Flats and thrown water bottles. Wonder how much that had to do with course congestion... I don’t know how it was for those who started earlier, but with a mid 2000’s bib it was pretty congested out there. And sometimes hard to maneuver around. Seemed the numbering system wasn’t set great for a potential TT start.

I was in the 3300’s and it was very congested. Water bottles and broken cages!

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Team Zoot So Cal

In the 3000 range myself, and the delays were crazy. The fog was not normal or expected, but it was crazy thick. They waited as long as they could for it to lift, and considered a shorter version. Just didn’t clear in time. I don’t know logistics, but there were 56 miles of intersections with CHP on duty. They can’t sit there forever...
Sure I wish I could have done he swim, but the weather was great, the course was beautiful, and I chose to have a positive attitude. I also love the shade on the new run course!
Considering how big this race has gotten, I am impressed with many things the WTC is doing right. Paving roads isn’t really something they can handle. During that one intersection about mile 45 there was about a dozen or more flats! Maybe I got lucky, or being tubeless is a bonus.
A huge thank you to the many volunteers too. Lots of them, never missed a handoff during transition and lots of smiles.

Exactly. There were so many people cheering and happy it was cancelled. Lame. The swims my strongest of the 3, was pissed it was cancelled

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.

I was in the high 2000’s too, it was painful having to maneuver around significantly slower riders. I am hardly a strong cyclist, but man the first 25 miles or so were brutal having to work around the slower folks.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.

I also think it’s funny how many don’t want a swim or want an easy swim. The exact opposite happened at Steelhead a few years ago. Non wetsuit call in transition and people were flipping out! Kinda funny to see.

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Twitter - Instagram

Yeah I was 3035 and the bike course was very crowded and the roads very rough.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

But you still won your age group. Stud! Nice race

Thanks!

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Bryan,
It was really nice to meet you yesterday. (I was #3033 with the new P3 and you took “my” spot sitting against the rack.....). Not happy with the cancelled swim either, but it gave me an hour to meet and chat with other athletes.

I also got to see manofthewoods at registration, then out on the course and again in the parking lot. Dude, you may not have liked your finish placing, (10th is amazing to me), but it was encouraging to see you out there, really giving it gas.

I was in the 700s. The bike course was quite spacious for the early starters.

Thanks,

I'm impressed with how fast so many people went. Most whom I never got a chance to see. With a "start number" ~10th from last, I got lulled into a false sense of my own speed because all I was doing was passing. (though I did get passed by a few relay folks). With the run paths so jammed w/people, I'm amazed that people could run faster than I did, I had multiple close calls w/oncoming runners - nobodies fault, just not much space with so many people.

I also enjoyed the time (more than an hour!) to BS with others.

A swim would have been nice though :-|

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

I saw a young lady start in self-selected elite wave. Wanna race to win? Go first so the course is clear for you. Safer for everyone. Anyway, she started hard, slowed down after 100m, then breastroked, then grabbed the first turn buoy to rest. Not sure what happened to her after that. So yeah. People sign up for these with no concept of the skills required.

I'm going to only address venue choice ...

Being a resident of Sonoma County, the weather conditions we saw at Lake Sonoma in July was rare ... VERY rare ... air temps were more typical of April / Early may (in fact it was was warmer race morning at Ironman SR in May) and that is what caused the dense fog on the water (plus how the wind direction was cycling the fog especially into the swim course ... also from an abnormal direction)

Having been part 'involved" in the process yesterday and hearing the communications between water personnel / ops / RD's etc. the decision taken to the last minute and the disappointment in having to alter was apparent in everyone involved (part of that disappointment is the fact that those conditions were incredibly not normal)

Best,

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

Bummed about the no swim. My last 70.3 was Santa Cruz and that swim was shortened because of fog as well. I definitely saw some drafting going on. Glad to see the officials enforcing it. I saw lots of people under the penalty tent. Overall a decent day. Lots of competition at this race. I was 6th in my AG with a 2:19 bike and 1:22 run.

Those flats were largely because someone had thrown tacks all over the course. Particularly around mile 45. Talked to close to a dozen people who had thumb tacks in their tires

I did Ohio 70.3 yesterday and at least for that race the answer to your question is a definite "yes". It was a self-seeded rolling start that ended up non wetsuit. A significant portion of the field either has an exaggerated sense of its swim ability or, more likely, are very dependent on a wetsuit to complete the swim. I started with the 35-37 minute group, swam a bit slower than expected, and passed people the whole time, many of them like they weren't moving. Some were doing breast stroke, others stopped to rest, and many more were swimming a path that resembled someone running away from a bee. It was so clogged- I felt like I made contact with every one of the 2200 participants. The Ohio 70.3 Facebook page is lit up with similar complaints. Bottom line- there were a bunch of people who are borderline swimmers in that race and who really struggled without the wetsuit.

That complaint aside, Ohio 70.3 is an awesome race in a great town and I highly recommend it.

So, I've not done a 70.3 or 140.6 yet as my race schedule got replaced by a shoulder rehab schedule due to a bike accident. But...why the hell do WC slots get issued when you're cutting the swim leg? Shouldn't you issue those at another race?

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Bro... welcome to Ironman. Nothing makes sense.

I joked that we got our “full contact money’s worth” on the run. It was worse than the Strand at Oceanside. But I loved every minute. Even the last 5K where the heat hit 90F, and had to throw in some walking even. I lost my nutrition out the back somewhere around mile 15 or so. So no, it wasn’t a perfect day. But I’m 100% signing up again for next year.

I have to disagree. Taking out the fact the swim was cancelled and how many (myself included) had to bike through 2500 athletes, the run course was simply unacceptable. It was an honest to go fartlek run for me. Unless they change the run, I will never sign up for this race again.

So the consensus is this race pretty much sucked, eh? Thats too bad..... But would it have sucked if things had gone as planned (i.e., normal swim start)? Non-wetsuit is fine for me. I'm a top 10% swimmer. I'm thinking more just course, course congestion, logistics, support, etc.

It's in my backyard, so I was thinking about doing it or Santa Cruz next year. Baby on the way so no more flying to races and dialing things back to 70.3s for A race -- it's hard enough with just tri gear, let alone baby gear.

It definitely would have been better if it went according to plan but I would still boycott the race until they fix the run course. Its hard to actually describe the congestion on the river path without seeing it for yourself. It was like trying to run through a massive crowd standing still at a concert.

you do have some solid points. Maybe, since I was #3033, and only biked 19mph, a lot of the run congestion was over by the time I got there? Plus, my run pace was around 9:00 (until the end.... :) and while I was passing a fair share, the story could have been MUCH different at faster paces.
I have no reason to "defend" the race, but I had a really positive experience and wanted to add that to the conversation.

If I had a crystal ball for next year, I would say the swim goes off, wetsuit legal. The roads are the same paving as this year (without tacks?). The run course is the same. It's 10F hotter. People will complain.

Hey! I really enjoyed chatting with you! It really did make for a fun and different race experience and I will remember it fondly!

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project