Did anybody here do the Musselman Half IM last year. I am curious to know whether people would recommend this race?
i didn’t do it last year but i am dolng it this year. it got rave reviews. in fact, triathlete magazine recently called it one of the must do races or something like that. i can’t wait to ride the course in a couple of weeks.
i didn’t race myself but heard many good things about the race especially the bike course!
i’m gonna race this year - so i’m also curious what other people have to say about it.
Longspur and I did the sprint last year and I am planning to go back. I thought it was a great experience. Rolling hills, beautiful countryside, great lake view, wineries, very cool. The only complaint was that the lake is very shallow (a foot deep), going out several hundred yards from the shore. I noticed that Jeff corrected this by moving the in water start out to deeper water. You’ll just have to jog through the shallow water to get to shore. There was a young girl playing violin in front of her house as the runners went by on the half marathon. It seemed like the whole town turned out to watch.
Besides, TNO was out in force, Slowtwitch needs to make some noise!
Excuse my ignorance, what is TNO?
I did Musselman last year and absolutely loved it. I don’t have a ton of perspective, as it was my first 1/2IM and only my first year of doing triathlons seriously. Excellent organization and a very cool course. IThe run course was a bit harder in the 2nd half than I had expected. I would definitely go back again this year but work won’t allow it. Oh, and they had a bagpiper at the start – BEST THING EVER.
I highly recommend this race, the organisation, the course, the area, the people, everything is top notch. As someone else pointed out the depth issues on the swim have been rectified for this year (that was the only complaint last year). The bike course is mostly flat with very few rollers that don’t really require popping out of the saddle and are followed by good sections of downhill, it should produce some PR bike splits (It would have for me had I not fumbled my nutrition completely!). The run is more deceiving than one would think, but that may just be due to my severe cramping during the last 6 miles of the bike! Definitely a must do.
TriNewbiesOnline
A most despicable group of individulas.
Does anybody know if there is train station or airport nearby Geneva, NY?
the closest airport is probably rochester - about 45 minutes away. don’t know about train - i think there’s a bus station (greyhound) right next store.
I am not sure but I will give it a stab (I lived in the Syracuse area when I was young). I would try either Syracuse or Rochester for an airport. I believe it is about an hour drive from either city.
I am thinking of heading down for a little family vacation / race excuse. I swam with Jeff when we were ten and eleven. He was a good guy then. Sounds like he is still a good guy from the reviews last year.
Both Syracuse and Rochester have airports. Syracuse is a bit closer to Geneva than Rochester. Both Syracuse and Rochester also have train stations. I do not know where the station is in Syracuse but the one in Rochester is right down town.
Come up to Geneva for the race. It should be fun.
Hi,
I raced the Musselman 1/2 last year and I am signed up again this year. The turnout looks like it will be quite good for this year’s race as there are almost 300 people signed up (for the 1/2) already.
The problem with the shallow swim start has already been mentioned and Jeff has announced a solution. Everything should work out fine. The bike is quite nice and relatively quick. There is only one hill of any significance and it is probably only about a 1/2 mile long or so and not that steep. The run was somewhat tough for me last year because it warmed up some and there was an unexpectedly long and sun-exposed hill about halfway through. It really wasn’t that tough, but I was getting tired by that point. If you save a little steam for the hill, you’ll be fine. The age-group prizes were bottles of wine from local vineyards so that was kind of cool and unique (I haven’t cracked mine open yet though…some of the Finger Lakes wines are great and some are pretty bad).
There was some good competition there last year and with more competitors this year, I expect 2005 will be more of the same in this department.
I live in Syracuse and yes, it takes about an hour to drive to Geneva from here (perhaps a few minutes less at 4:30 AM on a Sunday morning). Geneva is probably a little closer to Rochester than Syracuse, so that drive I expect is less than an hour.
Cheers,
Matt
I raced it last year and thought it was a really great event. My race report from '04 which has quite a bit of detail is posted here:
http://personalbestnutrition.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?board=2;action=display;num=1098845607
great organisation, great course, almost no cars, smooth roads, the occasional buggy though. Challenging run course, great support.
and all this for a first year. Jeff did a great job and I am sure this race will be even better.
I believe that Jeff Henderson and Keith Jordan (Timberman, Mooseman, Granite Ledges) are Siamese twins separated at birth, in that they are RDs who leave no stone unturned in trying to produce the best events possible. Jeff’s debut last year was every bit as auspicious as Keith’s with Timberman in '01, and he has a number of nifty ideas up his sleeve for this year. I did the sprint last year as it was just two weeks out from IMLP, but this year I am planning on the 1/2. And for anybody with a kid or three in tow, the venue is the best you could imagine for a long day of hanging around. Right near transition there is a fabulous “spray park” with all sorts of spouts and fountains, and I suspect young’uns can keep themselves amused there for hours on end. This is a terrific event!
The Syracuse airport is superb. It services a lot of carriers, and is easily accessible from Route 81 and the Turnpike. It is very much a stress-free airoport, very easy to get into and out of.
As for a train station, the Empire Service route on Amtrak runs from NYC to Buffalo via Albany, but it doesn’t stop in Geneva; Syracuse and Rochester are the closest stops. If I remember correctly, the Syracuse train station is near the junction of Route 81 and the Turnpike.
The race was extemely well organized and the course was good. I did the sprint and age and injuries will keep me from the half again. The only problem I encountered was a huge dead fish partway through the swim.
Lodging in the immediate area can be dicey, but the proximity to Rochester/Syracuse makes it a lot better. I live in the former and the drive is less than an hour.