Very little visibility in the water. I'm not saying dirty. Just like any other river swim.

I'll see you there...

Easily my favorite race! Swim was enjoyable. Current wasnt that strong my year. Bike was fast but great. Roads were super smooth! Run was overall great. A bit hilly but it was perfect. Only part I didnt like was the transition area. Thought I was running around everywhere.

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2020 Team Zoot MTN

Wow, what a community, THANKS! I feel much better about what is coming up. Below is a summary of what I have read for others to benefit from.


SUMMARY:
Downstream swim, rolling bike and a fair run. Very nice course all around with great fan support and plentiful stations. It's probably the easiest race from a logistical perspective (hotels/bars/restaurants/proximity).


SWIM:

• Get there super early
• Swimming upstream wasn't bad
• Swim closer to shore going upstream
• Swim closer to the middle going down, take highest advantage of the flow

BIKE:

• Bike is faster than you expect
• The roads are bumpy heading out of town
• Be ready to lose your water bottles, especially during the 1st 2 miles
• A short but fairly steep climb comes immediately after you make the left turn onto Andrews Ln
• Course is open to traffic, so you could get caught before trucks
• Get out there ASAP to not be held up by other cyclysts

RUN:

• The run is beautiful with just a few minor hills
• It is well supported
• A bit bumpy and can be hot
• There is one gut-punch hill you do twice to get from the river up to the bridge
• Running across the bridge a couple times is pretty freakin' cool
• Views are great too. Pace yourself on the first 2 miles...mostly uphill and in the sun.

Places to eat:

• Public House - great for dinner
• Urban Stack great for post race burgers and beers
• Lupi's Pizza
• Aretha Frankenstein's across the river for a funky post race breakfast experience.

Somebody official with IM is fielding questions on the Chatt 70.3 Facebook group. They answered a few of mine. You should check it out.

I'll be there, bobbling along at the back. It will be my first too; emergency gallbladder removal the week before derailed Maine last year, so I'm mostly excited to get to the start line!

Doh, you really need to sign up for Maine again. I would say I liked that one over Chatty, by a hair.

I'm pretty fortunate - I live 5 miles from transition and half a mile off the bike course.... I can freeze my butt off in the Atlantic for free!!

I was on the fence about aquabike this year and procrastinated too long so it sold out. I'll be there with a cowbell instead.

Oh yeah, I forgot about how cold the water was, I think 59 or 60 degrees. I thought my watch fell off my wrist because I couldn't feel my arms. :P

You live in a beautiful area, all of us Texans enjoyed ourselves (and the accents). I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was neat experience.

Famous last words on the run; few minor hills. Ha!

Ive been called "Some WTC Guy" and now Im "Someone official from IRONMAN"... Love it.

Chatt is a great host and I feel this is a really solid race on the NA circuit. These folks have summed it up pretty well. Id just add that hopefully you take some time to enjoy this town and all it has to offer. Its come a long way in recent years and Im fortunate to now call Chattanooga home. Have some fun next week and if I can help with anything, please let me know. Im pretty easy to find at the venue.

Brian- RD

My bad, lol, I now see the RD [race director?] next to your name. Thanks for all you do.

I don’t recall them being bad but it’s been a few years

I’m going by last years wc course which was augmented by the climbing on the bike

What are the chances it actually storms?! Not liking the forecast for next week. But I’m from Chicago area and know weather can change in a second but wasn’t sure if that was the case down there too:

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Twitter - Instagram

I live in Atlanta, about two hours from Chattanooga, and my take is that the weather forecast 8 days out in Atlanta is almost always wrong. So, if the forecast is calling for storms 8 days out, my theory is that it won't rain since they're almost always wrong this far out. Also, if it's anything like Atlanta, the forecast might change 30-40 times between now and race day. And if it does rain, there's a decent chance the storms won't hit until the afternoon. Last year, the night before the Chattanooga 70.3 the forecast was calling for a 100% chance of storms at the race start and no less then a 70% chance of thunderstorms through noon, and we didn't get a drop of rain the entire race though the storms did hit in the late afternoon.

That works for me. Same here but just wasn’t sure how it worked down there.

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Twitter - Instagram

I’m guessing it’ll be wrong. Probably 94 degrees with 70% humidity and no wind.

My wife lost consciousness at the finish line last year. An ambulance trip later and four hours in a peed in kit in the ER and we were free to go after she got some fluids and potassium. I got to see a hospital administer beer to an alcoholic patient, which was a first. Another drunken woman was removed by four cops in cuffs as she fought the whole way. I saw another side of Chattanooga that day. The hospital staff were exceptional though. Some of the coolest people I’ve met.