Ironman St. George : Official Thread (Page 5)

Thanks for the report. I was sorry to have missed the ride I had family come to town. This weekend I am doing an open water swim at Lake Las Vegas. Let me know if you go up 1st of April or last week of March.

I just grabbed the list from the site and stuck it in a DB. (geek out!)

Looks like the total count is: 

M: 1597
W: 347

Women 40-44 is actually 48, but a lot less than the 117 you mentioned last year.

Men 40-44 (my age group) is 317, and as I recall last year we were pushing 430? Also, it looks like it is skewing younger as this year 35-39 is the largest age group, while 40-44 was the biggest last year.

Here are the age group numbers: 

transitionfour, thanx for the info... 57 in my age group (male 55-59) ... I better train harder!

I was wondering if anyone else (beside myself) in this group is doing Showdown at Sundown March 26 in Boulder City, Nevada? Its a half iron distance.

Thanx Kuotaguy, my coach seems to feel its a good race b4 Utah

Thanks for the stats, transition four! I see my age group (35-39) has the most..great! But being this is my first IM, I just want to finish somewhere in the middle...I read your blog, and your comment about tubulars (rolling off rim in a corner)...i am about to buy some carbon wheels that take tubulars, and now you got me scared! Anyone else on here want to chime in on if tubulars are 'all that'?

Mikroy - yeah, I am going back up this weekend for a double Veyo loop on saturday, and another lap of the run on sunday...then one more weekend, 4/2-4/3...that should be good. We got plenty of good roads around here in vegas. But it is a good confidence builder to actualy ride/run the course once or twice...

We noticed that our ages are incorrectly listed on the site - and the ages of our local friends who are doing the race. We are all listed as being 2 years younger than we are (wouldn't that be nice!). So that may be why the stats are looking as though there are more younger entrants. 

Sara

Firedawg44,

I am planning on going up to St. George the weekend of the 2nd. If you can email me the details for the ride that would be great. [email protected].

Crystal Inn booked!!

Hey firedawg44, I'm going down to St. George this weekend too. Similar plan -- ride course Saturday (I'd like to ride the whole thing if we can figure out the vehicle placement), then one loop run Sunday. Wave me down if you see me (on a black & white cervelo p2c -- bringing the full kit so I'll have the hed tri-spokes on).

I'm not an expert, but I've seen a ton of comment threads on the whole tubular/clincher debate. They range from "It's no big deal if you know what you're doing, and I wouldn't ride anything else" to "the new clinchers are just as good, and the tires are easier to change."

Personally, I'm sticking with clinchers. Someone the other day told me "the reason the pros ride tubulars is because they have a support car with a whole new wheel if they flat -- they'll never sit on the road trying to peel off their glued on tire". Makes sense to me. But, then again I give myself a pinch flat about half the time when I change a tire.

Ok, so I spent the weekend making up an infographic with some stats from last year and this year's participation lists from St. George. The interesting thing is that the numbers from last year come from from a participation list in August '09, nine months out from the race! 

The race has definitely scared off a few people!

http://bit.ly/stgeorgeIM

+1 on the great infographic.

With declining numbers in registration and not selling out in only year 2 and the timing for the race (very early in the season), makes me wonder how long this race will be around...

Glad you guys liked the graphic. 

I hope the race does stick around for the long haul. And, I think the fact that the race seems to be gaining appeal to a young demographic (men < 35, women < 30 were all up significantly) would make it the kind of race WTC would want to promote. It is the kind of event that would appeal to some people that might be more inclined towards Xterra type races I think.

Another interesting fact that didn't make it into the graphic was that international registrations were way up, nearly doubled from last year. I don't know if that is because of a building reputation, the fact that registration has been available for longer, a cheaper dollar, or some combination. But, it would be cool if this race built into something like Lanzarote -- a race known as one of the most difficult Ironman races. 

The Silverman Half was probably a good one to prepare. The bike won't be quite as bad as that course (just longer). The run is harder, but you can always do the run/walk strategy up the steepest hills and you'll hardly lose any time. 

Biggest mistake I made last year, my first full IM, was that I didn't eat or drink nearly enough until probably 80 miles into the bike. And, I skipped some aid stations on the run, leading to a major bonk at about mile 9. This year, I'm going to start hydrating and get some food down immediately in that first 20 miles from Sand Hollow to the start of the loop.

And, I'm going to pace myself much more in that first loop of the bike. Ideally I'll negative split the two loops. 

But, honestly the crowd and volunteers are so good that  they actually give you a good boost on the course. It really helps.