Would you do a full IM distance at Wildflower? 2 laps of the swim, 2 laps of the bike and 2 laps of the run?
Pros and cons: Cons: “Nasty Grade” twice. Pros: Mile 4 girls twice.
My god! Wild pigs running loose after dark. Runners falling in the lake running along that trail in the dark. Lost athletes in the dark on the run. But especially, walking up Lynch Hill AFTER you finish with all of your crap. Big fun>>>>NOT!
After camping in the rain and mud for 3 days I didn’t want to do it one time. Two loops of Beach and Lynch hills were enough for me last year. The one drunk topless girl at mile one of the run wasn’t worth it and she would have passed out before a full IM was done.
Dave
hmmm… in my mind, more con’s than pro’s.
In general, the hassle factor for that race are just too great to experience more than once. Simply moving the race up to IM status doesn’t alleviate the primary problems of having so many people at facilities designed for less than a third of what actually shows up for the race.
That being said, Wildflower is a definate “been there, done that” once sort of race. …But, in my mind… racing that course at night (or low light) would be a race with accidents waiting to happen (i.e., parts of the road not the best… running cross country at night=ankle injuries… the list goes on). To make up for that might be young and topless EMT’s (or male equivalent for the female gender)… hmmm, now that might make it worth making Wildflower an IM.
Joe Moya
Applications for the 2004 event will be available online December 1st, 2003 6:00am PST, 9:00am EST. Returning participants will be contacted directly with registration information.