Ironman: Coeur d'Alene vs. Arizona?

Triathlon Forum
1

I’d love to get people’s thoughts on their experiences at IMCDA vs. IMAZ? I’m particularly interested in hearing from those people who have participated in both races, or who participated in one, and experienced the other as a spectator.

Race attributes I’m most interested in finding out about are:

  1. Swim course quality

  2. Bike course quality

  3. Run course quality

  4. Crowd support

  5. Volunteer support

  6. Location overall quality (hotels, plenty of stuff for family/spectators to do)

  7. Timing (time of year)

I won’t bias the results with my thoughts, but would love to hear a relative comparison based on a 1-5 scale (1 is worst, 5 is best). For example: Crowd support - IMXQ: 5, IMJK: 3 …feel free to add your thoughts to support your rankings…

…actually, it would be useful to have such a survey for all Ironman races, not just CDA and AZ. I’ll save that for a future post!

Thanks for your feedback!

2

I have done both, and I enjoyed IMAZ especially since it was in my home town. But IM C’dA wins. I’d give C’dA a 5 and AZ a 3.5

3

I’ve done both races and also spectated at IMCDA.

                                  IMAZ      IMCDA

  1. Swim course quality 3 4

  2. Bike course quality 3 4

  3. Run course quality 4 4

  4. Crowd support 4 4

  5. Volunteer support 5 4

  6. Location overall quality 3 4

  7. Timing (time of year) 3 4

IMO, CDA is a beautiful area and Arizona will never match up. IMAZ was the only game in town during that weekend. It’s also very pedestrian friendly w/ lots of close restaurants. OTOH, during the weekend of IMCDA, the Hoop it Up bball tourney was happening in Spokane. It was a huge draw compared to IMCDA.

4

I agree with relax and I would only add one thing:

Ability to PR

IMAZ IMCDA

5 3
.

5

have not done CDA (want to possibly next year) but did AZ

One thing to keep in mind - AZ should improve significantly next year and was actually a very nice race this year.

not quite an apples to apples comparison - if such a question ever could be

6

Okay, now I have more time to be more specific.

  1. Swim course quality IM CDA: 5 - I like the two loop course, easy to navigate, and clear water. IMAZ: 4 - Also easy to navigate but although the water is cleaner than ever it still looks crapy.

  2. Bike course quality IM CDA: 5 - GREAT COURSE, has some hills to break up the monotony but not too tough. Beautiful area and excelent roads. IMAZ: 3 - Could be fast without the wind, but the three loop course wasn’t in the nicest of areas a nd poor road quality in some areas. (this all should change next year).

  3. Run course quality IM CDA: 5 - Also a great course along the lake (which is beautiful). IMAZ: 4 - CDA had better scenery but the canal road that gets you off pavment for a few miles each lap gains AZ points.

  4. Crowd support IM CDA: 4 - Lots of spectators making lots of noise through town and on the hills durning the bike Crowd seemed to thin earlier than at AZ. IM AZ: 4.5 -Riding through Tempe was amazing, lossing half a point for the drunks that were heckling racers on 5th Street around 2100hrs and lack of spectators out on the run course.

  5. Volunteer support IM CDA: 5 - Dude, they have a waiting list for volunteers and they were excelent! IMAZ: Although the volunteers that worked this event more than earned a 5 for their preformance, IMAZ gets a 3 because of difficulties getting volunteers.

  6. Location overall quality (hotels, plenty of stuff for family/spectators to do) IM CDA: 4 - Resort Town with an amazing view… but everything closed on race night at like 2100! IMAZ: 3 - Well I live here, and the town just doesn’t excite me… but I was able to get a burger after the race at least! IMAZ probably was better for spectators and families especially during the race so maybe it should get higher points.

  7. Timing (time of year) Not gonna rate this one, both work well for me although my coach isn’t so happy about me doing both this year.