How was Chattanooga this year? I had to defer due to travel restrictions. Was the swim slower than usual? How was the weather? Someone tell me what I missed!
Friend of mine did it. The new swim is 1.4 miles all downstream. So, times are a little higher than prior years. Run was crazy hot. Everyone had a fabulous time!
Sorry you missed out. It was certainly the place to be - good weather, fun Ironman race weekend energy.
First time doing this race and overall was an incredible experience. Support was top notch across the board. Can’t wait to come back and do it again and chase a better result.
Swim was 1.4 miles “downstream†but talk to anyone and likely you’ll hear there wasn’t much current as in years past. There was drama of a bridge jumper for those who were among the last to start the swim. Fortunate that jumper (unrelated to the race) didn’t land on any swimmers. Police boats were quick to the scene but caused lots of wake for the swimmers in the vicinity.
Bike course was crowded and seemed like quite a few first timers not knowing or following rules for blocking/dropping back. Experienced a good handful of groups riding two and sometimes three abreast. Still a great ride and probably the best 70.3 bike course I’ve raced. Loved seeing spectators in the small towns turn out to support. Chickamauga was wonderful - felt like we were a parade passing through town as many cheered from the side of the road.
Saw a lot of folks struggling on the run. Will say that being from Texas probably worked in my favor - didn’t really feel the impact of the heat personally. But several athletes were walking, cramping, begging for ice. Official national weather service temp for 2:00pm was 88°F. The aid stations were well stocked and volunteers were beyond helpful. Great spectators along much of the course, too.
Aside from check in being scheduled and more structured, it was a glimpse as to what racing in a post-pandemic world will look like…back to “normal crowds, no masks, better spectator access to the course/finish line.
Didn’t do it this year, but probably my favorite race. Hot, challenging, good support, awesome crowd, beautiful ride. If you want a blistering time, look elsewhere, but otherwise Chatt has it all.
I have been surprised at some of the swim times this year. I have a friend with a swim background who swam a 43 minute swim. Apparently TVA had the water flow at a minimum.
I have been surprised at some of the swim times this year. I have a friend with a swim background who swam a 43 minute swim. Apparently TVA had the water flow at a minimum.
It seems to me unless they have a lot of rain leading up to the race that prevents them from reducing flow from the dam more, TVA has seemed to keep the water flow at a minimum.
I have been surprised at some of the swim times this year. I have a friend with a swim background who swam a 43 minute swim. Apparently TVA had the water flow at a minimum.
It seems to me unless they have a lot of rain leading up to the race that prevents them from reducing flow from the dam more, TVA has seemed to keep the water flow at a minimum.
Exactly. Some are quick to state that the Chattanooga races have an easy swim, which may or may not be the case. When TVA isn’t moving water the swim is basically a lake swim.
I have been surprised at some of the swim times this year. I have a friend with a swim background who swam a 43 minute swim. Apparently TVA had the water flow at a minimum.
It seems to me unless they have a lot of rain leading up to the race that prevents them from reducing flow from the dam more, TVA has seemed to keep the water flow at a minimum.
Exactly. Some are quick to state that the Chattanooga races have an easy swim, which may or may not be the case. When TVA isn’t moving water the swim is basically a lake swim.
Agree. There will always be some current even if small. But I’ve had big difference in swim times based on current t. I think a couple things that make it always easy is that it’s a straight swim making spotting easy and no turns around buoys and with the river being so wide it’s easy to spread out and not be fighting through and around a lot of people.
Friend of mine did it. The new swim is 1.4 miles all downstream. So, times are a little higher than prior years. Run was crazy hot. Everyone had a fabulous time!
Its usually crazy hot in Chatty.
I have been surprised at some of the swim times this year. I have a friend with a swim background who swam a 43 minute swim. Apparently TVA had the water flow at a minimum.
It seems to me unless they have a lot of rain leading up to the race that prevents them from reducing flow from the dam more, TVA has seemed to keep the water flow at a minimum.
My swim time was mid 36s, which is right around my typical half time, but this was my best placement that I’ve had in the swim. Also, only 24 participants broke 30min, which seems really low. So my assessment is that the extra .2mi added slightly more time than the current helped and that it was probably ~60-90s slow compared to an average HIM swim.
Also of note, a bunch of the course has been repaved, so roads in general were really nice. The in town roads still really stink though.
This is no longer a PR course. That is for sure. The bike is 56.8 miles with about 1800 feet of climbing and the run can be a challenge especially with the heat beating down on you. And now the swim is 1.4 miles which is a crap shoot based on if there’s any rain. In 2019 I did .9 miles in a swim skin for any Olympic at a 1.17/100 pace and on Sunday I swam 1:21/100 in a wetsuit. The difference is that it rained on Friday for the first race.
But, it’s an awesome race. Get in the water early, have a great bike and you can be done before the sun starts to beat down on you. Just be careful on those hills on the run.
My third time racing in Chatt (‘17 70.3 Worlds, ‘18 full IM). Slightly different courses each time. I LOVE racing there; the rolling bike in beautiful country and a tough, rolling run. The walk to the swim start wasn’t great and not well organized. As others have posted, the current was low. My cousin’s neighbor controls the flow of the dam and said IM requested light flow. On Thursday it was 13k cubic ft per sec. Race say 6k, and my guess is current was more in the middle of the river while we swam on the south side of an island. Best part this year was when we crossed Veteran’s Bridge to head up Barton Ave hill, the turnaround was at the base, meaning we didn’t have to run up Barton. Run was definitely hot but sun was filtered at times. Overall well run, great day, would recommended to anyone.
I got my HIM PR on this course. They got some smooth glass like surface for the bike course and that helped a lot. Swim was ok and walking to the swim start was not fun. I wish volunteers hold pickets for swim times like in Augusta 70.3. Basically, it was first come first serve for the swim. Run is hilly, but not like Waco 70.3 hilly, so that was ok too. Chattanooga is a beautiful city and I enjoyed a lot. I definitely want to do this race again next year.
Swim was super slow compared to years past. The roads seem to be in worse shape overall than I remember. I did it in 16-17-19 and other than 5 miles of the stick I wouldnt call anything smooth as glass. Its an awesome city and an awesome venue either way!
anyone know the slot allocation for worlds??
Swim was super slow compared to years past. The roads seem to be in worse shape overall than I remember. I did it in 16-17-19 and other than 5 miles of the stick I wouldnt call anything smooth as glass. Its an awesome city and an awesome venue either way!
anyone know the slot allocation for worlds??
My goodness. Where I live is all chip seal and not to mention gusty wind.
It’s so rough my head hurts after the ride. I just set to cruise control and turned the pedals.
It was the best bike course I’ve seen in 70.3.
First triathlon for me and it was an experience.
Swim: 1.5 mile walk to swim start, some wore their wetsuits while others carried. Only two lines of people at the docks so it was a slow start to get everyone in the water. Course stated 1.4 miles, watch said 2500 yards so pretty bang on. 40:00 swim time with 1:36/100. Most people had a longer than expected swim time, me included. TVA had the flow at minimum, kayaks and paddleboards didn’t have to paddle to stay in place, it felt like a lake swim. The self arranged pace groups didn’t workout so well. I walked over with the 30-33 minute group (3rd group) as I was expecting a 33 minute swim time. When we got to the rowing club however, it became a blob of people. I went off fairly early (within 15-20 minutes of the first person in the water) and overtook someone breast stroking within 300 yards. I guess people who were nervous about the swim or the heat wanted to get to the front first. tons of volunteers on kayaks and boards made sighting super easy.
Bike: Beautiful bike course, slight tailwind on the way out. They put a pad over the second set of train tracks which helped prevent pinch flats and bottle ejections. new asphalt in the GA section. You could tell who was from the flatlands and who lived in hill country and who was a cyclist vs who was a runner. Slightly technical turns leaving Chattanooga. Some people grabbed breaks while others took turns at full speed. Course is gently rolling for 28 miles out. Andrews Ln is quite literally a butt kicker (.25 mi, max gradient 16%). Flatlander’s held their power and ground it out in the small ring slowly while others got out of the saddle and smashed 600+ watts. Easy way to save two minutes is to smash it for 30 seconds and recover on the decent vs 2+ minutes of grinding. Tailwind became a headwind and some draft packs started to form. I overtook some people just to have them latch onto my wheel for 5 minutes before dropping back. Leaving Chickamauga is a 2 mile grinder at 2-4%. Again, better to increase the watts by 10% for a few minutes and get it over with and recover on the decent. 11 miles back into Chattanooga had some draft packs and blue cards came out behind me. Police had every single intersection blocked off along the entire course and we were never held up by traffic. The only cars/motorcycles that went past us were IM official vehicles/motorcycles. Bike: 2:30.
Run: They changed the run course slightly and made the transition run shorter. Thus, on the run course sooner. The first hill at a half mile in the run is another grinder. By this point, the sun was full out and it was getting hot (91 degrees by noon). Appreciated the aid stations every mile or so and the volunteers had it well stocked. Because the transition run was shorter, apparently a hill was cut out of the course (thank goodness). The grab and go style worked well, no backups at the aid stations. I felt like my hip was tight on the walk to the swim start and it came back to bite me, managed a hip cramp from mile 9.5 to the finish. Goal time went out the door at this point and it became a don’t lock up entirely and keep salts moving. Run was a 1:59.
Total time: 5:21. Overall, it was a well done event. They opened up transition an hour early to let people start checking gear out. Post race food was a good selection as well (Pizza, burgers, bbq sandwiches etc). Great run course along the river and through town and the bike is one of the best bike routes i’ve done as a cyclist. Only negative was the swim start confusion.
Nice race report. Sounds like you had a great race for a 1st time triathlete!
Pretty spot on review although those incline %s are a little fibbed. lol. That section past Chicamauga always hurts. And it really hurts when you do the full. Anyway, the hill that was cut out was the run up Barton for about 75 yards and then turn around. That was actually taken out in 2019 since they made the “out” part of the run go further out once you get on the riverwalk. I’m so glad they did too, because that little puncher and a quick turnaround always took it out of me.
What side of Atlanta are you in?
Those were for peak values from Strava. That grinder out of Chicamauga averages 1.7 but its an alternating mix of false flat then 2-4%. Same thing with Andrews, averages 8% but that section in the middle is at 12-16% then levels out/false flat downhill towards the top. We’re on the East Side of town. Good to hear they cut that part out about the run.
Agree with StormATL’s detailed post of the race. To summarize my thoughts with this being my second time running this race. All in all I had a great time and a great race.
PROS: Slight downstream current swim (barely noticeable but still better than nothing), great bike course, rolling hills, smooth road for the most part, no issues with traffic. Great aid stations appropriately spaced for both the bike and run. Solid crowds supporting the athletes.
CONS: 1.5 mile walk to the swim and disorganized/slow swim start (2 athletes at a time, no one really stuck to going at their projected swim time so I passed ALOT of people on the swim and my swim was 35min). 1.4mile swim after that walk (should this be called a quadrathlon???) IT WAS HOT!!! Sun beats down on you and reflects off the tarmac. Hydration was key for this one.
All in all, loved the race. Challenging enough (not a PR course), fun and friendly atmosphere. And it felt safe considering the pandemic related stuff going on.
Will definitely do it again.