Ironman 70.3 Panama : Official Thread

This race was the most disorganized race I have done in my 15 years of racing. Its started when our shuttle bus driver went the wrong way on the way to transition for the race start. It got worse when we were on the pier about to start (some of us in wetsuits) and they kept us standing there for an hour with no water (it was already 81 degrees and stifling) and ZERO communication about why the race was an hour late. Not a single announcement. Hello???? We discovered later that the safety boats had not shown up to the race (!). There was a last minute change to the bike course that we learned about in the race briefing -- they said it was changed from 2 loops to 3. But in reality, it was a six loop bike course. The course was also short, and so people did not know what to do at the end of the sixth loop -- we all knew that doing another one would make it too long. There was one aid station on the bike course inner loop, so if you missed that one stop, you were toast. I went through 6 bottles -- it was that hot. People threw water bottles all over the road -- it was very dangerous.
Then the run started. Non-sensical course with out and backs all over the place. Not at all the three loops that was previously described. Volunteers directing people the wrong way. Aid stations with volunteers providing drinks to runners going in both directions, but the volunteers were only standing on one side, so collisions with runners were common. It was very, very hot. When I left T2 there was no water in transition, and no people with sunscreen as promised. Apparently they were not yet ready.
This was the fourth or fifth? time the race was run, so there is no excuse for such disorganization. I would have to give this race a half a star and will give it a pass in future years. Sad, because its a very interesting place to visit.