Lake Placid will be my first IM. I have read and read about the bike course so I know to take it very conservative. I haven’t heard much about the run course. How difficult is it.
The run is tough. There are a few miles of steady climbing at the end of each loop, with two short, steep climbs.
How difficult is it?
It’s hard, but like the bike course, if you know what you are doing and you pace it right( many will not) you will do well. A formidable portion of the second 13 miles on the marathon is *uphill. *As noted, this really destroys many. So don’t get sucked in - be ready for it by making the first 13 miles, relatively speaking, a joke. You’ll thank me later as you are running past the many shufflers and walkers heading up past the ski-jumps and beyond!
The run course is tough but fair…two very steep hills per lap, but much of the course is gentle rollers where you can find a nice groove. I’m not what anyone would consider fast, but I ran a 3:56 there in 2009 in perfect conditions and I walked both of the steep hills that I mentioned on the first lap to be safe, and then ran them on the second lap.
Placid is all about pacing. On the bike and run. Both very similar. Nice and easy through the first half of each lap as there is a lot of uphill on the way back in.
As others have said, pacing is key, particularly out of T2. The first 5.5 miles are all downhill (the first 2 fairly steeply, but then the next 3.5 along River Road seem flat, but are still slightly downhill). It is easy to hammer these miles almost effortlessly if you are feeling good off the bike and then pay big time.
Ran it for the first time this last weekend…
do not underestimate the hills on the run (!) , particularly the last one back into town at the end of each loop ( the Lisa G hill). First time around seems ok, second time is just nasty.