Ironman 70.3 Muskoka : Official Thread

Google Huntsville, the town that is only a couple of km from the race site.  They have the typical Best Western's, Holiday Inn, etc., however I know they were already booking up quickly earlier in the year, and was surprised how little was left when I booked.  Don't book anything listed in Bracebridge - too far a drive.  I don't think you'll find a resort for race weekend, but should hopefully find a hotel/motel (bed and breakfast is another option).

Remember to bring a lot of gears with you for the bike course.

Food for thought - Muskoka is considered to be one of the tougher 70.3 courses out there.  The bike is long at 94km because they make it a single loop, and the elevation increases typically come from shorter, steeper climbs as opposed to longer lower gradient climbs.  The sting is in the tail for the bike course with the last 25km being the toughest, and the last couple of small climbs will have you using your last gear (if you're like most of us) within just a few km of T2.

Then there's the run course...some hard hills (I haven't run the modified course, but it's as hard or harder than the previous course based on racers descriptions).  Basically, this course is likely not conducive to a PR at HIM distance.  I make the course sound tough, and it is, but it's fair.  The lake has always been a great temperature, and September usually means the humidity is gone from the air, although if it's sunny it can still be pretty warm.

Oh - and they only have 2 gel/water stations on the bike couurse, nothing after 60km so you need to be prepared for that.  Run course was fine from a nutrition stand point from what I remember, but not a lot of shade.

Happy to answer any other questions.

Don't worry - the 2/3 of the bike course is far less hilly, the 3/3 well....

In the other years that I've done it they followed a similar rule as smaller local races where you just drop your stuff off around the fence area - not sure if they made any changes for this year.

I rode the whole course yesterday and it was a good reminder how just how hilly it is - 2 years later and your memory starts to fail.  I certainly found that the first 1/3 was the slowest, but the last 1/3 had the steeper climbs, with the toughest section of the course, and toughest two climbs coming in the last 6km.  So everyone is aware, there is a gravel section from km 72 - km 73/74 (right as you start climbing a hill), and then there is a little 25 meter section of gravel a few km later at the bottom of a hill, you definitely have to slow down to stay safe for this part.  The roads were a bit rougher than I remembered in a lot of sections, but there were other sections with no problem.  My Garmin had about 3300ft of climbing, but elevation correction added a few hundred feet more - I certainly haven't been riding anything quite as hilly as the course itself.  I'm going to stick a reminder on my Garmin to remember that I have to run after the ride - hopefully I reign myself back in a bit.