Can anyone give me a good description of the Superfrog run course? I know that part of each loop is in the sand but how much? It’s two loops right? How much is hard pack and how much is soft?
My girlfriend is doing this as her first half so we are trying to get her as prepared as possible with some sand running but want to try to simulate the course a little bit. Any help would be great! Thanks.
For the new location of Superfrog the sand is slightly firmer than it was when they went through the Obstacle course area at the Naval Special Warfare Center. A combination of some ambitious construction projects at the Naval Special Warfare Center, the growth of the event along with the addition of SuperSEAL (the Olympic distance race) and the usual concerns about using a working military installation for a public event have meant the event moved south along the Silver Strand Highway.
Here is some satelite imagery of the area:
Beach sand can be relatively firm or very loose depending on surf conditions and tides. There is almost always a hard packed band of sand at the end of the surf line on the beach run portion. That’s the best footing. Other areas can be very loose sand- like running backwards. Very frustrating. Everyone has to run through the tough parts, so it is an equalizer. The Naval Special Warfare guys do seem particularly talented at getting thorugh the loose sand. Apparently, they’ve had practice…
Hope to see you there.
Thanks Tom. Appreciate the feedback. I was checking out the satellite pics this morning but wasn’t really sure if the run was kept up in the loose sand or closer to the hard-pack down along the shore. I’m assuming on each of the two loops you just run through the soft sand toward the water and then along the hard-pack and back up away from the water to the rd? How much of the run is on the sand? Is most of it the hard-pack?
Where is the run portion when you aren’t on sand?
Sorry for all the questions. I’ll be doing SuperSeal for the second time but haven’t done Superfrog. My girlfriend is making this her first half so I want to make sure she is prepared for what to expect. She lives in Coronado so we’ll make sure she gets a good look at the course a few times before the race.
My info on the new Superfrog run course isn’t too good since last year I did SuperSEAL (the Olympic distance race). The year before I did Superfrog (the 1/2 Ironman), when it was back at the Bucklew Center.
I asked a few old-timers how the new Superfrog run course compared to the old and the consensus was that the sand conditions on the new course were easier than the old course by the SEAL obstacle course.
Of course, we all know, The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.
I’m not of much use when it comes to info on the new “frog” run course. I’m doing SuperSEAL since I had so much fun last year. I hope to see you there!
very cool…I’d appreciate the easier course but knowing her she’ll feel like she missed out haha.
Thanks for the help.
I really enjoyed Superseal last year as well, see you there!
The run course in the Frog last year was deemed to be short, so they are making the turnaround a bit further out this year. The section of soft sand is relatively short (1oo-200 meters long) with much longer stretches along the beach. There is also a short, but challenging, crushed rock section on the back half of each loop. Your girlfriend would probably be best suited to just do a few training runs. They are not long enough sections to warrant building them into your training routine.
I did the 'frog last year and totally agree with camelboy. See you all there in March!