Further, does anybody have an elevation profile?

Send a personal message to Felix Weilenmann (felix_w) who posts here on Slowtwitch and lives in Bern Switzerland. Last year, he raced Roth (sub 10), Ironman Switzerland in Zurich and then Zofingen.

You can just sign up. No need to qualify. If you fly into Zurich from North America (direct flights from NY, Chicago, Toronto etc), it is actually a pretty easy trip and can be done pretty cheap especially if you camp near the race site (which many Euros do). Zofingen is <1 hour from Zurich airport (at least it felt that way when I drove past there last summer).

While in Switzerland, you should ride from Interlaken to Sustenpass, Grimselpass and Furkhapass. This is very cool mountain riding with stunning views of glaciers and high mountain dams. Each climb is >1600 me of elevation gain. You might be pretty trashed after Zofingen, but it is still worth it if you can hang around for a week and do these climbs. Very different from the Alpine climbs of the Tour de France.



Dev

Dev--thanks for the info!! i'm still curious why some races call themselves Zofingen qualifying races then. anyway, thanks again and i'll try to get a hold of felix.

I'll second what devashish paul said. I live in Zurich and can confirm Zofingen is pretty close. Felix__w (I think that's his name here) has done it and will know more about the atmosphere, venue, etc.. as I have not done it.

If you need any other info let me know and I'll see if I can help you out.

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Searching for the bliss of ultimate exertion.

There used to be too many participants years ago, but the last years there have been no need to qualify.

It's easy to go by train from Zurich airport - 1H. Zofingen is a nice small town, no need for own car.

The town and race is highly recommended.

i've done zofi 5 times. You don't necessarily have to qualify, but its highly recommended that you do something like PM Alabama to get a taste of a 'zofingen-like' course. There are/were course profiles on their website, www.powerman.ch. The course is harder than the profile indicates.

I love this race. Its not a big production like a m-dot race, or like the big races here in the US. No semitrucks, no supersized expo area. This race treats you more like family. Just talk to another racer or one of the many voluteers or race staff. The entry fee is about $220. After doing this race once, I see no value in paying $400+ to do a race with 2,000 and get treated like a number.

As the others mentioned, lots to see in the area. The ride to Sustenpass is amazing. Germany, France, Liechenstein, Austria & Italy are very close. My personal favorite day trip is going down to Bellagio, Italy and seeing the Madonna di Ghisallo chapel. By car its ~3hours from Zofingen. Bellagio itself is somewhat 'tourist-y' but the area surrounding it is beautiful.

John, it is on my list of things "to do"...that and the old Nice LC tri (which I guess I have now missed permanently). What is the best way to train for the Zofingen run. I hear you should do lots of up and downhill trail running. I hear that it takes longer to recover from the course at Zofingen than an Ironman ! Ouch.



Note the new race weekend date of Aug 21/22...that means it is during summer vacation season (ie kids are not in school) !