So who is going to Sweden?
I’m in, AG 55-59. I went 5:11:58 and my wife really wants to go to Sweden, hell I’m not gonna argue!
Going as a 45-49 but raced the 40-44 on Sun.
Wife already looking at post-race travel options to Finland afterwards to see where her side of family has roots…never done an ITU race so curious to see how it compares to IM/WTC run races.
So who is going to Sweden?
I’m in, AG 55-59. I went 5:11:58 and my wife really wants to go to Sweden, hell I’m not gonna argue!
So that was you breathing down my back…whew! I went 5:11:42 in the same AG, and will be going with my wife and daughter. The family really enjoyed IM Kalmar (Sweden) last year including some time in Copenhagen which was where we flew in and out. Since Motala is further north, we will fly to Stockholm next year and do some touristing there.
Going as a 45-49 but raced the 40-44 on Sun.
Wife already looking at post-race travel options to Finland afterwards to see where her side of family has roots…never done an ITU race so curious to see how it compares to IM/WTC run races.
I’ve done only one ITU worlds long ago (also long course), and here are the key differences I recall (no guarantee they will be the same now)
- Swim waves - Just 4. Pro men, pro women, all AG men, all AG women. No wetsuit strippers.
- Uniforms - everybody in their countries team uniform…zipper in the back like the pro’s. Very cool.
- Transitions - everything in your box, nothing on the ground or you will get penalized (watch any ITU race and see the blue boxes)
- Penalties - they have standard penalty tents for drafting, but can assess penalties on the fly. I did something wrong and was assessed a stop and go penalty. E.g., Ref told me to stop, then unclick my shoes, then I was free to go. Maybe 30 seconds total, not even recorded. Still clueless what that was about.
- Larger contingents like US, England, and others handed their athletes small flags to carry in the last 200 yards or so. Very neat to run across the finish carrying the American flag.
- Biggest difference is the triple olympic distance. 4200m swim - 120K bike - 30K run. Very long swim relative to the bike and run.
So who is going to Sweden?
I’m in, AG 55-59. I went 5:11:58 and my wife really wants to go to Sweden, hell I’m not gonna argue!
So that was you breathing down my back…whew! I went 5:11:42 in the same AG, and will be going with my wife and daughter. The family really enjoyed IM Kalmar (Sweden) last year including some time in Copenhagen which was where we flew in and out. Since Motala is further north, we will fly to Stockholm next year and do some touristing there.
16 seconds, I saw that. Your lucky my achilles flared up several miles into the run, I figured it cost me at lest 3 minutes but I’m happy I finished. It could have stopped me at any moment on the run, when I made the turnaround on the second lap I saw I had a chance to still PR so I said the hell with it and started laying down about a 7:15 min / mi pace and brought it home. I new PR by 00:3:02
Congrats on the PR. I had predicted I was in 5:15 shape so I was happy with my time as well. You can crush me in Sweden. 
Holy crap was that field stacked with talent! I had a decent race after being sick and not sleeping all week. 5:07 was good for 32/65 in men 35-39. Had a killer bike ride and felt solid through the first loop of the run then fatigue from the week got me. Did not feel like bonking…body was just tired. Still ended up with a 10 min PR and know I could do a lot better when 100%!
Holy crap was that field stacked with talent! I had a decent race after being sick and not sleeping all week. 5:07 was good for 32/65 in men 35-39. Had a killer bike ride and felt solid through the first loop of the run then fatigue from the week got me. Did not feel like bonking…body was just tired. Still ended up with a 10 min PR and know I could do a lot better when 100%!
I thought so too. I researched previous years against this year and holy moly the entries were deep.
I’m undecided. Plane tickets are pricey and I’m already planning on IMWI 2015.
I qualified (AG 30-34) with a 4:44. I was just excited to nail my Big Hairy Ass A-Goal of sub-4:45 considering my previous 70.3 PR was 4:58 (at the same race in 2011). It was such an awesome day for a race and they really knocked it out of the park this year.
The USAT email covering the cost side of attending the race in Sweden was pretty vague - has anyone have any experience or have estimating how much it would cost to attend?
Agree on the stacked field comments - very cool race.