Ironman Miami 70.3

If you haven’t already read all the triathlon blogs……here we go:

 I completed the inaugural ironman miami 70.3 on October 30th. It was held in downtown Miami with HOT temperatures (mid 30’s) and little shade. This was the worst race in terms of overall organization and communication. The race registration / expo (1h late), bike check-in (2-4h late depending on race number), and actual race (15min) were all delayed. 

 SWIM: The swim entrance/exit were “unknown” 24h prior to the event. The morning of the race a swim exit was made clear as evidenced by new wood stairs installed just for race day; It is as if they had run out of money as no swim entry existed – beyond race officials throwing 2 athletes in at a time off at 7-10ft pier into deep water. This was problematic as athletes were thrown in on top of each other. Very dangerous. Needless to say, the swim start time was not planned or executed as most IM races would be. It was definitely still dark when the pro’s went off; The sun was rising as I began the swim; While light was a luxury, having enough adequate buoys was simply too much to ask. As you would swim around a buoy, in some instances, you could not see the next buoy due to land obstructions etc etc. This made it very difficult to sight. In total, they had 4 buoys over the entire 1.9k swim. The water exit was surprisingly easy and the swim-to-bike transition was smooth.  The swim itself was in the protected waters of Biscayne Bay; however, a current was noticeable. While this was a non-wetsuit swim, I felt very comfortable throughout the swim course.

 BIKE: The bike course was very well protected by police at most intersections. I was impressed with their planning in this regard. The bike course was mostly flat (some potholes to be mindful of); however, I believe there were about 30 90deg turns – at points very narrow with multiple athletes making the turn at the same time. I was happy about the bike course being flat; it was wide open and windy at points, but nothing to really complain about. The race officials did a very poor job of enforcing drafting rules – at times, multiple athletes (packs of 8-10 athletes) would pass without any notice – clearly drafting wasn’t enforced. As a result, there was at least one serious bike crash. I was most satisfied with this part of my race as I felt comfortable on the bike and took in a lot of fluid and nutritions – which is a definite necessity when racing in extreme temperatures.

RUN: The run course was also poorly organized. This was a looped course which encountered 8 large hills (going over the bridge which connects downtown miami to the port of miami – thus, large bridge under which larger ships could go under). Aid stations had limited resources and volunteers. At the beginning of my run (just under 4h into the race), the first aid station had already run out of water and sports drink. At every aid station, runners were forced to stop, walk, and get their own nutritions/fluids. There were too many athletes relative to volunteers. Therefore, you literally had to wait in line to get a cup and fill up your own cup with water / sports drink. I estimate this slowed down my run time by about 10minutes. The majority of age groupers ended up walking on course – the heat, hills, and lack of adequate aid stations – literally destroyed peoples enthusiasm. I am very proud to say I ran the entire course including the 8 large hills and with the exception of the aid stations.

 Apparently, I am not the only one who noticed these errors. As a result of poor organization, Ironman has offered all Miami 70.3 athletes a FREE race entry to ANY of the 2011 races in North America.

I am going to take them up on this offer; I will not be doing Miami though!