Excuse me for not starting a new thread on race reports. Here is my long winded race report.

Leadman "Epic 250" race report.

Short Race Report: great swim, great first half on the bike, challenging second half on the bike (in cold and rain), challenging first half of the run, and great second half on the run. Finished 11:45:33. Got a small belt buckle.

Full RR: Packet pickup? Check. A million number stickers (for four transition bags, bike number, run belt number, more run numbers, swim cap numbers (huh, for application on latex?), and even a number for Wifee, the Support person? Check. Race tattoos on arms, calfs? Check. Check. Check. Check. Brand new never-been-worn Sidi cycling shoes? Check. Brand new never-been-worn "Leadman" tri shorts? Check. New tri top? New SS jersey? Check. Check. Worn once brand new running shoes? Check. Just returned (from an eight week warranty check up) bike? Check. New back bike tire? Ok, check, not so crazy. Who says don't try anything new on race day.

The swim: Cultus Lake was 61 degrees, 56 supposedly near the center. Air temp 44 degrees. It is a huge lake. Our course was an out and back along a line of yellow buoys. They kept talking about the clarity of the water, and it truly made the swim amazing. I was in the third wave, and did my beat to catch yellow caps who left 5 mins ahead, and white caps that had a ten minute head start. I apparently led the swim time after the first lap. 28:10... There was some green cap on my toes the whole first lap. I was going to ask him how the draft was back there as we exited the water, did a loop around the dock, and headed back in for the second lap... but i must have shook him off. The second lap was beautiful... The water was now crowded with those doing the shorter 125 race. With the water so clear we all looked like pods of dolphins. Swim distance was slightly short of the advertised 5,000m and was 4,300m according to Garmin. 1:00:56... 2nd place of 97.

T1: emptied my gear bag, and put everything on. Wolly socks, tri shorts, tri top, ss jersey, long sleeve Mtn. View winter jersey (turns out, best jersey ever), full tights, skull cap, new sidi road shoes (I had just bought new shoes, in a larger and 'mega' wide size, since I've been having cramped feet... This worked perfectly with the thick socks). Neoprene booties. Slow T1 at 9mins 39sec...

The Forever 138 mile Bike: headed down the Cascade Lakes Hwy. Passed several 125'ers... There was an out and back at mile 15, and I figured I was about 10th after 18 miles. The first part of the course was flat, and I managed the first 60 miles in 3:17:04... So, around a 19mph average. Then the hills began. On the climb up to Bachelor it started raining, and the 18 mile decent toward Sunriver featured pelting rain verging on hail. I passed all the skinny climbers who had passed me on the ascent. Rain eventually dried up. Wifee met me at the bottom, the 'pre-arrange clothes drop' at mile 78... But I was in no state to shed clothes, temps were in the 40-50's along the course. At mile 92 'special needs bag' I grabbed a Pocket Fuel milkshake (YEAH), took off the skull cap and switched to medium gloves. The next climb up Bachelor was a grind. Got to 100 miles in 5hrs 35mins. But mile 100 to 115 took a lifetime... Needed more teeth on the back cog. Kept thinking if this was an IM I'd be done soon. Rain had started again at mile 80 and didn't stop until the descent into Bend. The descent into Bend was spent trying to warm wet gloved hands at 25-47mph. Averaged 27 mph for the 16 miles down to Bend. Needed more teeth on the front chainring. Topped out at 47mph - it was too windy to go faster. Glad I didn't use the disc wheel. Overall, ok ride, but I wished I had done better on the climbs. Garmin recorded 6,600 ft total ascent. Time 7:47:54 and 41st place on the bike at a 17.7 mph average... and 35th overall following the ride.

T2: many competitors were coming in blue and chattering.... All I had to deal with was getting Wifee to help me unbuckle my helmet (probably worth a DQ). Apparently it was quite a scene in the T2 changing tent... everyone bumbling around trying to help people undo buckles and negotiate changing gear while frozen. It took me a while to get socks on, and I couldn't tuck my race laces away. Flap. Flap... Hands weren't working, and 7:02 time to transition.

Run: two laps of 11k. It took one mile to get my gloves on. Glad I wore them. Body overheated after 2.5 miles and I took the SS jersey off and stuffed it in the tri top. The loop went through neighborhoods and a desolate skeleton of a golf course development. Bend from its heyday. Walked two steep hills. Ditched the extra clothes and the second lap worked much better... The Hokas (ahem, the brand new shoes) were working well, and I tried to negative split each 1km. Last 6k felt great. Finished in 2:40:01 as it had just got dark. Gamin recorded 11 mins per mile, 14 miles and 1,000ft of climbing.

Final place 38th of 97 overall in 11h45m33s. 5th of 9 in 44-49 age group.

Loot: we all got finisher medals. In addition, the event advertised giving out big belt buckles for finishing under 9hrs, and small buckles under 11hrs. But since no one finished under 9 hrs, they moved these prizes out by an hour. That put me into prize category. Cool, I am glad I don't need to do a 'do over' just to get the buckle. Just about froze waiting for my prize buckle... since the only clothes we could grab were my ski coat.. And WET legwarmers.

Only mistake was switching gloves. Not that I'll put myself through that again, but if I had to 'do over' I'd put a 11-27 or 28 cog on the back. I definitely needed more 'spin' on that climb of the second lap. And, I'd install (and get used to) a 'split nose' saddle - to make it more comfortable on the long ride.

Likes: Swim venue. Smooth roads. Chamois Butter.
Dislike: swim should have been longer. 5k (at least make it as advertised...) but maybe 6k? 10k? :-) (One day they will come out with a Tri that favors the swimmer).

Sez the dude who almost won the Swim Prime. (OK, there was no prize for that, but there should be primes for each leg). I agree though, the swim if advertised at 5km, should be 5km! Plenty of room in that beautifully clear lake to extend it to full distance. The only other lake I have swam in, that rivals its clarity, is Lake Taupo (IMNZ). That one is slightly warmer though.

It was certainly a morale booster picking up the 125ers on the 2nd loop of the swim, although I did take a breaststroke kick to the face from one of them. And then picking up more of the 125ers on the 1st lap of Mt Bach helped keep the head in the game too. Then came the very lonely 2nd lap of Mt Bach. Lots of alone time out there to get inside one's head.

Great RR. Thanks.

Edit: On the topic of saddle comfort. I wore my Rapha bib shorts the whole day. No issues on the swim, comfortable in the saddle for each and every one of the 223kms, and the chamois is just light enough that it did not bother me on the run. I had planned to do a full change in T2, but the frozen hands killed that idea.

---

"The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy Seal, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

Badass race report!

I only did the 125 but as soon as I finished my swim I was kicking myself for not doing the 250. A mate of mine was doing the 125 though, and our families were there - it would have been hard on them to stick around waiting for me after he finished - so it was the right call.

I'll do up a race report in a bit for the 125.

My Girlfriend and I both did the 250. First off I want to say that we both of us really enjoyed the course and would do the race again. We also liked the small grassroots feel of the race.

I finished early enough to luckily enjoy all the finishline perks. My girlfriend, however, was left in the dark (literally).

I agree with you, Otto, that at 8:30pm the finishline basically shut down. At 8:15pm she was starting her second run lap and I was walking with her for a bit and one of the official pick-up trucks drove by, stopped ahead of us, and removed one of the arrows showing the course direction (and you would probably agree that the run course was not straight forward -especially in the dark).

I later heard from a volunteer that they were taking down the run course, which at that time was maybe 9:15pm. Another volunteer said that they were changing the cut-off time to 10pm. This really concerned me so I went looking for some answers. At the finishline there wasn't a single person involved with organizing the race. They had all left I guess. The volunteers didn't know the official cut-off time, neither did the medics, or timers.

When my girlfriend finished the only people at the finishline were the timers, a medic, two volunteers handing out medals, and one volunteer at water/food table. The good post-race food was pretty much gone as well. She also said that on her second lap only half of the run aid stations were still there.

This lack of support and recognition for later finishers really disappointed her and I. She was out there busting her butt in the cold longer than me --and working just as hard, just not as fast. The later finishers need the same support that faster racers need.

A

First time I have ever written a race report…

Morning: My main objective for pre-race was to catch the first bus. I’m a teacher here in Bend and knew that our school district was not supplying transportation. That means drivers that don’t know where they’re going. Last year two buses that I know of got lost, one of which I was napping on! Sure enough the driver asked if anyone knew how to get to Cultus. I got up and gave him the 411. A few minutes later a race volunteer gathered drivers and gave them the directions. Nap time!

At the lake: Pumped up my tires, squeezed the rain water out of my aerobar pads and went for a 10-minute jog. This is the first time I have EVER done any kind of warm up before an ultra-distance race. Got back to the bike to set up T1-FLAT TIRE! Took it to bike support, Jason and the guys got my valve to close and ready to rock!

Swim: There were much fewer people in the 250 race than I expected. I was kinda bummed as I was hoping to have a better selection of feet to follow. It was a bit misty in places, but there were a few landmarks to sight off of that made it easy to swim straight. On the return, I noticed several swimmers following the buoys back instead of swimming the straight line to the dock. Gained a few spots there. I hit the second loop just as the last wave of 125ers started. It was much easier to swim through this pack than I expected. Everyone was swimming straight lines and made it easy to avoid.

T1: Hit the tent with several clothing options. I had a tight-fighting ss bike jersey, arm warmers and a ls winter bike jersey. I was shooting for a fast bike and opted for just the ss jersey and arm warmers. I should have put something in my special needs bag just in case…hindsight! I also wore toe covers, compression socks and some thin windproof bike gloves.

Bike: Last year I rode 6:55 and wanted to ride faster this year. My thought was to keep pressure on and not take a “tour” of the Cascades. It worked. I was at 50 miles in around 2:10-this had me slightly worried. “She’s gonna blow!!” is what I was thinking. Weather was great, I was staying on my eating plan of ½ a package of Cliff Shots every 30 minutes (although I had to caveman eat into a few of them due to a loss of dexterity!) The first decent from Bachelor was SLOW. I live here in Bend and have gone screaming down that road at 50 mph regularly. I was having to work to hit 40…and this continued all the way to FS40. Just before Craine Prairie (the second time) the rain and sleet started! I was on the downhill section heading to the special needs aid station and was ducking my head to keep from getting pelted. One of the motorcycle officials stayed behind me for about 2 miles to make sure I was okay. I was very impressed with the fact that the officials checked in with me throughout the rain and cold, as well as Chad Sperry himself (race promoter/course director) at one point. I got my special needs bag, took 2 bottles, another Cliff Shot and a Gu. The guy was very important later as my hands got so cold I could not open the Cliff Shots (I forgot to pre-cut them!) and ripped it open and sucked it down. Just after Craine Prairie, the wheels started to come off. I got passed by 3 guys and could not even hold pace with any of them for more than 3 minutes. I’ve climbed Sparks lakes dozens of times in many different situations and the second time up was my all-time slowest, but I told myself that I had money in the bank and stayed steady. These were the worst conditions I’ve ridden this area! At Bachelor the work on the bike was essentially over! I could feel my hands and feet getting a little warmer on the ride down as the temps went up a bit. Better conditions allowed for very little pedaling and lot’s of full aero-tucking. Hit T2 after 6:27 of biking, 28 minutes faster than last year in crappier conditions!

T2: I grew up in Alaska, so I didn't hit the tent. I'll warm up eventually!

Run: I’ve had some injuries this year that have kept me from getting any real running in and I knew that this was going to be a slog-fest. Kicked off the first 2 miles in 15 minutes…Uh oh! Then I started to have to pee more frequently than I ever have had to in my life! I got so sick of it that I taught myself how to pee while running. I’m sure that the aid station volunteers had flashbacks of changing pee sheets at 3 am when their kids were going through potty training! I tried not to stay long and said “Thank You” several times! Things came apart and those 7:30s dissolved into a few high 9 miles (although pee stops accounted for much of that!). I cruised into the finish line, had a seat, hugged my kids, kissed my wife and enjoyed about 2 minutes of sunshine before bundling up. I got myself a burrito and taco, bike, bags and drove home for a shower!

Nice RR! Great bike! Nice result! I am glad you found that flat before the swim.

p.s. edit. I think we should start a few more Leadman Threads. Three is not enough. Here's some suggestions:-
1) Leadman - who liked it?
2) Leadman - I won't do it again
3) Leadman, why wasn't the swim longer?
4) Leadman - That T1 tent was crowded
5) Who was that crazy with no wetsuit at Leadman?
6) 50mph and blue
7) My n*ts hurt at Leadman
8) Your official Leadman climb stats
9) How much rain was in your shoes - vented shoe thread
10) My Leadman
11) Leadman full Race Report
12) Why did all those people get buckles at Leadman, I worked my a$$ off. (applogies to SurfingLamb)
13) Leadman 2014 - who's in?
...and... :-)
14) Leadman vs. IMLT, which was harder?

I wasn't at the race, but based on 2012 and 2013 swim times I agree that the swim course is short. Having done the course can you see a reason the race director isn't making it 5K? Is there not enough room in the lake?

1) Leadman - who liked it? - loved it!
2) Leadman - I won't do it again - done it twice, love bend, will do it again
3) Leadman, why wasn't the swim longer? - felt longer than last year? maybe not. i know i swam farther with the stray bouys.
4) Leadman - That T1 tent was crowded - yes it was... and dark....
5) Who was that crazy with no wetsuit at Leadman? - not me. i think it was a girl. :)
6) 50mph and blue - guilty
7) My n*ts hurt at Leadman - guilty
8) Your official Leadman climb stats - faster than last year. no mechanical issues and better bike set up. also felt stronger. 7:18:xx
9) How much rain was in your shoes - vented shoe thread - lots. in my gloves too. and shirt. and arm warmers. and tri shorts. and gloves. i had a rainy wet soul before it was over....
10) My Leadman 1:23:xx, 5:xx, 7:18:xx, 3:xx, 2:05:xx = 10:55:xx
11) Leadman full Race Report - to come...
12) Why did all those people get buckles at Leadman, I worked my a$$ off. (applogies to SurfingLamb) - thought i got the small one. they gave me a big one instead. it made me happy, but not any warmer.
13) Leadman 2014 - who's in? if i dont do IMLT i am
...and... :-)
14) Leadman vs. IMLT, which was harder? our weather was worse. i think all that finished LM would have finished LT. i dont think thats true the other direction. but hard is relative. i did IMSG which had more elevation gain on the bike, but i think this bike course was harder. not just because of distance, but how the elevation was distributed. and this year, this bike course was a monster. pouring rain and cold led to uncontrollable shivers when descending into bend. i dont know what was more treacherous, the shivers and inability to feel my hands and feet at 50 mph this year, or the crosswind gusts with an 808 front getting beat on at 50 mph last year. as a side note, my fingertips still dont feel right.

---

~sarcasm saves lives

I did a very lengthy race report on this race on my blog http://chiizuruns.blogspot.com/ .

I would post it here (hate directing people to the blog posting because it seems like a cheap way to get hits) - but it's too long to copy/paste and doesn't format right when I do it.
Please take a look if you're interested in my thoughts on it.

Basically, I thought it was an awesome race and I had a great time.

I agree to an extent on this. I can see how someone doing the 250 would feel a bit cheapened by people doing the 125 getting buckles.

With that said, I thought it was cool of them to give the buckle to people competing in the 125 - especially with the time limits they originally set. I figured that the top 2 or 3 would be fast enough to earn a big buckle and the small buckles would be low in numbers as well. I don't think they should have expanded the time for the 125 at all.

The way I would do it:

First place in the 125 gets a big buckle. Everyone else under "X" time gets a small buckle.

People who finish under "x" time in the 250 get the big, under "x" time get the small.

I think that's the best way to do it. Someone getting a big belt buckle for finishing 5:00:14 in the 125 is kind of BS (although that could have very easily been me if not for a mistake on the course).

My argument is that the belt buckle is something to be earned - and if you're going to give them to the 125 people - they should be earned with a quicker time (not just "half of what the 250 is"). 250 should be about overcoming the course with endurance, the 125 should be about overcoming it with speed.

*shrugs* It is what it is. I'm planning on doing the 250 next year (assuming that my wife doesn't have another baby mid training ^_^ )

1) Leadman - who liked it? I loved it.
3) Leadman, why wasn't the swim longer? No idea. My buddy's 910 measured the 125 swim at 2270 meters - which sounds about right given the times.
4) Leadman - That T1 tent was crowded Completely skipped it so I wouldn't know ;)
5) Who was that crazy with no wetsuit at Leadman? Not a guy. That was a chick. And she swam fast. Talked with her a bit and she's a total fish - but pretty friendly and a cool person.
6) 50mph and blue Guilty as charged.
7) My n*ts hurt at Leadman Mine were actually ok, and I have John Cobb to thank for that (as weird as that sounds to someone who doesn't know what I'm talking about)
8) Your official Leadman climb stats The climb kind of killed me. I shouldn't have treated that first loop like a 40k time trial.
9) How much rain was in your shoes - vented shoe thread I caught a bit of the rain, but not a ton. I didnt put toe covers on though - so my feet were basically frozen going into T2.
11) Leadman full Race Report On my blog.
12) Why did all those people get buckles at Leadman, I worked my a$$ off. (applogies to SurfingLamb) Addressed in the previous post. This annoyed me though and I can imagine how annoyed someone who did the 250 would be.
13) Leadman 2014 - who's in? I'm 90% in for the 250. Already talking to my wife about a return trip. Will probably do the Tempe 125 as well.
...and... :-)
14) Leadman vs. IMLT, which was harder? I've had people tell me that IMLT was devastating, but it's hard to tell. Looking at the stats - it appears that Tahoe is tougher due to their DNF rate - but at the same time the weather for LT was basically the same as the Leadman weather was (maybe less severe) and I'd argue that Leadman was a tougher course. I agree with the previous poster that anyone who finished the 250 would finish LT.

You know. :-) It's not all her. You have a say (or should I say 'part') in that. :-) Personally, i'd say 'man up'. Ironman's and Leadman's don't really count until you have two or three + kids.

---

________________________________________________
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: beating you to T1 for over a decade, and working on beating you to T2...

i actually dont mind at all that they gave buckles to 125ers. i think its a great time/ effort based motivation, and unique award/ reward done by lifetime. i thought i heard that they still said "250" on them, and one guy who got one said he wished that they said "125". either way, the buckles are a cool idea.

i would say congrats to all that got them, and in truth, congrats to anyone that finished either the 125 or the 250. this course isnt a joke. its definitely the real deal. even the run course, with its 14 miles for the 250 hit me with my IM marathon mile splits. the constant rolling up and down played havoc with my rhythm, but did warm me up after about 3 miles. actually right as i started ascending the first big hill on meeks. but thats another story.

i wont be going for #3 next year though. after all this talk of the difficulty in Lk. Tahoe, I will be giving that course a go before it goes to join IMSG on the island of "non PR IMs" ;)

---

~sarcasm saves lives

I did the 125 and thought it was a great race -- and a huge "bravo zulu" to the Epic 250 finishers -- I am not worthy of wearing my belt buckle! (I will, however, stick it on the 'ol trophy stand). Sorry to hear about the lack of support for the late finishers -- that's too bad, and I hope the race organizers either improve their night time logistics effort or enforce an earlier cutoff... Anyway, here's my version of a 125 race report. See everyone next year!

 
1) Leadman - who liked it? - Loved it last year (125) and this year (250)
2) Leadman - I won't do it again. - No, I can say I am officially done with this race. Unless they add a Leadman Bend Offroad Tri? EPIC!
3) Leadman, why wasn't the swim longer? - As short as it was last year. Not sure why. Plenty of room in the lake. Advertise as 5km, should be 5km!
4) Leadman - That T1 tent was crowded - Didn't seem that crowded. My guess is the 125 tent was worse.
5) Who was that crazy with no wetsuit at Leadman? - Yeah, she was a badass. But I understand she was part of a relay team too, so no bike to go shiver on.
6) 50mph and blue. - First lap around Mt Bach, not bad, got to dry out in the flats. Second time 'round, not so much.
7) My n*ts hurt at Leadman. - Not me. Wore my Rapha bibs the whole day. If you don't have a pair, get some!
8) Your official Leadman climb stats. - (will update later, need to check the computer) Estimate: ~2000m in climbing. My local training (Cypress and Seymour Mtns) paid off though, as I passed a lot of folks on each ascent.
9) How much rain was in your shoes - vented shoe thread - Woolies, warm soles, and toes covers. Feet still soaked and cold.
10) My Leadman - Missed the 11th hour by 11:08. Still got the small buckle. Don't feel worthy of wearing it proudly though.
11) Leadman full Race Report - I think this has been covered enough.
12) Why did all those people get buckles at Leadman, I worked my a$$ off. (applogies to SurfingLamb) - 125 times should not have slid.
13) Leadman 2014 - who's in? - See Item 2.
...and... :-)
14) Leadman vs. IMLT, which was harder? Impossible to say, having not done IMLT. To address DNS/DNF rate at IMLT; those that sign up for an M-dot race, are certainly not as tough as those who would have signed up for Leadman250. :P </pink>

---

"The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy Seal, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

Same here. Mainly the index fingers now.

---

"The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy Seal, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

I'll bump this dead thread in honor of my better-late-than-never race report. It's way to long to copy/paste here. Sorry.

http://matthew-payne.blogspot.com/.../10/leadman-250.html

uh-oh... time for a new thread...

Was 250km in 2013 Ultra? Or just 'Long'? Who's guessing what length Ultra is? 350k?

---

________________________________________________
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: beating you to T1 for over a decade, and working on beating you to T2...

250k is the Ultra. The intermediate is a 1k swim, 75k bike and 8k run. Probably drops the ride around the reservoir, so straight back to Bend on the bike, then guessing the 8k drops the hill up Meeks Trail in Tetherow out. Would be a really easy course to support with those 2 changes.