This was my first season doing triathlons and I’d like to try a 70.3 next year. Looking at IM 70.3 Texas or Gulf Coast. Any suggestions between the two?
I was considering Augusta or Memphis also, but I live in a very flat area with limited options for training hills.
For background: strong enough swimmer (not terribly worried about cut off time), average bike, and WEAK run.
Regarding Gulf Coast as I did it this year for the first time (not first 70.3)
Swim: all the fun of an ocean swim. Swells/waves which can vary and wildlife can be major factors or completely non existent. Plenty of room to swim, especially with wave starts. Water quality is the best part of the day.
Bike: first couple of miles are a bit sketchy getting out of town. From there it’s pretty smooth sailing on decent road surfaces. Some slight inclines & declines along the way but nothing worth calling a hill except for the one bridge crossing. Traffic was super light and well managed. Last few miles back to transition even sketchier than at start with more car traffic on the beach road.
Run: new 3 loop run course blows as you weave around an apartment complex, through back access roads of water park and then battle parking lots and off camber side of the road…all 3x. Getting to the finish you weaved through a hotel playground and hallway before finally seeing the finish line away from nearly everyone. Can you tell I was just not a fan.
Overall: it’s a solid race overall and if I needed a 70.3 in my schedule at that time of year I’d do it again but I’m not gonna seek it out as a destination race. PCB is super congested and crowded. Maybe a good thing if you’re planning to make a family trip out of it. I’d never go back just for a vacation though as crowded beaches and bars just aren’t my thing. This year I went solo, drove down the day before and right back home after (@ 6 hours away). Treated it like a business trip and got it done.
Galveston 70.3 was my first and I’ve done several but stopped doing it. I’m an ok swimmer and can’t do much OWS because it’s still cold around that time. Same goes to the bike. You need some strong legs for the headwind on the way back but again I don’t ride outside in cold weather. Run is 3 laps and course sucks IMO. I highly recommend Chattanooga or Augusta for anyone’s first 70.3. Even Waco is better than Galveston. They are more fun than Galveston to me.
Gulf Coast swim can be brutal. My wife did it as her first after seeing it glassy smooth the year before. The year she did it, the women Pros mentioned it was the toughest swim they had ever done. It was really rough with waves and currents pulling people back out as they were trying to swim in. I think Ironman would have canceled it if it weren’t a women’s Pro race that year, but they didn’t. I know people that showed up and DNS that morning after seeing it. I would’ve loved it and my wife did great. Just know it can be brutal. That said, I will race Gulf Coast again. Bike flat, Run flat and can be miserably hot.
I really like the Gulf Coast 70.3 race. I generally like the Panama City Beach area. I have done it three times. The bike is very fast and fun. The swim is glorious water. It is usually calm and clear, but it does occasionally show its nature. The run is OK. It is very hot, though.
Augusta is an arm pit. Done that twice. Run is an a desolate post-apocalyptic city. Augusta is hotter than Panama City Beach.
Doing Memphis for the first time in a few weeks. I have high hopes for that one.
both are good races for a 1st timer. PCB would be better if you are bringing a SO or family, though Galveston has some attractions that can occupy them for a few hours also. The 6 AM saturday start time for Gulf Coast is critically underrated too, in my opinion.
the swims are probably a wash. the wind on the bike makes Galveston a little tougher than PCB but is a more scenic ride. the run and course support at galveston is better than PCB. So they are very similar races, I’d say whichever is better for your travel plans is the one you go with.
This was my first season doing triathlons and I’d like to try a 70.3 next year. Looking at IM 70.3 Texas or Gulf Coast. Any suggestions between the two?
I was considering Augusta or Memphis also, but I live in a very flat area with limited options for training hills.
For background: strong enough swimmer (not terribly worried about cut off time), average bike, and WEAK run.
Augusta is only 1,761ft elevation gain on the bike. It’s more rolling hills than climbing a lot - I wouldn’t worry about not training hills for this course if you’re interested in it.
Thanks all! Great information. Leaning toward TX just due to cooler temperatures, but it seems like it’s really a toss up for these two races. I’ll continue to look into others also. Had some recommendations for North Carolina also, which I’m going to research a little bit.
Thanks all! Great information. Leaning toward TX just due to cooler temperatures, but it seems like it’s really a toss up for these two races. I’ll continue to look into others also. Had some recommendations for North Carolina also, which I’m going to research a little bit.
I’m going to add another vote for Gulf Coast. I don’t know if this will matter to you or not but GC is simply a very iconic race in the South. I mean, the thing started in 1981 which makes it one of the longest running tri races in the South, and really in the whole country. From reading the history of the race, Mark Allen or Dave Scott won all of the first 5 races, e.g. '81-'85. So, I don’t know if tri history holds any significance to you or not, but it does to me and a few others. Just another angle to consider.
As others have said, the swim can be pretty tough, and the run is almost always hot, but hey that is what triathlon is all about. 
the run course “sucks” regarding the layout (so many u-turns!), but i will say its one of the most entertaining run courses ive been on and come to enjoy that aspect. its very spectator friendly, you run through lots of “stuff” (its a local attraction area) and the constant zigzagging and scenery change makes the visual experience a lot more engaging. keeping pace is rather difficult but that challenge makes it almost fun.
ive done it 3 times and plan to again in '22, but i am pretty local to the race.
Haven’t done the Gulf Coast, but did TX 70.3 in 2019. Loved this race! Swim was totally fine without any negatives. Extremely flat fast out and back bike course. And a good flatter run through Moody Gardens. Very spectator friendly. Only downside was the micro burst that caused a good portion of the field to abandon the race due to the weather. I got lucky being in the first wave and us old ladies got to finish our race. But that was an outlier in regards to weather. Texas does get storms but I think it was the first time most of the race got shut down. Other than the weather, it was a really good race. Perfect for newbies too.
ETA: I do remember reading a race report about the Gulf Coast race having big waves one year. If you are a newbie and w/o this kind of swim experience, that might be something to consider. I heard the waves were pretty rough that particular year ( a few years back if I remember correctly). TX you swim in a more protected bay-like area. Just a small bit of chop for when I raced there.
The history actually does matter to me and thanks for the info. Just looked too and because of the cancellation last year, the 2022 event will be the 40th race. Very interesting and definitely a plus for GC.
I’ve done Galveston 5x and I haven’t done GC but I have done IMFL 2x and I’m familiar with the area.
Swim: Big edge to GC. The ocean swim is awesome and the water is very clear. The only caveat is if the weather is acting up then PCB can be a bitch to swim in. The Galveston swim, while almost always wetsuit legal and in salt water is not what I would call fast. There’s always some kind of chop to deal with that keeps the swim honest. Very low visibility in the water.
Bike: Slight edge to GC. I actually like the Galveston bike course because the wind keeps it honest. The wind is also the reason I don’t like the bike course. The bike course basically only goes in two directions: southwest, turnaround, northeast. The wind that time of year is usually coming from the south. So the first half of the bike can be really tough if the wind is coming from the south or southwest because you’re dealing with a lot of headwind. That makes for a nice tailwind coming back though. If the wind is coming from the southeast you’ll be dealing with tough crosswinds the entire time. GC has way more directional changes so you’re not getting stuck with one wind pattern. The only sketchy part about GC and IMFL bike courses are the parts that run parallel to the Gulf. Wind can be rough, especially when it whips through the exposed areas between the condo/hotels.
Run: Big edge to Galveston. The course isn’t anything exciting but the fan support is great.
Other factors: Both places are touristy beach towns. There’s more to do in PCB. More places to stay in PCB. Not that Galveston is lacking accommodations though. Overall, Galveston is kind of a dump and the beaches suck. If flying into the event Galveston would be much easier given its proximity to the Houston airports. Panama City’s airport is very, very small and not serviced by a lot of airlines or flights.
Augusta is a dump and the race is always hot as fuck.
This is the honest feedback I’m here for. Hearing a lot of positives about PCB. Sounds like Galveston is a fun race, but PCB may be more interesting. I can deal with a choppy swim at PCB. Honestly more concerned with the heat difference around midday since Galveston is early April and GC is in May. I’m in New Orleans and train in the heat, but the run is my biggest concern.
The history actually does matter to me and thanks for the info. Just looked too and because of the cancellation last year, the 2022 event will be the 40th race. Very interesting and definitely a plus for GC.
Very cool, glad the history is of interest to someone other than me.