Just signed up for the Musselman half. Very excited to watch the ITU PanAmerican cup the day before! Any STers going to the race this year?
Jodi
Hi - Raced last year and it’s an awesome race, beautiful area, and top-notch. I have family in the region soit made for an very enjoyable trip and great long weekend. Probably a 9 out of 10 for me and one of my favorite races. Great choice and you will not be disappointed. BTW - bike course is fair and can be fast but the run course is hilly and pretty tough!
I went out and spectated 2 years ago. That run course looked brutal! Good to hear the bike course is ok. I guess it’s time to run some hills!
Jodi
Jodi,
I have been thinking about it, and have decided that once I get home from skiing at Holiday Valley today, I am going to pull the trigger. I have been told by many that it is a great race and is really well organized. I was going to take an easy year and just do olympics and sprints, but this lack of training has me getting the bug again. I plan to do IMLP again in 2009, but I am going to do Musselman this year. I won’t be in great shape as I still want to have a fun easy year and concentrate on biking and less on running, but none the less, I hear it is a great race and I will be there. Does anyone know about the bike course? I have heard many use a regular road bike vs. their tri-setup due to all the climbs? Any truth to this? Is there more elevation change than at LP?
SJ
Bike course is fast and would definitely ride with a tri / disk set-up again. Course is rolling in some parts but I wouldn’t put it on par with IMLP. The run course is tough and there are some sections during the run that are painful but if you don’t go too hard on the bike you should be ok. It’s a great mid-size race and really, really well organized and supported. Post race food was yummy too :).
I did the half in 2006 and 2007. It is an excellent race and an outstanding race crew (I did a little volunteer work on the side last year as well).
Your swim time will be a little slow due to the shallowness of the lake at the north end, no big deal. The bike course is fabulous, with a couple of little secrets to learn. It is classic rolling with a lot of flat sections, much more akin to southern Ohio than Lake Placid. The run is interesting, particularly for those that race.
All-in-all, it is one of my favorite half IM courses if not the favorite. I’m not doing it this year as I have IMLP the following week.
I owe Jeff a full race report. I’ll try and get it up on ST in a week or so.
Looking forward to the report!
What, you don’t think you can do a half the week before your IM? More is MORE!
Good luck in Placid!
Jodi
Is the bike course closed to car traffic?
I don’t think so. I didn’t see the whole course, but for the busy sections, the cyclists have a coned off lane. The intersections that I saw seemed very well controlled when I spectated there.
Jodi
I have done this race in 2005 and 2007 with 2007 being a DoubleMussel attempt. Here are my thoughts on the race.
** Organization is top-notch.
** What I saw of the ITU race was awesome.
** The swim last year was 6 minutes slower than 2005 and I have improved my swimming so it was either long or there were some funny currents in there.
** The bike course is rolling with a net gain over the first half, at the halfway point you get a great slow downhill to flat for abut 20 miles including a very tight left at the bottom of a hill - slow down! The last 6-10 miles are rolling and taxing before the run. The bike course is open to traffic but it is not an issue - the shoulder must be 8-10 feet wide.
** The run course has you hating the hills in the first half and then for me hating the downhills after as they hurt so much more.
** Overall the course is fair but is certainly a PB course.
** The DoubleMussel was interesting as I was flying in the sprint without any effort but the dehydration of that race affects you the next day. DoubleMussel racers get the best transition spots though.
I will be going back again but not this year (or next - hopefully in Germany for Roth)
Later
Rob
Just signed up for the Musselman half. Very excited to watch the ITU PanAmerican cup the day before! Any STers going to the race this year?
Jodi
I will be racing, or try to race. I was in a car accident a few months back and am not normal yet.
I’m interested in seeing what people think of the course because the times look very slow.
Any info on it?
The swim was very slow last year as you have to wade out the last part (150m+ not a few yards) as the water is so shallow. I was 5th last year and while I’m a horrible swimmer going just shy of 40mins is pretty bad!
Bike course is great fun for someone like me who loves to crack along the flats but isn’t a fan of big downhills (I’m a wimp). There is one short steep descent followed by a sharp turn but you’re warned about it and it’s fine. Otherwise it’s a beautiful rolling course that I seem to remember follows two banks of two different lakes with the hilliest part being the road between them. Course isn’t closed to traffic (at least not all the way) and I saw a crash last year which was scary but generally it’s very quiet.
Run is a windy course out and around the town. Lots of minor hills and one real kicker at about the 7mile mark but again you’ll hear about it in advance and know you’re on the home stretch when you top it.
I have been considering it even though I live in Vegas now for no other reason than my wife was a Musselman. Not of the same clan, but same spelling. She would get a kick out of taking pictures of me with Musselman signs to show her parents. Of course she gets a kick out of taking pictures of just about everything.
Jodi,
I raced last year and already signed up for this year. As others have said, the bike course is not hilly at all. I generally am a flat-lander when it comes to riding. I was worried about the hills last year and they weren’t nearly as bad as I expected. The run course is fair with 2 tough hills (mile 2 and 7). Once you get past the second it is down hill the rest of the way. The last two miles runs along the lake and you can see the finish line the entire way. The swim was the only downside to the race. Very shallow and two loops through the shallows. Other than that, a top notch race.
See you there,
Rob
Jodi,
I’ll echo what everyone else said. I did the race last year and found the swim to be slow, the bike to be fair, and the run hilly (though nothing too bad). Ended up with a PB, though I tend to find those have less meaning unless they’re on the same course. Jeff runs a great race, very well organized. The only problem I had, was that the swim waves didn’t seem to make sense. I think I started in the second or third wave. I’m a decent swimmer, but nothing great (~34 min for a HIM). On the first loop, I swam through one of the forward groups, but then found myself swimming through at least two other waves that started behind me when I was on my second loop. Just seemed like a lot more congestion than I would have thought was necessary. That combined with the shallow exit, made for a tougher swim than I would have expected (oh yeah, a bit of chop, but not too bad).
The bike is flat to climbing for the first 20 miles, then flat to downhill for the next 20, then rolling for the remaining 12 (if memory serves me correctly - check the profile on the site). As far as the run, have fun on mile 7, the rest is pretty standard rollers.
Say hi to my old home town. Haven’t lived there since 1981, but I’m still an Indians, Cavs, and Browns fan. Really blows when your kids are all Yankees fans.
Steve
P.S. I’d do it again in a flash, but I’m doing LP for my virgin IM experience this summer.
Good luck at IMLP! I’ll be glued to the live feed all day because my Desoto TTT teammate is racing there too.
And to everyone else who replied- thanks so much for the info. See ya at the race!
Jodi
The course is awesome. The run is decieving. But a 4:09 looks slow to you? What’s your HIM time?
Yeah…4:09 is damn slow! I’m going to break four hours this year as I’m coached by Mary Eggers. She said if I paid her a bunch of money per month that should would guarantee me a sub four 1/2; a sub 10 IM; flatter abs; a bigger, umm, well you know, junk; world peace; unlimited wealth. Yeah, that’s right…you got something to say about that tough girl? I didn’t think so! Look for me on the podium Missy!
The Musselman Triathlon is without doubt and sans hyperbole one of the single greatest athletic events known to mankind. Ever.
The skies above Geneva are perpetually sunny, the winds fair and warm. The bike ride will remind you of heaven, St. Peter himself will join you for the run. Hand in hand you will go, through the lands of milk and honey.
The aid stations are plentiful and zesty; please do stop for lunch. Maidens of flaxen hair line the finishing chute. There are hills, but they all slope down before you. Be sure to stop at the open bank vaults located approximately one mile apart, sponsored by Sachs.
Of course, I may be biased.
kind regards,
Jeff Henderson
race director
Thought this thread deserved a bump as it is right around the corner. I’m in for the half and my wife’s in for the aquabike.
Any chance there has been a change to the swim course to address some of the issues cited above? I hate the swim-walkers!