I say whatever changes they make to the bike course, still will not result in a cooler run course to follow. :(

Last year was hot, and two years ago was freakin' hot. I am hoping for something a little cooler this year. My run was brutal last year. I did Gulf Coast this year in part to help acclimate to stupid heat on the run. I am hoping that sets me up for a more successful Augusta in the fall.

I never got to do the old course but coming down for it this year. My intuition is no surprise, courses getting easier with less gain... an overwhelming trend. But if those hills are steep enough that might still leave a bit of character, and I like that.

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Tim Russell, Pro Triathlete

Instagram- @timbikerun

I raced two years ago as well. Was unbelievably hot on the run. Hoping we draw a cooler day this year.

Rode this course at the Tricoachgeorgia.com camp yesterday. its a v dangerous area in certain sections so less likely to be able to ride it now than the old course. my splits are every 7 miles so you see where the climbs coagulate. its smooth sailing except for the rr tracks 3.5-5mi all the way to mile 12. you see al's tires then climb .5mi and then you have fun with some up and downs until the back 14. so basically like the old course in that the middle is the roller coaster and the start and finish are flatter. I had a couple of flats on the descent leading up to mile 40 so sorry about that aspect. There are some lips here and there to mind but road quality is pretty awesome in general.
https://connect.garmin.com/.../activity/2889983467

Great to hear on the road surface. Anything technical, I couldn't really tell if any of those bigger downhills fed into the 90 degree turns?

Worst you have is multiple rr tracks at 3.5 - 5 and 40 and mayBe late 40s. I flatted on the descent on 4H road at 39. There was a massive lip and I didn’t see it as i am old and blind and was alone somewhat gapped. Nothing technical. A great course but dangerous to train on.

I did Augusta 70.3 a few years ago and didn’t recall the bike course being all that hard.

Don’t you need to acclimate closer to your event?

I’ll be running in stupid heat all summer long... Just last week, I allowed Panama City Beach to kick my butt again this year.

Oh okay. Good luck.

Anyone else ride this course lately and have a judgement for how it compares to the previous course? Just looking at the elevation profile, it looks like there is more time for flat grinding but the climbs are much punchier. I would guess that times would be about the same?

That about sums it up. Maybe a slight improvement to times and
Road quality.

FYI- From IM website:
"IRONMAN does not recommend that anyone train on the race course route before race day. All training is at the athletes' own risk."

Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/...e.aspx#ixzz5PZtLb6fJ

Per the Facebook group, it’s supposed to be a faster course with some hills in the first 20 miles. There are some videos in the group from a car driving the route. Looking forward to tackling it next month.