Subject: RE: Anyone doing the Imperial Beach Tri??? moto_mort - 2008-08-18 10:21 AM Have you done this race before? Yeah, did it in 2006 and was planning on 2007 but had to skip it when I re-injured my shoulder.
It is an OK race with many good points and a few not so good ones. The swim is usually pretty slow and I think they regularly mis-measure it. It does include a fairly long run from the water across the beach and down the street to Transition.
The Bike is lightning fast and pancake flat with just one or two technical turns. The 2 loops around the airport are great for big speed runs but watch out for the bumps around the hangars on the return.
The run course is also very flat and pretty fast although the outer portion of the course on the radio station grounds can get a bit hot as it is sheltered from the wind but has no shade and lots of asphalt. It is run over the same finish as the Silver Strand Half in November. The biggest bummer about this race is that it is not USAT sanctioned and so has some quirks. The timing is a bit wonky and with only 3 timing mats, makes it interesting at best to figure everything out. (Your Swim-Bike transition is included in the swim and your bike-run transition is included in the bike)
But, because it is not USAT sanctioned, they do have a great swim buddy program for the newbies and makes a great first timers race I was not on BT yet and so did not post a race report here. The race as a tuneup and so did not post one anywhere else either I guess. (I tried to find it)
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