Any opinions on either of these races? I’m looking for a August/early Sept HIM in Ohio (I have family there).
How convenient are hotels to either race site? My brother and his family of 2 toddlers and an infant will be traveling to watch and they’ll want a hotel with a pool (for the kids).
They live in central Ohio and will likely be familiar with both areas, but they are leaving it up to me as to which race I do.
It seems that Cleveland HIM (is the swim short?) is smaller. What about the courses? Looks like the are similar.
The Greater Cleveland 1/2 is a really nice race. I’m not sure about hotels in the area, but the beach area where the swim is for the race is nice and would be much better than a hotel pool. Good scenic course. Great organization. I did the 1/2 2 years ago and the Olympic last year. My wife’s family is from Ohio, so we race there every year and they are always great races. The Cleveland Olympic distance race is also really nice and its at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was a great museum.
I’m biased because I LOVE the Greater Cleveland Tri. It’s challenging, and the race director is a huge supporter of the local triathlon community. Not sure if the swim is short. The first year I did it the swim was WAY long. So maybe they overcompensated the next year…
Downtown Cleveland has some good things for kids. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is great for older kids and the Great Lakes Science Center is great for kids of all ages and has an IMAX (it’s a 30 minute drive from the race). The beach where the race starts is also very nice and kid friendly.
greater Cleveland definitely
improved course and great on course support make this a truly class event
please pm me if you are looking for more details
I can answer as many questions as you may ask and there is a great beach there and plenty of hotels within a five minute drive from the race site
Also features a wonderful kids race the day before
Class event which has evolved very nicely over the past few years!
Thanks everyone, I was already leaning towards the Cleveland race and am now 99% sure I’ll do that one. It’s further from where my brother lives, but we have other family in the area we can visit and he’s willing to travel up there to watch.
I haven’t been to the Cleveland area in a long time, so it should be nice to see how the city has changed.
I had forgotten about the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I’m sure we’ll spend some time there.
Great Buckeye will be MUCH hotter and hillier and likely a little stiffer competition. I think they moved the venue this year. Nearby for the kids would be Paramounts Kings Island, and that is a blast. Depends on the kids age. I love the Rock N’ Hall of fame, but wouldn’t bore any young kids there. The Great Lakes Science center next door is merely OK. Could drive out to Cedar Point if the kids are older (which is better than King’s Island for the big rides), but it is a bit far.
I don’t think the kids would do the rock and roll hall of fame.
Cedar Point better than Kings Island? Hmmm…I seem to remember it being the other way around when I was a kid. But I was just a huge fan of the Beast and wouldn’t hit any other rides all day!
We won’t really be doing much siteseeing stuff, just the race and then heading back to Columbus, they’ve hit the science center before and the kids are still a little to young for amusement parks.
What sort of hotel options are near the Great Buckeye Challenge? I know you can rent a cabin at the state park, but my brother says a hotel room is better for containing the kids at this point. And a pool at the hotel is best for entertaining the 4 year old.
Std fare hotels abound (Fairfield, Ramada, Marriottj) I think. Nothing too nice. King’s Island is better for young kids, but Cedar Point is better for older kids/adults IMO with much better big rides (more coasters than any place on earth!)
Hey - what about Steelhead in early August? I’m thinking of visiting the fam in Chicago and jumping over there to race… we could train together… roomie up in MI… come on, you know you want to.
I thought about Steelhead, but I’m trying to find a race that my brother and sister in law and my two really cute nephews, and my soon to be born neice can come see.
I’ll have to look into how far Steelhead race site is from Columbus.
Wait, I don’t want to do yet another race where I’ll get beat by you, I can just stick around Hawaii for that
How hilly is Buckeye? At nearly 3000’ of climbing, GCT isn’t exactly flat. The first year the course was very hilly, but there were too many whiners, so Mickey cut out a lot of the climbing. And it can be just as hot in Cleveland, Ohio in August, and humid, as anywhere in the state, though why one would wish for that isn’t clear to me. GCT is my choice hands down, though I practically live on the course, so I’m certainly biased. I’ve competed all 3 years, and the kids race the day before is the highlight of the weekend for me. Yes, the swim is short, about a mile. It was long the year they held the swim in Fairport harbor because of the damage to the Headlands Park due to flooding. That year, the swim was WAYYYYYYY long. Two loop run course with very little shade outside of the Park. Two loop bike course, point to point swim.
Great Buckeye will be MUCH hotter and hillier and likely a little stiffer competition. I think they moved the venue this year. Nearby for the kids would be Paramounts Kings Island, and that is a blast. Depends on the kids age. I love the Rock N’ Hall of fame, but wouldn’t bore any young kids there. The Great Lakes Science center next door is merely OK. Could drive out to Cedar Point if the kids are older (which is better than King’s Island for the big rides), but it is a bit far.
Could be a day trip for your kin. Their visit to Springfield might include a trip to Young’s Jersey Dairy: http://www.youngsdairy.com/ I got my triathlon start way back in the day while working in the bakery at Young’s. The nearby village of Yellow Springs is also a fun place to hang out for people watching, restaurants, shopping and a nearby nature preserve and bike path.
Of course, HFP’s reputation for outstanding events has been mentioned often on this forum.
I know first the run is longer (3.1m compared to 1.2), but how does the course for this year’s Great Buckeye compare with the Peterborough Half? I was told recently of both, and even though it is a late date, I am considering both–thoughts on them? Thanks.
**Cedar Point better than Kings Island? Hmmm…I seem to remember it being the other way around when I was a kid. But I was just a huge fan of the Beast and wouldn’t hit any other rides all day! **
It depends. Cedar Point is bigger and the only place to go to ride roller-coasters (Gemini fan here). The Beast is good, but there are comparable and better coasters at the Point.
On the other hand, Kings Island is cool because the water park is included in the admission price. So you can split your day at the water park and the amusement park without extra admission. At Cedar Point, it is something like $25/person more to enter their water park on top of the $40 General admission.
