I decided that I wanted to do the four early California 1/2 Ironman this year. My own “mini Tri tour.” Lacking is Vineman, since this hasn’t happened.
I decided to share the wealth by posting my experience with the community here. I’ve GPS all the course on the run and bike, and someday (hopefully) I’ll post this to a website.
I’ll give a quick overview of each, so you can “pick it yourself,” if you decide to ever go to California to do one of these. By the way, I’ve been doing triathlons for twenty years, so realize that I’ve been around, and I’ve now had enough accidents (tire blow outs on curves and being hit by a bus) that I use “how safe” as my first ranking.
This year, I finished all four, I blew up on two races, and on the other two I finished in the top 25% of my age group. (Probably the best I’ll do with my training schedule.)
On the tri-tour:
- Ralph’s Half Ironman (aka Ralphs)
- World’s Toughest Half Ironman Triathlon (aka WTT or Brad’s Race)
- Wildflower (aka Wildflower)
- Caliman (aka Caliman)
I’m a director of product marketing for hard drives, so I’ll use marketing speak and state “there is NOT a best for everybody” in these races. You have to understand what “segment” that you are in. Thus I’ll post enough about the race so you can get an idea. If I every get to posting the technical data, you’ll have the whole of the race vicariously.
Ralph’s Is The “Big Time” Environment. It really DOES feel as if it is sponsored by a major super market chain. There were roughly 1900 finishers, and you have to like “big races” to race here. However, it is the best of the big races.
WTT is “Brad Kearns Is Having Some Friends Over And I’m One Of Them.” Brad is just one cool fellow, and his sincere of his love of the sport and his love of Auburn REALLY comes through. You get to see Slowman come late to the swim start (and be razzed by everybody), and a bunch of Brad’s pro friends. The biggest fear by those that have done this race is that “others will find it also.” Considering that this is probably Brad’s ticket to making a living, I hope it gets REAL big. He can always start another race for his friends… (Hint, hint…) I’ve donated my GPS logs to Brad, and he does threaten to use them next year for the course description. (Let’s see if he changes the course…) It is the best of the small races.
Wildflower is “the Woodstock of Triathlons.” Perhaps, I am attached to this race because my wife and I had a close relationship to the course record holder for the woman. (Actually, I bugged her into doing her first tri.) However, there is NOTHING like Terry’s Wildflower. Yes, it is too busy, it is too popular. And this year it was way too hot (as my trip to the emergency room will testify). However, it is unique in having a village of athletes emerge and then disappear. You need to do it twice, and make up your own minds. The first time you do it, you’ll just be in shock, so make sure to do it a second year. It is the best of the “Wildflower type races.” (There is only one race in this category.)
Caliman is the “mid-west” triathlon of California. Folsom really throws open the doors for you in this flat and fast but mis-measured and overly windy triathlon. And while the bike course may have been wrong, you’ll probably feel so friendly toward the team, you simply figure “well nobody is perfect.” To J&A’s credit, this is the only tri where the folks told you upfront that “we want to know how you are doing at the end so we can decide to take you to the med tent or not.” (How I wish Terry would have had his team do this!) It is the best of the up and coming races.
The following is roughly described in sections with best being on top, and worst on bottom. However, realize that best is very relative, thus focus on the descriptions and ask if this is for you.
Category: How safe?
The tragic deaths in triathlon come from drowning. So as much as I hate them, wave starts normally allow the best crowd control. Caliman is a mass start. Pretty safe this year because the field was small, but could be a problem in the future. However, I LOVE mass starts.
Ralph’s clearly had the most people out in boats and on the water. They had the benefits of the local coast guard and beach life guards. Ralph’s gets the “you’ll really have to work at drowning to drown” award.
Brad had a short swim this year. I am going to say that Brad did this on purpose since the water was a bone chilling 56 degrees or so.
Biking has its dangers also. The Ralph’s course has had a death when it was an Ironman. Of the four courses, three have a potential dangerous course in the sense of high speed descents: Ralph’s, WTT, and Wildflower. Due to the death on the bike course that Ralph uses (before it was Ralph’s) they actively give out penalties on a steep decent area and nail you for passing in no passing zones (just see my results!)
However, the most hair raising experience is WTT where you better make sure that you bike has no shimmy as you regularly can hit 40 MPH on the second half of the bike. Wildflower also has a curve or two of high speed decent after the “nasty grade.”
In terms of dehydration–my new area of interest since going to the hospital for my first time in 20 years of racing–none of them are aggressive as I’d like to see. However, there are some bright points.
As mentioned before, J&A seemed to be most concerned about “check you into the med tent.” Probably due to the conjoined Ironman, where people REALLY drop like flies. However, the most unique and best idea came from Ralph’s. They asked you how much you weighed, and had a scale at registration. If it was up to me, at races more than 80 degrees, I would be weighing people before the start line and after they finished. This is the best way to get a line on how bad they are.
Category: The swim
Most beautiful is WTT and Brad knows it. WOW! Clean water. Great scenes. If the water wasn’t so freezing cold, you could enjoy it. However, if you have a cap, booties (he allowed them this year), and a full suit, you’d be just fine. (Helpful hint: it’s a long staircase to the transition area. Place shoes in the weeds by the swim exit.)
The second best is Caliman. Lake Natoma is almost as clean as WTT (you can see the bottom of the lake and the feet in front of you). If would be nice to have more Astroturf to the tent, but they do an “okay” job of sweeping the area.
The third is Ralph’s. It would be higher if it didn’t start in a harbor. It you have any boaters in the family (I do) you will know that harbors are often not the cleanest places. However, those who like salt water will like Ralph’s. If you don’t regularly swim in salt, you may not like it.
In a category by itself is Wildflower with the most algae infested waters you’ve ever seen. The help at the local store says “you boys really planning to swim in that?” Four years of sub-standard rain has taken the toil on Lake San Antonio. I like to check my heart rate while in the water, and I could hardly see my watch under water. All I can say is “pray for rain.”
Category: Bike
Again, Brad uses the WTT as the venue for the most beautiful course you’ve seen. (Reminds me of RamRod for those of you from the Pacific Northwest.) Don’t worry about the 5600 feet of climbing, although the worst part of the climb is the climb from the swim during the first 2.5 miles. Other than this, it really is manageable. Watch the weather, since the descent can be cold on cool years like this one. Although I didn’t confirm it, Dan reported Brad said he’d push back the start. This should help here. While the shoulders are wide on this course, there is heavy car traffic and less than understanding drivers on the final 1/3 of the trip. You’ll be descending at 40+ MPH and the cars will be whizzing by you at 65 MPH. The shoulder has enough transition bumps that you’ll be tempted to go into the lane, but the rude drivers will drive you back to the shoulder. Biker beware. Without the safety factor, WTT would dominate, but Wildflower is a close second.
Wildflower is clearly in close contention to WTT. You have to like the brown grass rolling hills (which I like), but you get neat country views and some great climbs and views. Road is a bit rough, but workable. I definitely suggest driving the nasty grade and following section. Bring a low gear!
Ralph’s is also very nice, albeit it with a LOT of people that make the course feel VERY crowded. Generally the road is in good condition, but the narrow bike path sections and steep group of hills tends to clump bikers and then break them apart. There is some marginal pavement and potholes, so keep your head up. Make sure to bring a low gear as there are a couple of short nasty hills.
Caliman is a mixed bag, and some serious issues with quality of pavement for a race environment. The bike is flat and will be normally fast. There were start up issues in the half being 2.6 miles too long this year, as verified by my bike computer and GPS, so the bike times were high. (And everybody knew it.) I heard from one Ironman that the long course was three miles off. Headwinds this year were a blessing and a curse. The temps were 11 degrees below normal (high of 72 vs 83 normal). The first section is on roads and bike paths. This is an odd venue, and really keeps you from opening up. (And they tell you NOT to be aggressive on this section.) The rest of the bike course is an odd “fork” with three out and back legs. The last leg is on very poor quality road, and the J&A team should have done a much better job of marking the potholes. I’m sure many a wheel became untrue. Although the course is flat, my altimeter definitely shows really rolling hills. So it’w flat compared with the other major three, but not “Kansas flat.”
Category: Run
Wildflower has the best mix of pavement, spectators, and views. Some complain of the heat and the hills, but in reality this is what keeps many coming back for more. The aid stations are friendly, and some of the spectators are annoying. (“Hey, run faster.”) The miles are marked (except for 10?–I was delirious by that time.)
Caliman may be considered by some nicer than Wildflower. Does not have the spectators on the course (maybe you hate them!). I would definitely put this above Wildflower for just plain beauty. The park is beautiful, the bike trail is beautiful, and the river is beautiful. The aid stations are often stocked with ice for the sport drink! (God bless J&A!) The course is “California flat” as opposed to Kansas flat. So some elevation gain and variation mile to mile. Every mile is marked accurately. (Hmmm, maybe I should put this above Wildflower.) And you can run on pavement OR the dirt shoulder.
WTT targets the segment that enjoys bushwhacking. When you do the first initial descent from the bike on poorly constructed, water washed trail, you’ll be thinking “he expects people to run this?” Personally, I used to do trail runs in Washington state on a regular basis and come back bloody, but I know many of my friends thought I was whacky. So you must decide if you like this type of running (for instance, I had a top 50 run), or if you are the flat and fast type of guy or gal. Beware twisted ankles! The scenes are nice, but tough for watching the race and not as nice as Wildflower. The mile marks are not as accurate (according to my GPS), but the overall course was almost dead-on.
Ralph’s has it’s own unique appeal. I personally don’t like two loop courses that travel the exact same course. I think that it lack imagination and variety. However, you can’t knock the beautiful California coast and the ability for your friends to see you twice. The course is mid-west flat. I think we have one hill that goes up 80 feet. (You do it twice.) The challenge is the humidity. Beware the dehydration, which could otherwise ruin an otherwise fast run time. Good marking of the mile markers. Just remember what loop you’re on!
Categories: Things To Do For The Kids
I have four kids under 11, so having the family there is GREAT, but having stuff for them to do is even better.
WTT is great since it is in a mining town with a fair near the finish, various “gold” museums, and cute venues. Unfortunately, the swim is “anti-spectator.” The kids would have needed to walk five miles to get in and out. Brad suggests looking at the swim race with binoculars from an odd vantage point half way to the main road so your kids can say, “Mommy, which black dot is Daddy?” (You can see the Brad creativity at work in his section for spectator on his website.) However, figure 8 (roughly) allows two views on the run, which is great.
Caliman may be as good as WTT as a venue, but we arrived a bit late and couldn’t formally check out the town. However, they had set up a fair at the end with rides, and the kids loved the fun house. The course offers a three geo transition, and my wife said one woman–tagging along a child–said, “I’ve been driving for an hour, and we can’t find the transition area.”
So beware the Caliman transition areas. However, the swim watching the race is good with a nice hill view. So it is a mixed bag. It might be better than WTT, if not for the minor knock on the three transition areas.
Ralph’s features a beach town. If you have beach rat kids, they will LOVE this place. Sand castles and sun screen. The walk to the beach is a bit long, but generally a good scene. The fact that all the transitions happen at the same place is great for the spectators.
Wildflower is good for viewing, but it is out in the sticks. It is also so crowded that it is an urban camping environment. The kids can check out the Lake and bike the camp ground, but little to do for “formal” events. The whole race starts at the bottom of a massive hill, and the camp grounds are too spread apart. Young kids don’t want to walk to the start. (Good if you hate kids!) The shuttles are better than nothing, but not perfect. The only thing that saved us as we got to child four (gets exponentially more complicated) is a massive mobile home with Zoboomafoo recordings.
Category: Odds and Ends
Ralph’s had a cool poster and the standard (boring but okay) t-shirt. The post race area had tents to get out of the wind and out of the cold. A food buffet and water and drink. Again, this seemed like the most “professional” race of the majors. The expo was surprisingly small. They would NOT let you out of the bike area without check you over with all the right numbers. Great bike security.
WTT had a great goody bag. The Cytomax and long sleeve t-shirt was of very high quality. Post race, it was a stereotypical “fend for yourself because we’re small.” The bikes aren’t watched so somebody can take yours. :>( This race depends on being small, and Brad will need to scale it as it become more of a major race. I have no doubt that he has this ability, and this young race will grow with age. The aid station was really very, very good. A decent number of aid (more than enough on this frigid day), and the people were very friendly. Thank you Auburn.
Caliman had a dynamite expo area. A lot of people and a lot vendors. I always enjoy the expo, and this was a good place to look. The goody bag had the normal odds and end, cotton t-shirt and water bottle. But nothing to write home about. Again, the bike security was the pits. Nobody checked the your number, and anybody could of stolen your bike. This VERY unlike a J&A event, so hopefully this is just start-up problems. The race course aid stations were #1 on my list. Well stocked, friendly and a lot of them. Thank you Folsom for coming out to the event.
Wildflower is just Wildflower. Caveat Emptor! This is best and worst of racing.
They offer a race poster, but you need to walk 20 minutes or more to get it! The food was a coupon. The aid stations on the bike is passable, but not the best. The aid on the run is excellent considering that you are out in the middle of nowhere. The co-eds from Cal-Poly may be a bit novice (hey they are kids), but they have fantastic enthusiasm. If Terry ever loses the kids on this event, Wildflower will take a massive beating. Generally, the pre-race package and description puts all other races to shame in its depth. However, Wildflower has some real problems due to the setting; it is Terry doing a fantastic job in having a generally good race in a venue that should be simply chaos. Simply, the geographical location makes the barriers to success are very, very high. That this comes off as good as it does is a miracle.
The “close to the start” campground is consumed by the massive volunteer staff. If he didn’t give them great camping, I doubt he’d have the turn out. A wise choice by Terry, but it consumes a lot of decent camping spots for athletes.
As a proof point of what can go wrong at Wildflower, after my stay in the hospital due to serious dehydration compounded by a stomach bug and my own stupidity after stumbling through the run–the event crew told my wife that they would not allow the taxi from the hospital back in the venue to get me to my stranded wife and four kids on Sunday morning.
They said I would have to walk 3 miles (now consider that I had no shoes, clothes and was still in bad shape) or wait until 5:30pm (and consider that I had no place to stay and my wife was stranded and frantic to see me).
My wife asked various people multiple times and they said that they couldn’t do anything. My normally quiet wife got upset and told them that they were crazy. Somehow this got their attention, and finally they said they would help and then went almost overboard. VERY helpful (probably even feeling a bit guilty after seeing me stumble out of the taxi in the donated hospital scrubs). They drove the dirt back roads to get me back in the park and to the RV. It isn’t that these were BAD people, but the Wildflower event is so massive, that they couldn’t stand thinking about an exception to the rule. So just realize how overworked these folks are!
However, a kind word to my wife in the difficult situation would have made a world of difference. (And I’m still in shock that she got mad at them, I don’t know the last time she actually told somebody off…)
And personally, (pulling my fire suit on) I LIKE the PRAYER. And yes, I will be going back… However, I’ll be very helpful to any wife that gets stranded wife four kids under 11. :>)
Final Comments:
In ranking of favorites for myself?
- “Brad’s Fun Run” aka World’s Toughest
- “Clean And Tidy” aka Ralph’s Half Ironman
- “Folsom Loves You” aka Caliman
- “Beware The Bad Water Going Around” aka Wildflower (a lousy Woodstock joke)
I’m thinking about doing Vineman, and if done I’ll update the report. Although, I love taking the family, this one is a REAL long drive. By the way, I don’t suggest doing 4 half Ironmans in 9 weeks with a family of four kids and a saint of a wife. (My wife mentioned this to a spectator, and she said that all he said was “Why?” The answer, of course, is “because I could.”)
We’ll I hope you enjoyed my massive tome on the half ironman races of California. I know that many a lurker wants this type of information, and I hope if you find additional questions, you’ll just rack 'em up in the forum. I’ve lived in four different geos in the US, and California is bless with an excellent tri friendly atmosphere.
In reality, you can’t go wrong with one of these four events if the descriptions above grab your attention.
–
“Peter, High King of Narnia,” said Aslan. “Shut the Door.”
Peter, shivering with cold, leaned out into the darkness and pulled the
Door to.–The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
