Ironman 70.3 Augusta : Official Thread (Page 20)

With the possible rain moving in how is everyone going to cover their bikes for the night?

Good luck everyone! Have a great race

Finished with a 4:51:29 and had a 4:35 in the grasp until, yep the second leg of the run. Lost my steam and began cramping like I had never cramped before. Although I was using salt tablets and an electrolyte drink my quads and hamstrings locked up on both legs and brought me to the ground twice. I believe it was brought on by the cold medicine taken right before the start of the race.

For the amount of people that participated, the organization was good and the course was laid out very well. The swim-well for a struggling swimmer-was phenomenal. I felt like I was breaking some rule, being in wet suit and swimming with the current. I was giggling inside like I had gotten away with something. The bike course was much diversified and far from boring. It had a variety of terrain which I enjoyed. The run course was flat and fast. In my opinion, the run course was the best part of the race. I feel this mainly due to the location and the spectator participation that was allowed because of the run course location.  

However, drafting was pronounced the entire bike course, which much of it couldn't be helped mainly due to the number of athletes on the course.  For the most part I was forced to ride on the left hand side to prevent from drafting and because I passed most of the field. The bike mount and dismount area was chaotic and extremely to narrow, again due to the masses and the limited amount of space. This was also due to the number of athletes that would try to mount their steed’s right as they crossed the mount line, while several others were trying to get to the mount line, causing a huge amount of constipation. There were more incidents and crashes at the bike mount and dismount area than at any other race I have attended.

I also feel that the transition area was crowed, which once again was due to the amount of athletes and the limited real-estate.  Would I attend this event again as an athlete-yes, could it be better-absolutely. I’m sure there were many lesson learned from the first race and changes will be made to improve over the next two years. I for one would like to see the number of athletes reduced.

Not sure as I haven't seen a mount line placed at an angle before, but it would be worth a try. Another idea would be to spread the waves out more increase the time between waves in the transition area. But as it was I didn't start until 9:00 and ended up running in the hottest part of the event. In my opinion, the number of participants needs to be reduced, but this cuts into the profit margin and profit is really the biggest reason these events are produced