I don’t pretend to know who is managing what races (especially when Nola 70.3 2010 and 2011 where both Ironman Branded Events). But after reading the thread about the swim being canceled (and having participated in 2010 and 2011), it seems obvious that something changed significantly from last year to this year. The following is my opinion only and I welcome that of others:
Pros:
Great copious volunteers
Aid Stations on course were very well stocked
Packet pickup was well organized and went somoothly
Cons:
Last year there was Gatorade Endurance, this year Powerbar Perform (aweful)
Last year there was great food at the finish (local restaurant catered it), this year pizza, fruit, cookies, pretzels and chips
Last year, cokes, diet cokes, sprite at finish, this year, Sams Colas
Last year, potholes over the whole bike course were marked with orange paint, this year very few were marked
Last year, the swim was going to be bad, so race directors gave option for people to race without swimming, this year swim was going to be tough, so the canceled it for everyone (including pros).
Aid stations on the bike were not close to where they were described in the briefing (which was not mandatory).
Someone please educate me on why the management was changed, this race clearly got worse.
First, to answer your question, yes, the race is under new mgmt. Bill Burke, Premier Event Mgmt, is now running the 5150 race in NOLA, but was a consultant on this race. I believe NOLA 70.3 is run by the same company that does IMFLA now.
Last year there was Gatorade Endurance, this year Powerbar Perform (aweful)
Thats a Ironman/sponsorship thing not specific to NOLA or this mgmt.
Last year there was great food at the finish (local restaurant catered it), this year pizza, fruit, cookies, pretzels and chips
Yeah, this post race food was like the first year for IMNOLA, pretty pathetic if you ask me, BUT you could have hit a solid 3 wood and middle iron and found TONS of great dining options. It is New Orleans afterall.
I’ll also add that I know Bill wanted to bring a full IM to New Orleans, and had succeeded before Hurricane Katrina changed that. He ended up bringing a 70.3 to the Big Easy and for years the rumor was, it was to turn into a 140.6 at some point. With the addition of IMTX and the proximity of IMFLA, it’s POSSIBLE wtc said “Bill, no way you’re getting a full in NOLA” and he got out since his “dream” could never become a reality. Maybe he was “given” the 5150 in NOLA as a consolation?
Volunteers on course were great and there were tons, I mean, TONS of them. I would say 20 at each mile along the run. Plenty of food and drink at each mile. I was actually amazed.
However, they obviously spent their money on on course support rather than post race. There was nothing in the athlete tent. Why isn’t Powerbar Ironman Recovery available? Or some recovery drink. Hell, cold chocolate milk would be enough.
So I had two slices of pizza (that was all we were allowed) and a half a banana.
I realize there is a ton to eat in NOLA, and we went to eat later…mmmm Luke, but I wanted something immediately after.
Last year there was Gatorade Endurance, this year Powerbar Perform (aweful)
Thats a Ironman/sponsorship thing not specific to NOLA or this mgmt.
That’s what I thought, but Augusta 70.3 in September still had Gatorade when other earlier races had switched, I guess they have all switched now.
Nope. Texas 70.3 weekend before last had Gatorade Endurance. Which was odd since there was a huge Powerbar Ironman Perform booth at the expo – complete with all the free samples you’d want… not that you’d see it on the course.
Texas 70.3 weekend before last had Gatorade Endurance. Which was odd since there was a huge Powerbar Ironman Perform booth at the expo – complete with all the free samples you’d want… not that you’d see it on the course.
So there are still some races that don’t have to use Perform. I would love to know why this one switched!
Yeah that’s why I race too, for the post race food. Oh, and the finish line pic. Pisses me off when someone comes flying down the chute and ruins my pic. WTC should mandate athletes finish at least 10 seconds apart so everyone gets a good finishing picture.
I do know that last year Copelands did the food. This was directly due to one of their restaurant GM’s at the time being a avid cyclist. He thought it was a great way to promote their brand. He is no longer with Copelands, and you got pizza-
doh!
But unless the venue itself doesn’t allow alcoholic beverages, (some parks don’t) beer is pretty much a given post-race in these parts for home-grown races and not a huge deal. You’re actually seen as something of a cheap RD if you try to limit it through the 2 drink tickets in the goodie bag route.
My only grip was the road surface. Judging by the overall condition of the roads down here, I think the RD did a great job selecting roads with the best surface possible. That being said, it’s still pretty bad, although not unbearable. We have some bunk-ass roads in Alabama so I have a high tolerance, but I can see how riders used to smooth asphalt would think the NOLA course was Hell.
Ha. I’ve spent a lot of time in NOLA and the roads are predictably terrible (Elysian Fields on the way to T1/T2 is what I imagine roads in third world countries are like), but even I was impressed at some of the terrible roads. It was a minefield of ejected bottles out there.
Someone was telling me there were a lot of crashes due to road conditions and bottles on the road. Any truth to that. I ejected one bottle, and I saw a lady over shoot a turnaround and end up in a drainage ditch.
The only place I’ve been that has roads as bad as NOLA is Michigan and at least they’ve got the excuse of agressive freeze-thaw cycles that cause a lot of pavement damage.
Five feet under sea level causes sinking issues, which is why all the roads look post earthquake. Like somebody said earlier, the roads they chose for bike were actually pretty good ones cause they have a lot worse.
The beer was adjacent (down the levee) from the food tent, where most of the finishers were “relaxing”. All you can drink!
I agree the post race food was a bit of a letdown, but I still enjoyed the pizza. You were only limited to two slices at a time. You could go through the line as many times as you wanted. The Sam’s cola, totally sucked.
I’ve raced IM events all over the U.S. and I found the roads to be average. There were two major “bumps” that were marked with signs, as well as two or three crossings of the levee wall where most of the bottle ejections occurred. You just has to keep your head up (as usual) and it was cool. The run course was nice except for miles 11 and 12 (the first part of Esplanade Avenue). Although that part was nicely shaded, it was an awful running surface.
Having no swim sucked. The wind sucked on the bike, but you couldn’t have better weather for a run. Sunny, cool, and a nice breeze.
Overall it was a good day. Heck we got to do a triathlon (sans swim), of course it was a good day!