Duke was my only iron distance experience, so I do not know how it compares to other events. It was very well organized. The swim was short of the 2.4 by a bit. It was a two loop in a sheltered area. The ride and run have some hills, much like what we have in the middle of Tennessee. The remnants of a tropical storm moved through about halfway through the bike adding an interesting dimension to the ride.

The support was excellent throughout. The support areas were numerous and well stocked and the volunteers were extremely helpful and did everything to get you what you needed quickly and easily. Designated cheerleaders were positioned at the half mile mark in between all the stops on the runs. They sat in the rain, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, and provided encouragement for every participant.

Every race has a few negatives. Raleigh/Durham is a confusing area to navigate, and the swim and bike start 26 miles from the end. I had family with me so transportation was not a problem, and shuttle service was provided. Friends and family can watch the swim, the bike start, and the run easily. The only controllable negative, for me, was having the runners running with the traffic. As you ran into town, traffic was heavy and the roads were narrow. It did keep the adrenaline flow high.

I am signed up for Florida in 2003, and I also plan to go to Duke again. It was a good experience, very well run by Set-Up, inexpensive lodging, reasonable race fee, nice to have most of the fee going to cancer research, and, again, the volunteers were amazing. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Hey, the Duke full was an awesome race, very hilly bike and run, the swim was calm/protected lake, tricky logistics with finish line 26 miles away and the lake is out of town a good bit, otherwise it was handled very well, all racers were well informed of all situations, low turn out being the first year (320 ish), I like small races myself, all the support was awesome, well stocked aid stations, great cheerleaders, and best of all it is a tax deductable donation...can't beat that, be my big race of choice for years to come, mainly because Im a student and cant travel like most...set-upinc.com puts on good races all summer![u][/u][u]

Marty Gaal's race report: http://www.martygaal.com/. Click on "triathlon information" and look for an article titled "I am Ironman . . . again." Marty placed second at Duke and gives a farily decent evaluation of the course and set-up. Marty's a great guy with a good sense of humor.