Cancun IronMan 70.3

I've posted on this before, and gotten some not so nice comments, so take my opinion for what it's worth...it's my opinion!

The race was good, but I'm not sure I'd choose to do this one again. The course was nice and flat, but it's not exactly in the middle of the Cancun strip. We swam in very shallow water with lots of grassy stuff (not the crystal clear beaches you see in the photos-although visibility was still good), and it was so shallow that people were standing up throughout and adjusting their googles, etc. The bike went through a pretty isolated non-scenic area, and not exactly what I would've called the jungle with monkeys, etc, as described on the website. Personally, I thought the run was ok, but it was SMOKIN HOT out there! I'm not trying to bag on the scenery, I just didn't think it was consistent with what the website stated.

The downside for me was that the expo was small, the course was not supported to the level that I would've liked to see, and it was very different to do a race outside of the US (again, my opinion). The expo was practically deserted on most days, and they only had 1 t-shirt to purchase. When I go to a big race, I come ready to buy some gear, so that was a little disappointing. However, they did give us a nice fleece with our entry, which was a highlight (along with the finishers t, medal). The course support, here we go. I finished in over 7 hours, and it was well over 100 degrees with humidity. I was bringing up the rear pack, but there were several people behind me. The last 2 aid stations were COMPLETELY closed when I got to them, which was a HUGE problem to me. I was not in danger of not making the cut off, so this did get me quite angry. I needed water at that point, badly. Plus, they had run out of water for my entire 3rd loop of the bike. Also, I noticed on my second loop of the run, many aid stations were out of the water packets (these were kinda cool-plastic packets of h20). About the travel, it was pretty expensive to be chugging multiple $5 gatorades and bottled water in prep for the race. Plus, it's very high humidity, so plan on drinking lots! Also, I had a tough time returning to the US on the host airline with my bike box. They gave me a horrible time, and it took over an hour to get them to honor the free bike box travel even though I had all the documents from the website.

Overall, my experience was good, I just wasn't prepared for what I would call the difference between doing a race in the US and in Mexico. It was a good race, and I really did enjoy my experience. I chose this race specifically so that I could vacation afterward in Cancun, and if you do it for that, it's wonderful! I also had a few friends qualify for the 70.3 championship down there, which was another perk. It was the first year for this race last year, so I'm sure they'll have many of the kinks worked out this time around.

I hope this helped, and again, I liked the race it just was not what I had expected!

Thanks for the info. I did read your report from last year. The heat and humidity don't bother me as I'm in Texas and we're already in the heat and humidity.

I would also hope that since last year was the first year they've learned a little bit and will improve it this year. I figure since I can combine this with vacation it might feel real good to take a few days after the race and hang out on the beach. Sounds like a good way to recover to me. :-)

Interesting to hear about the course.  I read the site and the course sounded very scenic with the blue water and all.  I thought it would be nice to do this race someday but not now.

Well, according to their website the bike course will be set up as 2 loops so we'll see if that changes.

I appreciate the info. Who knows, being able to stand up might be good in the water. I'd like the flat course and I'd be used to the heat and humidity.

kproudfoot-
I'd wait and hear if there are some improvements in the 2nd year of the race before writing it off for good. Like others have said, there were some positives, and people that were much faster than me didn't have to deal with some of the bigger issues out there, like water running out on the run and on the bike.

I have seen other 70.3 events in the US that I thought were far superior, but if you're looking at the Cancun race for a chance to race and then enjoy a vacation, it's a wonderful event.