Anyone know anything about this one? I’m going to do it - need to get another one in - but any color / advice / etc. would be great!!
well, it’s been probably 8 years since I did my last Lake Zurich tri, but the things I remember are:
- ALOT of seaweed that we had to swim through that year. Being a point to point swim, it was a bit annoying setting up transition and then finding your own way over to the start/finish line.
- The bike section was a bit annoying. I didn’t mind riding on Rt. 12(?), but you had to count your own laps before heading in, and quite a few times I saw some pileups (as you had 3 laps, I think, I would see multiple pile ups per race).
- The run was hotter than he!! the last time I raced it
I also, weirdly, had my fastest 10k run split ever during that race (about 42 minutes) when I couldn’t even break 45 minutes on a standalone race. I refuse to believe something was a bit “off” in the measurements 
Overall, it was a pretty good race. Good post race food and atmosphere, although again, you have to make your way to the parking lots from the finish area, then go from there to pick up your bike stuff, etc.
Perhaps anyone who has done it in recent years (post 2000) can comment if they have changed things. It also was pretty crowded if I remember correctly, which caused some issues with drafting, blocking, and general annoyability on the bike course
Craigster,
I think they’ve made some changes since then, and claim to have the cleanest lake in Illinois. I don’t recall seeing multiple laps on the bike, either.
Thanks for the response.
I did the race in '05 (they didn’t do it last year because of road construction).
I don’t remember there being any more seaweed than in any other race I’ve done. It is point to point with a time-trial start (so no waves) which was kind of cool and helped spread the swim out. They have buses to get you across the lake to the starting point.
There was a loop section on the bike - you had to do the loop twice and then head back in for T2.
I also think the run course was/is a bit short.
I enjoyed the race and was disappointed to not be able to do it last year.
yeah, I remember that tt swim start! That was fairly cool.
I think the seaweed is a product of how warm the summer was up to that point. I used to race (in no particular order)
Galena
Tri Shark
Beloit
Janesville
Niles
Madison (sprint/oly distance)
Schaumburg
Ironhorse
Crystal Lake
Mrs. T’s
Lake Geneva
Devil’s Lake
…and a few others in the Chicago area and some down in Indiana - Crystal Lake always had the worst seaweed. Nevetheless, it was close, and the fact they added buses now is a great addition. That really was annoying trying to get back and forth across the lake, parking, etc. The run was hot too - it seemed like there was NO wind running through some of those housing subdivisions.
Good race - run by triathletes (and old school Ironman Kona finisher) I was the team lead for the transition area a few years ago when the race won the award for “best run transition area”. (We had a great team of ALL experienced triathletes working together on transition with great support from the police and EMTs and really we had 15-20 team leaders which is why we won the local award.) I’m not sure how many of us will be officials on the bike course and/or working on Trans. Many of us will be officials at Ironman Wisconsin on the bike course too.
Swim - new swim course the last few years (since 2004) no sun, no weeds with a time trial start (you start with a group of 5 I believe)
Bike - you bike out and then do part of a loop a second time - it isn’t a full two loop course and is ~0.3 miles short of OLY distance
Run - winding thru residential neighborhoods with several false flats the course is dead on 10k with a slight uphill finish
Usually fills in July but not sure where registration is now. Late July, August and early September is triathlon “season” in Chicago area with races just about every week.
Excellent - I signed up a few days ago (online registration was having technical issues and was closed the last week or so) - so, am already set to go - just trying to get an idea of what to visualize. Is the bike course relatively flat? I live here in Chicago and am forced to train almost exclusively on the lakefront bikepath.
I ran part of the course this morning and frequently ride parts of the course.
Overall roads are in better condition than 2005, especially the Fairfield and Ivanhoe intersection. Old McHenry is still in crap condition.
2 loop bike, which is not a big pain. No big hills just some rollers(Fairfield) and a few subtle, but butt kicking up slopes(Ivanhoe). It is a very fast bike course.
Swim point to point(dogleg), although I don’t know what they are going to do with the sprint tri happening at the same time. They could be merging into the oly swim which would create confusion. Lots of aquatic grasses and I don’t know how that would change. The lake is less smelly(dead fish) than I recall it being, which is good, but I doubt it is any deeper(shallow) than in 2005.
Run is through subdivisions and is mostly flat with the only tilt being on Lions drive.
Route 22/Route 12 intersection construction is complete so traffic flow should be nice. Parking is ample across the street at the closed Kmart. Packet pickup is in advance of raceday.
Paulus park(T1/T2) has been renovated, but I am not sure how much change that will make.
In 2005 there was a bus to the swim start, but I walked instead. They provided a bag at the swim start for dropping your sandals, water bottles, and any other gear and brought it back to T1/T2.
yes. the bike course is flat. A few small rollers, but that’s it. This is one of the fastest courses I’ve ever raced.