Ironman Boulder vs. Ironman Canada.....which would you do?

I know it's a 70.3 but I completed 70.3 Boulder this year. Two things come to mind, altitude and heat. I live at 2000 feet and going up to 5400 feet did not affect me but everyone is different. The heat in Boulder, in the summer can be brutel. It was about 90 degrees for a daytime high. It's different for the 70.3 because the run course offered no shade. Boulder/Denver is beautiful and I found it was much cheaper to stay there than most places I've been to.

As to IM Canada, I have not been there for the race but I was born and raised 2 hours from Vancouver, BC. The only thing I can speak of is the cost of living in Vancouver/Whistler. The Whister Village is fairly expensive and the hotels are even more expensive. Keep in mind, it's a resort location.

If you are afraid of Bears or other wildlife that may eat you, IM Canda may not be your race. There was a bear spotted running along the run course, with other runners.

If I had my choice, I would go back to Boulder in a heartbeat.

Edited by AndyEWU07 2013-11-14 9:05 PM

I live just outside of Boulder and train on sections of the IMBoulder course all the time. The course is on the flat region next to the mountains, so its not very hilly (at least by Colorado standards). There's a climb up to Carter Lake, but its not particularly long or steep. We have so much spectacular biking around here, that the course seems kind of boring to me.

On the other hand, the floods this summer took out every single one of our canyon roads, so had the course gone into the mountains, the race may very well have been cancelled.

Well, there is this:

http://www.dailycamera.com/archivesearch/ci_13099379?IADID=Search-w...

Boulder! Because it's 'Merica!

Alright! Bears like triathletes in Boulder too!

Great insight....I may be leaning towards Boulder....

Has anyone read the comments to this article? They're hilarious!

I am already signed up for IM Boulder so I guess that I will do that one. Plus, I only live 50 miles southeast of Boulder.

The Boulder bike course is relatively flat - it heads away from the foothills out to farmland. And at "only" 3100 feet cumulative elevation gain, that's only half the elevation gain of CdA and WI. It is often very hot in August in Colorado, so that is something to consider. The run course does have some shade along the Boulder creek, but I have heard that there may be some changes to the run course due to the flooding we had here 2 months ago.
Can't say much as to Canada, though it's a race I'd love to do someday!

haha! Yeah, they are funny!

Whistler is only 2000" elevation so it will force you to suck less than Boulder.

that or a condo off VRBO! I paid under $600 CAD for 5 nights.

My daughter says Boulder because Justin Bieber is from Canada. Can't get better advice than that.