I am targeting a late fall Half and the three options above are all I really have accessible to me (need to be able to drive from Durango, CO).
Soma would be the most convenient and I might be able to get the wife to come along and bring the kids (IKEA in Phoenix), but I have heard nothing good about the race itself. Supposed to be a boring flat course, crowded on the bike, hot and concrete on the run.
Pumpkin and Silverman (the 1/2) are intriguing, sound like tough bike courses (which is good for me). The Silverman run course sounds like a bit of a drag. Anybody have a comparison of these two?
Thoughts? Weighing all plusses and minuses.
SOMA is a nice race, well run.
The bike course is less crowded without the quarter. But the course is a 3 loop affair with
several U-turns per lap and the run is a two lap affair on concrete for a decent portion of
it, but avoidable if you desire.
Pros: Better for spectators because they’ll see you a bunch and everything is central.
SilverMan is a very hard race but even better run and a no laps at all for the half.
Family is in Vegas so that’s nice and they can hang out at the mall while they wait
for you.
Cons: Not so good for spectators especially since the bike is point to point
and no loops means that they won’t see you very often.
I’d choose SilverMan.
-Jot
I’ve been to Soma as a spectator and it was nice that everything is central. I was able to view my wife and bro-in-law participating in the race.
It seemed well like a well run race compared to other races I’ve been too. Jot’s assessment seems accurate from what I experienced.
Soma can be hot, 100F+ temp hot, or it could be cloudy and cool. I’ve raced in both. Most likely though it will be sunny and somewhere between 80-85F for a peak temp during the race.
Swim goes right into the sun, good luck seeing buoys or where to go, just follow the crowd who is following the crowd in front. Swim tends to be a touch long or slow.
Both Silverman and SOMA are well organized and well run. (I don’t know about Pumpkinman.) Silverman is much better from a competitor experience. Lake Mead vs. Tempe Town Lake (aka a big drainage ditch) and a tough bike course vs. a flat course with lots of drafting. Both of the runs are “suburban” but at least on Silverman you’ve got some hills.
I don’t think it’s much fun to be a spectator at any HIM. As far as “stuff to do”, I think there is more in Vegas than in Tempe.
Can’t speak on the other 2 races, but I did Pumpkinman last fall. Hilly point-to-point bike (T2 is at a much higher elevation than T1), strong winds, and brutally hot (mid-90’s). Everything you’d expect from a race in southern Nevada! It’s a tough day out on the course, and a true test of durability. Last year, I was typically in the low-4:30’s for half-IM, but I went 5:10 at Pumpkinman…
My only criticism of the race is that the bike course was not marked well at some turns, and so I had to ask a couple of spectators who just happened to be out on the bike course for directions. But other than that, it’s a great event. Also - it’s a Saturday race in Vegas. Leaves Saturday night open for roaming the strip. Good times!
Your gonna see way more fake tits at soma than Pumpkin and soma combine. Well, unless you are ok with taking your wife and kids to a vegas strip club… Just a thought.
What does that have to do with choosing a race? Nothing. I would say silver man before soma, but I have never raced silverman.