I did this race yesterday in Jim Thorpe, Pa and I wanted to recommend it. I have nothing but great things to say about this race. It was the hardest Olympic Distance races I have ever done. The swim was in a really clean lake surrounded by two steep mountains; if I did not know I was in the Poconos, I would have thought I was back at IM Austria. The bike had a very serious climb two miles in and some other good climbs plus good mountain scenery and some sections through 19th century coal mining towns. The run was one of the hardest runs I have ever done. Gradually downhill on a nice trail that was in good shape, out of the trail to an absolute monster of a climb that caused me to discover my VO2 max, down the hill and back to the trail for a gradual 2-mile uphill to the finish. Brutal run, but very fun. This would be a great race to get ready for Survival of the Shawangunks. There were plenty of bathrooms, and you could jump in the lake or shower afterwards, which makes the ride home much more pleasant.
The town, Jim Thorpe, is 19th century coal mining town turned tourist spot. There's a few very nice restaraunts that are BYOB, which is nice because there is a wine store that lets you taste and buy locally produced wine. Who knew that Poconos wine could be really good? Our hotel was nice and not expensive. It looks like there is fantastic mountain biking in the area and there are a couple of mountain bike stores.
Now if only I was about 10-minutes faster, or not in the men 35-39 age group, because the age group awards were really cool lumps of coal.
I didn’t do the Anthracite this year, but have done it twice and echo Jon’s good review. Tough, beautiful course, very friendly vibe, good size (enough to feel like a real event, but not so many to feel crowded). Last year they’d had a lot of rain, so the trail part of the run was a bit rough–lots of ruts and slippery rocks and roots. Fun in an xterra kind of way, but a little scary for turned ankles, and everybody ran pretty slow (I don’t think the outright winner even ran sub-7 miles.) Even with the trail in good shape, that hill Jon mentions is right at the run turnaround and really is brutal. Also–I’m not one for trophies and finishers medals, but I do covet one of those lumps of coal!
I’ve done Anthracite both last year and this year (yesterday). It’s a fun little race!!
You don’t happen to recall the top finishing times in the Male 30-34 AG, do you? We split right after, but my time this year would have gotten me #3 last year.
you didn’t stay to see if you got a lump of coal?
*Now if only I was about 10-minutes faster, or not in the men 35-39 age group, because the age group awards were really cool lumps of coal. *
tell me about it!
i was there too, same AG. i think 7 of the top 10 finishers were from our AG.
i did it last year, somewhat on a whim. (i’d been dissapointed by not being able to swim at the philadelphia tri, not sure why as i’m a lousy swimmer, but i did this one as a make-up - signed up 3 days before the race). went back this year because i really liked the atmosphere. i like smaller races, biking hills, and running on soft surfaces, so it’s a good fit for me. it’s a fun race, it’s just not a good one for placing in the M35-39. I also think it might have been a more competitive field than last year, as I knocked around 15 minutes off of my time but only moved up 5 places. (the overall number of racers might have increased, too).
No, I didn’t. We live 2 hrs away, and wanted to get home to get some things done before the weekend slipped away. We went up the night before.
Does anyone know if this race for 2008 will be scheduled. I haven’t seen any updates on it. I hope the race director has this race for 2008. It’s such a great race. Top ten…
I have not seen if it will be held in 2008. I checked the website a few times because if its back, I want to do it again, but it still has the 2007 date listed. I enjoyed this race a lot more than I enjoy bigger races.
Date for the '08 event is July 20, 2008.
Registration is supposed to be available within the next week or so.
Thanks - I’ll be back; luckily I did not sign up for anything that weekend yet.
Brian…Thanks for the update. Great race…great town…Jim Thorpe. If you bring your spouse & family to the race this is the town to bring them to. I’m tired of the Long Island races which are over priced & over rated. This race has a family style to it. In fact after the race the kids can swim in the lake.
I couldn’t agree more, we all had a great time in the race as well as the post-race party. I just had to do some digging to remember what year I had done in and thanks to google found our results from '03 (I can’t believe it was 5yrs ago that we were there…I’m still bitter over a wrong turn on the bike and those 5sec which cost me some $$$ ;o).
I’m not sure they still do this, but in addition to the $$ awards, one of the best things about it was the prizes were actually a piece of polished coal (i.e. coal mining country). Those creative little things make it special and find a nice place on the shelf. If I can get healthy, I’m planning on doing it this yr, but that is a HUGE *if *for me at this stage.
Hope to make it though - great event.
Anthracite 2008 is now open for sign up. You can’t miss this race. Clean water swim, Kick ass bike, great run, great price & very well managed. You can’t go wrong with this race.
i can’t believe they still use the geociites website…
Cool. I’m going to sign up again. Now if only I can “shave” a huge amount off my time from last year, I can improve from 6th to 3rd in my age group and bring home a lump of coal (its like triathlon’s equivalent to a piece of the pave from Paris-Roubaix).
How would you feel about a kids Splash and Dash Saturday afternoon during packet pickup? I have some inside information that this is in the works. Nothing is settled yet but it is being worked on. The thinking is that this will add to the family experience.