Here is the 2016 race review. The only thing different so far is the host hotel but it’s near the Hilton so more or less the same. Hopefully the logistics are much better.
Race check-in: Seems like this gets worse and worse at races and not better. We did athlete check-in two days early and we still waited about 75 minutes. It was just ridiculous.
Day before bike check-in: The Hilton was about 5 miles from the transition area. There were shuttles leaving the Hilton to take people and bikes down to transition. It was kind of a clusterf**k. They had to do the same thing at Whistler for Ironman Canada but that was run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. At Whistler it was bikes in a moving van or truck, and athletes on a bus. At Panama it was just buses. So you would cram people and their bikes on a typical passenger bus. Which meant you couldn't get a lot of people or bikes on each bus.
Transition: Is one very long single file line of bikes. Transition may have been 1/3 mile long. Not kidding. Racers would have to traverse the entire T area after the swim because the swim exit was on the back side of the transition area and the bike start was at the front side.
Swim: I didn't race but this is what I could gather and my brother can chime in for further info. It's a point to point swim basically where the Panama Canal spits out into the Pacific. It's current assisted so swim times are really fast. Somehow it was wetsuit legal for AG'ers but not for pros. So water temp was supposedly around 76 degrees. I don't believe that for one second but that was the official call. The swim started an hour late because they did not have enough water craft and safety personnel. More on logistics later.
Bike: Bike was advertised as a flat two loop course. Basically an out and back from the race site to the airport done twice. The day before the race the bike course changed to some convoluted three loop course (which was actually six loops) that was beyond confusing. Even the updated course map was wrong come race day. More on logistics later.
Run: Basically an out and back done twice along the Panama Canal and Panama Bay. Flat with very little shade. It's very hot and humid in Panama at all times of the year. The race was January 31st, it was sunny, and the high reached 92 with a heat index close to 100. The run looked to be brutal. There is just no way for any of us from the U.S. to be acclimated to those conditions at this time of year. You will suffer mightily on the run. That's a guarantee.
Logistics: I'm not sure if it's cultural, or the fact Ironman doesn't actually own the race, or because Panama is a poorer country or a combination of the above but the logistics of the race were half-assed at best. I will cite some examples:
- The shuttling of bikes and people to bike check-in was so ridiculous and inefficient.
- Ridiculous they had racers waiting at the swim start for an hour without explanation. It was hot. They didn't have water.
- The change in the bike course the day before the race. I get that things happen and courses change but this was the day before and the updated map and description wasn't actually what was raced on race day. So I think it changed again on race morning. There's no excuse changing the bike course twice in the last day.
- There was zero officiating on the bike course. It looked to be a complete shit show. People were drafting, riding four abreast, passing on the right, and all that. It looked crazy at times. Very fast course though.
- There wasn't enough aid stations on the run course, IMO. It was really hot and humid. Seems they were spaced more than a mile apart but I could be wrong.
- The volunteers for the most part didn't seem to be very knowledgeable about what was going on or where things were.
- There wasn't a lot of signage around. Spectators were wandering around areas that should/were closed off.
- Racers just tossed bottles, cups, Gu packets and stuff wherever. I don't think I saw designated trash areas like we see here.
- The finish line area looked like a third world slum in India. There was garbage everywhere. Kind of gross.
- Shuttles back to hotel was same cluster as bike check-in. Bikes and people on buses.
- There were supposed to be shuttle buses at the Hilton for spectators up to 11am. I got there around 9am and there were no buses. We were told the bus company said they were stopping at 9am despite the race schedule clearly stating 11am. Anecdote: Ironman and Hilton folks were working to get that straightened out but I just decided to take a taxi which nearly got me killed when my taxi driver tried to drop me off in the El Chorrillo district of Panama because either he didn't understand where I wanted to go (not the case as I told him exactly where I was going and I can speak some Spanish) or he was frustrated with the road closures and it was taking too long to get there. El Chorrillo is kind of like the Favelas in Rio. Not a place my white American ass needed to be. Taxi driver: "Aqui!" Me: "No aqui!" While my Spanish is decent I didn't know how to say "Are you f*cking nuts?" in Spanish. He spoke zero English so we had a stalemate in the car. The Panamanian military was patrolling that area (that's how nice it is) and I asked one of the soldiers to explain to the taxi driver I needed to be elsewhere. The soldier: "You don't want to be here in this area." Me: "I know I don't want to be here, tell my taxi driver that."
In summary, the area was pretty cool. It's very hot and humid. Travel easy. Hotels modern and fine. Food great. If you don't know any Spanish it could be a challenge at times. I was kind of surprised by the lack of English speakers -- it was no problem at hotels, hit and miss at restaurants, mostly a miss with taxi drivers. Race logistics and organization were poor. I'd give a lukewarm recommendation. I would highly recommend if they could straighten out the logistics. Until then, if you can put up with some hiccups you'll be fine.
Favorite Gear:
Dimond |
Cadex |
Desoto Sport |
Hoka One One