Just wondering from those who have experience, how does the Hawaii 70.3 bike leg compare to other 70.3 bike legs? I’m thinking about signing up for the race next year. No I’m not a Hawaiian resident, so your Kona slots are safe. Well, they would be safe anyway (grin).
It’s hot and can be windy but it’s not that difficult. Oceanside is harder, Longhorn is easier.
The climb to Hawi is a bit of a grind but not steep. The climb out of Kawaihae on the way back is steep but short.
The run is one of the hardest I’ve done in a 70.3
Sign up. It is a fantastic race and it’s run very well.
in honu I rode 8 minutes slower than NOLA with higher average watts (in Hawaii)
2:34 in NOLA and 2:42 in Hawaii. Probably about 5%higher average watts in Hawaii. In NOLA I also had to get off my bike 2 times vor thing that added 90 seconds or so to my split.
Not much drafting on either course.
I thought it was the hardest bike leg I’ve done.
(finished over 30 half ironman’s)
It’s hot and can be windy but it’s not that difficult. Oceanside is harder, Longhorn is easier.
The climb to Hawi is a bit of a grind but not steep. The climb out of Kawaihae on the way back is steep but short.
The run is one of the hardest I’ve done in a 70.3
Sign up. It is a fantastic race and it’s run very well.
I disagree- Oceanside might have more difficult climbs but the overall course- Hawaii can be hands down harder because of the conditions and the constant up and down. Granted I did not have a good day @ Hawaii 70.3 but I rode about 9 minutes slower. NOLA is not even on the same planet because although the winds can be tough, they do not compare and it is pancake flat.
Compared to Oceanside, the swim is a slower because of no wetuit. I found the bike to be about 10 minutes faster than Oceanside. The run is harder because of the heat. Yes, fantastic race.
If you want a hard bike leg have a look at Monaco!
If you want a hard bike leg have a look at Monaco!
No question. That course calls for a road bike there is so much climbing.
It’s a tough course, but it’s not terrible. We had some pretty nasty crosswinds this year, so I found it harder (even though I was a fair bit faster) this year than in '09.
The hill on the way back thru Kawaihae is a sneaky little bugger - you almost don’t notice it’s there on the way out, but you sure notice it on the way back!
There is surprisingly little drafting considering it’s a mass start race with 1300 athletes on the road at once.
Monaco is dead, no more in the 70.3 format.
I have a collection of GPX files from the ironman 70.3 and the harder is Muskoka in North America. Mooseman 70.3 2010 should be second.
In Europe, Switzerland and Austria have some pretty good and long hills. But I think one of the harder is Ironman UK 70.3 (I know it’s a surprise!).
And the winner is Ironman 70.3 Germany.
By the way, I need to complete that project. You can checl it there http://trimes.org/gpxparcours-ironman/
Do the race. This was my first time there and it WILL NOT BE THE LAST. I had a great time. This was probably one of the hardest 70.3 races that I have been in and I loved it. Well run, good people, great location. Look at it this way, you get to ride the hardest part of the IM Hawaii course. I wish I could do the race again this weekend.
Let me know if you have any questions about the race, more than happy to share my thoughts.