I'm signed up, but can't tell you much about the event other than what's on the website. One thing I can say is that I did CIM in December, first time to Sacramento, and I'm not super stoked to go back. Is a pretty crappy town, at least the parts I was in. Would much rather go to Tempe as a destination.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

^^ same questions.

I've done IMAZ. This year choosing between Sacramento and Chattanooga.

I've done IMAZ 3x and took a DNF at IMCA this past year. Bike crash in rain at mile 100. Was there for the bomb cyclone in 2021.

IMCA- fast river swim, at least 20' assist the past couple years, low to mid 60s. bike is 2 loops, super flat and fast. open to traffic but very few cars most of the day, except for coming in and out of town there were a couple trucks but cops were there to help with traffic. they had really strong winds in 2022 and this past year was a ton of rain. ideally, Oct should be pretty stable weather but they've been unlucky the past few years. I didn't do the run but bike road part of course. It's mostly flat with a few little rises. run along the river with lots of out an backs. crowd support is pretty good, most congregate around the bridge so they can see athletes multiple times.

IMAZ- very murky swim in tempe town lake. I'ver never thought it's all that bad but lots of people complain about water quality. It can be cold, around 60 degrees. Bike is 3 loops and can get a bit crowded on 2nd and 3rd. It's got a little rise on the out, can feel worse with headwinds that pick up. Fast heading back into town. there are some road quality issues in town with pot holes. car traffic can be an issue. they keep roads open separated by cones. I saw a few incidents including a drunk driver who took out 2 cylcists by trying to pull across cones. I found the run to be one of my favorites. lots of crowd support most of the way. a few out and backs next to river. Lots of local tri teams with ez ups and music.

let me know if you have any other logistical questions. Happy to help.

thanks !!!

I did IMCA last fall. It was my first Ironman. In general, it's an easy course; I didn't do a whole lot of training but still managed to squeak under 10 hours. I live in northern California, so it's a no brainer race for me. I'm not big into Ironman; there's very little about other races that compel me to want to fly anywhere. But if I were a serious Ironman athlete looking for an awesome time, this is the race to do.

Swim: Downriver swim. I believe they opened some locks and created even more flow than usual. You can float and still make it to T1 in record time. I'm probably a 1:20-1:30 swimmer for the Ironman distance, but ended up going 48 minutes. I think the fastest athletes were in the low 30 minutes. Interesting fact: the rivers are connected to the SF Bay and sea lions make their way to Sacramento; you can hear them as you approach T1.

Bike: super flat. Minimal to no traffic. It is a two loop course, so the course can get congested, especially on your second loop. I think over 2000 people did last fall's race, so it's one of the biggest North American Ironmans. But if you're a front of the pack swimmer, you'll have open roads for the first loop. I have two criticisms: one, a section of the bike course is super rough for about 2-4 miles, and two, it rained last fall and I saw quite a few people crash or get flats. I stopped four times (3 bathroom breaks + one stop to help someone who crashed), ended up with a 5:45 split.

Run: flat, winding course. The rain stopped when I get to T2, but there was quite a lot of standing water on the path along the river. I finished before sunset and before the rain restarted; those who finished in the dark get totally drenched. There are food trucks at the finish and athletes get a voucher.

Transition: there aren't a lot of options to stay near transition. Most folks stay elsewhere, drive up and park in the baseball stadium's parking lot. We supposedly had to pay for parking on race day, but the parking staff couldn't get their credit card readers to work.

Other notes: my wife parked a few blocks from the finish without any issue. We stayed in an Airbnb in a nicer part of town. We took our 1 year old daughter and didn't have issues with her; my wife could drive around, park and push the stroller just fine, so I saw them several points on the run course. We got another food voucher to use at some local restaurants, which was nice.

Im staying at Home2 Suites by Hilton West Sacramento. Is that walkable to Transition?

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It appears to be, judging by the map. I personally don't feel strongly about staying nearby because my wife can drive me around or I can take Lyft/Uber to get around. We can stay wherever we want for cheaper, get a bigger Airbnb with a kitchen and space for the kid, etc. If you're alone, you can just drive in and park in the stadium lot; the parking fee might be less than what you'd save by staying elsewhere.

Maybe I remember wrong, but wasnt there one year where the E-coli in the water was too high and they figured it was due the amound of homeless people living (and pooping) on the river banks ... ?? That is sooo wack ... on so many levels!

Following. I live less than an hour from the race, signed up. This will be my first full distance. I'm pretty excited. The weather is usually really good this time of year, so the fact that they've had such poor weather the last few years makes me think we're due for great race day conditions!

Raced both time. PB by 40-60 min each time. Awesome race, bring your fixie… lol. highly recommend.

I could retype it all but similar experience from me.

I’ve never done IMAZ but have volunteered and also done 70.3 AZ. The IMCA course is faster. Super fast swim. Bike course has nicer roads than AZ for about 75% of the course. Almost no elevation to speak of, in contrast to the semi climbing part of the AZ loops. Wind is a big factor on both courses. I prefer the CA run course but both are loops. I was in quite a bit of pain and ran in the rain, but still enjoyed the run course. The AZ course to me is a bit boring around the lake. Weather is a big question mark for both courses. Historically CA has had bad luck. AZ can also be temperamental that time if year.

Can’t really go wrong with either though.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

That was 70.3 AZ because it rained the night before. That’s just a rumor, any body of water that doesn’t have a lot of flow or input is going to have risk of levels being too high after a storm. I’ve swam in tempe town lake a number of times and never had an issue. It’s not super clear or clean but it’s fine to swim in.

Both swims are super chilly the time of year the races are. AZ is a super honest swim, CA you’ll get a free 30 min.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

Many of my friends did that. Worked out well.

In general after any storm water quality gets worse right down to the beaches.

All kinds of contaminates are in storm run off everywhere.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...articles/PMC7126443/

Sure they test for ecoli, but are they testing race morning for the contaminates that cause thyroid issues or cancer? There's plenty of info out there to become a hypochondriac without blaming homeless poopers.

Also, we could likely add some blame to septic systems, broken sewer pipes (likely biggest factor), wildlife and plenty of others for these issues.

If you’ve done IMAZ twice, I’d give CA a shot.

Most others have covered the basics. I went in super undertrained and a couple weeks out was a DNS but then decided to do it. Mostly because I’d signed up in 2020… 2021 bomb cyclone 2022 got covid they allowed me to defer. Was supposed to be my last so didn’t want to go out that way, just wanted to get it done. Course was easy enough to go in with crap training and finish comfortably

The swim I was ridiculous. Swam easy warmup pace to a 42. However surprisingly the tides will affect the delta that far up, we had a dropping tide so that just helped.

Like the swim my bike was an easy bike all day pace. If I hadn’t stopped to pee would have been under 6. Not fast but basically got off the bike feeling I hadn’t done much all day. Mostly smooth pavement but there are three worse to awful sections so you’ll hit them 4 x each. They are short tho.

Poured the last 28 miles of the bike for me.

Run as mentioned is mostly all flat but there are some underpasses on the river trail. Good crowd support, but goes into a park that can get quite dark. They had some lights but not all worked. Second loop was pitch black pouring rain with very few race officials, not a great setup if someone were to have an issue. If you’ll be after dark grab a headlight in special needs. Had one but didn’t take it (haven’t needed one in 5 IMs even tho after dark in most) and regretted it.

Like the bike poured rain miles 13 or so to 21 for me. Last 4 miles of the run are totally uninspiring.

I stayed at that hotel for the 2022 race. It's very walkable to transition, maybe a 20-25 minute walk at most. I walked it on race morning and it was fine. I saw others from the hotel who were driving on race morning, but I doubt if they got there more than a couple of minutes faster.

As you probably know, the swim to bike transition is long, about a mile if I remember correctly.
I didn't want to run that distance barefoot on concrete/paved roads so, on race morning before I got on the bus, I stashed an old pair of running shoes at the end of the swim, after you come up the ramp from the dock.
Several other people did the same thing, at least 100 others. Mine were there when I finished the swim, which made a big difference for that run. A buddy of mine did the same thing and his shoes weren't there when he finished the swim.
I would recommend doing this, or at least take an old pair of running shoes with you to the race, then walk the swim to bike route on Saturday and make your own decision.

Key points have already been mentioned, I will only add a few minor ones:

- Swim: The American River flow will depend on the dam and how many doors are open. It was particularly strong last year with a record snow pack upstream unfortunately not that great this year but... it's always fast or faster. When it branches out to the Sacramento River (also fast) the temperature usually drops so end of the swim can be cold-ish... but you won't be in the water for long. As a local, I must admit I'm really grossed out by the river after discovery park but it's closely monitored (e coli levels here: https://waterboards.maps.arcgis.com/...682500.3086%2C102100)

- West sac / Downtown is not a very nice area so stay there if you want to be near transition but if you want your family to be in a walkable nicer area choose Midtown/East Sacramento (by the convention center/capitol).

- I ride the course every weekend (not the most scenic ride but just the most convenient for me). October is more often windy than not and the river breeze is gusty, you'll be fine with disc/deep section rear wheels but if you're a lightweight and/or not highly confident, bring 2 options for the front. Last year was fine on race day but there are weekends when it's hard to stay stable. Pavement is mostly good except on the transverse (Babel Slough) that has giant potholes and lower road visibility (very shaded)... it's a shame they don't take the course further on River road which is a lot more scenic, has great pavement and the transverses to Jefferson are in much better condition in the Clarksburg area.

- I live there but Sacramento is not a particularly interesting city. There are a lot of surprisingly great restaurants and breweries though. If you're staying in the area I'd go ride/hike in Sierra Nevada/Tahoe area which is gorgeous.

Is there any need for a small chainring for this race? I’m on Shimano 2x, but would be willing to shed 2W by getting rid of my FD for the race if it’s pancake flat.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

No experience in Arizona, but IMCA was my second full. First full was IM St. George in 2022, when it was the 2021 world championship, so that's my only comparison.

The bike is so very, very flat. So much so that seeking out flat training ground or even long trainer rides are really important for staying aero. I was out there for a practice ride with extreme wind, it can be very disheartening, but on race day itself when it was just very rainy, course went by quite quickly. Could absolutely be happy with a 1x set up.

I also did not experience traffic issues despite open roads. I think a handful of cars went by outside of town? It seemed like there was some bike traffic / packs, but I think that's pretty expected on a flat course like this.

I thought spectators were awesome in St. George, but honestly I had more fun with spectators in Sacramento. Some quiet spots, but also there were some random intersections where a bunch of people would be hanging out and cheering. Running through 'Old Town' there were some people with no idea there was a race going on, watching us run by with clear looks of "WTAF". I saw my friends 5 times on just the 2x loops, and then 2x more on the course to the finish line. I had a lot of fun during the run.

The swim is... ridiculous. The river was fine. I had no issues with cleanliness or anything. I got a ~20 min boost and was one of the top women out of the water in 37 minutes. I don't remember seeing a swim time slower than 1:20. Kind of silly. But, there ARE sea lions in the river which was a hilarious surprise!

Not sure if this matters to you, but the expo was in the River Cats baseball stadium. Kind of a cool experience, I thought it was fun. Awards and roll down also take place in the stadium just above the dugout.

To you or anyone reading - happy to answer any other questions.

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KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

FYI, this was changed last year and the transition was much shorter. Much more of a normal transition rather than adding mileage lol.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

Flat as a crepe... you can ride it on a fixie