TOTW Toughest Sprint and Olympic in the local area

I would have to add Tugaloo here for the rolling/ hilly bike and run course.  What CAN make Tugaloo awful is the heat.  Being in mid September, I have seen the temps make this race a mini- Macon Half. 

I agree with your comment about Hickory Knob.  I have done that race four times I think.  The first year I raced Hickory Knob, they had built some wooden ladders to climb up from the swim onto the dock.  When I got the ladder, it ripped completely off of the dock, and I fell back into the water.  Race volunteers had to pull me up onto the dock.  There's just no good way to get from the water onto that dock.  On year at Hickory, the water was so low that they couldn't use the dock at all.  We all had to climb up that muddy clay hill to the right of the dock.  Seriously funny! I still love Hickory Knob though, and Set Up does a great job at all races despite challenges. 

I don't have much experience here since I only did few racs last year but for me Tanner was much easier then Indian Springs race.

Indian Springs even the transion was slanted and up a hill. I hated that first longgggggg hill once you got on the bike and there is really no flat portion of the run piece. That was the hardest sprint for me. 

Also the swim on the REV3 in Anderson was horrible for me (no wetsuit and cold and it seemed like the swim was just longggg

Doing few more races this year so we will see how it goes.

Hmmm..... excluding the 2010 Turtle Crawl Olympic (which it was a miracle I didn't get sea sick and puke after), I'm going to say Rev3 SC. The swim was cold, the bike course had lots of hills (no mountains or anything) but the run course seemed to be a constant up and down and as it was on paths they weren't gradual up and downs like you find on roads.  The last hill before the finish line was especially evil as you know you're right next to the finish line but then you have to turn away and climb the hill that serves as the spectator seating for an amphitheater. Evil.... 

As far as the hardest sprint, Iron Girls. Yep, I said it. Between the mountain you have to run up from the swim to the transition, the hoards of what seem to be suicidal/homicidal newbie cyclists (not that I have anything against newbies but in hoards they can be a very scary force) and the longer than normal bike course with plenty of hills, it's the toughest one I've experienced. 

Based upon the reported temperature (both air and water), I would guess that West Point was a contender until the date changed. In 2010, I think the water was like 87 degrees......swimming in bath water can really suck the life out of you.

New favorite thread.

Ok so I gotta say the My FIRST/NEXT sprint at Lake Lanier has the worst Swim to Bike. Its waters edge, across the beach, run to the back pavilion, and UP the HILL (a mix of sand, wood, and concrete easy 1/4 mile in total distance)

Chattanooga OLY wins on brutality of heat. That and the hill near the finish after the apartment complex-UGH!

The REV3 SC Half bike was WINDY and HILLY!!!

I'll triple that - couple that with the fact that last year in May it was frigid it's my first year in 5 not doing it.

I'm gonna agree here on Chattanooga - hot, hot, hot.  Love the swim but the tough bike on the highway followed by the run on the surface of the sun - I'm opting out of this one too after 4 years of doing it.

I didn't do this race last year but went and watched since I live around that area. I have also ran on that course a lot. That looked brutal. I wanted nothing to do with that run or bike. 

The toughest sprint I have done would probably be Indian Springs. The bike is hilly enough to make you work, and the run throws some hills at you to start. Then there are those two climbs on the run out of the campground areas. Top it off with an uphill finish and some heat and it is a tough race.

x4. When I saw the thread that is the 1st race that came to mind. That bike course is the hilliest sprint course I've ever raced and the hill out of the water is terrible.

My honorable mention for an Oly would be Festival of Flowers in SC. It's usually in late June and that run course on the totally exposed road is like running on the surface of the sun. With crappy pavement.

I will jump in and say indian springs as well.  the swim back to transition you are coming into the sun, the transition area was a good job away, the bike was ok, and the run was the worst.  Between the off road part of the course and the hills in the campgrounds it was not easy on the legs.  

On the other hand Peachtree City Tri has to be one of the easier courses I have been on.  I loved that one.  The swim was a TT start, the bike was fast, and the run was shaded on the golf cart paths.

I'd say Ft. Yargo Sprint...long swim for a sprint, then a tough MTB, and a 5 mile trail run...TOUGH.

Maybe b/c it was my first tri, but that was the hardest tri, to date, for me...

Chat Waterfront was not so bad, but it rained during...

I'll also vote for Chattanooga, challenging bike course and an atmosphere that seeems to get me to push harder than most other venues.

It'll fall from tough Oly to pleasant race now that they are changing the date this year but Westpoint Lake gets a nod.  The course on its own is not so bad but it had always been hot from start to finish.  The lake water was warmer than bath water to the point that one could exit the swim well on the way towards dehydration.  Rolling hills on the bike course are certainly not too bad but then that run over the dam.  I've never experienced anywhere else on earth where there is less breeze and less shade...just hot stagnant air that sucks the life out of me.

While all of these recommendations are great picks and the rationale spot on, you all are completely WRONG! (well maybe not d00d)

The toughest Sprint/Olympic in the area has to be:

Going to the pool for the first time and dipping your toes in, jumping on the bike for a training ride completely freaked out by traffic on the open roads, and lacing up the shoes to begin to train as a runner, exhausted after the first few steps.

Toughest part of all this is showing up.......once we make it to the race, that's the easy part.  I have yet to hit a race or venue that was not a blast, for whatever reason.  Hurt - yes, challenge - yes, fun - you bet!   So be it a 50 person field local event, 300 field or 1000+, register for any event and join the fun.

I second the vote on those who said Tugaloo for the Olympic. I remember I puked next to the Captin in the last 400 meters of the run two years ago. That was before we had met each other, haha!

That heat and running in circles through the campgrounds combined with being sick. Of course, I would still recommend it to anyone, though.

I think Tug and West Point are tied in my book but for different reasons.  Tug is a harder than most bike course and it sets up the hardest run of any local OLY.  Many dreams have been crushed on the run.   Funny, I remember Bethany yaking as she ran by me.  I was thinking this run is hard, but damn, she badder than this run.

West Point is hard because of the heat.  Even the water is hot.  The heat on the damn has done in many people including me.  Last year, I blew up and could not cool down for hours.   Any race that has a misting tent for a short race says it all.

Second the looong uphill trail run in the first mile of the TTP Mistletoe sprint. I thought I had wondered off into a trail run by mistake. At least it's a mostly shaded course...

- Kerry