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Race Reports for Ironman 70.3 Branson

[1]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: I love this race. The lake is clean, the bike course is challenging and beautiful, and the run course going through the landing and by the river is fantastic. When I did this race in 2010, I completely blew up on the bike ride and never got it back. I said I would come back for redemption and I feel like I got it. 6:25 in 2010 to 5:17 in 2012. Also set HIM PR which was previously 5:25 at Kansas. Very proud of that given how much more difficult this race is.
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[2]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Because of the volunteers and venue, this was a great race. The volunteers were exceptional and there were plenty of them. Most of the venue is awesome, especially the run course and the high road portion of the bike course. This race also had a Sprint and Oly distance and I heard there were no awards for those, If that's the case, that's a big negative in my book. I think if you're going to have those distances, you should recognize those athletes as well. Running out of food is also a negative, especially shortly after I finished when appoximately 50% of the athletes were still on the course! I heard that this is year 3 or a 3 year contract and that the race might be in jeopardy of not being held next year. I hope that's not the case because it's a great challenge, and the course is very spectator friendly.
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[3]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Very well organized race. If you want a challenge, this is the one to do given the bike course.
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[4]
Reported by:
Race rating (3)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Too hard

  • Comments: For my first 70.3 it was a good experience and very rewarding. However I think a more mellow bike course would have been nice. Looking forward to experiencing another 70.3...just not Branson.
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[5]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: As a competitor I found the race to be very well organized. My only complaint was that there wasn't any coke on the run and there was supposed to be. Not the end of the world but would have been nice at the last aid station. My family said the transportation from T2 to the start of the race was not well done. Not enough buses. They asked everyone to park at T2 and take the shuttles to race start. They didn't want people trying to park at T1. Since they asked people to do that, they should have had more buses running. Good event with good crowd support. If you are looking for a challenging HIM this is your race. There is a reason it has the slowest average finish time of all the Ironman 70.3!! I think it prepared me well for my next big race which is IM Wisconsin 2013.
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[6]
Reported by:
Race rating (2)
User photo
  • Organised?No
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?No

  • Post race activities? Bad
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Poorly organized, shuttles to start were terrible.
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[7]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Awesome venue. Bike course needs to be brought back to 2010 course.
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[8]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Good
  • Overall course based on my ability: Too hard

  • Comments: What can I say. This is one of, if not the most brutal 70.3 races in the world. The weather stunk but the volunteers hung in through a torrential downpour. They were OUTSTANDING! Other than the weather, I have zero complaints. A great race.
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[9]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Good
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: This is a great race! The volunteers, well I would be a jerk if I did not mention how great all the volunteers were. they stayed out there during the raining cherring people on the whole time, sometimes calling me by name, which was very nice. Great race and I think everyone should try it!
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[10]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Volunteers were amazing. I would like to go back and give them all a hug. Well, some more than others if you know what I mean.
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[11]
Reported by:
Race rating (3)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: This was my first ironman event. Based on some of the bigger marathons I have done the expo was disapointing.
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[12]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Can not say enough about this race. The people and volunteers of Branson are just awesome! Seeing those little kids standing out in the epic downpours handing out drinks and gu was just endearing. Hats off to Pro Devon Palmer! His race was over on the bike course and he stayed out there helping age groupers out with flats and even giving up his rear Zipp disk to someone who flatted. What other sport would pro's do this in? If you want a fair and challenging race course with a town that rolls out the red carpet and great volunteers look at Branson. Next year the race will be held Oct 7th which should help with the temps and being to close to Las Vegas.
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[13]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability: Too hard

  • Comments: Volunteers were Fantastic. The weather was crappy, but they were right there supporting us. Would like to do it again, but I think I'll train more and take a few days off after to make the drive home. 26 hours with only 2 hours sleep was a little rough. Especially when I race for almost 8 of the 26.
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[14]
Reported by:
User photo
  • Organised?
  • Events on time?

  • Lots of volunteers to help?
  • Plenty of drink stations?

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability:

  • Comments: MOST MISERABLE RACE OF MY LIFE.. OH WAIT... LAKE EVERGREEN WAS WORSE BUT AT LEAST IT WAS HALF THE LENGTH... BIKE COURSE SUCKS!!
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[15]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability: Too hard

  • Comments: A fantastic event. Had I been more properly prepared, I would have loved it. Now I have to decide if I'm going to try and repeat it. I should point out that out of 1357 registered racers, only 981 finished. In my age group, 201 registered, and only 136 finished.
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[16]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability:

  • Comments: Swim was crowded but I've had worse. Bike course was great; steep climbs, fast downhills and lots of room. The closed interstate and smooth pavement was great to ride on. Plenty of aid stations too made it easy to fuel up on the ride and the last 4ish miles downhill was a good recovery. Run didn't have much shade, but you wouldn't expect mid 90's in Branson in mid sept. Again, plenty of aid stations. My only criticism was the lack of food at the end of the race; they needed to have a bigger post race area for recovery and celebration instead of awards event 6 hours later when most are long gone. The Landing was specator friendly, I plan to be back next year
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[17]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Excellent Race! Very well run and organized! Great swim venue. Very difficult & challenging bike course. Run course is an easy couse, maybe a little on the boring side, but great for spectators. Of the HIM's I've done, I would say the total experience puts IM Branson at the top of the list. It's a challenging course, but not so tough that it's out of reach for most people.
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[18]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability:

  • Comments: I was very disappointed with this race afterwards. I completely blew up on the bike and never got it back. In hindsight, I don't think I could have done it any different. I really took it easy on the bike, I just didn't have the necessary fitness for a day this tough. I will DEFINITELY be back for this bad boy next year!! The race organizers were amazing. You would have never known it was an inaugural race- everything went perfectly and there were more aid stations out there than I have ever seen in a race. I highly recommend this race, but only if you are looking for a serious challenge.
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[19]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Overall this was a good race. The location was great. The closed off bike course was just awesome. If you don't like hills or are looking for a PR this is not the course you want.
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[20]
Reported by:
Race rating (3)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities?
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Very difficuly bike course. Make sure you train with a lot of trainer resistance and or hill repeats.
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[21]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Good
  • Overall course based on my ability:

  • Comments: Really would have loved to see schmize kill this course as he was on top of his game and hes got the best support crew! Glad he is going to be okay and on the road to recovery, but i would have loved to see him eat this course up as he was going to. Here are some quotes from some pros to show im not joking... “This bike course is the probably the toughest bike course I have ever done, it was just one huge hill after another, they just never stopped.” - Kelly Williamson, Woman Pro Winner Reflecting on the race yesterday: this Branson course really should be a world championship event. Fair, tough, and fun. -Michael Lovato, Pro Men 4th place finish http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1... That link also had some good posts on what the athletes thought on the race that schmize sent to me. This proved how much i love this sport. I drove over 10 hours to do this event. I got kicked in the face during the swim, cramps, sunburn,
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[22]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Below average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: The race was prepared for the heat and did a great job. The volunteers were awesome and I could not have finished the race without their help and dedication to also stand in the heat for hours.
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[23]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: For the first ever race put on in Branson, they did an exceptional job. I didn't see a nice display of food at the end which was a bummer and I wish they would of had a more things on the run aid stations to motivate you through. I think that this is must do race to experience and complete. I would not plan on coming in and setting a PR. I would just worry about finishing and having a good time. Don't under estimate the Hills becasue they will kick your a@* if you do. Take it easy through them and them hope that you can survive the run and then you should have a great race. My mom texted me while she was tracking me on line. She told me I missed 7th place in my Ag by .01. Yeah I really didn't care. I was just happy to have finished this race at this awesome venue and enjoyed it at the same time!!! My time compared to Kansas was only 6:05 off of this time. A lot of people were much further off from there Kansas times, so I was quite thrilled that I was this close to my Kansas
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[24]
Reported by:
Race rating (5)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Good
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: Awesome race. Ill be back next year if they have it again!
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[25]
Reported by:
Race rating (4)
User photo
  • Organised?Yes
  • Events on time?Yes

  • Lots of volunteers to help?Yes
  • Plenty of drink stations?Yes

  • Post race activities? Average
  • Overall course based on my ability: Just right

  • Comments: This was a great race that was run very well for being the first year. I look foward to doing it next year.
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