Does anyone have any opinion of the Florida/Disney Half Ironman race? It is being held this year on 5/22 and is only 40 minutes or so from my house. I am doing the Gulf Coast Triathlon on the 7th and am considering the one here 2 weeks later sorta just for fun. (And to see if I can be competitive in 2 races that close to each other.) I understand that there are some course changes from last year, just wondering if anyone has done last years and had any opinions good/bad about the location/support/etc. Thanks!
TG42,
Try posting on www.windermereroadies.com for some input as about 10 of the group members did the race last year, and the course is largely one of our regular riding loops. I’m racing this year, did not last year, but heard nothing but complements from the group. Most are racing it again this year.
Robert
Great race - lots of fun - flat course - well worth the 30 min. drive. Plus I will announce your name as you cross the finish line. Z
Tom, start practicing this–
“Racer (#??)Michael Egan, diagnosed with Lymphoma in January, finishing in under 4:15!! Amazing, you are a half-Ironman!”
Work on that, I’ll work on the time.
Sounds Good - I’ll have it down by race day! Z
Heh, then you can practice announcing my finishing time of 6:55 as I crawl across the line after hurting myself at the GCT and refusing to not finish the 1/2IMFL! “Congratulations, you are on the way to the med tent!”
Flat? Who says? While it sure isn’t the GFT course in Clermont, it ain’t flat like Gulf Coast. I say this course will run you 1/2 - 3/4 MPH slower that Gulf Coast. You’ve got Taco Hill and Sand Hill in both directions, plus all the rollers on 545. Still a fast course, but for phat guys like me, it’s not flat! So you racing Z?
As Ironman courses go, I would have to agree with Z. that it is flat. A couple short (1 minute) climbs on those hills you mention on Hartwood Marsh road but too flat isnt always good either. I did both races last year back to back and did about the same at each…of course Disney was a much tougher field so I didnt place nearly as well.
Alright, fine, you lunatics convinced me to register last night. You’d better announce me coming across the line Tom! 
Otherwise I shall be quite put out and maybe even cross.
Well put on, well supported, the run sucked and hotter than a snake’s ass in a wagon rut.
It was like 94 last year and the run is on the WHITE concrete golf paths of the golf course. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the last mile was through sand. Very sadistic, IMO.
To get there and finish is also tricky - you have to take disney buses that you cant have your bikes on, etc. So, when you are done racing in the heat, you get to pack all of your stuff up and ride a couple more miles on your bike with your pump and gear in hand back to your car.
That said, I’ll be there again this year.
Yes I agree Disney didn’t exactly go out of its way to cater to the athletes. The transportation issues you mentioned were problematic enough to raise anybody’s stress and frustration levels.
But what I don’t get is this simple fact: HIM in Central Florida in late May? With all due respect to Tom Z. and his organization, but… WTF!!! Couldn’t they have chosen something more athlete-friendly like late March or late October?
The run was hot last year. And the swim was a little bit “warm” as well. Nothing wrong with the heat per se I suppose - it’s the same condition for everybody. But don’t expect to set all-time PR’s at this race. It’s more of a survival race. That’s all I’m sayin’.
Other than that, it was a well-run race.
Oh stop yer bitchin’. 
The last 2 years I have done the Gulf Coast Triathlon the actual run temps on the course have been in the low 100s on the blacktop. That’s way worse than bleached white golf cart paths, although I can see the sand as being pretty sadistic. The temps and humidity here are always really high, the real kicker is that I don’t get to train here in the insane summer heat until a week or two before the race. It usually goes from the mid 80s to mid 90s in the last week of April, but it’s always 100% humidity. 
Sorry about the rant earlier. No reason why anybody (you included) shouldn’t be able to enjoy the Disney race if their head is in the right place.
Have a great race! I’ll be out there taking pics and cheering.
May is a relatively light tourism month. You’re in the lull between spring break and summer vacation, so hotel vacancies rates and such are a bit higher. And Disney and Gulf Coast are inherently destination races designed to get sports tourism dollars flowing into town, so they schedule for times when tourism is otherwise a bit lighter.
March is right during spring break, and you’ve also got some occasionally freakishly cool weather that time of year. October/November already has a lot of long races on the Southeastern calendar. (not that IMNA minds canibalizing the home grown races) And September is best reserved for local races. Trying to put on a Big Race during September taunts the Atlantic Basin hurricane gods.
You’re 100% right of course. But it just begs the question: who’s this race for anyway? The athletes? Or the suits in charge of boosting the tourism industry in Florida?
I’ve never put on a big-time race, but I can appreciate that there are competing interests to serve, trade-offs to be considered, and compromises to be made. It seems to me that putting on a HIM in late May in Central Florida is an indication that the athlete’s interests weren’t best served. This is purely from a sports performance perspective of course.
I certainly wish the Disney Half the best, for this year and the subsequent years. If it draws athletes by the thousands, and if everybody walks away with smiles on their faces, that’s FANTASTIC. That means that the race has its place on the Florida racing circuit.
Myself I’m holding out for races in the golden seasons of Florida.
Ultimately though, we have to get back to the subject of Anarchist Triathlons. That’s where the real action is at in my opinion.
I go on the assumption that since it’s a Disney race, it’s going to inherently be for the tourists. Gulf Coast and IMFL are scheduled to fill hotel rooms too.
But if you want something a little better scheduled, and a little less touristy, you can hit a local-dominated beach sprint or Olympic distance race pretty much every weekend between mid March and the end of October somewhere in Florida.
Hey Brother-
My better 1/2 is running for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
She’s doing the RR Marathon in June…take care of yourself…and have a great Disney 1/2…make em hurt!
Fish