I did this race in 2023 the first year and the swim was really neat. I loved this river swim. Very clear, shallow and a sandy bottom. Felt clean swimming in it. The bike and run course were different that first year. The bike course was quite hilly with a lot of bad pavement. I think they moved it because of that. I haven’t done it since 2023 but sounds like the new course is better. I liked the run course in 2023 right along the river on the bike path but it was hot out there with no shade. This was also before the transition was moved to the parking garage and the run to the bikes was long. I think I had a 10 min transition. But I enjoyed the race overall. Was third in my AG despite not being in the best of bike shape but pulled off a decent run and moved myself way up. I don’t like Springfield Mass. No offense to anyone. I just feel it’s not the best city. Chattanooga on the other hand is a really neat city, one where it’s fun to visit. (I did Chat worlds 70.3 in 2017 a whole different experince).
I wonder if Ironman will cancel this race with two canceled swims in a row. Not sure how that works with contracts with the city. A lot of people like this race in spite of the swim having big potential to be canceled. It’s convenient for New Englanders.
Yes, too bad the swim was cancelled, again. And not too happy there were cars and single file lanes out on the bike course. They should have had a contingency plan to get the faster biker age groups out on the course first. Being one of the last to get out on the bike course as opposed to being one of the first if the swim was held made it a challenge getting through all the slower bikes. Race day parking garage availability was convenient, the venue was relatively compact and convenient for spectators, and things were pretty well organized. But I won’t be going back with the swim cancel history. Also, local Springfield officials scheduling decision to hold their annual gay pride parade on the same day (Saturday) as packet pick up and bike check in is highly questionable.
I know that most races just start a TT bike if the swim is cancelled, but this race would actually be perfect for a 4k (ish) run to start off the duathlon. You have timing mats already at transition, and at the swim start, and to link the two is a running path next to the river that is already closed off for the race and used to be part of the old run course. Start the run near the swim exit, run to near the swim start, and then back to transition. You can stage everyone in the park area just downstream of the swim start.
Sorry to hear that you spent the bike moving through traffic. I got lucky that I had an AWA bib so it was relatively clear. First time its proved useful I suppose.
Oddly enough, my wife asked me when I was doing this race again. She and the kids had a blast at 6 Flags on Saturday so it was worth it just there. I probably won’t put it back on the calendar for a while, but it did give me the idea that 70.3 Ohio is next to another 6 Flags.
This year did have the most participants I believe in the now 4 years of the race (1306 athletes in results page vs ‘25 = 1085; ‘24 = 1258; ‘23 = 1141). Maybe they’ll get over 1500 with a 2x cancelled swim with all the “I want a swim, but really don’t want a swim, so I’m going to act disappointed in T1 when the swim is cancelled” AG athletes. Ha
Just curious, what is the entry to the 6 Flags around your parts? You could come to oceanside here and hit Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm, but be ready to shell out more than a Kona entry fee for a family. I bought season passes to Knotts(6 flags now) and they were super reasonable, but we have yet to go to Disney as it would be about $1500+ for my family of 5 for the day..
I did 70.3 Ohio a couple years ago. And yes, close by to Cedar Point, a long time very well known 6 Flags property. Sandusky is more rural than Springfield, nice venue with a jump off the ferry swim start and bike course on no traffic rural country roads. I’d highly recommend over Springfield.
If memory serves it was $350 USD for the day for the three of them, including parking, meal plan and the rides. If we did it again, we’d take an extra day to since I would have liked to also go (they went on the Saturday, which is usually spent fussing with the bike and setting up stuff). Maybe they go for 2 days and I go for one after the race?
The real expense I suspect is getting there: Springfield and Sandusky are both drivable from where I am (Ottawa), vs flights to California.
I don’t understand why people do triathlon if they don’t want to swim. Swimming was by far my slowest sport with cycling being much better and then being a far superior runner to my other sports. But even though I took up swimming as an adult and have made peace with my swim speed, I do love open water swimming so much. I love all three sports. Triathlon swims are hectic and can be stressful. I understand that. But the more you do it, the better it becomes. Or you get more used to the chaos.
2025 was my last season. But within 9 years I have done 15 x Ironman 70.3s and 6x full IMs and only once was the swim shortened. I have gotten lucky with no complete swim cancellations. I would be so bummed not to swim. And if I was still racing, I would not sign up for Western Mass again knowing it will be canceled if there is any rain before the race (causing raw sewage overflow).
When I started triathlon, swimming was my best discipline, and now it’s my slowest heh. I’ve gone a bit backwards in it, but much further forward in the other two.
But I agree with you. I really enjoy the swim before the bike. Maybe not the full Ironman distance swim…but that’s the buy-in to the rest of the race, so I deal with it. But just jumping on the bike and going for a ride I always feel a bit sluggish if I haven’t “warmed up” with the swim. On race day, it’s such a nice feeling to start with the swim. I’d be pretty bummed to just jump right on the bike.
Wow! Thanks! A lot of us women have already gone to Nice for the 70.3 or the full IM. And they were giving away slots for the full worlds IM in Nice as I remember. So I get that not many wanted to go back. It’s a great location but expensive travel. A once in a lifetime for most.
Decent enough event; very confident I will not be a repeat offender at this one. Logistically it was pretty easy. Especially Bradley airport in Hartford.
When I got to transition in the AM, I was told they would not be letting AWA out first. At that point, I was planning to just leave. I had zero interest in spending 2 hours passing like 1000+ people. Thankfully, they reversed that decision and nobody got murdered from behind.
Road quality is what I would expect for Mass/New England. Did run over 3 dead squirrels, so that was a record. Also managed to run over a 15 foot branch that was the same color as the road surface, so that was also a first.
Run was much harder than I anticipated. Everybody seemed to be saying that. Did get convinced by some random guy to take my Nice slot while running (which I assumed I would get, even if I needed a rolldown given the lateness of the cycle). I was the dork that said his wife wanted to go to France when they asked me, if anybody was at the awards.
I don’t think it’s that they don’t want to swim. It’s that the swim has the highest training demands for most adults. hardest to just do cus it always involves going to an aquatic facility, and then likely has the biggest “oh shit” moments, where shit gets sideways quickly. I mean cycling is very dangerous for many people so that’s maybe closer. So yes you hope everyone is best prepared but again by default the swim out of the 3 disciplines can be the easiest to just skip. Which then of course leds to all kinds of “preparedness” issues which then means swims get cancelled more and more as the sport matures. And again when your event is at a 50% chance the swim doesn’t even happen, shocking ppl may just meh the swim training needs for said race that they wouldn’t maybe do for another race. Not saying they should be just human nature.
Coming back to this thread to point out that one bonus from this race is that the community has a tradition of sharing each other’s photos and posting them online. E.g. if your loved one is out there taking pictures of you, they snap a few extra and dump on the Facebook group so everyone benefits.
Bonus points is that some of the photographer’s have some real chops - these are the best bike photos of me that I’ve had in a race and they’re just dumped for free in the FB group.
Posting again today since there was another photo dump and I spotted myself again. And yes, I probably need to learn to tuck my head down a bit lower
