Ironman 70.3 Syracuse : Official Thread (Page 11)

We're in the same wave. I am happy with our start time. It's not too late, but gives some extra time to don my wetsuit....y'know since I need 30+ mins to make it happen. Wow, I did my last HIM swim in 34 mins. It could actually take me longer to put my wetsuit on than it does to swim the whole thing .

I'm 766.

I prefer the forecast Weather Underground is posting:

	Saturday Night Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s.
	Sunday Mostly sunny. Highs around 70.
	Sunday Night Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers. Lows in the upper 40s.

I am in the 5th or 6th wave.  This will be may earliest wave, by far, of my 3 HIMs.  I don't know if it's good or bad.  I usually don't have many people passing me be I am usually in the last couple of waves, but this time, I might get a bit demoralized with 1500 people either swimming over me, zooming by me on the bike, or blowing by me on the run.  Hopefully there will be some food left because I am starting so early.  I have yet to eat after a HIM. 

There have been lots of questions about spectators and so I have been in contact with the race director and the Jamesville Beach Park office. 

Here are some details:

·         Athletes and Spectators arriving by cars will be entering the park at Gate 3 (the southernmost and normally closed gate)

·         The sides of Apulia Road will be coned off so you will not be able to park outside the park on race morning.

·         Although the gate is two lane, there are some access ways to some of the parking lots that are single lane.  It will be difficult so do not expect to be able to drop off athletes and get right back out of the parking lot before the race.

·         To leave the park, your best opportunity will be after the race starts (7am) until two hours later (~9am).  You will only be able to leave the park to the left (south bound) down Apulia Road.  Riders just starting the bike course will be leaving from the Main Gate and headed north bound on Apulia Road so that direction is not available for travel.

·         After ~9am, there will be riders finishing the course coming up Apulia Road from the South, so you will not be able to leave Gate 3 after ~9am until the last rider returns sometime between 12 noon and 1pm.  Plan accordingly.

Directions to get from the park to the finish area:

·         Travel down Apulia Road about 5miles to US 20.  Take a right on US 20 into Lafayette and follow the signs for I-81 North (to your right).  Exit at Park Street, turn right at light then another right at next light onto Hiawatha Blvd.  Take either a left either on Solar Street or Van Rensselaer Street to parking by theInner Harbor.

Guidelines for cheering along the courses:

·         You CANNOT RIDE OR RUN ALONG SIDE ATHLETES on the courses. So plan to cheer them on from the other side of the road or stand off the road completely on the same side.  Do not  ride on the course in the same direction as the racers.

·         Plan to park on intersecting roads not on the course.

Below are MY suggestions for a variety of locations to cheer on athletes.  Feel free to forward other suggestions to me.  These suggestions are NOT coming from Ironman or Park staff:

If you left before the swim was over you could ...

·          get to the half way point up the Sweet Road climb (7 miles into bike course):

o   Leaving Apulia Road southbound, take your second left onto Pallidino Road, take a left at the T onto Ransom Road, bear left at stop sign onto Rte 91, next right onto Frank Long Road (Big Hill), bear right onto Gates Road.  The stop sign is Sweet Road.  Suggest you cross the road (Caution you will be crossing the Bike Course) and park along Gates Road and walk back to the intersection and line up along the shoulder on the side opposite from the athletes headed up another tough climb.  To leave just continue on Gates Road to the next intersection at Henneberry Road.  Left brings you back to Rte 173 which you can take a right to get down to Manlius.  If you went Right  on Henneberry it will take you up to US 20 about a block east from where the bike course crosses US 20 (11.5 miles into the bike course).

·         To get to the steep descent and climb along Rte 80 (20 miles on the bike course):

o   Head east on US 20 (either from the end of Apulia road or Henneberry Road) to the bottom of a steep hill (~6miles from the Rte 91 crossing), turn right onto Oran Delphi Road, 2 1/2 miles down to Delphi Falls, turn left onto Delphi Falls Road, 7/10 of a mile take a right onto County Rte 258 (Cardner Road).  Take it to the end just short of 2 miles and park along Cardner Road.  Stay on this side of the road as riders will be on the other side of the road passing by you at 40+mph and rapidly slowing to under 10mph as they bottom out and go up the steep hill.  To leave I suggest turning around on Cardner road making you way back to Delphi Falls and take Oran Delphi Road back to either US 20 or up to Rte 92 and left to Manlius.

If you want to get to one spot and sit for the bike route here is that plan:

·         To get to the first water stop at the DeRuyter Lake General Store at 25 miles on the Bike Course (which Jerry Rice has bleachers to sit on):

o   Continue down Apulia Road to the end at Rte 80, take a left onto Rte 80, and a right onto Rte 91 (Caution you will be traveling along the bike course in the opposite direction from here), [Make sure to look left at Labrador Ski Mountain to see the Ironman M Dot carved into the hill side], take a left onto Rte 13 all the way to DeRuyter and left to continue on Rte 13 for 7/10 of a mile to bear left onto Middle Lake Road, continue to the end at 2 miles and park along the road.  Turn right and walk along the right side of the road as the athletes may be riding towards you on the other side of the road.  About a couple of tenths down the road on the left will be the DeRuyter General Store. To avoid traveling along the bike course, I would suggest leaving back down Middle Lake Road and taking a left onto Rte 13.  Follow Rte 13 all the way into Cazenovia and then left on US 20 and right onto Rte 92 to Manlius.

If you really want to give them a push on the last stretch of the bike route:

·         To get to the base of the last of a few taxing climbs on Rte 91 through Labrador (42 miles on the bike course):

o   Continue down Apulia Road to the end at Rte 80, take a right onto Rte 80, in a half mile take a left onto Markham Hollow Road, 1 3/4 miles down take a left onto Labrador Crossroad, park half mile down where the road ends at Rte 91.  Athletes will be across the road right to left.  To leave turn around and head all the way up to Apulia Road at US 20.  Stop to watch the athletes as they come from right to turn down Apulia road (~50 miles on the bike course).  Left on US 20 to Lafayette to I-81 North.

For the Run Course:

·         Almost halfway into the run at 6 miles is Shoppingtown mall.  From I-81 North, take I-481 North to exit 3W and bear right onto Erie Blvd and right into the parking lot.  Plenty of Parking.  Across the road from the run course.  If you cross the road, make sure to stay off the race course.  DO NOT RUN ALONGSIDE the athletes.  Cheer all you want.

·         About 3/4 into the run is Aldi's Grocery Store's Parking lot at the intersection of Peat(Westmoreland) on Erie Blvd.  You can cheer from there and continue one block down to take a right onto Teall Road and take I-690 West to I-81 North to get to Park Street Exit and the finish area.

Thanks for sharing!! I emailed it to my mom .

Haha. I sent the info to my mom and she said it looks confusing. I wrote back, "Mom, you're going to leave the park once you see me head out on the bike. That will give you more than 5 hours to find the finish line -- I think you can handle it." I did tell her to bring a folding chair, a book, and some snacks, and just find a nice spot on the run course to set up camp for a few hours.

My mom loves the race. The last HIM I did was Timberman and she took notes the whole time -- when certain pros came back from the ride, run, what some of my friends were doing, etc. She loved it.

I'm flying solo to the race this weekend.(Kids would keep me awake.)

Are there any group dinners, events etc pre race to make the Friday to Sunday wait more bearable?

Thanks
G

You probably go off with your age group, but I would just double check when you check in. They will give you the appropriate colored swim cap and tell you your wave number at that time. If you want to know sooner, they've been pretty quick to respond to inquiries submitted via the online form so you can always try that.