Utah Half

Triathlon Forum
1

Has anyone raced this? Looking for a good Half to try and get a PR at this year, was wondering if anybody can comment on the race and bike portion in particular (road surface, winds, ect). I hear there is a new run course for this year too. Thanks.

2

It’s been done. See the link below.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=2213042;search_string=utah%20half;guest=59019027&t=search_engine#2213042

This could be defined as a “very flat” bike. Can be windy but hasn’t been bad last two years. Roads are fine. Don’t know about the new run course.

3

thanks for the link, I have heard that the road surface was a rouph chip seal type of road- do you remember this from your race? Are you racing this year?

4

Maybe others would remember the roads differently, but I’ve ridden the course roads maybe 10 times and I don’t remember ever thinking they were awful. There is one section that lasts maybe .25 miles as you approach Lincoln beach road that is def. chip and seal, but it comes and goes quickly IMO.

Yeup. Plan on “racing” it this year.

5

Just received this email from the race director in case anybody was wondering about this race. I had read that there was some concern about the roads being too rough and that the race was on the same day as a major century ride. Here is his reply;

Thanks for the email. Here are your answers…

  1. The road is about 90% smooth surface. There are a few sections that are chip sealed but none that are too bad
  2. The ULCER bike ride is now the week prior so there will be no problems there.
    Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you. Hope to see you out there!
6

I thought it was one of the smoothest 56 mile rides I have ever done. I don’t remember any real bad road at all. Good to hear they are having the Utah Lake Century the weekend before - that was a bike traffic nightmare.

A couple of memories from last year.

#1 - this race is low budget - they even call it that themselves. Don’t expect a lot and be prepared to roll with things like missing aid stations, long swim, etc.
#2 - the run last year was kinda weird - three out and backs on different trails, under the freeway tunnel, etc.
#3 - you can really haul ass on this bike ride - it is bone flat and at that time of morning winds should be non-existent unless a storm is coming in.
#4 - be prepared to support yourself for the ride - just one aid station last year at the turn around point.
#5 - bathe yourself in mosquito repellent before arriving at the race - we were eaten alive.

I’ll probably sign up and go do the swim, bike and a few miles of the run (pull the plug after 4-5 miles) this year since it is 4 weeks before IMMOO.

7

Thanks for the info Jack…here is another email I got from the race director about a few more concerns/questions about this race. (1. swim question, 2. number of entrants, 3. winds, 4. temps, 5. timing)

  1. We used gps last year and yes it was long. Not sure what happened but we will triple check it this year.
  2. This is our third year and we had 340 racers last year.
  3. Both years we have had little to no wind on race day.
  4. Avg. temps 85 degrees. Almost the entire run is on a shaded river trail which helps a lot. We have had no incidents of athletes overheating or dehydrating 5. Yes we have milliseconds.com doing our chip timing.
    Sidenote: let us know your travel needs and we can help you out. Marriott is our hotel sponsor and has discounted rates.