I’m thinking about driving out to do the Portage Lakes du and was wondering if anyone had any feedback on the event overall? I didn’t see much here in terms of the race, organization, venue, what kind of field to expect etc… Thanks.
I’m a cyclist only so I have never done the event, however I live about 5 miles away and have spectated. I just pulled up a map of the bike route and I ride most of the roads on a near-daily basis.
There are a couple sections of road that I’m not too familiar with, but it looks like the bike course will be somewhat rolling- you won’t have many perfectly flat sections, but any uphill will only be 1-3 minutes and probably shallow enough to stay aero. A compact with a 11-25 is probably perfect for all but the very FOP and BOP. If you run a standard crank you might want a 27 cog to allow you to stay in the big ring.
The road surfaces range from decent to great, Nimisila and a Vanderhoof are probably the smoothest. You will want to run slightly soft tire pressure so you don’t bounce all over the place on the crappy pavement sections.
Hope this helps. From what I know, the event and HFP has a pretty good reputation around here.
-Physiojoe
I did that one a couple of years ago… Nice swim w/beach start and then the run in the park was great, I was not a big fan of the bike though, lots of turns and ups and downs in combination, I got jammed a few times… Be ready to shift…
It had a strong field with some elites when I did it, HFP does a good job in general… Good people…
Good Luck!
This usually attracts good competition and HFP is decent and do a great job. The bike is not great and expect to be few minutes slower on this course. I need to check my Garmin but if I remember correctly the bike had over 1000 ft of climbing for the Olympic. All shorts climbs but some are a little steep but short. A lot of turns that are usually at the bottom of descents so you can’t take advantage of the speed to get you up the next hill.
I did Portage Lakes in 2008 and loved it. HFP has been top notch. This year I drove from FL to race their TTT event.
I love HFP events, and came in 2nd in my AG the time I did that race, and had to do that to win the series (phew). From what I remember, the swim had a ton of glare so wear smoked goggles, the ride was uneventful and a little chewed up, and the run was 2 loops without a lot of elevation…however, when we got home Mrs. Quads took my temp and I was really sick so other people’s opinions may vary.
I’ve done most of the HFP races (not TTT) and this was probably my least favorite (Maumee Bay, Ceasars Creek, and Deer Creek in that order are my top 3) but it is still worthwhile.
EDIT: Just read du - so you don’t have to worry about which goggles you bring.
Bike course from last year:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223574082
Run course from last year:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223574085
I started the watch a little late and the run course was a little short.
Pay attention to the course directions, you had to do this one loop 4 times, I know the overall winner skipped one of those loops cuz there was nobody out there running that fast.
On the run part you mentioned… the course was well short (the turn around sign was placed about 1/4mi short, making each of the two loops 1/2mi short, making it about 1mi total short). The course map pre-race also confirmed the mis-placement of turnaround sign, as well as the volunteers directions and arrows on the ground confirming it, as well as competitors typical run times confirming it. Was a simple placement mistake by a volunteer, but due to it being multi loop it chopped it, if you followed the course map exactly. Looks like they have luckily changed it this year to just two big solid loops which should solve that, plus part is on a wooded trail.
It’s always been a great race though. Bike is quite hilly with some punchy climbs and often no momentum going into them, so shift early and often. Don’t expect a fast bike time, it definitely is tough for an olympic course (which is good!). Plenty of parking right by transition
I did that race in 2009 and the run course was two loops like you mentioned it should be this year. There was a lot of confusion last year.
Edit: However I disagree that it was a mile short. My GPS read 5.5 and I started it late.
The bike was one of my slowest times for an Oly dist course, it was much more difficult than the 2009 course.
Yup unfortunately a lot of people (understandably) added on one of those mini cul-de-sac loops because their time was short, while a lot of people ran the “correct” course but had super short run times. Lots of people ran mid-:30s that are usually mid-:40s 10k. I ran :29 and didn’t even have the fastest run 
Even had one lady run a :31 I really felt bad for the 2nd/3rd place guys because I know for sure they added on… we kept asking each other where to go and I tried yelling at them to go straight to the finish line, but unfortunately I think they saw their super short time and added on anyway. Only reason I knew is due to living in Akron and doing the race for 10 years now, plus myself and training buds preview the course a lot. For the most part is was fair for the people that did the course as laid out, just stinks that a lot of people (understandably) added on
New run course map looks sweet… goes out on the park road, hang a right, come back on a wooded park trail. Repeat for loop two