I’m thinking of signing up but haven’t done more than olympic distance. Is Tinman a decent race for HIM novices?
Tupper Lake was my first 70.3 and its a great race. The swim is in a calm/warm lake. Bike is an out/back with some challenging rollers. Run doesn’t have much shade. Overall great race.
Great race. Less expensive, low key, great course. Do it.
Musselman is a great race
dirt.
It’s a toss up. Both courses seem similar in terms of elevation, scenery, and good race organization. Musselman does sound like a lot of fun, but the 90-degree averages that time of year would kill me on the run. I’d much rather cooler temps so I’m leaning toward the adirondacks.
Tupper Lake was my first HIM, so while I guess I am partial, I will recomend it. I thought the Bike course was great, hills but nothing too extreme. There were enough people to make it fun but it never really felt crowded. I would book a room early as I waited too long and won’t make that mistake again. Good Luck.
Don’t come to Tupper Lake if you are trying to “avoid” hot weather. While it can be cooler, it can be downright cold and raining, or 90 degree+ and 90% humidity and very much Kona like conditions. I’ve done it 12 times dating back to 1990 and I have seen everything there. Bottom line, is that it is a great race, but don’t let weather factor into your decision. Any time you do that with any race you can expect to be nothing but dissappointed. Plan for the worst possible weather at either extreme and mentally train yourself for both…this is my advice to the novice athlete. I’ve raced close to 50 half Ironmans in my years as a triathlete, so this is the best info I can share :-).
Good luck. I hope to be back at Tupper, but there is a chance I might have to miss out due to a wedding in the family.
Dev
I done both liked the mussleman better. very nice bike ride by the finger lakes and great support from the vocals. oh and good food to. summer is hot in NY
Thom
Let’s see:
Reasonable size waves (read as on the small side).
Consistently calm water. There does tend to be a side current on the out and back (A shaped) swim. Return is into the sun, but I think most people are finally recognizing that you can use the sun to sight on the way back. Actually far easier to swim straight.
Very scenic bike course. Hills (rollers) are clustered at the begining of the course (miles 3 -13), which are seen again on the way back. The trick is not to go all out at the begining, and you’ll have a good ride.
The run has a few little climbs (after mile 2, a little stinger at mile 8), but otherwise is essentially flat. There is a little cross country trail through the woods at mile 9. Fast finish.
Post race BBQ is one of the best in the Northeast. They do this well, every year.
Limited motels/hotels in the area for people who like to stay onsite. However, we prefer to B&B it in the surrounding area. This year we stayed in Saranac Lake, right on the lake and had access to canoes and swimming. Lake Placid is 10 minutes away for more restaurants amd miniature golf.
Temps can really vary. This year was quite comfortable. Last year the run was in the low 90s with very little breeze. I have friends who have done it when it hit 100 a number of years ago. Three out of the last four years has been nice, though.
Tupper is becoming the race for Slowtwitch smackdowns in the Northeast, ranging from the Toronto area to NYC (and Joisey). It’s a chance to meet the infamous Dev Paul, Triyoda, Murphys Law, Kus, SpinHo, and quite a few others.
Musselman - I did this race for the first time this year, and I think it was my favorite for the year. So so swim due to the shallow lake bottom near transition which can’t be helped. Great bike course, very scenic, open, mild rollers. It went quick for me as I was having a good time. A great run course which is deceivingly technical in my mind and a great little test. It was warm this year (finish temp in the low 90s) as it was last year, and will be likely most years. I look forward to doing this race again.
Did Tupper as my first HIM in '05. For a first time HIM, i would definately recommend it for its strong organization and support. It’s always optimally scheduled on the race calendars for most long-distance athletes (mid/late June). If people are looking for a tune-up to mid/late summer IMs, this is great. It is also favorable to scheduling in that you still have enough time in April/May/June to tune-up for this race.
I do want to say that the town itself doesn’t have much to provide. There are mostly B&B’s and motels to stay at for this race. There is a pre-race dinner if I remember correctly and it was nice.
The race itself is dependant on the weather. The swim is decent, albeit if you have a sunny day, you’ll need to site off some tower on the way back. The bike is rolling from my recollection and run is fast with some hills in the middle. One thing I want to say is the run is unshaded at the worst parts of the course and if you get a hot day, it can be a big challenge. But the extreme hot temperatures work to my advantage as I don’t sweat as profusely relative to other people in my AG. Post-race food was really REALLY great, kind of like Timberman (but just more low-key)…