There are no results anywhere that I can find. I did not hear a peep about it and I live 1.5 hrs from there. I wonder if they even had the race....

They did have it, I assume. We were in East Burke for the week on a family mountain bike vacation - what an incredible place! Highly recommended to folks who haven’t been there. I saw posters for it and saw a guy come by on a tri bike with a number.

Kudos to folks who did it - I bet your wallet is like Samuel L’s. Lots of climbing on that bike. We went to the lake earlier in the week and I thought it was stunning. Gorgeous out there.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I just checked out the course profile and it looks brutal. I don't think there's a NA Ironman course that compares in Bike/Run elevation gain/loss. Also couldn't find any results. Surprised didn't they post any pictures of the event on social medial. Looks like an amazingly beautiful (albeit beastly) course.

I'm signed up for his 'Utah's Toughest' which looks like it has a similarly brutal bike/run course profile as the Vermont one. I'm perplexed as to why there was no advertising of either of these races. My guess is he knows he's a mixed bag on social media. I only heard about it via word of mouth and then only paid $150. Of course, zero aid provided on bike and run. But I don't care - I'm just looking for something different.

Zero aid? No water or anything?

Yeah - zero. It's completely BYO. I think there are going to be some glow-sticks on the run course for the post-sunset runners. Maybe that counts?

Where do you get water? Is it loops where you can have a needs bag to get water and food for yourself? Or do they tell you where to get water?

You had to have your own support crew with nutrition and liquids.

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Team Zoot
2019 Sponsors: Canyon Bikes, Garmin, Smith Optics, Gatorade, Zealios Skin Care & Sun Protection, Speedfill Products, Base Performance, Ottolock, Theragun, Boco Gear, ORR Carbon Wheel Systems, Giddy Up Multisport

Good luck in Utah. Please let us know how it goes and what your thoughts are of the event.

My SIL has a house up in Vermont and I'd seriously consider the Vermont race next year, but want to hear feedback from some Vermont racers first.

You are paying $150 for a glow-stick or two that may be on the course? What a scam.

Glow sticks plus a finishers medal!!!

i think we ST should ban mention of this guys name like done with LA. he keeps getting credit for his false accomplishment, and making money off it.

I’m just not a fan of fully self supported races. Even a few aid stations with water and your special needs bags would be better than nothing.

So I did the race in Vermont and it was definitely hard. But reading these comments about it being a scam for a a few glow sticks is disappointing to say the least.

This was an experience race- one you do because it is there. You won't earn a slot or AWA points. But instead this race is one that I know I will always remember- for the wind, the rain, the hard bike course and the soul crushing run.

From the beginning this was marketed as support crew required race. You couldn't register without a support crew person. For me it was pretty awesome to have my mom and a teammate meeting me every 15-20 miles to reload bottles and nutrition. It meant I didn't have to carry more than 2 bottles and with those hills every ounce mattered. Plus each athlete could pick where they wanted support and each support crew became a cheering squad for everyone in the race. If you aren't familiar with Northern Vermont, there isn't a lot up there so having fans cheering you every few miles was pretty awesome.

If you want to listen to my experience you can here: https://www.coachterrywilson.com/perfectrace/092

And I highly recommend checking out one of James's Races. They are hard but the experience is worth it.

Btw- watched his documentary the other day- at one point they showed social media posts of " haters" and one that was prominently displayed came from you. Better watch out- you keep up calling him a scam you might end up portrayed as a hater again in Iron Cowboy II - The Revenge - a triathlon movie in the genre of a western in which he swims bikes and runs his way through the old west while he searches for gold in graveyards ;)

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"There are two ways to slide easily through life- to believe everything and to doubt everything- both ways save us from thinking "- Korzbyski

I have done a bunch of low key trail running races that do not provide support. They are more underground, friend of a friend, "have you heard about this?" kind of things that amount to, "Let's get together and do this crazy route." They are fun. One I never did was Davy Crockett's--What a name!--hundred miler on the Pony Express Trail. That has been, "Hey, I am doing this on this date. Come do it with me. Bring your own crew with a 4x4 because it's in BFE and there is nothing out there." Guess what. It didn't cost $150. The hardest part of organizing a long distance race is arranging people to provide support. To not provide anything but a route is telling people, "I am not doing any of the work, certainly not the hard work, but pay me anyway." That is a scam.

I disagree. I did the race. Not a scam. Worth every penny I spent.

Could you elaborate a little on the race?

Did they have any timing? Did they post results anywhere? How many people entered? Did people stop at stop lights, stop signs, or did the fact that it was a race induce people to run some lights? Was the IC there?

Thanks.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Course was well marked, but open to traffic. And while I had the course downloaded to my Garmin I did not use turn by turn as I didn't need based on the signage on course. I stopped at lights and stop signs (there weren't many as we were in rural vermont...) We were required to have some safety gear including front and rear lights along with a reflective jersey or vest (I opted for an Amphipod Xinglet).

About 20 people entered. About half finished.

No timing chips, but they had race staff at swim exit, mile 50 (official aid station), T2, Run Lap 1 and finish to time. At each point, your number was recorded. All participants got results via email. Not sure if they have been published yet or not. James Lawrence was there and very active in running the race.

Good Luck in Utah. What I did for Vermont was map out where I wanted my support to meet me every 15-20 miles. And then pre-prepacked my nutrition for each stop so I didn't need to carry too much stuff. My setup was two bottles and it worked well. On the run I wore a hydration pack with two 16 ounce soft bottles. They had water at the top of each loop plus the ability to restock at the start of the second loop.

It is a different experience for sure, but one that was a lot of fun (also hard...)

Its a great part of the country unknown to anyone except mountain bikers as Kingdom Trails is there and is a mecca for MTBers. Most people who visit Vermont never get to that part of the state, they stay in the southern part of VT.

To me it seems like a little more effort on the part of the James Lawrence could make this a great event. How much more effort would be involved in making it somewhat mainstream with a few more aid stations / check points, and also more publicity. I think new formats are good as long as the basics are there but this seemed too minimal from the get go. I hope it was worth it to James to have 20 people show up. There are two bike races up there that get 1000 participants, Rasputitsa and Circumburke, so is not the location, it is the lack of organization and promotion. I hope he puts some more effort into next year.

C'mon... nothing? Not even a "you suck"? Arch Stanton... westerns... graveyards... old western movies- fiction... 50/50/50- fiction... I thought it was witty... but I guess if I had to explain it... ;)

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"There are two ways to slide easily through life- to believe everything and to doubt everything- both ways save us from thinking "- Korzbyski

If this was a fully supported race we might consider it since we live in New England (hoping the race director sees my post). With IMLP in July it's not the best time. Most Ironman triathletes in the area are doing IMLP or IMMT. If I was the organizer, I'd move it to early September.

It's a beautiful area in Vermont and we love to mountain bike the Kingdom trails during off-season. This has potential to be a great race.

I'm still hoping someone will organize a big swim/gravel bike/ trail run Iron distance event in Northern New England :-)

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

If I decide to put one of these things on (which is more likely than my wife would like to admit), it wouldn't be iron distance. We'd do some other distance - whatever the land dictates, rather than going in attempting to shoehorn the 2.4/112/26.2 in.

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