I started a thread on this back in Janaury: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ng=eagleman#p7425839

It's looking like things are headed in the right direction. The RD and lots of other more local folks comment pretty frequently on this FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/...nks=2170567633080638

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well, 90% of the FB conversation is:
Random person: will the race happen?
RD: shut up and train. I'll tell you when I'm good and ready

but no red flags about cancellation, so seems quite probable.

Our governor just lifted the outside mask mandate for the state and the race isn't in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, PG or Montgomery Counties so I'm hoping this moves us forward. I also think the field size might be limited already since there is a wait-list. Hoping that also helps approve the permits or whatever is needed.

edited to add emphasis.

Fyi...race participants got an email a couple hours ago. The first bullet point is

"The Dorchester County Health Department has given us their seal of approval after reviewing our plans for the event. Our other local agencies are also on board to help produce a great 2021 IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman."

I figure that's as close as anything to saying that the race is good to go.

Yup just got that email as well. Definitely looking positive. I assume that the county/city wants to race to go on as planned so hopefully no other obstacles in the way!

So according to an email I received yesterday from our governor, all of our mask, distancing and capacity limits (both indoor and outdoor) have been lifted as of today. I assume he will make an official announcement today at some point. This was a mass email from his office, not some person email just to me haha. No each county can "overrule" his decision so Dorchester county could say "nope we are still enforcing x,y,z policy" but I'd be pretty confident they are going full steam ahead with the governors direction.

Hope everyone's training has been going well and I'll see you in a few weeks!!

Edit to add: Participant list has been added to the site. It'll be a full house. About 2500 people

I imagine that Ironman can also enforce their own mask guidelines, regardless of state/county decision. In the latest video from the RD she talked about masking at all times other than while racing.

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Oh for sure! I didn't mean to say that everything will be maskless, etc. but more that a lot of the common restrictions have been lifted here so it's even more of a positive trend toward the race moving forward as scheduled.

Got an email today from WTC to select timeslot for check-in
Can't wait to get back to racing. Its been so long

I didn’t get that email.

I think the initial email was sent out to tri club folks only.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Yea - tri club, AWA, etc. The emails that went out indicated that Monday May 24 all of the rest of the emails would go out for check-in slot bookings

Thanks for the info but still no email.

check here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Eagleman
you see people asking about the email and can post a question to the race director

Can anyone provide a comparison of Eagleman against Atlantic City 70.3? I have done AC 70.3 twice, Raleigh once, and off brand stuff.

I've never done AC 70.3 but can probably answer some questions about the course if needed. I was just down there this past weekend and rode the whole 70.3 course.

The bike is my principal concern. There is basically zero elevation and I am wondering about wind protection and road conditions.

The run would just be a question of shade and wind protection.

I am hoping for a rainy day.

I have done Eagleman and IMAC70.3 each twice and here is the short story. Eagleman is overall winner.

Longer version/comparison:

Location (Tie) - AC is a dump but a lot of places to stay (casino hotel, friends who have a beach house in nicer nearby town) amd really accessible for Northeast. Cambridge (at least where you race) is much nicer, but places to stay are not very nice or close by (unless you pony up $$$ for the Hyatt). For spectating, AC claims to be family friendly but it really is not. Lots of questionable folks around (pre-covid). It is nice that they can get food quickly and while you are checking in bike, others can go shopping at outlets or junk shops. If weather gets hot or starts to rain. Spectators can head into a casinos during run, but Swim Start/T1/T2 are about a mile from finish. For Eagleman, you are in a park all day. Nothing around except a small jungle gym. Have family bring drinks, food and a tent or they will exposed to weather all day.

Swim (Winner Eagleman) - Eagleman swim has had its history. Shallow some years, choppy/rough others. The year with lots of Jellyfish. AC is in a bay though that is unpredictable with currents. One year a whirlpool formed and they had to cut the swim short half way through the race. Luckily this is back when they did wave starts... Imagine this mess if they did it today with rolling starts! AC RD always “Safety First” which I agree with, but if people were aiming for slots... Yikes!

Bike (Winner Eagleman). - Both courses are flat. Only hills in AC are getting on and off AC express. RD claims the expressway is closed. It is not. 2 lanes out of 4 are closed. And it is 2 1/2 laps on this thing. Laps 2 and 3 get dicey! Lots of traffic and if a FOP’r expect to be yelling “on your left” first almost entire second half of race. Eagleman, you will be pedaling the ENTIRE time, so do your indoor rides where you never take a break. Then it is a walk in the park. Winds having been crazy there. If you are one that likes to get out of aero and stretch out... then just expect aero penalty as there is no need to every go to the small ring and get out of saddle. Both are smooth (AC is fast for first lap while no traffic). Eagleman has zero debris and AC gets the NJ transit (or similar) to sweep the expressway before race and get most of it up. But you still have rumble strips at times that has launched bottles and caused flats.

Run (Winner Eagleman) - Both get hot and are fully exposed to sun. Eagleman is changing the course this year, but you will be around town more. Folks in Cambridge seem to embrace this race. Some locals put sprinklers out to cool folks off, AC is on the boardwalk. Boards get hot and sometimes you have a breeze. Great from an idea perspective, but you have other pedestrians on the course. The northern part of the boardwalk is nicer. They keep extending it so eventually it may be less congested and more enjoyable. Both are flat so no elevation concerns to deal with.

RDs (Winner Atlantic City) - the AC RD has a major following and locals love him. His family has ties to hotel/restaurant/liquor businesses so he knows how to organize the event and cater the after race meal. Eagleman had a newer RD as previous one (that was loved) passed away. Not that Eagleman RD does a poor job (they don’t) it is just that they are taking over a legendary race (Eagleman used to give out KQ’s). End of day, both races are fully owned my IM (IMAC70.3 used to be licensed) so RDs are just doing what they are told.

Each race has its pros/cons and it is what you make of it. Just train and race smart.

Excuse the typos/grammar. Wrote this on phone while watching kids at their track practice...

For the bike:

No real shade or wind protection really. If any trees are lining the road than it's usually just on one side or the other. The only true shaded area is right in the beginning. If you take a look at the map you'll see a little "wing" that sticks out at the north most part of the course. When you are on the farthest section of that "wing" heading south then you are in complete shade. Besides that very little. Same thing with wind protection. Not much around to break the wind for you.

Road conditions are good and bad. The first mile or two is through neighborhood type area where you have sections of good road and sections of rougher roads. Mile 2-3 is nice smooth road then miles 3-5.5 are not great but also not worrisome (less potholes and more cracks and just older road). You'll make a left off of that onto very smooth road again (the same road as miles 2-3) for a few 100yrds before turning right onto some older road again. Nothing too bad but not like what you just came off of. You ride that road from mile 6-10 before turning right onto the big loop. Once you turn onto that road until mile 22.5-ish you'll be on very nice newly paved road. You'll be riding on the ride side of rumble strips for most of it as well. From miles 22.5-29 its old road again. Miles 29-31 is nice road again. Once you turn off of that until the end of the loop around mile 46 its all old road. There are a few spots during this section that can be pretty bad. There is a section where it feels similar to expansion joints where you just keep hitting crack after crack in the road. All the old roads throughout the course have small sections that can really wake you up if you aren't paying attention haha.

On the run its going to be all completely exposed. Definitely no shade but I've never had any issues with wind even though you do run along the water at points. Some of the homes along the course turn their sprinklers on and you can try to cool off in those. There used to be a small section where you run on this windy concrete path through some trees but not sure if that has been omitted since they changed the run course for this year.

as stated above, holding aero is at a premium in this course.
groups can form and i've seen people draft, so there's some race dynamic there (depending on how fast your are) and it can be very windy with no protection on the far end of the loop.

run is just very hot. so sunscreen and hydration. 2018 was overcast, so despite the heat was very bearable. keeping my fingers crossed.

At the point where the swim is, is it salt water still or fresh water?

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I believe it is salt water.....

The Choptank reaches sea level near Denton, MD and is not salty until around 2 miles (3.2 km) below Denton. Cambridge is about 30 miles down river from Denton. It is salt water.



At least 12 Species of Sharks in Chesapeake Bay

So, logistically. Is the best way to handle this to plan on using the shuttles or can you expect some level of success finding a parking spot in or around the park?
Or even you do find the parking spot, is it kind of frowned upon by the residents or anything?