Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - reviews, please?

I live in St. Joseph and have done the race twice now.  It's been my only WTC race so I have no comparables with it, but saying that I've enjoyed it both years. 

Parking is fairly close, within a mile of transition and if you drop your bike early they run shuttle busses to the start.

The swim has been cancelled twice in the past 7-8 years because of high winds off the lake.  When the swim does go, it runs with the current along the shore line about 100yds or so off shore.

Transitions are in a loooong parking area, so you're either running a little ways to get your bike or running your bike a ways to get out.

The bike course runs north and east from St. Joseph/Benton Harbor.  The first 12 or so miles and the last 18 are on a smooth rolling state highway with wide paved shoulders.  The middle is fairly flat and the road condition is fair to bumpy in spots. 

The run is okay, just okay.  It goes back through a few residential areas out to the Whirlpool cooperate campus for a couple loops and then back home.  There's one big hill you have to hit twice but otherwise not bad to run. 

Traffic is not a real issue.  There isn't much on the back roads of the course and the State Police work the major intersections and do a pretty good job for the athletes. 

A plug for my town, St. Joseph has a nice downtown with a lot of shops and restaurants.  The beach is also very nice and there is a huge fountain for kids to play in.

If I weren't doing a race the following weekend I would be doing Steelhead again this year.  If you take the plunge I can let you know which hotels to stay away from and some other info.  Good luck.

Check through the race reports too.

And the Official Thread doesn't have a lot of activity just yet. And seems to just be last year's bumped up.

Lyoshka - 2012-05-28 6:29 AM thanks, guys! i know about the swim being canceled and obviously, not ideal, but I hope it'll be a tri and not a du this year Seadocha, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm not sure yet if my husband and my boys (3 and 6, so pretty small) will be coming with me, but I'd like to find out more about race day parking availability. Domestique, I actually did look at Rev3, but a friend said it has a very hilly bike course, and I don't think I'm prepared for that with my current level of conditioning. Can you share more? Brigby, thanks! I've been reading through race reports, very helpful!

If you get there early enough (which you will if you are racing) you will not have a problem parking. You park a little bit away from the beach at Whirlpool  and take shuttles over to the race. I think it may have been close to 1/2 mile away. At the end I walked back to the car, drove towards the beach and picked our stuff up.

I've raced Steelhead twice, and thought it was a good race.  I was lucky and did the race in 2009 & 2010.  The years prior and afterwards did indeed have swim cancellations as others have mentioned.  2009 was my first 70.3, so I arrived early and cased out everything about the site due to my pre-race nerves. 

A few comments on Steelhead from my observations:

Hotel and chain restaurant availability was spotty IMO.  Quite a few IM events, while not held in an immediate downtown vicinity, at least have chain restaurants and hotels within 5-10 miles.  Steelhead can be a challenge in this area.  Book a room early if you plan to race. 

In the past, the expo and registration were held at Lake Michigan College, approx 15 minutes from the transition at Jean Klock Park.  I just jumped on the website and it appears that may be changed this year.  But if it does end up being at Lake Michigan College, just be aware of the additional time to get to/from the expo.

Bike course is indeed fairly flat as others have mentioned.  A few rollers, nothing monumental.  Wind can potentially be a factor, especially on the last 16-18 miles heading south.  Run course I also thought was just....ok.  Maybe less than ok.  You tour the whirlpool campus and have 3 significant climbs, but the campus in general seems sort of run down and vacant.

The swim is awesome, though.  Swimming point to point in Lake Michigan was great.

Count me as one that thought parking left something to be desired.  There is indeed ample parking at one of the Whirlpool campuses, but it's not close. Race morning won't be much of an issue as long as you take the shuttle and have racked your bike the night before.  But if you do indeed set up transition Saturday, you'll most likely have a substantial walk to/from your vehicle.

Hope that helps!

Steve

Questions questions questions ;-),

Well, as far as kids watching the race its not the best course set up for that.  There aren't any very good spots for watching on the bike other than the very beginning.  Considering you're on a bike, that probably doesn't matter.  For the run probably the most spectator friendly area is the Whirlpool campus.  It's accessable off of M-63 from the west and the run takes you through that area twice.  Families go there to cheer and last year I saw a young girl rollerblade with her dad on the course for a few minutes.  I was at the BOP so there weren't many people around and I don't think anyone cared.  The finish is a chute that runs along the transition area for about 200yds between the transition and the beach.  That's where a lot of people gather to watch the runners finish.  Its close enough to the beach so you could just walk up from the water when someone you wanted to watch was finishing.

For the family, Silver Beach which is further south of the race area by about a mile is very family friendly.  They have a carousel and a large fountain that kids can walk through and play in.  The beach is close and you can walk to the downtown area which has shops and a few restaurants.  The only family friendly offering by the transition area is the beach.  No playgrounds or anything close by.

I think parking and transportation are pretty easy.  Parking is in several lots in a business park area south of the race.  If you walk it's about 3/4 mile w/sidewalks.  I've ridden the past two years and it takes just a few minutes from parking.  There also is a shuttle that runs from the parking area to the race.

There are only two hotels that I would consider being in walking/riding distance and both are downtown St. Joseph.  There are several hotels within 10 miles of the race but they fill up quickly.  There are also several decent hotels in the surrounding area if you don't mind a little drive.  There are some hotels to stay away from so if you're serious about booking, please let me know and I'll steer you clear of some of them.   

If you can find a way to get to Silver Beach Pizza (right near the beach/fountain/carousel) you should.  Prepare for a wait because there always is one, but it's worth it. 

Overall its a good race, I've participated in the last two and helped direct traffic for five more before that.  I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Wow, I wish I would have talked to you prior to racing!  That's a lot of great info!  I think that's one of the only issues with this race - St Joseph has a small town feel to it, which is great, but it can be hard for out-of-towners to find the best places to stay/eat/play.  Contrast that to a larger city, and by doing a few google maps searches you can mostly determine which areas are best suited for your particular needs.

My cousin is originally from the area, so she had warned me there were a few areas to avoid, and that caused me to be concerned of "all" areas, since most hotels and restaurants weren't the large chain establishments that I recognized.  Which is sad, because I probably missed the best parts of St Jo! 

I also agree about the bike course being a tough spectator-viewing area.  My wife watched me race with our 3 year old and tried to drive to the furthest points of the bike....big mistake.  As mentioned, it's best to stay nearer to transition in and around the whirlpool campus.

Hope you enjoy the race if you end up doing it!

Steve

Okay, here are some hotels to watch for and avoid.  My disclaimer is that I haven't stayed in any of these since I live in town so I would encourage anyone to check out some reviews before booking.

The closest to the race is the Silver Beach Hotel which is directly across the river from most of the parking and about 1 mile from the transition area.   The next closest is the Boulevard Inn & Bistro, it appears to be a pretty nice place but looks to be pricier than most.

Steer clear of the Knight's Inn, Red Roof Inn, America's Best Value Inn, Motel 6 and the Loyalty Inn.  They are in decent parts of town but they are run down and a frequent stop for the local undesirables.

There are several big chain hotels which are a good bet, the St. Joseph Holiday Inn Express is something to shoot for, it's only 5 min. from downtown and about 1 mile from the school where they had registration last year.  Anything in the Stevensville area is okay, I think there are 4 and they're about 10 min. from downtown.  There are a couple more listed in Benton Harbor but they're actually in a commercial district of Benton Twp.  Close to I-94 (exit 29) shopping and restaurants.

For food, we have most of the major chain fast food and sit down restaurants.  Silver Beach Pizza, Schu's, Pumphouse Grill are all good downtown restaurants.  There is also the Livery and the Library in the Benton Harbor downtown.  The Livery is a restaurant and they also brew several different kinds of beer (mmmmmmm......beeeeeeer).  And....there are several small wineries in the area if you like wine. 

Hope that helps a little, feel free to ask more questions.  I'll be here all week.

Well, Best Value Inn is only a few miles from the race but it's not a bike friendly route to get there.  Plus I think there's only one cab company in Benton Harbor and none in St. Joseph.  I probably wouldn't use a bike trailer especially by the race.  There will be a ton of people space is limited the closer you get to the beach.  A car would be my choice to move between the race, Silver Beach and the areas to watch you.  Check out Bing maps/google maps arial satellite maps of St. Joseph and you'll get a better feel for the area.  Jean Clock Park is where the race is, Silver Beach about 1 mile south, and Best Value Inn is off exit 28/I-94.

If I were doing the race this year I would offer up a ride.  If you end up having to wake the kids up, I would opt for the nicer hotel.

Not 2 of the last 3, more like 2 of the past 7, last year was very high wind and very rough waves.  The year before was smooth with very little wave action.  Just a roll of the dice but I'd say the odds are in your favor.

It's great. My husband sat and swam in the water, and i had warm but not hot weather to race in. THe only downer i had, and really this is small- but i couldn't get the sand out of my bike gears. I sprayed down my cassett like you wouldn't believe. A year later, now, just had a new one put in, because i never felt like it shifted the same. But the beach made for a perfect backdrop.