The course is hard. The wind and heat can be brutal. Half the run is on the golf course and the rest on small roads or paths add to the heat. The swim start is at a different location than the bike/run transition so that adds a logistical problem. The race provides busses, but don’t forget the extra time. Other than those couple of things it is a great race and it is Hawaii. I will be racing again this year. Have rented from Bike Works many times and have no complaints. I probably rent from them two to three times a year. Hope this is helpful and enjoy the race.
The runpart on the golfcourse and small paths got me worried the most, since I only have a 1:55 PB on an HM (on it’s own) on paved (somewhat hilly) roads.
I did this race in 2011, it was my 2nd 70.3 so I went in a little concerned also. It is definitely “do-able” just don’t expect it to be really fast.
The swim is non wetsuit, I am a very MOP swimmer, I was getting run into a lot…but who cares! The swim is freaking beautiful!!!
The bike wasn’t that bad, I ran a 404/808 combo and was fine (don’t remember a lot of wind that day). The ride up to Hawi is a grind, but you will FLY back down. It got hot near the end of the bike, but I was moving (not all that fast, but still…) so it didn’t bother me.
The run…well yeah, that is a bit hard. It was hillier than I expected, lots of little kickers on the golf course. Running on grass was not fun, no rebound and with the morning watering evaporating right up onto you, it gets humid. There is NO shade, bring a hat and wear sunscreen. There is about a 4 mile stretch (mile 7ish-11ish) where you run out into the lava field on a road that seems to go on forever. It has just enough of a curve to it that you can’t see the turn around, you just see suffering people all around you. Embrace it, it ends and you get back onto the property and know the finish line is close.
Then no matter what time it takes you to finish…you have won because you are in Hawai’i! I enjoyed the race enough to sign up again for 2014. Like in 2011, I plan on sending my bike out there to Bikeworks to be assembled and tuned by them so it is ready to go on race day. Then they pack it up and ship it back. I had a very good experience with them.
If you are not athletic and you do not train for it ‘no’ it will not be ‘doable’ as it can be a pretty tough course as the conditions are always tough. It is almost ALWAYS hot, windy, and humid. It could rain at the turn around in Hawi and be 90 when you get back to the Queen K.
Now with that being said, it is a TNT race for the groups out of Los Angeles. TNT has a reputation of not having the most athletic people in their clubs, and most of them finish the race. But they are also prepared to finish the race for the most part as well.
It is an open water swim without wetsuit. The water can be VERY choppy as it can be VERY windy. I did the race in 2008 and 2012, and in both cases we had very heavy wind on the back stretch of the swim course making visabilty tough. Most of the crowd swam off course both years because the buoys were hard to find. I knew better in 2012 and I still swam off course. So it is not the easiest swim on the 70.3 circuit by any means.
The Bike: Very Windy. So you should have some skill handling a bike in cross winds, and you should be able to climb a bike for the road to HAWI. Just like the swim you should be trained for this adventure, but very ‘doable’. The ride down from Hawi may scare the shit out of you, but it will be VERY fun.
The Run: Hot, Windy, Humid. The nice thing about a triathlon if finishing is your goal the run can be a walk. So again ‘doable’. But if you are running, it will be VERY hot in the lava fields. The Course is not flat, and it has a bunch of small rolling hills throughout the 13.1 miles.
So is it ‘doable’ yes. But ‘doable’ will be based on a sliding scale of your athletic ability versus your fitness level just like anything.
I did it last year and already signed up for next year and will likely be going for many more time. It is a great race in a great location and makes for a great family vacation.
If it wasn’t for the conditions (heat and wind), the bike is actually not that hard. The climb to hawi really isn’t that big of a deal, it is the wind when coming down that scares some. If you are comfortable in windy conditions, it isn’t difficult. If you are skittish in wind, you may not like the bike.
The run is definitely difficult given the many turns, short steep hills, and the heat/humidity.
Would I recommend this race? definitely.
Would I recommend this as a first time 70.3? probably not, and definitely not if you are not comfortable biking in the wind or running in brutal conditions.
There are a lot of triathletes in Hawaii who do Honu as their first 70.3. It’s completey doable. It’s hot and windy. The run on the grass sucks all the energy out of your legs. The bike is the harder part of the Kona course, but it’s still not super hilly, rolling hills w/ one long uphill/downhill.
I did the race in 2012 and have had a bunch of teammates race there other years. It seems to me that you’re likely to run into two scenarios:
Brutal wind, making for a tough bike but an “easier” runNot much wind, making for an easier bike but a brutal run
I ran into Scenario #1 when I raced in 2012. The wind kicked up the water and it was a churnfest. A few buoys had gotten blown out to sea overnight so sighting was very poor, and apparently there was a small craft advisory issued that morning because the water was so rough. The bike was a “clench the bars” fest – the crosswinds were so strong that I would get blown across two lanes of traffic from the yellow stripe in the middle of the road all the way to the rocky shoulder. It took a lot of strength and concentration to get through 56 miles. The run for me that year was doable because it was still really windy so it cooled down the course considerably. However, there was a ridiculous headwind on that mile 10 stretch that forced runners to dip their heads down and Juggernaut through the out and back to avoid getting Bloodsported in the eye by sand and dirt.
Some of my teammates have experienced the complete opposite scenario, where the winds were relatively calm and made for a fast bike split, but everyone suffered on the run because it was so hot. The heat can radiate off the golf course and pretty much bake you, plus there are a lot of short punchy golf cart hills that you’ll probably get sick of by the end of the race.
On paper the course isn’t hard but the weather is definitely the wild card and will guarantee you’ll have an interesting race. It’s a popular race for my teammates, however, given the fact that you’re in Hawaii and racing on part of the World Championship course. I’d say it’s one to sign up for at least once in your life.
I’ve done it a few times. It’s my favorite 70.3 and I’ll be going back, but it’s definitely not an easy one. After the race last year Crowie said it was one of the harder days he’s ever had racing on the Big Island and I believe he’s got some experience there…
Thanx for the all helpfull replies!! I have a good image now of how the race is thanks to your stories. Sounds hard but great J. I will consider this one for sure! And if not Hawaii then Mallorca……
It was my first 70.3 in 2011. It went fine. Beautiful venue. I’ve raced it the last 3 years and my wife has raced it every year. While no single segment of the course is that difficult it is the cumulative conditions that can make this race difficult. Every year has offered something different for conditions though the run is almost always tough. 2013 was the first year with the swim broken up by pros, men and women which cut down on the crowed mass start. Also the first year swimming Hapuna counter-clockwise.
We also raced Mallorca 70.3 this year ahead if Honu. It was a great rxce and riding around Mallorca is fantastic. It is a fast, protected wetsuit swim. The bike has one major climb between 1/3 and 1/2 way then a memorable descent with a flat to slightly descending ride back to the coast. Lots of wind and this seems pretty standard on Mallorca. The run is dead flat PR material with 3 laps. Nearly 3,000 racers and there is a team division which can make the bike dynamics interesting!
There is a video on YouTube showing the entire descent. After watching the video I was a little concerned. We pre-rode the climb to Lluc and the descent to Caimari after arriving in Mallorca. The descent turned out to be fun even with traffic and cyclists. The road is closed for the bike segment on race day and crossing the yellow centerline is allowed. In my opinion this made the descent much easier even at speed and with all the switchbacks. A beautiful portion of the course. We rode tri bikes and would do so again. There were more road bikes in this race than I’ve ever seen in a tri, but you’ll give up serious speed on the majority of the course with little if any gain on the big descent.
We rode the Caimari climb later in the trip on a ride out and back to Sa Colobra and were able to enjoy the views more:) If you decide on Mallorca this ride is a must do along with Cap de Formentor!
I signed up to do this race in May. Regarding shipping one’s bike to Bikeworks, can you comment on the most cost effective way to ship the bike (if it matters, I’m in California)? Not sure if I should lug it on the plane and pay the airline fee or ship with UPS, Fed Ex, bike shipping or other carrier?
I signed up to do this race in May. Regarding shipping one’s bike to Bikeworks, can you comment on the most cost effective way to ship the bike (if it matters, I’m in California)? Not sure if I should lug it on the plane and pay the airline fee or ship with UPS, Fed Ex, bike shipping or other carrier?
This doesn’t happen often, but my friend just flew to Kona from LA on Tuesday. She is racing. United sent her bike to JAPAN by accident. She just got it back.
I did Honu in 2012 & 2013 and conditions were different each time. Many, including myself thought this year was harder and Crowie’s finish over 4 hours along with the avg finish time being 15min longer shows for it.
The swim is in clear warm waters, but got really choppy this year from the winds. Last year, people were talking about swimming over a manta ray during the swim.
The bike…well, its the tough half of the world championship course. The rolling terrain and climb to Hawi is nothing that most of us haven’t seen before, but the winds. Headwinds are manageable, tailwinds are fun, but the crosswinds are debilitating. Both 2012 & 2013 had 40+mph gusts on race day.
Majority of the run is through a golf course, so a lot of up and downs, turns, and grass. You also have a stretch around the 8/9th mile that goes through “hells kitchen.” This years run is what I think made for slower times than 2012. The heat and humidity sucked the energy out of you, especially on the grass. For me, the grass made it hard for me to keep a descent cadence. Then transitioning from grass to asphalt presented issues as well.
I had a few buddies that did this for their first 70.3 and are going back again next year.
It’s a tough day and a great challenge, but when it hurts, just think…your in Hawaii.
Great course, great atmosphere, and even though it is windy, hot and humid I would really recommend it.
Here’s what I think would be hard about it
Very hot and **humid, **especially by the time you’re on the runBike course can have considerable side & headwinds which make bike handling an issue for folksMass swim start in an ocean without a wetsuit Does any of that bother you? Would it prevent you from enjoying or finishing the race?
I wouldn’t fly anywhere to do my first 70.3. Are you sure you don’t have a local race 70.3 that you can do in the spring to at least have one under your belt before throwing yourself into those conditions. I looked at Andreas Raelert’s website for his Mallorca recap video and the bike looks pretty tough, with very tricky descents (that I wouldn’t want to do on a rental bike). Seems like you would have ample time to train for two.
This race (in 2012) was not only my first-ever 70.3 race, but my first-ever triathlon. I live on Oahu, so heading over there and dealing with logistics wasn’t a significant challenge. I train in basically the same climate and conditions, so lots of heat, wind, and wetsuit-less ocean swims are a staple of my training anyway. Back in 2012 I was just getting started in the sport and had no idea what I was in for, but my scatterbrained training told me that I could finish, and that’s exactly what I did. Coming into triathlon having the experience of running a few marathons already certainly helped.
Everyone else has pretty much touched on the course and what it can throw at you. I also did it this year (2013), and everyone is right that the course was more challenging. It was a little less windy on the bike compared to 2012 (or I simply got that much better on the bike), but the wind magically vanished on the run this year. So, the run course was a real hot and humid slog with basically no relief to be had. I massively improved my time over last year just because I am a much better triathlete now, but I did the run about 10 minutes slower than I expected to because of the conditions.
If you do end up choosing Honu as your first 70.3, I promise you that it will be memorable. I don’t know if I’m lucky or stupid to have done it as my first-ever triathlon, but I certainly won’t ever forget that day. Budget some extra time into your trip and be sure to enjoy the Big Island while you’re there.
