I did the US Half Championships last year. It's an extremly well organized event. Mark Livesay does a wonderful job, I would put it on par with any IM event if not better. The course itself is tougher then you will determine from the profile. KC can get into the high 80's even in late September and the bike and run course offer very little shade. The entire 56 is almost all rollers, and the run consist of the hills which just seem to wear on you. Its definately a challenging course but nothing scary. As far as location, it's not much. It's certainly not dreary, but like I mentioned not much shade. Lots of farmland.

Never heard of pineman but the US Half is a great race. It's a very fast course despite the bike rollers. There is no better RD in the country than Mark Livesay, you won't be disappointed by the race. I reviewed last year's race if you are interested, I am sure this year will be better. Mark is all about listening to the customers & making improvements.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ng=us%20half;#207500

I did Pineman last year. How far would you be traveling from? It is a good race director and usually a well supported race, but the scenery sucks. 2 loops on the bike with 1 hill about 300 feet long, besides that it is totally flat cornfields. The run is a double out and back completely flat and unshaded. The course could yield some fast times if the winds are low, but last year the remains of one of the Florida Hurricanes came through and we had 40mph sustained winds all day.

I would probably do it again, but it is only 30 minutes from my house, If I had to travel 4+ hours I would have 2nd thoughts.

Good food, well organized, lots of water and sports drink on the course. Just pretty blah as far as overall fun factor.

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Striving to have sex more than 66 times per year

I did the original Pineman in '99 near Mansfield, Ohio. They may have changed the course, but if not it is a VERY challenging/hilly course. The race in K.C. is a "championship" event, so I suspect there may be some fast folks. I don't think you can go wrong either way. Another option in the midwest is the Iowa Pigman - never done it, but consider it one of the classics.

Can't comment about the US half.

The pineman is a nice lowkey no frills event. Not really difficult at all. (1 hill 2x on the bike) and relatively free of traffic. Weather is generally nice too as it starts to get cool here in the midwest that time of year.

I am signed up for the US Half as my first 1/2 Ironman. I am from KC, so that makes it nice that it is close. See you there maybe. . .

I did the original Pineman in '99. It was poorly run and seemed more like "amateur hour" than a professionally organized event.

Although I've heard HFP has improved its long course races since then, I swore I'd never attend again.

Feel free to contact me offline if you'd like more information.

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http://wattieink.com/elite-team/
Raising funds to help wounded veterans and racing RAAM 2013 with http://team4mil.org/
"If you are gonna charge... CHARGE HARD!"

Having done Pineman 1/2 and full at it's current location. I'd strongly recommend the US Half Championships sight unseen.

I live 20 - 25 minutes from the course and I was thinking about driving to VA, OK, CO, or KS to get a half in that same time of year.

2 laps of everything. Bike course roads are not good, course is flat, competition is thin, run is a two lap out and back so you see everything 4 times on that.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

I'm sorry to hear some poor reviews of HFP. I did their Paint Valley Tri last summer and was completely impressed. IMO it was very professionally run, great support, a competitive field, and all road hazards were circled in spray paint.

I would definitely do an HFP race again and was considering the pineman if I can recover from my torn calf muscle.

I am not affliiated in any way with HFP.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

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http://www.aiatriathlon.com

I agree with the raves about any Mark Livesay race. I did the full Ultramax last year on the same course (my first IM) and can't say enough good things about the production and the course. No shade, but fairly pretty (for the midwest). While I am in the minority, however, I found the bike course to be pretty difficult. I live in the mountains outside Denver and all my rides involve serious climbing. It's probably that I was just not used to rollers, but I found the constant up/down harder than the big passes I am used to. Good luck.