Ironman St. George : Official Thread (Page 2)

Hmm, looks like a bent pitchfork! 

And you're not alone here, I've been lurking

Ugh.  That looks awful.  Trading off red rocks and a view for suburban streets.  3 loops instead of 2 to add to the monotony.  But will be more spectator friendly and a far easier run course.  Glad I did it before they neutered the run course.

3 loops sucks.  Even worse when you consider half of each loop is an up and down 3 streets right next to each other.  

I'm curious what the elevation gain is on the new run course.  I like the downhill start for a mile or so.  Miles 4.5-7.5 still look nasty.  I don't know if I have ever run uphill for 3 miles.  Even the Newton hills have some flat spots. 

I don't mind the hills, but if it's a hot day I'm in trouble.  My break point is about 85 degrees.

Dang -it, I was dreading the run after reading a few race reports but still wanted to do the original - mostly it was everyone talks about the tough bike course before the race and then everyone talks about the run course was the monster after the race. 

Still this will be the toughest IM course I have ever attempted so there is still some butterflies going in the pit of my stomach.  

As much as I'm bummed to see the course change, it's still a great race with a great venue.  I'm sure it'll be plenty challenging.  If not, there's always Silverman or Lanzarote or Nice or Norseman if you want something even more butterfly inducing

unless something major happens Silverman is over.  This course will still be hard though.  The weather is totally unpredictable, the million down and backs on the new run will be a blast(not really), should be tons of crowd support though, and the bike looked scenic in person.  I guess the first year was freezing.  Last year was 90 and there is always wind whipping around.  The next day it rained and was VERY WINDY.   

I had a group of about 6 people cheering on a friend and we were baffled how early everything closed up that day. Its like they had no idea an ironman was in town. This sandwich shop right on the strip closed at 4. WHAT? Dude, you could've made tons of money in 1 DAY.  HA! we were laughing.  I've heard about how great the town was, and it was very friendly, but I think they have some major catching up to do.  The people/ residents were very very nice.  CDA was like a circus- " get your ironman tatoo here" ironman drink specials, shops had ironman jewelry, every menu i opened had some ironman weekend advertisement or special, billboards had ironman stuff all over, now that was a town that new what was going on!  It was great.

I don't know the right answer.  The run course is still freaking hilly relative to 90% of the Ironman races.  My guess is the bike course will still attract the same female type.  What was the KQ time for your age group last year?  

Edit:  Training for strength and speed are two different animals.   If you go straight hills you will have tons of endurance, but not the same level of speed.  I think the new course will require both.  First half of each loop is a normal run and the second half is a hill run.    

I agree with CdA.  I loved the race this year and HIGHLY recommend it.  I really enjoyed the experience and have a hard time thinking SG will be even close. 

Wow. Crazy race it sounds like.  A cracked lens that early would suck.  I ran to the end with the final KQer for the 30-34 female group at CdA and she barely held on for it with a 10:4X.  I know IMSG is a different animal, but I'd rethink how you train given the new run course.  Speed will win.  I'd also rethink those long bricks.  I'm no coach, but a 100/16 with heavy hills seems like too much.  Lots of endurance, but no speed.  My coach swears anything longer than 60 minutes after a long ride has a huge diminishing return and advocates longer pace driven runs over super long bricks.   To each their own.  Looking forward to fun in May.  Hoping you bump this quote after you KQ.            

I like the looks of this new run course. The previous run had us going uphill for 3-4 miles immediately out of T2 and some of it very steep. This new course isn't flat but I would call it false flats. If you were to drive it it would seem flat as a pancake. Most of it is probably 1-2% grade with Diagonal (which was part of the old course) 2-3%. Wind won't be an issue and these streets are lined with lots of big shade trees. The great part of 3 loops is that we will see lots of the other racers and it will be much, much better for spectators and family. The old run course had large sections that spectators couldn't even get to. It was terrible for spectators.

Does anybody know of any other courses with that many turnarounds?

I also agree with LittleCat. It is all about the bike on this course. There is no easy marathon after pedalling 112 on this thing. T2 this year was packed full of DNF's that could no further. This bike course can chew you up. 

Look forward to seeing all of you in May. 

Dan.

ridingsdc said "I had a group of about 6 people cheering on a friend and we were baffled how early everything closed up that day. Its like they had no idea an ironman was in town. This sandwich shop right on the strip closed at 4. WHAT? Dude, you could've made tons of money in 1 DAY.  HA! we were laughing.  I've heard about how great the town was, and it was very friendly, but I think they have some major catching up to do.  The people/ residents were very very nice.  CDA was like a circus- " get your ironman tatoo here" ironman drink specials, shops had ironman jewelry, every menu i opened had some ironman weekend advertisement or special, billboards had ironman stuff all over, now that was a town that new what was going on!  It was great."

Hello.....this is Utah!  We are trying so hard too catch up in so many ways.

CDA also has 1000 racers more and is a much smaller town. 

Just saw the run change.

I honestly don't know what to think about... 

Actually, no.  I've met a few runners who've done the SG Marathon and they are floored when I tell them how hard the IMSG marathon course is (or was, it appears).  SG Marathon has a lot of flat stretches and is net downhill (starts at the north end of Diagonal and ends on the south end of town) and has a reputation of being very fast...if you look at the way the city proper is laid out, it mostly is in a valley with quite a few flat areas.

Looking at both maps, there is a fair bit of overlap between the new IMSG run course and the SG Marathon course.

The SG Marathon actually starts 23 miles north of the city, has very little to maybe no flat stretches, and only shares Diagonal(1 mile) with the IMSG marathon course. The IMSG bike course and the SG Marathon course share about 18 miles. The high speed downhill section of the bike course is the meat of the SG Marathon course. 

Never did sell out. Had 600 fewer entrants than first year which is the reason for the new and improved(easier) run course.

Dude, gotta do this one!!!  It won't sell out so you have plenty of time to waffle, ha!.  I'm in!!!