Dude. The course got released today. Has anyone seen the bike course? Jesus Christ, they might as well just change the race to a criterium. Ridiculous!!! Honestly I don’t even know if it’s worth running a TT on that course. There is 1 stretch of road that goes for 1 mile before a turn. 1!!!
What a waste of time. There is actually some reasonable scenery in Alabama…but not in downtown bham. Just another reason why this course is dumb.
Wow! What a shame.
I used to do this race every year. It was a tough, but great way to kick off the season and see how your fitness was.
I actually think it is pretty cool. Just because it isn’t your typical bike course doesn’t mean that it won’t be a lot of fun to do. Clearly they are trying to make this spectator friendly which I think is awesome. I can’t imagine how boring it must be to be a spectator at a half or full iron race. Obviously you would train differently for this type of race and roadies with good sprinting power will be at an advantage over athletes who are only training to keep a steady power output. I’m surprised more cities don’t do events like this. The marketing potential is huge with a captive audience if it is promoted right.
Let’s be clear. That’s not why they changed the course. They changed it because a) Irondale didn’t want it any more (i think) b) participant numbers were really low. This course is pathetic. You have no time to really put down the hammer and produce some real power. You are constantly taking turns.
The Irondale course? That was for hard core folks. You don’t just show up and do Powerman in Irondale. That bike course will destroy you if you aren’t prepared. Now, it is a flat criterium course with more turns than there are miles! I know downtown Birmingham. Yes, it’s a pretty city but for the love of god, not for a damn time trial!!! This was a big mistake and they are going to see the results of that next month.
I’m not a race director but my guess is that they make a sizeable chunk of money from sponsorships in addition to entry fees. I think it is logical to assume that they can sell those sponsorships at a higher premium when you are doing the race in an urban center that will undoubtedly attract more people to see the race. Most triathlons are in the middle of nowhere so sponsors realize that their advertisement/sponsorship will be seen by a limited number of people. I would guess that tri’s or any event for that matter which can demonstrate a higher potential audience will be able to sell their sponsorships for more. Since Team Magic is a business and not a non profit to say that the decision to move the race to Birmingham wasn’t about money is ignoring the obvious and they alluded to that fact in the press release on their site. You might be right about the ciourse not being ideal but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be fun. Different can be fun too.
I think this was a risky move. I just don’t see a Sunday morning race in downtown Bham bringing out that many people to watch. And as for the course, the old Irondale course was perfect. Very difficult run through the hills to start off. Followed by difficult bike with Cemetery Hill. Cap it off with the run course in reverse down to the finish (with the downhill finish). I thought it deserved a “Powerman” title because if you survived the course so early in the season then you deserved the t-shirt/medal. In addition the crazy weather also made this an epic race to do. Seems like it was always raining, and you would see those profile yellow sponges from the aero bottles everywhere.
While Irondale didn’t have much going for it in terms of hotels or food, it was the difficult course that kept me coming back.
I love what Team Magic has done with other races like Chattanooga Waterfront, and hope they know what they are doing with this course change. I figured when it was changed to a downtown course, then we would head up some of those wicked hills just outside of downtown. Too bad.
Correct me if I am wrong but did I count 75 turns including 8 U-turns on the bike course. Could be an interesting race for some but not for me.
Wow, this makes it an entirely different event than in the past, and not for the good. I’m sure that there are a few differences between the two, but ask most people who did LC Worlds in Richmond in '07 or the nationals in Richmond in '08 and it looks like the Birmingham events will have the same problems and complaints. For instance, turns or not, if it rained, I would rather be on the old course than downtown streets. A 10-mile loop, with all those turns, will also cause some traffic on the course and contribute to drafting issues.
Team Magic has done a great job with this race and the old Whistlestop Duathlon in the past, and I’m sure that they have good reasons for the move, but this doesn’t look good. I would be shocked if their numbers don’t start going down significantly. This is a bummer.
What you probably didn’t see was that Powerman and the Magic City Du are part of a whole weekend of events. Community runs, 8k, kids run, a crit and both races. It took a lot of us (by us I mean people who live in Bham) by surprise, but the weekend is going to be lots of fun and the buzz in the cylcying & tri community is good.
And if you don’t think people turn out for a Sunday race in Birmingham, you’ve never been here for Mercedes.
Most of us are excited and gonna make it a good weekend. I’m normally out there racing and working a waterstop (the one in the shade that is FREEZING by the train tressel…that is grillin’ out at 7am with Bloody Mary’s ready to go!) Should be tons of fun.
Give it a chance before you completely knock it please. These ladies & their team at Team-Magic have worked tirelessly to do amazing things for multisport and we appreciate them immensely. No matter how small the race or how different the course, you can ALWAYS count on a very well put on race that is safe and fun.