which race

I did Lake Stevens a few years ago.  It's a tough course with a pretty hilly bike, including one monster climb that you do twice (it's a two-loop course).  The bike course is beautiful, tough.  The run course, however, is also hilly and not quite as pretty.  It's a two-loop figure-8 course, so you go through the main downtown area (near the finish) four times, which is really great from a crowd support perspective and for your spectators.  However, you do end up running through some semi-industrial areas of town.  Not awful, but not particularly scenic.

Sadly, the bike course is tough for spectators to get to.  It's a two loop course, but you ride about about 5 or 6 miles before you get to the start of the loop, and the best routes to get to that loop are closed because the race is on them.  (You really can't drive in or out of the downtown area when the race is on.)  Someone with a better knowledge of local geography might be able to figure it out, but when I did it, my husband was stuck with several hours of downtime while I was on the bike.  If you're speedy, this might not be as big of a problem.

Overall, it was well-organized and a well-done race.  Crowd support was wonderful during the run and aid stations were exactly where they said they would be.  If you're up for a challenge, it could be good. 

Edited by RunningDawnie 2011-01-13 8:55 PM