Hey all,
Has anyone raced this half in recent years? The website isnt to clear and ive heard rumors that some of the run is on sand.
Any insight would help.
Cheers to anyone racing this weekend or next and everyone be safe at the 70.3 WTC championship!
BL
Unless it’s changed, the last 500 yards or so are along the beach, under the pier, before making a left towards the finishing chute in the deep sand.
The advantage of the detour to use hard wet sand depends on the tide.
Another interesting feature is the 5’ jog to T1 along the sidewalk, with feet still cold from the 55 degree swim.
A great race, laid back and fast.
Thanks Blacksheep. Anything stand out on the bike/run that i should know about?
Cheers.
BL
On the bike course, beware of the train tracks crossing North of Davenport if they don’t have them covered. They cross the road at a 15-20 deg angle which can be tricky to handle. There is also always wind on that road. If you think there isn’t that means it is pushing you as you will find out after the turn around.
The sand is only a couple hundred yards of the run, so no biggie. The last few hundred yards are on sand, so you need to time any sprint accordingly.
I’ve almost crashed at the train tracks at Davenport in training (they really will grab your wheel)…pretty sure they cover them since I don’t remember issues during the race.
The bike is mostly rolling along Hwy1; windy, but mostly crosswinds. No serious hills.
The run is basically flat; there’s just the short climb up away from the pier/beach.
When I did BK in 2010, I remember wishing that I had toe covers on my bike shoes. Cold water + foggy day = frozen feet on the bike, which made for a really strange feeling (Are my toes BROKEN? WTH?) on the run.
As others have said, yes the last bit of the run is on sand. Not great for that big, fast finish. Good to know ahead of time if you’re a finish chute sprinter. And the train tracks. Yes. There was a nasty looking wreck on the way out and they made us dismount on the return. If they’re at all slick from fog/rain, be very careful and try to approach as close to perpendicular as possible. Slow down. Not worth it.
I do that race almost every year and will be there his year. Here are a few things that might help:
Don’t plan on spending a lot of time at the pre-race “expo”.
Transition is first come first serve unless you are part of a club that has reserved racks. Get there early if you want a good spot. Not sure exactly when it opens.
The ones for the porto johns can get long before the race (just like every other race). There are also public bathroom on the way to the swim start at the base of the pier.
Don’t be surprised it the start is a little late.
The water will be cold. If you are not used to it make sure you get a good warm up. I wear an extra swim cap. My friend needs a neoprene cap.
The run from the end of swim to transition is long. Probably about .2 miles. And your feet will be numb.
There is a short steep hill right out of transition on the bike and run. Be in the proper gear.
The RR crossing just after the first aid station is dangerous as other mentioned. They have a volunteer warning you about it, but I haven’t seen it covered.
The bike is about 1.5 miles short and the run is about 0.25 miles long. But the run course is so curvy that you can easily add even more to the run length by taking bad lines.
If you are taking your splits by the mile markers on the run, you will catch where the extra 0.25 miles comes in. A mostly flat section that takes an extra 2 minutes.
If you want good luck, kiss the tiki at the run turn around. Never ever think that is a good spot for a bathroom break unless you want the wrath of the gods. Use the toilets at the aid station instead.
According to their website, the last .2 miles is on the sand, but most of it is hard sand. It is the same section you walk down to get to the swim start. You might have to dodge a small child or two. The last 50 meters is soft sand.
Thanks everyone ! Really appreciate the heads up on this course. I’m excited to race and let it all hang out on a California non-branded half ironman! Not enough of these in California if you ask me. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!
BL
Those train tracks can be deceiving. To do it at a safe angel youll have to really hug the right side of the shoulder and prepare to go a lil on the car road. If theres a car behind you just slow down as you should be doing that anyways. Look for arrows as they’re a good way to go over the tracks. If I remembered right they put down carpet to make it a lil safer.
If you aren’t used to Hammer Heed then bring your own stuff on the course. I took some without practice during my first time there and got GI distress.
Like others said the swim is cold. But luckily it’s only your face and feet that feel it the worst. Besides the chop by the shores it’s a pretty good course.
Bike rolls a bit but for a California 70.3 I can only think of one bike course that is easier (Superfrog). Hopefully it wont be foggy so the scenery of the coast can help you out mentally. The biggest issue can be the winds…they’ll show up or they wont. They were around a bit when I did a test run 10 days ago. Most say that the winds happen on the first half of the course but both times I’ve done it I only noticed the headwind on the way back. Just get ready to stay aero and keep your head down as there’s only a few sections where you climb enough to sit up a bit.
I like the run as it’s mostly flat and on spectator friendly roads with a mix of packed trail and 1-2 lil hills. The beach is at the end but if it’s like most years where only the soft sand is the last 50 meters then you’re good.
The slightly short bike is made up by a lil longer run so overall the distances even up. Not sure why they do it as they can just make the turnaround a bit farther down on HWY 1. Either way it’s a good event and like you said always prefer supporting non IM branded tri’s, I dig.
One thing I forgot. The year I did it there was no food on the run until about mile 3, so take a GU or something with you.
Another thing regarding parking that I believe is new (this year). The lot that is closest to Depot Park no longer has a ‘pay by cash’ parking system. I don’t recall what the system is they are currently using, but you can call or go online to pay for your specific parking spot (by number). Just be warned, because I starting trying to call and give my license plate number etc, and it was a pain. So NOT something you want to deal with at 6am! Might want to check it out when you do packet pickup on Saturday. Or find another place to park.
Two things, you can park for free all you want just up the road off of Depot Park, maybe a 2 minute ride in, all residential. Also anyone hear from the RD about packet pick up on Sunday? I am trying to get an exemption and haven’t heard anything, after about 2 months of emails…
I did it last year. The run from the beach to T1 is very long as others have said. I’d say at least 1/4 mile. There was a significant headwind going out and it darn near destroyed me. On the return with the tailwind, I was flying, but lost so much energy, I was toast on the run. I ended up 10 min slower on the bike than I wanted and died on the run so another 10 minutes lost. It was fun though. I didn’t think the water was that cold and haven’t swam in the Pacific Ocean in 17 years.
Thanks for all the good Intel on this thread!
I finally get to do this race and again support an independent HIM.
Back to the roots!
It looks like conditions are going to be excellent (no wind to speak of 
Ya guys thanks for all the recon. Looks like its going to be an amazing day. And yes eabecker the email response from the race director and staff is non existent. This needs to be taken care of. Especially for athletes with special needs. No excuses to ignore emails regardless of the topic.
Firstwave does seem to respond to Facebook comments. Maybe try that if you have an account. Not that it makes it acceptable to ignore email. But maybe their email is bad, or spam filter catching too many things. Just a thought.
Hope everyone had a good day out there yesterday.
I really really wish they’d remeasure that run course. I’d rather have a long swim or long bike, but not a long run!!
But boy was that swim short (and fast)!
I thought the swim seemed a bit short. I had a horrible swim but still got a fast time. Looks like the CHP let them extend the bike out a bit further, so it wasn’t as short as it has been in the past. But that 2nd aid station was in a horrible location at the bottom of a hill.
I really like the new transition layout. I got there early to land a good spot only to find out later that it didn’t matter nearly as much.
I was lucky enough not to need water at the second aid station, but I definitely remember riding past it going, “that was a bad location”. Hopefully no one crashed there.
The swim, though glass, was definitely fast. My teammate who did the splash and dash and I thought it around 2.5 minutes quick.
It seemed a bit windier this year than years past, but I thought the turnaround was in the same location. I wasn’t paying too close attention as I was totally trying to catch the guy in front of me.
Definitely like the new transition flow better. I did NOT get there early and was lucky enough to find a spot near the end of the rack far in the middle somewhere. As good as any other spot (other than being in the first wave meant it was harder to spot my bike). Thought the bike in chute was a little too narrow, but that’s a TINY complaint.
It was a pretty awesome day.
About 2.5 minutes seems about right.
Funny, I didn’t notice the wind at all, but my power data said that I was going roughly 1.5 mph faster on the return for the same power. But the weather was perfect.
In 2010 and 2011, I got the bike distance as 54.5 miles and this year it said 55.5 miles. I distinctly remember passing by the place the turn was at 2011 because there was a side road coming in there. the side road was probably the reason they set it up there in 2011, but it also meant there was a lot of gravel and people were slipping out on the u-turn.
You were probably going too fast to see it, but there was a pretty bad crash at the 2nd aid station. For being in the middle of nowhere, they got a fire engine there pretty quick. It actually got there just as I was approaching and I had to pretty much stop at the bottom of the hill because I didn’t know where it was going. It pulled across and blocked the entire northbound lane. I briefly caught a glimpse of the downed cyclist and it looked pretty bad.
Boy, we couldn’t have asked for better weather on Sunday. Just a few days earlier, they were saying mid to upper 80’s. Even race morning, the weather app said the sun was going to come out around 10:00. So I figured things would start heating up on the middle of the bike. Nope. Not till mid-run did it come out and it was never hot. Yeah !
Yes, the swim was a tad short. 1.09 per my Garmin under cap ala DCRainmaker.
The bike was nearly spot on. Better than prior years. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the great tailwind that we sometimes get after the turnaround. But the return trip is always faster. (I didn’t see the bike crash either.)
But the run course is always a tad long. Not much they can do about that because of where the turnaround needs to be for the statue, etc. Several years back, they used to finish the run a couple hundred yards sooner - over by the beach volleyball courts. But that’s not as good of an ending spot for all the food, the stage, etc. And the course was still long anyway. So I say keep it the way it is. And that lets my compare my times from one year to the next.
Again, a well-organized and well supported race. And it’s a pretty nice location if you go for that ocean view sort of thing.