Any race reports.
Would the new location be suitable for a full if race is upgraded to both distances.
Heres some excerpts of a report I wrote for my coach - might be helpful to you. TLDR lots of drafting on a two lap quick bike course, but really well put on race with crazy sponsers. Run was on a two lane road that was completely closed.
Pre race -
I went to transition at 06:30 when it opened, but the queues for the toilets were so long that I got no running in, and only a couple of minutes in the water. I actually got in the water as they were asking people to leave. Swam a couple of strokes super hard to get the blood pumping, and got out again. Water was 21C.
Swim -
I went out at the busiest time, with all the MOP swimmers <40min. I think the lady releasing the swimmers was also letting them out more regularly than other races, 5 athletes every 3 seconds maybe, rather than every 5 seconds. The swim was really busy throughout.
Bike -
In terms of holding power - the first 10 miles I managed to hold 200W avg (my head unit laps every 5 miles). All was going to plan. Then it became clear that there were far too many athletes out on course, and there were huge pelotons of riders (I rode with 15 or so for the second lap). The trouble was, once a group would form, if I was out in the wind, I would be doing 270W, but if I was in the group, I would be doing 170W. I tried about 5 or 6 times to free myself from the drafting - I would drop back, but somehow make my way back to them, or I would try and put a surge in. However, after each dig at 250W or so, I would think I was riding smooth, racing my race, then look behind and see about twenty riders I was taking with me. I’d like to think that if I was able to hold that 200+W goal on an empty course, I would have got a similar time (sometimes my path was simply blocked by groups of riders and I couldn’t overtake) - of course, who knows what my run would have looked like after a harder bike.
Run -
This is the toughest 70.3 run I have done. Super hilly, and these hills are a couple of kms long. Really sunny and hot too, just felt like such a slog. No ice or wet sponges at aid stations, which I thought was suprising given the heat.
The race was at an amazing, beautiful location, and would be perfect for a fast flat full distance, but, as with a lot of IM races, there would be a lot of drafting.
Great write up, agree with all of it.
The Ironman village is the best I have seen so far. They use a beach club/resort as infrastructure, impressive Ironman village, tons of vendors local or not.
Super clear and nice water, you could see the white sand at the bottom all along, dreamy swim location. The views on the bike and on the run are spectacular, it’s all along the ocean. It makes up for the challenging run course. Volunteers were mainly teenagers, full of energy and super friendly. The finish chute is on the beach, but unlike Atlantic City, it’s a red carpet all along. Vouliagmeni is a great race location, tons of cheap and really good restaurants available. Everything is easily accessible, no real traffic race morning. I’d go back for another PR on the 70.3; if they put up a 140.6, I’d sign up in a heartbeat.
Drafting was happening big time, but then nothing more than at any bike at a 2-loop 70.3 with 1600 athletes. Washing machine feel during the swim, same cause. But again, nothing special.
Huge congrats to race director and overall organization, it was a superbly run event. I won’t be surprised if that event places super high in the global IM race satisfaction ranking.
Thanks for the writeups.
Hope race will continue, seems they have put an effort into getting this up in the tops chart.