Just wondering if anyone heard anything about the race and if it’s happening or not? https://www.americanzofingenduathlon.com
I’m interested in this, too. Some time ago, the dates were normally the week after Mother’s Day or the week before Memorial Day. These coincide this year, so maybe the weekend of 21 May? But more recently, the dates have been later in the year, I believe, but I don’t know if that is some post-pandemic temporary thing, or something that is more ‘permanent’. The website does say that the dates are ‘coming soon’.
That looks like a great race!
There’s a few posters that have been doing it for many iterations (I believe one is Murphy’s Law), by all accounts it’s a great and hard local race. It was on my schedule for 2017 but they ended up having to cancel it due to road construction. The road work ended up being done by the race date so I went out and rode the course - super scenic with a good amount of climbing and descending. We moved out of the NYC area at the end of the year so I haven’t been able to get back around when it’s run, so can’t comment on the running course but I’ve heard it can be a beast, especially if it has rained recently (and even if not, it’s still mostly trail running). Would love to do it at some point as it sounds like it has an amazing community around it too.
Thank you for the details. It does sound like a great race. I’ve been desperate to find challenging/competitive long course duathlons in the US but looks like you really have to go to Europe to find well attended duathlons. I used to live in NY and raced bikes/rode in that area a lot… I moved to California but nothing beat “the Gunks”. This one has been on my bucket list for a while but I was hesitant flying all the way out to NY due to the very small women field but looks like the course is challenging enough in itself and I keep hearing so many great things about the course and the grassroots atmosphere that I’d love to do it IF I can figure out the logistics… which is why it would be great to know the date (even if tentative… I know that permits in the area is challenging)!!!
Bumping this one up - any Intel on whether this race is happening in 2023? Website says stay tuned for 2023 date but little weird it’s not there yet?
I’ve got to say that, with it being March already and the race being in May it’s not looking good.
I’m a 3 time short course and 1 time mid distance finisher and AZ has been my favorite race for years. Here is the original drawing of the bike course that John sent me to post here when he dreamed up the race;
The first climb is murderous but once you get to the top, if you push it hard enough through the ‘‘S’’ curves at the top, you’ll easily top 50 mph going down the other side if you can stay in your tuck. Don’t get too comfortable because you’ll be going into a hard 90* turn at speed. The second climb is not as tough but it’s miles long. The worst one is a little bump a couple mile from transition when your legs are already trashed and then you have to climbs back to transition.
I’m pretty sure the run has 4 hard climbs. The uphills are on single track but the downs are on carriage roads so you don’t have to worry. But they will pound you silly.
Here’s a shot of me on the bike course on a beautiful day of AZ weather when it was 35* and raining;
Here I am finishing on a better day;
So, yes, I love AZ. I’m now almost 73 and my legs can’t do it anymore. I was ready to be the first 70 year old to finish short course in 2020 but covid cancelled it. I was there last year as a volunteer and if it does come off, I’ll be there again this year.
You could really just stay in California and beat your head against the wall and get the same AZ experience but if you do want to get to the place that AZ takes you, check out the Berkeley Trail Adventure in Berkeley. I did the 1/2 marathon once and it really did it to me. The 50k winner that year was an AZ winner from a previous year.
https://www.runguides.com/event/3173/berkeley-trail-adventure
I hope AZ does come off this year and I hope to see you there!
Hope it happens. Love this event and I need redemption after stupidly going the wrong way on first run last year adding a couple miles to a tough run course, even when you do it properly. Welcoming, low key, friendly, great post-race hangout, lumpy trail run, challenging scenic bike. Number of grey hairs it gives you depends on weather and your tolerance for submitting to gravity.
I’ll definitely look up the AZ race too… we need more competitive and/or challenging duathlons in the US! I hate that all the (few) duathlons around me are “2nd thoughts” races organized alongside triathlons and targeting beginners.
2 time long course finisher. This is my absolute favorite race of all time. It is very hard which i think scares off a lot of people.
If you do a search, you will find many, many thread about this race. A lot of those threads are well known for the “smack talkâ€â€¦all in good fun.
It’s planned for June 4th this year per the race director. I am deferred from the original Covid year and hoping for long course
American Zofingen WILL BE HAPPENING for 2023!
I will be stepping in to assist Tom as RD so if you have any questions about the race please feel free to reach out. We will be updating our Facebook page and will soon have an Instagram account to please make sure you follow both for updates…
Sign up on the website and make sure you sign the waiver too.
Long course is calling your name!!! Put in those hours now!
idk, if Murphy’s Law (practically the godtather or AZ) has responded to this thread, it may be dead. Or it just ain’t what is used to be.
American Zofingen WILL BE HAPPENING for 2023!
I will be stepping in to assist Tom as RD so if you have any questions about the race please feel free to reach out. We will be updating our Facebook page and will soon have an Instagram account to please make sure you follow both for updates…
Sign up on the website and make sure you sign the waiver too.
Long course is calling your name!!! Put in those hours now!
Thanks for stepping up, Colin!!
I’ve been in hiatus up until now, but yes - **THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!! **
Part of me wants to give the GCG F1 Middle Distance another go again, but then I look at the…
/checks notes
// 48 total miles of running that I’ve done YTD in 2023 (9 of which was just this past week), and maybe I’ll just go with Canadian Womens Division once again.
Hope to see some of the ST crew out there!
It’s still one of the most beautiful, hardest, best-supported races in the country, and is THE BEST VALUE in the entire world of multisport!!!
Ride on!
ML
Bump.
Just rode & ran the course this am w my neighbor
(Who is a noobie multisport guy, but from a very strong cycling background)
and both courses are in EXCELLENT shape!!
The minefield section over in the ‘Honk has been (mostly) patched, so it’s pretty decent, except a little towards the end, not far before the hairpin turn onto Upper Granite.
Run course overall is very good - still a bit muddy/wet in the usual spots during the first mile, but otherwise looking really good.
It just seems like every year I get older, “they†keep turning up the gravity on all the hills.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
For some inexplicable reason, Towpath Road (on the far side of the course, near-ish the end of the bike loop) was freshly CHIP-SEALED this week!!!
I rode it on Sat (prior to this abomination), and it was in perfectly cromulent condition.
I will be out over there tomorrow, and advise as to how nasty it is, and if a possible course modification may be needed.
Stay tuned.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
For some inexplicable reason, Towpath Road (on the far side of the course, near-ish the end of the bike loop) was freshly CHIP-SEALED this week!!!
I rode it on Sat (prior to this abomination), and it was in perfectly cromulent condition.
I will be out over there tomorrow, and advise as to how nasty it is, and if a possible course modification may be needed.
Stay tuned.
Following up!
OK, **the chipseal section kinda blows, but it’s totally rideable. **
3 of us on road bikes rode it yesterday, and the worst part was all the dust from passing cars.
There’s been enough car traffic such that there are “wagon wheel tracks” that’s pretty well packed down.
However, if you stray to the sides of that, it’s corrugated like a cheese grater = not pleasant.
At the far end of Towpath, there’s a section that makes a sharp R turn, then goes over a small bridge.
You will have to SLOW DOWN for this turn a LOT more now than prior - it’s more than a little sketchy on skinny road tires, so take it ez there.
Figure it’ll be like 1-3 mins slower thru that ~3m section than it used to be.
So, not ideal, but not a dealbreaker either.
I wish I could participate this year, but I already signed up for a tri on the same date.
But, I was chatting after a running even last weekend, and I may have convinced one of the local trail runners to give AmZof (CWD) a shot. I hope he does it so that I can hear the stories of the adventure.
I did LC in 08 and SC in 09. awesome race! grass roots feel with a challenging (but totally doable) course. Its a real shame that races like this and savageman fall by the wayside. i hope it comes back to life, but not many registered last time i looked. 3 distances is fine when you’ve got a bunch registered, maybe they should consider consolidating to just short course (which is still a challenge!)
I did LC in 08 and SC in 09. awesome race! grass roots feel with a challenging (but totally doable) course. Its a real shame that races like this and savageman fall by the wayside. i hope it comes back to life, but not many registered last time i looked. 3 distances is fine when you’ve got a bunch registered, maybe they should consider consolidating to just short course (which is still a challenge!)
And perhaps rebrand it. Calling a 3 hour race (for most) “short” doesn’t seem right.