Anyone done the Big Kahuna 1/2? Can you give a brief description of the venue, swim, bike, and run. Suggestions on places to stay?
It’s on Sept. 9th and I’m planning on doing it.
Thanks
Done it twice. From my recollection:
Swim: open water in ocean, swim around the pier, can be longer than expected depending on accuracy of buoys placing, a bit of side current, waters relatively cold.
Bike: out and back on highway one, steep rollers till mid-way out (Davenport) then flatten quite a lot till you reach turn around at Pigeon Point. Be ready for strong head wind out past Davenport, but you will be flying on way back.
Run: out and back, half on pavement, half on dirt, mostly flat to gentle rollers, very scenic course, last mile finish running in deep sands on the beach.
Weather: can be foggy and chilly in the morning, clearing up later but never becoming too hot on the run.
Attendance: great local race, laid back but competitive enough, as IM Kona qualified used it as training race.
Enjoy!
Fantastic race. If you do a search on this forum, you’ll find a lot more info.
Just to add to the last post,
Swim - yes, the swim course can be inaccurate. Last year, it was a bit short. The year prior, apparently, it was very long.
T1 is slow because you need to run from the beach a few blocks inland to T1. I left some sandals at the swim exit but it’s not essential.
Bike - You exit T1 biking up a short, steep hill; watch for awkward/weaving cyclists trying to clip in. The bike course is about a mile short. The headwinds can be big, small, or nothin’. And can blow in either direction. Use the downhills on the rollers to gain some momentum going up the other side. The bike course is not crowded.
Run - there is probably no better half-ironman run that this one. It is never too hot in Santa Cruz. You will have a coastal breeze and if you’re lucky, the fog won’t have burned off yet. Very scenic; you’ll be right above the ocean much of the way. Mostly flat. The final run in the sand is only a quarter-mile or so.
Great race atmosphere; the right balance between hyped-up and laid-back. Good volunteers.