I agree with many of the above posters but I thought it was a pretty average IM race. Great in some ways and meh in others.
SWIM and T1:
I got on the 4:00 bus to the swim start and we got there pretty quickly, easily and smoothly within 45 minutes. No problems and very good logistically. I do wish they had allowed spectators on the bus - they did so at Boulder and worked great! But then they’d also have to bus the spectators back down and perhaps they didn’t want to do that.
There were no bike techs in T1, just a rack and stand pumps which was problematic. My rack of about 4 athletes had a malfunctioning pump and took about 20 minutes before we could get a working pump. It would have been so much quicker and easier if there were techs with air compressors like other races. Due to that slow down I felt like I was rushing through transition to get in the swim line but ultimately I had enough time and lined up just fine.
The swim was great. It was very congested, very much a washing machine and one of my slowest swims - especially the second loop with the sun directly into our eyes and so crowded but I thought the temperature was perfect and I loved the lake. I have no complaints even if it was a particularly slow swim. I get the feeling it was a slower swim for most people as I was about 5 minutes slower than expected and still swam past a number of people. I came out feeling great and happy and oddly enjoyed the walk up the ramp. The padding was more than enough to cushion and there were spectators lining the whole thing which made it really fun. There were no volunteers in the tents which was fine with me though I wished for sunscreen. I’ll ensure I pack some in my T1 bag next time.
BIKE:
Like almost everyone I loved the first half of the bike course. Scenic, hilly but interesting. I think calling them rollers is a little optimistic but I was happy to do them regardless. The roads were chip and seal which was kind of brutal. You’d hit a patch of clear pavement for half a mile and think OMG THIS IS HOW LIFE SHOULD BE, then back to the chip and seal. It made it hard to sit in aero and definitely made for a slower time. The second half in town just flat out sucked. It had a significant head wind all day but pronounced in town and the exposed sun with bad roads made it slow even though it was flat. My first half of the bike was faster than the flat town portion. Also a local yelled at me (while I was riding on the shoulder of the road mind you) that she hoped I got hit by a truck for crowding up her roads. Um… thanks? My body felt pretty beat up from these roads honestly and the bike portion was just slower than you’d think from the profile but overall I enjoyed the first half so much it made up for me for the most part.
T2: There’s a short run through the bikes to the tents, where again there were no volunteers but I agreed with the RD that said it was more fair that way. I’m fine without the help and agree. Short on volunteers or strategic decision I think it was great. Then there’s another short run to the course and you’re good.
RUN:
Great. It’s a 3 loop course and when I hit it, mostly shaded. Great support from aide stations and not confusing (despite what the map looks like). Lots of spectators along the course and a nice turn around up top near the finish to continue. It’s not dead flat but there’s slight downhill and slight uphill sections that change it just enough and I thought it was really nice. You could hit RSN several times and I did, each time telling the adorable and helpful very young man that I’ll be back for my bag. They even let us get our RSN bags back which was great. My only qualm is that the 25 mile marker wasn’t right so when you have to run the 4 or 5 blocks from the finish turn off to the actual finish I was asking people where the hell the finish was because we were well past 1.2 mi from the last marker. But that’s minor. Great finish line, long enough for spectators to line it and call out with a great Mike Reilly finish.
Overall I think its a solid IM race. I think if they change some of the poor roads in the town section, it’ll even be a great race. I truly do think the organizers tried to make an athlete friendly race. We want a fast, easy-ish race and I think they tried hard to deliver that. I think the change to the new out and back on the bike was really great and the 3 loop run course, 2 loop swim (wetsuit legal which they might have fudged in the athlete’s favor) was smart. I don’t think it’s the fastest race on the IM calendar but that’s ok. I’m a solid MOP finisher and thought it was worthwhile. I’m not sure I’d return because I just didn’t enjoy the town loops - the head wind you can’t help but the roads ugh. They hurt. I know the RD said something about how it’s 4-5 mi out of 112 and I know that’s not a lot but when I think back they stand out as times I hated the race. If 90% of the other roads hadn’t been chip and seal I think I would have been ok to just accept the really really really bad roads but when it’s kind of rough to begin with and you just make it worse, it stands out even more.
I agree with the above commenters but I thought the course changes always worked in our favor and they worked hard to give a race tailored to athletes. It was the first year of this iteration and they’ll no doubt make improvements. I’d still recommend it as I had an enjoyable time.