So, nobody replies…c’mon, throw me a bone here ;-). I was thinking about signing up for IM Switzerland next year. Anybody done that race? Any feedback on that race?
- have not done it yet, doing it in 08! - I have heard lots of positives about the race, - some ST info:
i did it about 5 years ago. it was great. very well run. swim was in the lake, it was warm that year and just barely wetsuit legal. great spectators along the shore. 2 loops i think. no strippers as you got out DIY. the bike was off into the country side then back through town, a lopsided figure 8 i think. the small side outside of town had a real hard short climb (the wall) and they bussed spectators there. they all had cow bells and were really cool. the big side of the 8 was in the countryside and was rolling with one big long climb. very beautiful farmland and mountian views. some narrow roads through small villages.
the run was along the lake with a loop around town that has some hills in it.
the people were all very nice and the spectators were great. the support was excellent. post race there is an ‘athlete only’ village with showers and food. too bad no family were allowed.
coolest thing, after you finish you go into the athlete village and as you enter they have a line where they give you your medal and t-shirt and stuff and the last stop of the line you get your certificate which they are printing up as you get there. it has your splits printed right on it. it’s hooked into the timing system. pertty cool. that’s swiss for you.
other things, i don’t recall a changing tent in transition. i think it’s ‘do whatever you want’ kinda thing. - the course food things are different, i think they had CQ10 and some other stuff i was not used to. i had to switch to coke and stay with it on the run. the gels were nasty. - i think they had free Nieva skin care products at the expo, my gf loved that - i know they had free espresso, i loved that. they had help yourself Seaco machines going. - the hotel set up a room for us to store and work on our bikes, they coverd the floor with plastic. they also opened the dining room (room included breakfast) real early on race day and had all kinds of food for us. i’ve done most of the IMs in NA and i can tell you the level of average fitness is much much higher at this event. it’s always impressive to the the real fit athletes at an IM but at this one it seems the average Joe and Jane were way fitter than what you see in the US. also, i don’t recall any marshals on the bike course. maybe there were but i didn’t see them. once we hit the hills it didn’t seem to matter, it broke up a lot.
so, all in all it was really great. we stayed for a week and traveled around. some others we met rented a car and went to tuscany.
Great race did it 2006.Use Endurance sports travel.I liked everything about it ,maybe not the run ,it is 4 loops but its flat.I would do it again but dont have the bucks.Ive done 3 other IM the swiss run it the best.
hi,
i live in germany, not far from the race course.
if you need any kind of informations, please ask me. iwould be happy to help you in any way
greetings
diddi
how long is the registration typically open? does it fill up fast like the races in the US, or slower?
I live in Zurich so if you have any questions you can shoot me a PM. I haven’t done the IM but I ride parts of the bike course at least once a week and usually do an OLY tri the day before the IM that incorporates part of the IM swim/bike/run course FWIW.
how long is the registration typically open? does it fill up fast like the races in the US, or slower?
Until 2006 it was never full. Last year it was full in January.
But they have already 1700 signed up and expect that the race fills in October (or earlier): http://ironman.ch/…_news/00_aktuell.htm
Felix
i did it about 5 years ago. it was great. very well run. swim was in the lake, it was warm that year and just barely wetsuit legal. great spectators along the shore. 2 loops i think. no strippers as you got out DIY.
The course changed a lot in the last 5 years. It is a three loop bike course and four laps on the run. I never had wetsuit strippers in Europa.
I did the Ironman in 03 and 04 and the olympic distance tri the other years since 02.
Felix
I live here and have done the race. Great organization, perfectly smooth roads, clear water, and great crowds in the city were the run loops are held.
I took a camera along for the day: http://www.scottherrick.com/gallery.php?id=40
I and 15 others from Minneapolis did the race this year. We had a great time. Great organization, good course, great support. The cut-off time is 16 hours instead of the normal 17 hours. The bike course loop is roughly 37 miles and with that many people racing it tends to bunch up frequently and drafting is prevalent.If you would ask our group if we would do that race again, most would say yes, but the cost was is a factor. We had a great time sigthseeing afterwards around Switzerland.
What specific questions do you have?
how long is the registration typically open? does it fill up fast like the races in the US, or slower?
Until 2006 it was never full. Last year it was full in January.
But they have already 1700 signed up and expect that the race fills in October (or earlier): http://ironman.ch/…_news/00_aktuell.htm
Felix
Thanks for the warning … I had been putting it off for the last month but just registered. It was at 1500 late last week, so it really must have jumped quickly!
how long is the registration typically open? does it fill up fast like the races in the US, or slower?
Until 2006 it was never full. Last year it was full in January.
But they have already 1700 signed up and expect that the race fills in October (or earlier): http://ironman.ch/…_news/00_aktuell.htm
Felix
Thanks for the warning … I had been putting it off for the last month but just registered. It was at 1500 late last week, so it really must have jumped quickly!
Now ther are again 20 more than this morning (1723 → 77 left) .
Felix
Hello! Thank you for the reply. I did sign up! I got a lot of positive replies about the race, so I’m in! Sounds like fun, never been to Switzerland, so I am really looking forward to that. Any suggestions you have on a good place to stay, I’ll make my reservations now. Are you racing?
Great, you’ll have a good time. We went with Endurance Sports Travel. They took care of everything except the airfare. Their hotel was nice, the food that they had with the package was good and they took care of everything else, getting you to the race and back and taking care of your spectators on race day. I would book your airfare soon, don’t wait, this will be the most expensive part.
I’m signed up for 2008 too. Girlfriend is working in Geneva at the moment so I’m planning a few training weekends over there to suss out the course (“Hey honey, wouldn’t it be great to go and spend a romantic day in Zurich…”). It should be fantastic - the roads over there are awesome and everybody seems to be into their sport.
Should have my head checked. I just signed up.
From everything I have seen here and in prior threads (slowtwitch and Tritalk.com ) it looks like a great race.
Can anyone recommend hotels? It says on the race page that Kuoni is the official travel agent and they will be booking end of August. Any word on this travel agent?
www.kouni.ch
Probably one of the biggest travel agents in Switzerland. I don’t think their prices are that competitive but maybe you will get a deal because you’re doing the IM.
How does the cancellation insurance work?
You pay it and then what if you realize in January that you can’t go?
Do you need to produce some kind of document?
/l-e