Miulti loop HIM and IM course

Triathlon Forum
1

I need your thoughts.
The Redman HIM and IM in oklahoma City is apparently considering
going to a multiple loop bike format ie 8 for half and 16 for full
I can understand the management being excited with logistics much
simplified police costs cut to almost zero comparied to before. The
person proposing this type course talks about being able toknow where
your competition is, titrate your effort better, spectator friendly etc
I know what my feelings are but would you consider such a course
if yes why and if no why
Thanks for your help

2

I don’t think this is a race I would seek out but if I lived nearby and wanted to do an Iron distance this wouldn’t bother me.

3

How would this help with knowing where you competition is? I am guessing that if you pass or are passed by someone in your age group they are no longer you competition…

4

I race multi loop courses all the time. It’s not a problem, but it does help to have someone tell you when you’ve gone the required numbe of laps if it’s over 3, 4 or 5.
Demi Espirit is probably the best example of how to do a multi loop course.

5

IMO that is too many loops. I’d prefer nothing more than 4 & 8 respectively.

As for knowing where your competition is, I don’t that argument on a 8/16 loop course. esp for the IM, where pace can change dramatically, how do you know if the person passing you is on your lap or two behind? Plus with that level of compactness, you’ll have so many calves to try and watch.

6

I would do it, especially if there was a good 7 mile loop in terms of terrain/road surface/no traffic, and reasonable numbers on the course. It would be really cool if they could have a jumbotron giving your overall position each time you started a new lap.

7

Come to the Canadian Iron and Half Iron in Ottawa…we have 6x15K for the half and 12x15K for the run…and it is out and back so you see the competitors on every loop. Awesome for that and great for checking your pacing if you don’t have a powermeter.

For smaller loops as Desertdude says…Demi Esprit in Montreal 20x4.4K or 41x4.4 for the half and full with 1K round trip to get to the loop. The full is actually a touch long and the half is a touch short.