I enjoyed the race. It wasn't terribly scenic.

John,

ive raced FIRM a few times. the swim is a point to point ocean swim, you walk down the beach before the start and swim back. thats actually pretty neat....its a bit dependent on the current, this past years times were about 4 minutes slower than the previous years. the bike is rolling and a fair portion is done on the local highway but at that time of the morning its not too bad. this past year the wind was a bit of a factor. the run this year was and out and back with a few loops through local neighboorhoods. It wasnt hilly at all but like the bike was rolling. It depends on whether they keep the course the same, in previous years there was a good sized hill at the halfway, which has been taken out. the run finished with the last half mile on the deep sand along the beach which is a bit rough for a finish.

Any further questions, feel free to keep asking.

Ive never done diamonman so i cant compare the two.

Best of luck

Marty

John-
I did the diamondman last year and thought it was a great race. It's pretty low key, as far as the number of participants (about 250?).
The swim is in a lake. There is a short run to T1 through the woods, so bring an old pairs of sneakers if you don't want to have your feet chewed up. The bike is mostly flat. There is one pretty big hill over a bridge that is about 1/2 mile in length, and since it's an out and back course, you do it twice. Other than that, the bike course is flat. There is some scenery on the bike near the turnaround. The run is two different out and backs on a trail. Hills were not a problem here. Aid stations were pretty good.
I definitely recommend this race, although I can't compare it to the Firmman, as I haven't done that race.

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___________________________
And the road gets rocky along the way
But if it gets too smooth, it's time to call it a day
-Kinks