I think it's a great race!! Great sites on the run. Fairly spectator friendly. Fast swim times. My only complaint is the start. You have to rack your bike by something like 6:30 and your wave might start 2-3 hours later.

Suggestion, stay somewhere close to the start. That way you can rack your bike and go back to the hotel to wait. Oh and another thing. Make sure you count the racks to your bike. Lots of bikes and don't be surprised if you see folks running back and forth looking for their bike because they forgot to count racks!! Enjoy. I hope to be on the start line this year with ya.

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Dave Bunce
dave@ismseat.com
512-968-1888
http://www.ismseat.com

My recommendation is to leave your kids at home – and do the Chicago iron stomach.

Step one. Sign up for the sprint.

Step two. Saturday evening go to bed around 6 P.M. Wake up around midnight and head for the bars with 5 A.M. last call. Go classic old school/tourist bars on Division/Rush. Mothers, Alumni club or Hotsie Totsie. Drink until they toss you out. The sun will just be coming up. Careful with the dancing – you don’t want to burn out your legs.

Step three. Carbo load. You have a good buzz going, time for some food. Best bet is your hotel breakfast buffet.

Step four. Grab your stuff and head to the check in. If you timed it right, you should be getting there just as it closes.

Step five. Chill until you wave starts. Puke if you must.

Step six. The swim. The first five minutes will feel oddly refreshing - then it’s pure hell.

Step seven. The bike. You should be sober enough to ride – but do a sobriety check just in case.

Step eight. Running 3.1 miles never seemed so long.

Step nine. Celebrate! Kona will now seem like a piece of cake!

I did it in '03, and would love to go back. Yes, it's crowded; no, it's not unmanageable. I arrived early race morning and street-parked one block north of the finish, a couple of blocks west of the swim start. I was one of the first 50 in the line to get into transition, and snagged an end spot on the rack closest to the bike in/out. After I set up, I went back to the car and tried to nap until my wave (#29) started. All of this worked very well.

I wish I had brought my wife with me for the swim, because there is no better spot for a spectator - it's just a matter of strolling along the seawall, keeping about 15 feet from the swimmers the whole way. The bike is spectacular, especially coming back into the city core on each of the two loops of the oly; Chicago has a fabulous slyline. The ride is a bit hairy, though, with zillions of cars pretty damn close to the cyclists. The run is nice enough, nothing too too special but it covers some nice ground. The only down side was the expo, or at least the cost of parking for it. It is HUGE, however, although in '03, Accenture's first year with the race, there was not any race merchandise available. Somebody missed a humungous opportunity to make a small fortune selling race-related stuff to the teeming hordes!

I'd do it this year, but it coincides with IMCanada. Next year, maybe!

I did it for the first time last year, and only because one of my best friends has a yearly tradition of doing it. So, I packed up my bike and tri-goods and flew to Chicago.

Was it worth it? Yeah, I guess. The crowds are huge, getting up that early to get in to transition SUCKS and nobody knows you. Also, swimmers bumping in to you going the wrong way and bikers not yielding on the correct side of the street is really annoying.

However, I am glad I did it. Riding down Lakeshore Drive was awesome. Being in Chicago was awesome.

Would I do it again? Nope. I don't need to. 10,000 people is more than enough for me. I will stick to the local 500 person races.

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Football is a mistake. It combines the two worst elements of American life. Violence and committee meetings.
George F. Will
US editor, commentator, & columnist (1941 - )