I know it’s the same as the 2022 70.3 championship course, but I’m going to miss the old Red Hills Parkway route. I’m actually pretty dissapointed in this change. Does anybody have any insight on why they changed it and doesn’t it seem like this is going to absolutely demolish the grass on the golf course?
As one of the last people to be on the course at the WC in Oct I can say for sure it did not destroy the golf course. I have to imagine there were x3 as many people on that course as will be at the non-WC 70.3 version so I expect the golf course will be just fine. The only issue for the course was the extreme amount of garbage that was left behind by clowns that are too rude to wait for an aid station to discard their trash.
Did you race there last year?
I actually really enjoyed the change - better energy throughout the two loops and it was really fun in the end. I had my apprehensions too, but I really liked the change.
Worth the try I think!
Although I loved being up on the parkway, this was a good course and very spectator friendly.
Fully agree with you. The St. George run course was special because of the red hills. Running through city neighborhoods makes it less so. Every city has neighborhoods, but only a very few have spectacular red hills. I’d trade spectators for scenery any day of the week.
This year will be my 5th time doing the 70.3 there (I also did the full last year) and I love this run course change. It’s still challenging without being brutal. It is also soooo much better for spectators than the old course. Going up Red Hills and doing all those weird loops up there was never all that appealing to me.
I agree, there was something special about being up there on red hills parkway, it was somewhat what made St. George the unique course it was. I think this hurts the legend that the city brands as “the land of endurance.”
From the perspective of someone who has done everyone of the racing, starting with the 2010 IM, I think this is the best run course they have ever had. The energy of the crowds is a HUGE boost and motivator.
I have no knowledge of what led to the change, but Redhills Parkway is a very highly trafficked street, so not having to fully shut it down is a big benefit to the residents of SG. The run course is now are low traffic streets that have easy/convenient work arounds for the residents.
If I was doing a training run on my own, I would pick the bike path on Redhills, but for a race with 2000 + participants, this new course is awesome!
I agree, there was something special about being up there on red hills parkway, it was somewhat what made St. George the unique course it was. I think this hurts the legend that the city brands as “the land of endurance.”
I will say this - when I’m racing, I don’t really notice the amazing scenery, especially on the run. I don’t really notice the red rocks - I didn’t notice too much the spectacular cliffside stuff in Santa Cruz. What I do vividly remember is the crowds at Oceanside, or the amazing crowds (and I thought interesting course) that they are now using. When I travel to those places, that’s much more where I appreciate the scenery. And…it’s a little different on the bike for me - I notice more things (Snow Canyon - it’s amazing) but still…race day - are you really looking around that much?
I agree, there was something special about being up there on red hills parkway, it was somewhat what made St. George the unique course it was. I think this hurts the legend that the city brands as “the land of endurance.”
The first time I went up and over the red hills parkway at the 2021 WC my jaw dropped. I could not believe what I was seeing. One of the most spectacular surprises of my life
From the perspective of someone who has done everyone of the racing, starting with the 2010 IM, I think this is the best run course they have ever had. The energy of the crowds is a HUGE boost and motivator.
I have no knowledge of what led to the change, but Redhills Parkway is a very highly trafficked street, so not having to fully shut it down is a big benefit to the residents of SG. The run course is now are low traffic streets that have easy/convenient work arounds for the residents.
If I was doing a training run on my own, I would pick the bike path on Redhills, but for a race with 2000 + participants, this new course is awesome!
Just as an aside, I did the 2012 full which did have a modified run course from the previous full’s and found that very enjoyable as well. I thought they should have done that last year for the World Champs.
This year will be my 5th time doing the 70.3 there (I also did the full last year) and I love this run course change. It’s still challenging without being brutal. It is also soooo much better for spectators than the old course. Going up Red Hills and doing all those weird loops up there was never all that appealing to me.
This.
The course was still plenty challenging this year & the 5-10% more runnable they made it was welcome on my end. The Red Hills design was wonky. You do all this climbing in the first 4 miles, do a flat enough out & back, and then your downhill running is crammed into ~1/2 mile. Would’ve much rathered running it in the opposite direction. Now you still have the good uphill stretch on diagonal but can also run the downhill if you have the legs for it. I liked the little cross country detour. Found that to be a really fun part of the course. Reminded me of high school XC. You could totally do a relatively flat 13.1 utilizing more of the neighborhood/downtown/bike paths in St. George. I think the new layout balances the “Land of Endurance” toughness stuff without giving you anything close to an easy run course. I still found it ~3:00-4:00 slower than a fast/flat 70.3 course versus more like 6:00-7:00 on the Red Hills course. The weather was great last year for Worlds. You’ll get some warmer days on this course moving forward.
Most of what you got in this thread covers it. I was in the back end of the field on day 2 at the WC on this course and the golf course was fine. Footing good, and the rest of the parts on pavement were not crazy hard or easy. I will have to look at my files, but I believe it was around 800 ft total climbing over two loops if memory serves me OK. I was nursing a fairly major running injury and actually thought I would not be able to start forget about finishing, so I personally found the mix between pavement, up and downs, grass and a few only short steeper climbs entering the golf course to be a good mix.
Right now I am registered to go back to St. George, but been mainly swimming and some XC skiing and light jogging. I’ll try to put a block in for 4 weeks and see how my lumbar disc injuries that I was nursing last year survive the block and if it is OK, then I will go. I did my first 60 min indoor ride in a month yesterday (you have to start somewhere) !!!
Agreed. I raced the last 3x they had the 70.3 course (this will be my 4th x in 2 years racing it)–I really enjoyed the golf course. Got a bit tight on the golf cart paths but the grass was fun & helps with keeping the legs from being too hammered. A little goes a long way. If only it were all grass golf course–that would be fun!