Of the European Ironman branded races, which one stands apart from the rest like Canada stands alone for the IMNA races. Course, organization, host town, etc. I’m kicking around what to look forward to next year and trying to get ideas together. I’ve done Canada 7 times, and I can’t see training through another horrible California winter for IMNZ (okay, not horrible, I just miss the ski season too much). Its time for something new. I’m a swimmer/biker/hold on for dear life runner, if that factors into course recommendations.
To be honest with you, the only two IM distance races in Europe that have real charm and that really stand as giants among minnows are in my very humble opinion Roth and Embrunman, which are not M dot races. On top of those I would also include the Nice long course, which is not an IM distance race, but is the grandaddy of all races over here.
Among M dot races, I think that the best is Lanzarote, but I’m biased and I’m not sure it’s what you’re looking for, though it might be good for you since you would have a training advantage over those forced to deal with snow until March. Plus if you’re a good cyclist, I’m pretty sure that you’d love the Lanzarote course.
The race has been run for over 10 years, everything is wellprepared and classy. I have also done IM Austria twice. Austria is very nice and well-run but does not compare at all to Lanzarote in my opinion.
I will be there this year for the 3rd time.
Just consider that it will probably be harder than anything you have ever done before !
I’ll jump on the Lanzarote bandwagon as well. I’ve done IM Suisse, Roth, Lanzarote & Austria here in Europe; even though it was the toughest, Lanzarote was my favorite. I found a room in Puerto del Carmen and stayed for about 10 days, including several post-race beach days. The views from the bike are spectacular, and the run through town is interesting if you enjoy people-watching.
Thanks guys. Lanzarote has both intrigued and scared me over the years. Sounds like it is time to really consider stepping up to that challenge. It’s also interesting to hear the support of the non-Mdot races like Roth and Ebrum. In the USA, I feel the non-Mdots pale in comparison to the quality of production IMNA puts on. I’ll have to do my research on the two races.
I breezed through this pretty quickly but I was surprised not to see IM Austria mentioned. I have only done this one out of all the Euro IM’s - so it is hard to compare to Roth, Swiss, France or others but I had a great experience. Austria has some history to it (I think the race is coming up on 10 years) and the whole area is a resort area like Penticton only nicer. It is a very beautiful area, the course is fast with a flat run but the 3 lap bike course kind of sucks it out of you as there is one good sized hill. Austria is surprisingly affordable and the town of Klagenfurt is a lot of fun. It is not that hard to get there, major airports like Munich or Vienna are a few hours drive and there are commuter flights as well that connect from all over. It’s early July too so when it’s over you can make your way over to France and catch a stage or two of the TDF. Not a bad summer trip.
Th reason why we’re all so fond of Lanzarote is largely due to the fact that with its fairly small field of participants and with its single lap bike course, you are often alone for long stretches of road, with really nobody in sight.
Sometimes you feel like you’re in Kona in the early 80s, whereas in places like Austria and Switzerland, with multiple laps to do, you feel like you’re riding in an enormous, never ending pack all the time.
I guess it depends on what you’re looking for in a race.
Hi Felix,
I swam 1h09’ and biked 6h02’ and trust me, I had plenty of riders around me even in my third lap, especially by the lake. I even had a couple of guys who blatantly asked me if they could suck my wheel. I wasn’t very polite in my response I have to admit.
The only times when I was somehow not surrounded by too many riders was when that huge drop began right after the second major hill, especially the part in the forest.
Other than that, I guess I’ll see you in Roth, (which will be my “survival” race) although you should try Lanzarote once, even as a C race, it’s just a heck of a place even just for a vacation.