Has anyone done the Longhorn Olympic or 70.3 race ? I’m considering both races and I am looking for feedback on the courses and the difficulty. Endorfun puts the races on and I’ve heard that they are well done, but nothing specific.
First year race… You won’t find any reviews until afterwards. For what it’s worth…they do a fantastic job with every other race the work with! Timberman, Mooseman…
Hope that helps…
They are new races. The race site is not new, and Jack and Adam’s who are helping have used the race site before. As has Danskin.
Swim - Probably no wetsuits
1/2 IM Bike - Flat to rolling, but the overall difficulty will not be that great unless it is really hot. I rode part of the course yesterday and the roads are pretty lightly traveled. They are mostly small 2-lane country roads, but there are 2 stretches on 4 lane highways.
Oly Bike - Rolling hills with a couple of rollers that are right after a low-momentum turn, so they can be a bit slow. 2 loop course that Danskin uses, probably a bit shy of 24 miles. Fastest bike splits at a recent race (11.2 mile bike) that uses 1 loop is about 24.8mph by Jamie Cleveland, so that give you an idea of the speed possible.
1/2 IM Run - Mix of grass and roads. Pretty rolling, but it looks like the you will go down the biggest hill instead of up it like normal. Probably not an overly fast course and moderately difficult.
Oly Run - Depending on the direction, there will be 1-2 decent length uphills on it. Mostly grass or cross country. Fastest run split of a recent race over 1 loop was 17:10 by and ex-runner guy…Jamie was 17:24.
Like Volcom says, it’s brand new. But, I think a lot of work has gone into it. I’ve heard nothing but praise for Keith’s races. It should be a nice time of year here, and the course is relative flat (but maybe not a scenic) compared to anywhere else in Austin. And of course, Austin is just a cool place for any event at any time. 
I’ve heard about Endorfun on beginnertriathlete.com and it seems like a worthy road trip to Austin for one of the races. I’ve never been to Austin, and it sounds like a fun place to visit.
Thanks much for the info on the course…good resources here too!
If you’re in Denver, I’m sure with the low altitude here and a course that you will consider flat, it will be a good race for you.
Austin is fun… it would make a fun long weekend I think.
I am in Denver, and supposedly I will be faster there. I didn’t feel my super powers working when I was in San Diego a week ago !
I’m doing the 70.3 bike course most weekends, its not bad pretty flat. You can read a few descriptions here:
http://triman.livejournal.com/tag/longhorn
One section of the bike course is still closed, it won’t make a huge difference.
I’ve done a couple of events, albeit sprints, out at Walter E Long Park this year, I wore at wetsuit at the first and not the second. I’m not really sure why I wore it to the first, its the only time this year I’ve used it and I didn’t need it.
The run will be interesting. By all accounts they used to run a haf marathon over the same course and it was tough. The lake/reservoir drops off distinctly in the North East and North West corners. You’ll have to run around both. If you really want to work this out, check out the terrain view on google maps.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=walter+e+long+park&near=Austin,+TX&fb=1&t=k&z=11&om=1
As they say on the race page, the run will be mostly off road. It will be a reasonably small field for a 70.3 race, should be enjoyable, well organised but one for the runners. Sadly, I’m not a runner 
Thanks much! I haven’t decided yet if I am going to do the Oly or the 70.3 I’ve only done Sprints, and the 5430 Long Course since I began racing last summer.
I appreciate the descriptions of the race course on your blog. I bookmarked it and will check back. Maybe I’ll get to thank you in person 
I’ll chime in, as I’m the RD:)
The run for the HIM has about 4 of the 13.1 miles on the grass/dirt trails. The rest is on the roads in the park and outside, heading towards the Expo Center next door…There’s 1 good hill on each loop, otherwise it’s rolling. the run course map is posted online at www.longhorntri.com as well…
Good luck!
I won’t be doing Longhorn this year because of a scheduling conflict. But, if you’re concerned about doing it as a first year event. Don’t worry. I did Keith’s Galveston event earlier this year (Lone Star Triathlon) which was also a first year event and was bown away by how well the event was put togethor. If I could be there at Longhorn I would but it’s just not meant to be for this year.