Racine 70.3

Minus last year's weather, how would this race be for someone's first 70.3? Looking for a half which is within driving distance. Torn between this or Muncie.

Thanks.

I have not raced Racine, but I raced Muncie this year. It is a non-wet suit swim, not too bad of a hilly bike, but consistent rolling hills for the run. The run was much more challenging than I expected.

The other concern with Muncie is the heat. It was rather humid the day of the race, but they do a fantastic job. Probably the best athlete food I have ever had. The race is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so book your hotel early if you decide to do it.

Good luck.

What about Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, Michigan? It has to be within a few hours of you.

Having done Racine and Steelhead, I would take Steelhead.

Racine is a bigger town, and more spectators.
Both swims are in Lake Michigan, and can be a lamb or a lion, depending on the day.
Steelhead wins the bike portion hands down. Both are fairly flat (look at the elevation charts), but Steelhead is more country/scenic, and Racine has problems with their bike course, about 30 miles of it is very rough, beat up pavement.
Run - Both are fairly flat.

My 2 cents

I've done all 3 - Racine, Steelhead, Muncie - and Steelhead just edges out Racine since I enjoyed the bike course more. The Steelhead run is not too bad (a run up to the Whirlpool campus where you do 2 loops), but there is a monster hill that could catch you off guard. As much as Muncie was easy to get to and well organized, the bike was soooooo boring to me.

It is a great first race 70.3 IMO, actually its predecessor, The Spirit of Racine was my first triathlon ever. Things that can be a little more challenging if you don't have experience:

- Swim always has the potentially to be cold as lake can role over. It can be 65 and drop to 55 but has never been non-wetsuit.
- Bike course is very bump but flat and fast overall
- Run is relatively flat and should be a little more bearable than muncie

Bonus, it is a little easier to find a hotel within reasonable driving distance of race site.

Thanks for all the feedback! Will have to checkout Steelhead also.

I can echo that. It's certainly not an exciting bike course. Although, it is a closed course....or has been.
Which is nice.

I'd love to do Steelhead. It's in my favorite part of Michigan. What can I say. I'm from St. Louis. We don't call Michigan "St. Louis' Air Conditioner" for nothing.

But, I bailed in 2015 in favor of Muncie since it was my first 70.3 and I figured it had the least chance of being cancelled. Lake Michigan can get REALLY wild. And not wild like "wow, fun waves, where's my surfboard?"....more like "wow, waves....scary rip tides and nasty undertow" and depending on which way the wind is blowing, it can be glacially cold

Muncie minuses:
-boring bike
-meh run
-lake swim with return leg right into the rising sun (hopefully, as opposed to clouds where the sun should be)
-meh food afterwards. Didn't care. I'd already scoped out a White Castle for the ride home

Muncie plusses:
-fantastic volunteers....I'm sure they're all good....but anybody who did it in 2015 will long remember "the girl with the megaphone" at the run aid station
-fantastic parking volunteers....don't be "that guy" who stops to let someone out so they don't have to walk from the parking....they were ON IT. With limited ingress, they weren't having it. Which is good. They really did a great job with mitigating snarls
-meh run...I guess. "People" say it's "hilly". A few longer slight inclines, but nothing at all that bothered a duffer like me
-lake swim was dead calm, plenty of elbow room as far as I needed
-cheap hotels 20 minutes away

I just registered for Ironman Ohio 70.3, which is in Delaware, Ohio, just north of Columbus, Ohio. Might be an option for you also. I started a thread asking about it, got positive reviews.

I've done Racine 3x and Ohio last year (never done Muncie or Steelhead). Everyone complains of the roads in Racine, but I think the Ohio roads were worse. They are VERY rural, a lot of 1 lane roads, but hardly any traffic. Swim in Lake Michigan is a gamble, but the water is clean and clear, which is nice (plus you KNOW it going to be wetsuit legal). Ohio was a well put on race, but a harder run that Racine I think (although Racine does have those 2 short little hills each lap which kill you). Ohio is a 2 transition race as well (which didn't matter to me, but might to some people).

One knock I had against Ohio is the run course. It's a "lollipop" with 2 loops, so you don't get to come back by the finish line halfway and have your people see you, they only see you at the beginning and end. That's the reason why I love Kansas' run course, you could see your people multiple times per lap easily.

If your concerned about a race being shortened, I Muncie has been shortened at least once due to heat, so you never know what your going to get. With Wisconsin 70.3 being in Madison in June, I wonder what it will do for the registration numbers in Racine.