Boulder Stroke & Stride or Aurora Dip & Dash

I did the June 4th Stroke & Stride as my first open water swim as a preparation for my June 21st tri.  It was very well organized with about 150 people in a mass start for the two loop 1500m swim and 100 people in the mass start for the 750m swim.  I did the 750m which lagged the first group by 5 minutes.  The water temp was 64 degrees.  The race directors and support crews were friendly.  There were several sponsor booths set up and I would recommend the Boulder Reservoir.

I did both last year and would reccomend the Boulder series. I was much more impressed with them, and they had food and drinks afterwards. Aurora had nothing (I couldn't even find water.)

I have never done the Aurora races, but the S&S in Boulder is always excellent.  You don't have to pay the Rez entrance fee anymore either   Darrin is an awesome RD...great races and there always seems to be dinner afterwards...pizza or subs usually.  I hope they still do that!

I have done the Dip n Dash series the last 2 years. I love the event - 2 starts (a men's wave and women's wave), clear clean water, and a very friendly atmosphere - especially if you are newer to open water.
You can do 750 swim or 1500 swim with a 5k run at the end. They are also having an IM distance swim twice this summer.
They do not have food afterwards, but they always have a huge cooler of Vitamin Water if you take the time to look for it
Very low key event, more of a training type of event.
The other thing I like is that you can take your road bike and ride around the lake before or after the event, which makes for a really nice workout.
I live in Colorado Springs, so Aurora is only 1 hour from my house.

Anyone do the Aquaman Series at Cherry Creek last year? I would be curious to hear input on that event as well, esp. since they do longer distances at each event.

Thanks all for the info!  I have a job interview in Boulder tomorrow afternoon so I may try to do tomorrow night's if they still have space and the weather holds out. 

Great information all!  Thanks!  I live in Castle Rock, so it's pretty tough for me to get to Boulder on a regular basis.  I'm doing Dip & Dash Ironman swim next Tuesday.  I think I've got 4 of the Aquaman races scheduled.  Doing the 1 mile swims/5K for those.  Without Limits alwasy puts together a good race.  I'll be sure to share reports on all.  I can't believe I've lived without B.T. until now!

As promised, a brief summary of the Aurora Res Dip & Dash. We were delayed by about 20 minutes on Tuesday night due to a thunderstorm in the area. As soon as I figured we were done for the night the Race Director walked around to announce we'd be going in 15 minutes. Good karma works- we were cleared @ 6:55 or so race. The swim went in 2 waves- women then men. I think men should have been started first as it got to be a pretty big mess, but I'll digress as there are a few awesome women swimmers in this race. Water was cold (62 degrees maybe). Course was really well-marked, and with the exception of the Ranger boat constantly getting in the way. Nice to have the Vitamin Water at the end, but some real food would have been even better- especially after the Ironman swim. I'd gladly pitch in a few bucks for some Jimmy Johns or something. Overall, a great practice swim- since I didn't do the 5K I can't comment on the course. I will be back later this summer for the 1500 swim and 5K, though. And needless to say, Aurora Res is the most pleasant open water swim in this area- definitely clearer than Cherry Creek and Chatfield.

Anyone doing Aquaman tonight?  Looking forward to a good workout- Cherry Creek Park is my favorite workout place in the metro area.