So, I read the thread titled ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ after the first HITS race in Palm Springs in December and there were a LOT of complaints.
I’m wondering if anyone raced the Corpus Christi race or the Naples race in January and February? How was it? Were there similar planning problems to those reported at Palm Springs?
Trying to get a sense of how the new series is getting its feet off the ground and if it’s getting more organized. I’m doing the Napa Valley race.
I don’t have feedback, but after some friends failed to get into IMAZ they signed up for the full at HITS Lake Havasu. Hopefully it’s good, because they wanted something in the southwest in November and I said to check out the HITS series.
If anyone does have feedback it’ll be good to know whether I’m losing friends come November! 
Use the search feature. There were threads asking the exact same question you did after Naples and Corpus.
Corpus
Naples
But in case anyone else was wondering, or had a case of TLDR: small fields, not perfect but improving.
Thanks, couldn’t find those links in the search. Totally what I was looking for.
My girlfriend and I are doing this race as well for our first IM. What do you think of the bike climbing, which is apparently ~6000 ft?
How did it go for you Coleofcali? I was out there supporting a teammate and that bike and run course was very challenging.
Just curious, how did your friends like the Havasu race? I’m trying to find a race for around that timeframe next year and wanted some feedback from someone who raced.
I’m also interested in some follow ups to see if the races have been getting better now that they’ve had a year of experience. I was interested in Havasu (it’s my hometown after all), but I thought the bike course was pretty poorly thought out–SO many intersections! Maybe next year.
Here is what happened at Hunter Mountain II where I raced this year:
Here’s a race report from the HIM distance at Marble Falls last year: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3905286; and another http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3904233;search_string=marble%20falls;#3904233 as well as this http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3904253;search_string=marble%20falls;#3904253 and this http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3903499;search_string=marble%20falls;#3903499 .
I was there for the sprint and thought it was logistically a nightmare. Dangerous course with not very good volunteer support. The run course was changed the night before and put runners on the same road as the bikes, and you had two waves going (sprint and oly) on the same route. I was really surprised that no one got seriously injured because there were athletes all over the course and it was not marked very well.
I tried to read all of the HITS reports through the year to see if they ever improved, and I don’t really think they did.
I’m still debating if its even worth the now low entry fees for the IM distance this year to deal with those roads again.
They had a great time and from their reports the event was well run with no issues. It’s too much of a pain to find their report while I’m on the mobile, but I’ll post some of their feedback later.
The short version is: would recommend.
Here’s a race report from the HIM distance at Marble Falls last year: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3905286; and another http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ble%20falls;#3904233 as well as this http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ble%20falls;#3904253 and this http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ble%20falls;#3903499 .
I was there for the sprint and thought it was logistically a nightmare. Dangerous course with not very good volunteer support. The run course was changed the night before and put runners on the same road as the bikes, and you had two waves going (sprint and oly) on the same route. I was really surprised that no one got seriously injured because there were athletes all over the course and it was not marked very well.
I tried to read all of the HITS reports through the year to see if they ever improved, and I don’t really think they did.
I’m still debating if its even worth the now low entry fees for the IM distance this year to deal with those roads again.
I was looking at doing the HITS Marble Falls 1/2 since it is about a month after the Boerne Tall Texan and fits my schedule better. Living near Boerne and having ridden the Tall Texan route a few times these two races sound very similar with HITS maybe being a little hillier. What were the issues with the roads? From the reports it sounded like narrow, chip seal, hills and some pot holes. Sounds pretty typical for this part of Texas. Other than scoping the course turns and turnarounds in advance and bringing my own bike/run nutrition what else? I kinda like the whole back to basics idea as long as it is known upfront. My first 1/2 was the Howling Wolf in Tooele, UT. The RD had one water bottle handup on the bike (at the turnaround) and had gallon jugs of water and stacks of cups every couple of miles on the run. Now that was rustic!
I only did the sprint course so I can only speak to that section of road. I thought the road itself was fairly similar to what you’d find in Boerne, although having ridden much more in the Boerne/Kerrville area I think I prefer that area to the route they chose up Mormon Road north of Marble Falls. The roads in MF did feel narrower to me than those around Boerne, and there were a few blind corners that made me a little nervous. The chip seal was pretty darn rough too. Worse than Boerne? I think so.
But for me the worst was when you were going through the town, crossing over major intersections (like 281) and they didn’t have enough police or volunteers to help guide the athletes across. Not a huge deal if you’re just doing a training ride, but if you’re actually racing (especially a shorter distance where you’re hammering), it gets a bit hairy.
I thought the course was more harsh than the Austin 70.3 course, and that’s saying alot.
Good to know. Now I just have to decide if Tall Texan is $150 “better”…
Thanks!
Probably not dude. I have never done the Tall Texan, but have done the Small and Tiny and I think the courses are similar.
They are all fun races, but $150 better? probably not.
Now I know this is a different time of year, but the Kerrville 70.3 in September would definitely be worth $150 more. That is one fine race there. I had an awesome time this past year. The course is great and logistically it was perfect. The RD from Austin (High Five Events/Jack and Adams) really knows how to put on a show.
Yep, Kerrville will be my season capper. Three races this year - HITS Marble Falls (or TT - we will see), BSLT and Kerrville 1/2.
Just curious, how did your friends like the Havasu race? I’m trying to find a race for around that timeframe next year and wanted some feedback from someone who raced.
HITS Lake Havasu - Full distance.
Some excerpts from my friends’ race report (since they only sent it to me and their tri club I’m not posting the whole thing)
Day before
…
Went to the race briefing and all was well. All junctions marshalled by police and/or volunteers. Advice was to ride straight through everything and keep going - ignore road signs, speed limits, traffic lights etc. Felt very comforted about that. Part of run course would be unlit but should be OK - carry a head-torch or glow-sticks if needed (neither of which we fetched).
…
Race seemed low-key, laid-back, well organised and we were comforted a lot.
Comments
A GREAT RACE. The organisation was excellent - yes it would probably be more professional with closed roads and 2000+ starters but given the scale of the event this was as good as it could be. And the race director and organisers all knew our names, talked to us, and were ace throughout. They let people stay on the course beyond the time limits and were only too ready to help with anything. The cops and volunteers were ace too. Can’t thank them enough. Would I advise people to do this event - overwhelmingly YES
One of my friends tripped on the run, gashing her knee, and the medical attention was fairly swift and good too. They really thought the Havasu event was good. I think sharing the course with the folks racing the half helped them, as it made the course less empty in the early part of the day. More drafting to be done on the swim too…
The bike course is hilly, and apparently the wind was pretty strong, so not as fast a course as IMAZ.
That’s all the info I have. Hope it helps, and that next year’s HITS events are at least this good!
Thanks, all. Turns out you get an enormous number of threads in the search function when you search for “hits”. Nice working getting the reports onto one thread. And yeah, the Havasu bike course is very tough. No comparison with IM AZ. You definitely use your full range of gears riding around that town.
You’re a champ, thanks so much for all of the info!