My First Tri vs. PT Solutions Tri

I understand how doing your first race with tri veterans would be "intimidating" but it's a great opportunity to learn.  You can see how they setup their stuff, what people in the waves ahead of you do, etc.  There are "newbies" at every triathlon so it's not like you'd be the only one.  I didn't do a newbie triathlon as my first but I would kind of think it'd be more hectic. 

No idea about the PT Tri, so I will not remark.

The My first Tri, are you talking about My First/My Next Triathlon at Lake Lanier? Race date is 06/4 or something like that?

If you are talking about MF/MX, that is a decent race. Last year they split it into two days, Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday race was on the leaner side, with the majority of racers on Saturday.

Nonetheless, IMHO a good overall race. They have changed/updated the course every year which has improved the overall race/course. The swim is 400 meters along the beach, so you can swim in shallow water if you want. Long run to T1, but fast transition setup. Bike course is flat with some rollers, and only one climb on the out. Biking in and out of the park is the coolest part of the day with all the new bridges, etc., IMO. The run last year was nice, flatesh with rollers. The RD has improved the organization year over year, so it is a decently run race. The only speedbump last year was waiting for the awards. They wanted to wait until everyone was finished, so by the time they started the leaders had been finished for 1:30-2:00 (as I recall). It was hot that day, and my prego wife was over standing around in the heat. Overall, I thought it was a nice little race.

Hope that helps. Feel free to read my RR from last year if you want a better idea of the course.