Really? I also felt like the swim was long (didn’t track on my watch so can’t validate that), but was pleasantly surprised to swim a 28:30 even though going in I didn’t think I’d even break 30. Maybe it’s because I was in the last wave (18-24) and probably got a good draft although I didn’t spend much time on anyone’s feet.

The bike was awesome. Definitely didn’t feel like 2700 feet, but I am local so I was pretty used to the hills.

I'm a 1:21 open half. Ran 1:29 two weeks ago at Choo and yesterday died. It was everything I could do to muster a 1:47. Those last two miles uphill were made by the devil. Heat usually doesn't affect me. I ran awesome at Choo in about the same heat, but on Sunday it did. I'm going to try and forget that run, and think about how sexy my bike split was. lol

I have a bad record at Raleigh. I actually preferred last year's course to what we saw on Sunday.

Also, great meeting a few of you guys this weekend. Loved the In and Out sports store in Cary. I really appreciate all of you guys' help.

I read a race review by one of the top age groupers..."A few miles on the surface of The Sun."

sounds about right.

My open HM time is about a 1:40 or so I believe and I cranked out a 1:47 (must have biked to easy...LOVE that rolling perfectly paved bike course!) and felt like I was cruise control for the first half of the run! I loved the variety and all the shade in the middle! Started to overheat once or twice around the on/off ramps, but walked the aid stations for sponges and ice and solved that quickly enough. Then the inside sole of my left shoe worked its way bunched up and over the top of my foot due to all the turns, which made for an interesting stride the last 5 miles or so. Volunteers were all incredible and thanks to the group with the fun music at the end of Hunt Dr....loved dancing my way through there :) Great day, great race. Sad there won't be another.

[/quote]I read a race review by one of the top age groupers..."A few miles on the surface of The Sun."

sounds about right.[/quote]
Agreed- the run was brutal crossing over the highway and the on/off ramps without any cloud cover. Kudos to the volunteers who were liberally giving out ice- much appreciated. This was my first time at Raleigh so no comparison to previous years but I was surprised that was the best run course they could muster. Seems like Ironman mailed it in once it was announced this was the last year.

On a positive note, I heard that the Pease brothers crossed the finish line and were each given a lei- not sure if that means they're heading to Kona but pretty inspirational to watch them race.

Cheers

The old course which is along Hillsborough Street is all under major construction on different parts of the roads. This area only has 2 areas it can go on, Hillsborought Street or Western (this new course). Western Blvd issue is that it was going to have to include greenway as shutting down the other roads would have been bigger pia. Shutting down Hillsborough Street is different in that most of the side roads are for the university so a Sunday in June is easy to close. Sunday in June closing down several different larger roads would have just been bigger headache (likely more $$ as well....and since # were down.....there you go)

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

They did invite two individuals to head to Kona late in the day around 3:30pm finish time. I couldn't understand much of what the announcer was saying, but that would fit!

Did any of the dancing look like this?



That was, Carl Bonner, our volunteer captain and long time triathlete and KQer from the good old days. He’s rocking Xterras now and hoping for a shot at Dancing With The Nerds. :)

Glad you liked the aid station!

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

Sad to see this race go, although it was tough, I really enjoyed it. And, it definitely lived up to the "honest" course hype. Thanks so much to all the volunteers!!!

I usually run a 1:40 HM, ran a 2:09 at Raleigh 70.3 on Sunday ::Facepalm:: .. A couple factors may have gone into that, but yeah.. It was quite a death march, felt like 50% of the people walked. The run course wasn't terribly hard, just... odd.

The run course in 2013 was hard & the heat that day was also miserable.

The run course used from 2014-2017 was a good course.

Didnt race this year, but the course on paper plus the heat/humidity seemed like it should rival 2013 in difficultty.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

The problem with the run course here is that it just didn't flow. Atleast with the run courses when it was on Hillsborough Street, it made sense. You run 3 miles out, 3 miles back x 2. It was easy, it was wide, there was no issues. This year we had 4km distance of people running in 4 different directions over 2 lanes. That's how bad it was for them to "find" miles for where they had to.

I dont like races that don't "flow" well....like you can tell when an RD is simply is finding real estate and when they aren't. It was almost the perfect sad ending to what I think can be a very good quality/fair course.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I understand Raleigh city council no longer wants running events downtown. This years course was a mess but may have been IM only choice. A RD sometimes can only work with whats given to them. The climb to the turnaround and eventually to the finish was extremely hot and I was on a bike with the second pro male. Mid afternoon had to be brutal.

Exactly. Couldn’t get into a rhythm. The part where there was 4 running lanes was just so awkward.

I also checked my laps/distance with other people too because I was worried I’d miss a turn/loop.

I ride my bike through that run area all the time as a pass thru to other parts of town. I like to get from Umstead gravel over to the Dix cyclocross course for a few laps then head home.

To be honest, they had better options for your guys/gals.

If they were already using greenway, they had better options with a balance to competitors and road shutdowns. Heck, take Walnut g/w east, then take one of those super quiet neighborhood streets north, then west on Crabtree g/w, then Dennis Dr to Oakwood and back downtown. Or reverse that and make it right turns.

Basically, lookup any of about a dozen Crankarm group ride maps and use one of them. Those are all about 13mi and use some very low volume streets and a little greenway.

Someone fell asleep putting that run together.

Oh I’m not blaming the RD I know they likely couldn’t have gone much past Gorman and western. But it was a pretty bullshit course for an IM quality event. I just think it was a very fitting ending with this race with how badly the city and IM were done with it.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

If you notice they’ve never used any quiet neighborhood roads as that likely wasn’t on the table ever. Keeping it around ncsu kept the road closures to a min last few years and this year allowed 1 lane of western blvd to stay open. Even when it was Hillsborough only with how it was beside ncsu that minimized the side street closures.

So I don’t think they were ever going to use neighborhood road and keep it closed til 5pm. Those ITB’ers would have roasted the race and city council going that direction.

I dont know if the rides you mention include road closures.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I agree how the race has been mishandled. I look more at the city. Earlier date would be better but could not affect Artplosure. IM has been known to change race dates (Florida, NO) but never a whiff of it happening here. With a wetsuit swim and cooler temps, this race could have stayed in the 2K range forever. A lot of triathletes within driving distance of Raleigh. Word I heard from “my sources” was that Raleigh was hard to work with.

I know it’s too late but could they not keep the race in the Triangle and have the finish in the north Cary/western Wake Co. area? Plenty of hotels around there and it’s much closer to the airport and Jordan Lake. There’s plenty of races that aren’t city centric. For example, the Syracuse 70.3 doesn’t actually take place in Syracuse.

Just thinking out loud.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Could they? Sure they would just be dealing with all new city councils...exchange Raleigh city council for Cary/Apex. So I'm not sure if an race has completely re changed it's entire setup at the same "location" before. I'm assuming Syracuse has kept the same locations for it's events, and not had to either re-do the permits or wait out the contract and then changed for new cities.

What your essentially suggesting is just make it the old Jordan Lake 70 tri that was around before the IM event and just maybe finish at Bond Park or something.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

How about a "Biltmore 70.3"?

And there would be less draw for locals. For a 70.3 if you push it out away from the restaurants, stores, hotels, then it just creates congestion without revenue. It will be a hard sell to tell the city council that they need all of these resources with little money being put back into the local economy. A 140.6 has enough of a footprint that you _can_ take these events and push them further away if you need to. But it's easier if you don't have to.

Spot on. We spent over $100 at a vegan restaurant in two days, paid for parking multiple times, had a hotel for two nights and paid the local tax on that, kids went to the childrens museum with my wife while I raced.

Oh there would be no way they move it out to Cary and/or Jordan Lake only. He was just thinking out loud, and my response was, sure they could. But they won't. It's done.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Possible. The good thing about Raleigh that for it’s size, it is fairly easy to get to the downtown area from the south due to the location of the NC State Farm property. Then you are in an area with plenty of parking, hotels, and restaurants. Sad situation to see it go. I did three and volunteered at the other three.

Did you guys see the information on the FS Series website for the Crystal Coast "Full Booty" & "Half Booty" races set for May 2019 in Beaufort, NC?

its May 12, 2019. Probably would be a good time of year for the race. June was too late for Raleigh 70.3 & mid-April for the White Lake Half is too early for some. With Raleigh70.3 now gone, I think this has the potential to be a decent sized half. I still feel the full will be small-ish.

Edit to fix date.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.