I moved to California and was a little surprised there are not more races in the fall. I was looking for a good half-ironman race and a friend recommended the Big Kahuna.
Anyone raced it before?
Based off last years splits, it looks like a pretty hard swim, with a pretty fast (flat) ride and run.
Chad
P.S. I’m already signed up (for $190-I guess I miss one thing about the east coast—cheaper races), so I was just looking for some more detailed course feedback than the website gives.
Others will post, but I heard the swim last year was waaaay long. Should be better this year. I will be there.
$190 is standard for a No Cal 1/2. That is the one distance we have a lot of out here.
There are at least 2 race reports on Silicon Valley tri club site.
http://www.svtriclub.org/reports.htm
I think there were also a bunch at trinewbies.com if you search.
Dave
I’ve done the Santa Cruz Sentinel numerous times and I think the swim is pretty much the same (around the pier). I’ve always loved this swim. Never been difficult in Sept/Oct. But the oceans are unpredictable. If a storm’s abrewing, you could get some good 3-6 foot swells. The Sentinel is an Oly, but generally the same course profile, fast bike (rollers) and a flat run. I generally race in the Monterey area, good races. But…like you said, they are getting very pricey. I’ve had to limit my races this year.
Good luck,
Chris
Sentinel and Kahuna rock. Venue is breathtaking, courses are reasonably fast, weather will be great. Do you body surf? If not, better buzz over to the beach and practice going in and out. Waves are usually calm (3-5 feet) but at Sentinel in '02 they had 10-12 footers and a lot folks ended up in the medical tent with whiplash from Neptune’s pile-driver.
10-12 footers. I don’t know about that. I’d say on average 5 footers in '02. The photo you are thinking of of Sentinel '02 was my wave, triathletes in pink caps starting the swim. 10-12 feet sure does sound better though.
Anyway, it’s a good race and the swim was way long last year. I’ve heard anywhere from 1.4 to 1.6 miles. Bike consists of biggish rollers along Highway 1. There are no climbs per se. I guess this depends on where you come from. There is a pretty good description of the run above. There are beautiful views along the bike and run and you finish on the beach in front of the boardwalk. It’s definitely a race worth doing.
Swim - goes around the pier so prepare to swallow some sea lion funk. Last year the RD owned up to the fact that they remeasured it at 1.6 miles. The year before it was only a mile.
Bike - steady stream of rollers so the course isn’t flat but it isn’t hilly either. usually a headwind as you head north.
Run - flat and pretty
Its a great, scenic race. For my money its hard to beat swimming around the pier and running and cycling along the coast.
“10-12 footers. I don’t know about that. I’d say on average 5 footers in '02. The photo you are thinking of of Sentinel '02 was my wave, triathletes in pink caps starting the swim. 10-12 feet sure does sound better though.”
I thought that was a little steep, but that was the official coast guard statement - 10-12 foot breakers.
Is this the picture you were thinking of? Definitely higher than 6 feet, by some margin. I’m the 97th guy from the left, in the sleeveless Orca wetsuit…
Did you do '03? Did you see this guy? (That’s NOT a rock in the middle of the photo…)
“It appears the waves are not above the heads of standing swimmers.”
“Those waves would not be listed as ‘overhead’. They look to be in the 3-4 range, as they are measured from the top of the water, not from the sand underneath.”
“2-5 feet with overhead set waves, we used to say. But that was Assateague and a long time ago. ((((Sigh))))”
The Pacific Ocean has real waves. On the Eastern shore you couldn’t even surf decent breakers when Agnes blew half the coast inside out.
I was in the first wave in '02. It wasn’t all that…
Even the bigger waves that hit when the women started weren’t big enough to cause a problem unless you didn’t know what to do when one approached (nice picture somewhere of a woman leaning backwards with her arm up in the air watching the wave that was about to piledrive her right into the beach lol).
OT
Ah…here it is:
http://www.santacruzphotogallery.com/gallery/album08/3_G
Another nice one:
http://www.santacruzphotogallery.com/gallery/album08/2_G
And here is our boy from last year:
http://www.santacruzphotogallery.com/gallery/album10/29stri4
Gotta love this race!
“I was in the first wave in '02. It wasn’t all that…”
It actually picked up considerably by the later waves. One of the organizers told me they’d never had so many DNFs, and over two dozen people in the medical tent for neck injuries. For those of us who grew up body surfing those waves, it was no probléma. For the pool and lake swimmers however, it was a nightmare. Of course it was only a problem for the first and the last 50 feet!
Check this thread and enjoy the race!
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=175752;search_string=kahuna;#175752
“The picture you posted are 2-4 feet tops. I think OT’s link shows the six-footers. Enjoy!”
If that’s a 6 foot wave, then those must be dwarves diving into it…
above. I was in the women’s pink cap wave. I have to agree with OT that it wasn’t that bad, but I grew up in a beach town so I was able to get past the break okay. I think my wave was after the men’s 50+ wave.
As far as surf - the area you swim in is usually flat. If there is a big swell running, the point a half mile away can be 12 foot (faces) but still there will only be a small shore pound where you swim (near the pier). The pictures look a lot more intimidating than it is. If there are waves - they will be super close to shore (I’d say breaking within 15-20 feet) - and as long as you know a bit about swimming in waves and don’t get intimidated - its easy to go through…you just run at the wave - dive under and you’re done…if you have little wave-experience - just practice a bit the day before with someone who can show you how. There is a lot of exaggerating going on in this thread…Distance of swim 1st year was very short. Last year was long - no way was it 1.6 miles - maybe 1.4. I usually swim about 28 min and I went 33 at Kahuna last year. It is a tough swim to navigate - so you need your open water sighting skills. I was in the 2nd wave - 1st wave had to deal with moving buoys (they were still setting up the course - which was pretty lame).
Run - well marked but last year’s mile markers were way off - I ran a pretty even pace and some “miles” were 6 minutes and some 10…
Poor food at the end of the race though overall the race was pretty fun/good. Sand at the end is brutal but short.
Also - I froze for the first part of the bike. Winds can be strong though last year wasn’t bad at all…
Dave
“Glad to help.”
Uh Larry, you said 2-4 feet, THE COAST GUARD - on race day - reported 10-12. I said they weren’t that big, but were more than 6.