So how cold was the water??? Bike and run hilly???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I think the water was low 60s. The bike / run courses are pretty flat - maybe not as much as Barcelona but it is still a fast course. It was a windy day but the first outbound leg of the bike on Oland was a tailwind.

Flat and fast, my kind of course!!!!

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

It's also a really nice race venue. Highly recommended despite my small gripe with 1 official :)

How is it if you only speak English and French, but not Swedish???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Almost everyone speaks English very well. The official actually surprised me.

The train ride from Copenhagen to Kalmar doesn't have English signage on the platforms but it's not too hard to figure out with a little buffer time - or you can just ask someone.

Cool, thanks for the info. I will definitely think about doing this race if I decide on a Euro holiday some year. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Btw, as a swimmer, you would probably really enjoy this:

https://www.ironman.com/im-kalmar-course

Unlike the bibjohn, the speedtube is 5mm throughout so with a top it might technically be over the limit at the midriff. I think I wore that last time I did Kalmar but it's rare to find such a race official.

Then again, the advantage of such officialdom and rule following is how efficiently Sweden operates, which it has to as you don't mess with very cold winters.

Great, thanks for the link!!!

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

The speedtube legs are 5mm from waist to knees, but the speedvest is 2mm. Legal, I think. But I wasn't wearing those.

I was in the firstwave wetsuit which is 5mm in the sleeves, but 2mm in the chest and 2mm on the bib straps.

If Emilio sees this, he can probably elaborate. It looks like current gen went back to 2mm sleeves also?

Anyhow it can be confusing but they've adhered to regulations as long as they've been in effect I think the brand is just less frequently seen in Europe.

Desoto used to be big in the UK and Germany but with a strong dollar they're just too expensive, alas. I have lots of twenty year old kit that still functions perfectly.

I experienced that firsthand at IM Kalmar. When I did it years ago, there was an official on a bike patrolling the run course. As she biked by, I joked, "hey, can I draft off of you?" She gave me that looked that your mother gives you when she doesn't approved of something and said to me, "no! Not allowed." I just chuckled and mark it up as a lost in translation language barrier.

Same joke at an American IM and both the officially and I would be chuckling and exchanging a few friendly banters at each other :)

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."