the best Ironman Race??

tridying

I would like some views on which Ironman race is the best overall atmosphere speed etc Europe only FOR 2011!

hunnymonster

depends on a lot of factors. Some of the big ones are
1. IM corp branded or IM distance?
2. are you male or female (faster might be different depending on gender)
3. how good you are acclimatising, fastest on paper might not be fastest if you cant handle the heat
4. willing to risk non wetsuit swim?
5. depends on what you mean by atmosphere
....

tridying

im or challange
male
ok in heat
dont mind if no wet suit
crowd etc for atmosphere

hunnymonster

Then I would go for Germany or Roth. Fast courses and excellent atmosphere. Austria and Switzerland also tend to be fast but I hate the Swiss race and feel it lacks passion and professionalism. Ausstria is often said to be the fastest european course but I'm not convinced on the evidence when you compare more than the pro men results. There is also the second IM branded race in Regensburg and I quite fancy a crack at that next year.


Some background reading below.
http://ironman.com/holdingcell/2001/march-2001/champions-face-challenges-aplenty-on-ironman-qualifier-courses
http://www.neilhammond.com/ironman/IMQualificationAnalysis.htm

Izoard

hunnymonster wrote: »

I hate the Swiss race and feel it lacks passion and professionalism.

Damn, should have paid more attention!:)

tunney

hunnymonster wrote: »

Then I would go for Germany or Roth. Fast courses and excellent atmosphere. Austria and Switzerland also tend to be fast but I hate the Swiss race and feel it lacks passion and professionalism. Ausstria is often said to be the fastest european course but I'm not convinced on the evidence when you compare more than the pro men results. There is also the second IM branded race in Regensburg and I quite fancy a crack at that next year.


Some background reading below.
http://ironman.com/holdingcell/2001/march-2001/champions-face-challenges-aplenty-on-ironman-qualifier-courses
http://www.neilhammond.com/ironman/IMQualificationAnalysis.htm

Austria is a fast course but not as fast as Frankfurt I am told. Also Austria does not suit the larger athlete as power to weight is a significant factor there.

Austria has a fantastic setup and having seen alot of the bits that most athletes done they've covered everything imho.

hunnymonster

Izoard wrote: »

Damn, should have paid more attention!:)

very much my personal opinion though. Got to remember I got my nose broken in that race and I had done a lot of IM's before it so noticed the "sninginess" more than someone used to local races would.

tridying

i like the look of the second one in germany the time of year is nice .. i am signed up for frankfurt in 20 days !!

hunnymonster

I love Frankfurt. It's probably my favourite IM.

tridying

would u go back to back or try a different one presuming all goes well ? i really like the look of austria too and roth ?

hunnymonster

atmosphere in Roth is even bigger than Frankfurt but with Relays and staggered starts it has a different feel to it. For the really big razzmatazz you need to look at a north american race though. The yanks really know how to big things up.

tridying

i see lanzarote is filling up fast ... it this its last year under the Ironman brand rumor has it ??

tunney

tridying wrote: »

would u go back to back or try a different one presuming all goes well ? i really like the look of austria too and roth ?

Austria is expensive to get to and expensive to stay in.
I went last year, didn't finish, and stupidly entered the morning after last year without considering things.

It is a fvcking class place though with a lovely zoo and petting farm (I like zoos), also a great maze made out of hedges.

tunney

hunnymonster wrote: »

I love Frankfurt. It's probably my favourite IM.

Would love to do it next year. Would suck this year with the 188km bike.

tridying

so are u going this year?

tunney

tridying wrote: »

i see lanzarote is filling up fast ... it this its last year under the Ironman brand rumor has it ??

I think unless you are looking for a Kona slot and can go sub nine on a normal course or 9:20 on Lanza do a challenge.

(remember with the new pro licencing rules this year all the second and third tier pros are racing AG and on average in Oz and Nz the qualifiying times have dropped 20-25 minutes in the AGs < 40/45

tridying

yeah not to mention the 15 hour cut off would not like to be border line!!

tridying

i will be in kona some day when i win the ironman lotto spot lol::D

tunney

tridying wrote: »

so are u going this year?

Frankfurt? No, if I could get a pass for next year I would like to go. But may be alot to ask.

911sc

hunnymonster wrote: »

Got to remember I got my nose broken in that race

How did you manage that?

locteau

I think Lanzarote is the best one.

It has the spirit of the old gang real Ironman though thing, which has been a bit demistify now with all the events. I remember in the 90's when only a very few athletes was doing them...... now many of have done a good few.

I was suppose to go to china this year (was entered) and got swine flu. Will run Belfast 24 instead (or walk ). Roth used to be before Frankfurt and is and still amazing but lost the label.

Nice is brilliant, but too many french people Florida is very calm but lovely weather, Canada is brilliant along with switzerland but when did it was very cold swim..... I did not like the UK (2006) but was just the organisation maybe and atmosphere was quiet enough. Austria is great with but I think it is because all the irish lads go there.:D

Kona is suppose to be fabulous, but even with the many IM I have done I never was good enough to qualify..... will wait the 80 year old category then :P

Only IM label count guys........ the other ones are training ones..... you can't get the tattoo without the label :P

S. Goodspeed

tunney wrote: »

Would love to do it next year. Would suck this year with the 188km bike.

Is it up to 188km now? Ffs! They have a note up on there website sayin it was 185km and supposedly the course is normally 183km so I wasn't (too) put out by it. I know it's only a few k extra but for people aiming to break the big 10 or 11 hour marks (or any target really) it is very annoying. Plus Liam Dolan will have to go extra hard now to improve on his national record. I'm very surprised the Germans weren't able to sort something out.

OP - I've only ever done Nice but would recommend it, swim and bike are amazing. Yes the bike course is hilly and probably adds 30min to the average competitor's time but the time actually seems to go faster because you are constantly either climbing or descending round ridiculous hairpins (as opposed to being stuck on tri bars) The run is hell, makin you run up and down a boardwalk alongside a packed Mediterranean beach in 35-40 degrees heat is just sadistic. Crowd is patchy but quite vocal.

tunney

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

Is it up to 188km now? Ffs! They have a note up on there website sayin it was 185km and supposedly the course is normally 183km so I wasn't (too) put out by it. I know it's only a few k extra but for people aiming to break the big 10 or 11 hour marks (or any target really) it is very annoying. Plus Liam Dolan will have to go extra hard now to improve on his national record. I'm very surprised the Germans weren't able to sort something out.

I'd be confident he crushes that record.

delboyfagan

tunney wrote: »

Also Austria does not suit the larger athlete as power to weight is a significant factor there.

.

At last my work has allowed me to access this site again.

First post I read and this is what I see. 16st going over. Was hoping to hear good things about the bike course rather than the truth!!!!

A serious lack of training so hoping for that the 50% undertrained rather than 2% overtrained rule applies

tunney

delboyfagan wrote: »

At last my work has allowed me to access this site again.

First post I read and this is what I see. 16st going over. Was hoping to hear good things about the bike course rather than the truth!!!!

A serious lack of training so hoping for that the 50% undertrained rather than 2% overtrained rule applies

I've been savaged recently for described austria as hilly and technical, but thats how i remember it (albeit) I only drove it and haven't the best memory of that month. One of my friends (9:15 there) describes it as such as well, but another lad (9:02) disagrees.

hunnymonster

tunney wrote: »

I've been savaged recently for described austria as hilly and technical, but thats how i remember it (albeit) I only drove it and haven't the best memory of that month. One of my friends (9:15 there) describes it as such as well, but another lad (9:02) disagrees.

depends on perspective, compared to Nice or lanza it's flat and straight, compared to a typical Irish race, it's not.

tunney

hunnymonster wrote: »

depends on perspective, compared to Nice or lanza it's flat and straight, compared to a typical Irish race, it's not.

9:15 friend has done most of the IMs on the euro circuit and a few in NA too.

shotgunmcos

tunney wrote: »

I'd be confident he crushes that record.

Probably, but will he still have it though. Matt Molloy could outdo him this year

tunney

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Probably, but will he still have it though. Matt Molloy could outdo him this year

who?

shotgunmcos

Yup you heard me, they will both go sub 9. A debut 8:45 will probably seal it though

tunney

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Yup you heard me, they will both go sub 9. A debut 8:45 will probably seal it though

New IM record will be 8:3x this year. Who holds it - who knows, but 8:45 won't be it.

shotgunmcos

That would be seriously impressive, would require a 50 swim and sub3 run :eek:

tunney

shotgunmcos wrote: »

That would be seriously impressive, would require a 50 swim and sub3 run :eek:

A sub three run yes, but an hour swim is grand, provided you are an uber biker.

Don't know this Matt molloy lad, any results of note?
(not sprints).

shotgunmcos

Austria 70.3 30/05/10
2nd M40 4:14:56(26:32/3:28/2:20:01/2:41/1:20:12)

Pretty decent form

Well done on your Aquathon by the way. So you are doing a bit

tunney

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Austria 70.3 30/05/10
2nd M40 4:14:56(26:32/3:28/2:20:01/2:41/1:20:12)

Pretty decent form

Well done on your Aquathon by the way. So you are doing a bit

A nice time, however looking at the other Irish in that race some bit off where I'd expect the Dundalk lad to hav finished also I've done similar in a HIM and wouldn't be targetting 8:45 in an IM (certainly not this year).

As for the aquathon i was ordered to do it.

snack_ie

I know matt well... he'll do pretty well next year (he's not doing an ironman this year). Absolute savage considering he was 4 kids from 2 to 8.

MrCreosote

Has anyone done the UK IM? Any ideas how it compares?

tunney

snack_ie wrote: »

I know matt well... he'll do pretty well next year (he's not doing an ironman this year). Absolute savage considering he was 4 kids from 2 to 8.

all the more impressive then.

levitronix

Either that or hes running away from his kids ....


only messing its hard have a 3month year old and i feel so bad sometimes when i have to put trainning first

Bambaata

Matt keeps a great blog over on tritalk too. He's posting some serious times this year (and in previous years!). Tis great reading.

SucCes09

heard a rumor of someone looking to host IM branded race in Galway next year - any truth to that?

shotgunmcos

WTC officials will probably be at Athlone to sample the Irish set up for big branded events. It was mentioned in this months 220 mag but nothing set in stone yet.

MrCreosote

SucCes09 wrote: »

heard a rumor of someone looking to host IM branded race in Galway next year - any truth to that?

I heard about it a few weeks ago- apparently the rights to a 70.3 race in Galway were bought up. The rumour I heard was provisionally planned for September, but I've heard nothing since early May when the news came out.

tunney

SucCes09 wrote: »

heard a rumor of someone looking to host IM branded race in Galway next year - any truth to that?

In short no.

catweazle

SucCes09 wrote: »

heard a rumor of someone looking to host IM branded race in Galway next year - any truth to that?

I was talking to the organiser at the weekend about this, he says its all in place except for the Galway council agreeing to close off the roads on the day in question.

He has met the council numerous times over this and still nothing sorted, "Ironman Inc" are keen to go ahead with Galway as long as he can get this sorted

This is what he told me, we will see what happens

tunney

catweazle wrote: »

I was talking to the organiser at the weekend about this, he says its all in place except for the Galway council agreeing to close off the roads on the day in question.

He has met the council numerous times over this and still nothing sorted, "Ironman Inc" are keen to go ahead with Galway as long as he can get this sorted

This is what he told me, we will see what happens

And yet all the new 70.30s are announced as soon as WTC agrees in principle with the franchisee - alot of new ones for 2011 on there now.

Plus WTC doesn't insist on completely closed roads (look at IM Wisconsin, (that I know isn't closed from riding the RCV of the IM on the CT)

The way I heard it a number people wanted to bring 70.30 to Ireland and the Galyway lads just announced it when they didn't have it to scare the others off.

catweazle

tunney wrote: »

And yet all the new 70.30s are announced as soon as WTC agrees in principle with the franchisee - alot of new ones for 2011 on there now.

Plus WTC doesn't insist on completely closed roads (look at IM Wisconsin, (that I know isn't closed from riding the RCV of the IM on the CT)

The way I heard it a number people wanted to bring 70.30 to Ireland and the Galyway lads just announced it when they didn't have it to scare the others off.

Could be right Tunny, yer man that is organising it is a decent enough fella but is a total player. One of those types that organised the school debs and made a killing on it. He swore to me that Ironman is fully committed in a 5 year contract

He did say that closing the roads was his demand not Ironmans. From the conversation a guy from Ironman recced the proposed course and was very impressed by it.

This was announced yesterday on Galway Bay FM, I am totally confused though as it is a full. Manchester were hardly looking for a full with Ironman UK already in there. Could be a slip up from galway bay fm as i know the organiser is cute and never mentions 70.3 as it is not as well know as Ironman

GALWAY TO HOST MAJOR SPORTING EVENT

June 21, 2010 - 3:09pm One of the world's most well-known sporting events is coming to Galway.
Despite stiff competition from London and Manchester, Galway has been chosen to host a heat for next year's Ironman World Championships.
Over 2 and a half thousand competitors will descend on the city in September 2011.
The gruelling race involves a 2-and-a-half mile swim, 112 mile cycle and a 26 mile run and can take up to 17 hours to complete.

griffin100

MrCreosote wrote: »

Has anyone done the UK IM? Any ideas how it compares?

I'll tell you on August 2nd:D

GALWAY TO HOST MAJOR SPORTING EVENT

June 21, 2010 - 3:09pm One of the world's most well-known sporting events is coming to Galway.
Despite stiff competition from London and Manchester, Galway has been chosen to host a heat for next year's Ironman World Championships.
Over 2 and a half thousand competitors will descend on the city in September 2011.
The gruelling race involves a 2-and-a-half mile swim, 112 mile cycle and a 26 mile run and can take up to 17 hours to complete.

That is stange. AFAIK Bolton have three more years to go on their IM contract, this only being the second year of a 5 year deal. The UK is well served with long distance races so I dont think another IM would work over there, in fact IMUK has not sold out this year yet.

2,500 competitors is a big IM, me thinks you would need lots of Kona qualifying spots to entice the pros and international athletes.

tunney

griffin100 wrote: »

I'll tell you on August 2nd:D



That is stange. AFAIK Bolton have three more years to go on their IM contract, this only being the second year of a 5 year deal. The UK is well served with long distance races so I dont think another IM would work over there, in fact IMUK has not sold out this year yet.

2,500 competitors is a big IM, me thinks you would need lots of Kona qualifying spots to entice the pros and international athletes.

And kona slots cost and more and more slots are moving to the US. I believe in a few years Kona will be irrelevant to non-US. A world series if you will, with Roth being the "new" world champs.

The UK organisers have a reputation for being penny pinching, so I doubt that even if they could get more slots thats they would.

hunnymonster

interesting thought Tunney. Just got an email this morning saying another NAS race (IM texas) is opening on Friday.

tunney

hunnymonster wrote: »

interesting thought Tunney. Just got an email this morning saying another NAS race (IM texas) is opening on Friday.

yes - and IM NZ, IM OZ and a load of european races are loosing slots, eventually all just fat yanks waddling around kona in 16 hours.