Heyyyy I am qualified to answer this one. I raced Louisville in 2018 and Placid in 2019.

The swims are very different from one another. Louisville is a river swim with about 1/3 going upstream, but sheltered by an island, and then 2/3 downstream. The swim has been cancelled or shortened in each of the last 2 years. Also, the water is preeeettttyyyy gross. Placid is a two loop lake swim with great water, although it can be a bit crowded on that first loop.

Everyone I talked to before the races told me the bike course will really be about preference. Louisville is a lollipop two loop with rolling hills. Placid has more listed elevation with longer sustained climbs. I preferred Placid. The rolling hills in Louisville felt like they were never going to end for me and it was tough to find a rhythm. Placid has some long climbs, but you know about them and I just settled in. As far as scenery is concerned, I would choose Placid's bike course and it isn't even close. There are a few moments on that course that I thought "I can't believe I am racing this". With that said, I am from Chicago so I don't get views like that very often. It is also easier for me to go through a long sustained climb than to deal with rollers that I am not used to riding. Also, my Louisville experience was 55 and rainy vs. the 75 and sunny that I had in Placid. Worth mentioning that.

While the Louisville course changed its run, the two run courses were very much different as well. To call the Placid run hilly would be an understatement. I was NOT ready for the climbs on that run course. The Louisville run course was very flat and had great support throughout.

If I lived closer to Placid I would race that 70.3 or full every single year. I loved everything about it. I would like another crack at Louisville with nicer weather, but I hesitate to sign up for it again with the swims trending the way they have.

I don’t know anything about Lake Placid. Louisville on the other hand would be a perfect IM if it wasn’t for the swim. If you are a weak swimmer, Louisville has a honest bike, and pretty flat run. I actually preferred the 3 laps and thought it was organized very well.

Placid is much tougher. I raced both in 2017. I felt like both were good races for me, executed similarly, and I was 18-minutes faster in Louisville.

I prefer the Placid course - I think the swim, bike, and run are all better than Louisville. The bike and run are definitely more challenging though. I also think the actual event is better in Placid. I enjoyed my time in Louisville, but there just wasn't that same race vibe you get somewhere like Placid, Tremblant, or other small communities that host races. One other thing to keep in mind is the Louisville bike is on open roads and when the course gets crowded you can expect to have to navigate some vehicles that are out on the course.

I haven't done Louisville but did Lake Placid this past year. LP is a great place to visit but you need to make a hotel reservation asap if you decide to go....it's a nice advantage to get a place within a short walk to the venue. Once parked, everything is within walking distance. The swim is a clean calm lake (two loops) and the bike is a two loop closed to traffic pretty well paved course. Very hilly with some long fast downhills and long climbs. The run course is two loops and part of the bike course, also closed to traffic. Has a pretty good hill to the finish you need to do twice....many people found it tough. Very scenic part of the country and little traffic once off the interstate. The entire town seems to welcome the event.

Did both inaugural races. Went back to Placid 3'x.
Nicko has a good review.
LP is a much better swim, awesome bike course, not sure if the out and back is still part of it. Fastest I have ever gone done into Keene at 56mph, seen a few ugly crashes and road rash on the way down. Pace yourself climbing back into LP, Little, Mama & Papa Bear climbs but it's steady.
The run is just great, scenery wise you will not be disappointed, challenging but it really rolls.
The crowds used to be epic in town, also the Greatful Dead music on the out and back.

Louisville, swim is like described
Bike has some nice scenery very hard to get in a smooth ride, not sure the out and back is still there which was intense, run is just another uninspired city double loop,

Hands down LP

Lake Placid is the hardest of any of the IM's I've done imho. The way it lays out makes it very difficult to fuel up for the marathon because of all the hills and the out and back.

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I've raced LP 4 time and did enough of Louisville to form an opinion. I agree with comments in the above posts. In addition both courses have very cool finishes. At LP you run into the Olympic Skating oval, past Olympic rings. At IMLou the finish is downtown in what I would describe as Louisville's version of Times Square. Louisville probably as one of the few finishes that is better a night.
Louisville is an easier place to find affordable accommodations. Both have good food, LP has better local beer but Louisville has bourbon. If you want to fly to the race then Louisville is your option, no airport near Lake Placid. LP is much more scnenic, especially on the run.
I'm racing Lake Placid this year.

Thanks for the input everyone. I have done LP 2 times and absolutely love the course but I want to try something different. If I could do 2 IM's in a year I would do LP yearly.

Now not sure about Louisville. I'm looking for a flat and fast this year (maybe Cozumel or Florida)

Yup. That descent to Keene is definitely fun but something to be careful with. I've gone 50mph I think and being is also technical, it's a "hold on for dear life" kind of situation

I have done both and love them both.

LP
Venue: Awesome. There is plenty of accommodations given winter olympics and training center. I stayed in an incredible lodge that I found on ABNB the last time I was there. Beautiful area, you are in mountains and secluded. Not the easiest to get to though. I came through Vermont and Lake Champlain and missed the ferry on the way back which was a huge PIA.
- S: Easy and fast. It is like swimming in a pool.
- B: Hilly. It is two loops and the wind usually picks up on the second loop. Many go too hard on loop 1 and the wind kills them. The descents can be scary if you are not comfortable holding 50+ miles for minutes on end.
- R: Also kind of hilly. Not as bad as the bike but definitely not flat.

Louisville
Venue: Also awesome. It is an urban tri vs. LP rural but still great. My wife and I paid up for a full day tour of Churchill, hung out with the riders, met the trainers, all of which was worth the trip in itself. There is the civil rights museum there as well. BBQ is good post race. Town really comes out for the race and finish line is one of the best in the biz.
- S: Also easy and fast. It is a TT start and very low pressure. You go through a little cove and then out into the river where you swim downstream. Do not be scared by people saying the river is gross. This is totally overstated IMO. I expected it to be out of Bombay and it was fine.
- Bike: Not flat but not super hilly. Mostly rollers where LP is long long climbs. More traffic than LP. Horse farms are pretty. Wind can pick up on the run back into town. Still a good course but not as pretty as LP.
- Run: Flat and boring. You go out and back on a parkway. It is good for spectators so your SO can post up and see you a couple of times. Ditto for LP by the way. Finish line is off the hook.

Best of luck in your choice.