Never done the race but I've been there. I think flying into Manchester (man-chest-a) would be your best bet.

super cool part of the country. Just going there would be worth it, even if you didn't race.

Lake winny is 26 miles long and has over 100 miles or shoreline. Super cool place. i always though that a marathon ON THE LAKE durring the winter when its frozen would be wicked sweet. Talk about a flat course.

Sorry, not much info, but I tried. Bump?

Timberman and the endurfun folks are great. I did timberman last year. I Drove up so I have no air travel knowledge.

Great race that is well organized super nice area and really enthusiastic volunteers.

do a search and you will find lots of threads about timberman and Keith Jordan the rd who lurks here often.

kevin

You can fly into Boston Logan Airport and drive. The drive should be under 2 hours. There are lots of places to stay since the lake is a big resort area. I've never done the race, but friends who have say it is beautiful and very well run.

I just signed up for Timberman - my first HIM. My wife's family is from the area - it IS a wonderful place in the world, second only to Burlington, Vt in my opinion. If anything it will be a beautiful place to race, if not a little challenging.

To fly, Manchester is your best bet - its about 1.5 hours to the race site from the airport. Logan would be an additional 45-60 min depending on traffic, from what I recollect. I would strongly encourage you to fly into Manchester its much more organized and laid back compared to Logan. Less traffic too. I usually fly on Southwest up to MHT from RDU and usually its not terribly expensive, however I don't know how Southwest is regarding bike baggage.

Regarding losdging, there are lots of places to stay - on the timberman tri page they list off some places to stay, but overall Lake Winni is a touristy-kind-of area as one of the other respondents said. There are hotels, B&Bs, summer rentals and such all over the place in that area. Unfortunately since I am in NC, I don't have any specific places to give to you. If you're really stuck you can PM me and I'll see what I can dig up.

See you at the races!

jsargevt

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Do or do not there is no try.

Very nice race. The area is a bit touristy for my taste, but I live in the middle of nowhere so I'm not used to concentrations of people. I'd fly into Manchester or Boston, whatever is cheapest. If you're driving up to NH on Friday night, beware that the traffic can be ugly as you approach the lake area.

Get accommodations reserved early, because the places listed on the website fill up fast. Some have 3 night minimums, some don't. If you don't mind being away from the lake, I found the Gunstock Inn to be relatively inexpensive and they let me stay one night. Took about 10 minutes to drive down to the race site.

One more tip: on race morning, get down there a bit earlier than you might normally get to the race. The cars going into the park get pretty backed up.

If you have other specific questions about the area or logistics, the forum on the Timberman site is helpful, and you will almost always get a response from Keith the race director within 24 hours.

Enjoy.

I've done Timberman in '01 and '04, and it is one of the best races you can find. Keith Jordan pulls out all of the stops, and for this year he has added "Timbervillage", at Gunstock, where lodging and all race-related activities will occur. This is only about 10 minutes from the race site at Ellacoya, so the whole weekend will be very compactly-located. There are lots of lodging options nearby, but some are pricey; in '01 I stayed at the Red Roof in Loudon, about 25 minutes from Ellacoya, and that worked well. As for flying in, I'd look into Manchester. That airport services a lot of flights daily, and not only is it closer to Ellacoya than is Logan, but it avoids the hassles of driving in and out of Boston. You can drive from Manchester to Ellacoya in about an hour.

As for the race itself, it is a classic. The swim is in Lake Winnipesaukee, rectangular with buoys to your right. Both years I did T-man it was calm, but it has the potential to be fairly rough water. Clear water, beautiful views (your last few moments of absolute tranquility for several hours....). The bike is a single-loop out-and-back involving climbs in the first and last 12 miles and a long flat-to-rolling section in the middle. This long section is along Route 106, from the end of Leavitt Road to the turnaround and back, is the place to hammer it. There two steep climbs, the most taxing occuring on Route 107 just before the turn onto Leavitt Road; this makes for a terrific descent on the return, however. The run is a double out-and-back, rolling and skirting the lake for much of its course; it is great for viewing the competition! Aid on the run is outstanding. The entire course is quite challenging, but certainly doable and very rewarding.

The pro field is stacking up nicely. Peter Reid, Michael Lovato, Andrea Gillam Lovato, and Spencer Smith have all signed on, with others apparently scratching at the door. If this year is like last year, the pros will be very generous with their time. Last year they put on a very informative panel discussion, and Andrea Fisher conducted a swim clinic as well. The expo is very good, as is the carbo-load and especially the Saturday morning pancake breakfast.

Timberman has been just about perfect in the past, and I think it will now reach that pinnacle with the inclusion of Timbervillage this year. I hope you make it up there (check the registration level, as it might be close to its capacity!), as I'm sure you'll have a phenomenal weekend.

I've done Timberman the past 2 years...and I'll say it's very well organized and the venue is terrific. Keith does a great job. It's definitely worth doing. The accomodations are another story. They're okay. Most are mom and pop type places...where you feel like the linens just came out of the back of the closet. All in all it's fine...but just don't expect any 4-5 star hotels.

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Pat Dwyer
@pdwyer99

I'd HIGHLY recommend flying into Manchester, NH. Boston is a nightmare, and a much farther drive. Manchester is about an hr. Tons of direct flights there now, and easy to get in/out.

For accommodations, go to the www.timbermantri.com accommodations page. All kinds of lodging available, from the "mom and pop" type stuff to very nice...Feel free to email me directly at keith@timbermantri.com if you've found something that you're not sure about...

Just about to announce a big Clam Bake/Lobster dinner for the Sunday night bonfire/band post-race party at Gunstock. We'll have some special guest speakers as well. It's well worth it to stay Sunday evening....