with the race being here. But I didn't find that an issue. IMC ran out of water on a hot day one year, in my mind that was a catastrophic failure. None of those issues here and apparently on the bike course, they handed out some kind of really great Brownie as solid food along with bananas and other stuff. The swim was tough for me to complete within the cutoff and based upon a few folks that I passed, there would have been some DNFs. I think they should allow a bit more time for the swim and overall in cases where there is current. I saw more than one diver holding onto the Buoy rope to stay in place.

Time for some pool time.

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

i did the full last dec.

ran out of water/gatorade at some of the stations on the bike
volunteers left their stations when it started raining (around 8:30 into race)
none of the volunteers knew anything, they didn't know who was in charge, who to send questions they didn't know the answer to. there was not "person" to find if you couldn't figure something out.
they told folks to drop things off in the wrong place etc, it was a mess.

john

That sucks. Sorry they screwed up.

I can agree on confusing and contradicting information. The race guide said to leave your helmet in T1 while the mandatory meeting said no, wear it in on race morning. It would have been a lot more confusing had I not been here last year.

They hadn't thought through the Relay Teams super well. Everyone in the Relay potentially needed a bus ride back but the last bus left before I was ready to leave, I didn't know there was a cutoff. Don't know if others were in that boat or not. Took a taxi but I had figured I may have to so had some money.

You should try dealing with them when there is a Challenged Athlete. BUT, that is true of every Triathlon where we've been. In this case it was a bit more complex because we don't speak Spanish and some of the folks you need to talk to don't speak English. We were always able to resolve things but sometimes it took a bit more time.

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

can't use the language barrier excuse. my spanish is conversational and my friend who was with me is fully fluent. :-D

john

I raced the full last year, as well. I thought they put on a great race and enjoyed every second. Cozumel was perfect for the family, too.

How is the road surfice in Cozumel?

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2016 Schedule:
IM South Africa - Challenge Roth - IM 70.3 Zell am See - Marathon Valencia

The road surface was pretty good; I notice a couple spots were recently repaved. On a side note, I did notice the road reflectors were a little steeper than what we have at home. I hit a road reflector and it flatted my front tire (my fault... I shouldn't have hit it). Still, keep an eye out for them.

Other than that, enjoy the views.

I did Cozumel the first year and it was a bit rough especially compared with the established IMs I've done(FL, LP, AZ, and CdA). Nutrition was different than advertised or non-existent at many bike and run aid stations, which I've experienced in a branded race.

I thought the spectators made me feel a bit more like a rockstar and I thought the swim was fantastic even though it was short and the start was chaotic.

Overall I would give it negatives for aid stations, double transitions, and general logistics, however I would give it positives for scenery, swim, and crowd.

My 2nd favorite IM behind LP with CdA in 3rd and FL/AZ tied for 4th.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.