Challenge Atlantic City : Official Thread (Page 2)

Baltimore is also an option. With no traffic, it's about 2.5 hours to AC. It's actually a great airport and my back-up when I lived in Philly and the flights were much cheaper to BWI than PHL.

You can also fly Spirit non-stop from ORD to Atlantic City, but I wouldn't recommend flying Spirit...

Edit: Having said that, I've flown Spirit out of AC before and the convenience of the airport almost makes up for the crumminess of the airline.....almost..

Edited by julio26pt2 2013-11-11 3:04 PM

Holy crapola and it's really cheap -- about $200 return per person. But then I'd probably have to add a buttload of money to transport my bike! And it is Spirit where they charge you for every little thing on the plane.

I think I'll stick with Southwest. They recently raised their bike-box fee to $75, but that's not bad relative to other airlines. Plus they do a decent job of taking care of it. And they're at like $240 return per person to EWR, or so. I've never been to Joizy, so perhaps it'd be good to see The Garden State.

I am thinking Southwest from Grand Rapids Michigan to Baltimore which is one of there direct flights. Usually pretty reasonable rates plus the drive is not too bad from Baltimore out to AC. Bringing the family with including the in laws to help with my boys and then making a week vacation out of it on the east coast.

Getting really geeked for this race!!!

Hey! I'm from North Jersey too -- Rutherford! I'm just starting to research those realllly long bike routes. Any good suggestions? I moved to Rutherford from NYC, so I'm very familiar with 9W up to Bear Mountain, but that's about it. Southern Bergen County isn't the most bike-friendly place... My parents live off of LBI, so I plan on heading to flatter ground for some longer rides as well.

Awesome! My aunt lives in Rutherford and I used to work in Hackensack. Love the area, though hate the traffic!

I live in Morris county, and there are a lot of great places to ride out here. In Bergen, I would check in with the Glen Rock Tri Club for routes or group rides - they are a nice and friendly bunch

Also, south jersey clearly has a lot of good routes - I'm following the Challenge Group on Facebook in hopes that they organize a ride on the actual course once things get settled!

There was a nice post on the facebook thread about the race -- the RD apparently gave a speech to a local tri club. Check it out if you can. Makes me excited to race.

30 weeks out from today. Anyone using a Don Fink plan that would start tomorrow?

Oy. 30 weeks already???

Registered today...here we go.

I am. Starting on a rest day is always nice!

Im still on the fence!!!
Tell me everything about this race!!
Wind
Bike course
run course
Hotel
Everything!

Plenty of time!

Though I am not the only NJ native here I think I can shed some light on this, but things can be variable when it comes to the weather.This race on the bike can get windy but if there is not a front coming through the early part of the bike should not be too bad, most of the time the wind picks up in the afternoon....not saying it cannot be windy in am but just stating what's more common.Bike course is flat and beautiful , you will get the opportunity to race a portion on the ac expressway and inbetween in farm country. Run, 10 miles of it on boardwalk, and into a town called bringatine but still coastal so you should still have great views of the skylineOfficial hotel not announced yet but they are negotiating a good deal per RD. But there are so many hotels that this will not be a LP Situation.I am looking forward to.this as much as IMLP......great finish line

Wind is obviously the x-factor as nobody knows whether it will suck or blow -- certainly, though, it will be one or the other.

The bike course is mostly flat, as is the run course, from what I understand. They're going to post video of both soon.

The host hotel still isn't known, which is slightly irritating, as I NEVER get into the host hotel and would like to for once. I just hope it's not at a party hotel and is filled by mostly triathletes who all have to be up at the butt crack o' stupid to go race.

Otherwise it looks like a fun little race, smaller than an M-Dot, which is nice. But it's still big enough you won't be alone out there.

This is from the facebook page. It's a bit long but a good read nonetheless:

From Onefortypointsix Media

Challenge USA Briefing at Jersey Shore Tri Club Annual Meeting

At the new Trek Bike Shop owned by Kathy Penna and her staff of Brielle Cyclery, Delmo Sports President and Co-Race Director for the new Challenge USA race in Atlantic City Stephen Delmonte stopped in to give the the club members a briefing on the history of Challenge USA and what to expect out of this race.

Stephen had said he wanted to do a full distance race in Atlantic City and that Challenge had returned his call the very next day when they heard that Robert Vigorito was part of the team. They told Delmonte that "we believe in Vigorito and if you are with Vigorito, we believe in you". Vigorito and Delmonte told Challenge they were aiming to create an experience for athletes on the Jersey Shore that you would usually have to get on an airplane for.

Once it was established that Vigorito and DelMonte would work work with Challenge, Challenge flew Delmonte out to Germany to witness Challenge Roth in person. After the race, Delmonte was very excited. He said Challenge is everything Vigorito ever envisioned a race could be.

Once the planning began, Trenton was very interested and the Governor gave the Challenge team access to the same group of people who brought the Super Bowl to NJ.

At that point, it was all hands on deck and things got accomplished rather quickly with Atlantic City, Pleasantville, Hammonton and SJTA all working together to make sure there would be a fun, safe race course for the athletes.

So what can we expect from the course? Well, the swim will be a 2 loop swim in the flat, smooth back bay waters. The Challenge team is working on a way to possibly do the 2 loops while remaining in the water. This could be cool. The entire swim course will be spectator friendly. This swim course could become an "instant classic".

The bike maintains some of the traits of the Atlantic City International Tri but adds on more AC Expressway mileage, a ride through the air base housing the 177th Fighter Wing and a cruise through downtown Hammonton during their annual Blueberry Festival.

SJTA has assured the Challenge team that they will cone off and patrol the Expressway on race day and then sweep the Expressway twice before race day to ensure as quality conditions as possible.

The run course is going to be a lot of fun for the athletes. It will start at Bader Field, take you to Ventnor Heights out to Margate and to the baordwalk. Once on the boardwalk, the Challenge team does not want you seeing the finish line just yet so they are setting up nearly a quarter mile of "Mr Boardwalk" which will take you down to the beach, under the Pier Shops and back to the boardwalk on the north side of Pier Shops. Once back on the boardwalk it is a trip to the new Revel casino and hotel and out to the Marina. At the Marina you cross the bridge into Brigantine and the Mile 20 Special Needs station which will feature medical tents and support for the athletes. Once at the Mile 20 Special Needs station it is a turn around the ballfields and heading back to Atlantic City. The finish line will be in front of Atlantic City's world famous Boardwalk Hall and in the words of Stephen DelMonte will be a cross between a Rave, A Concert and NASCAR. At the finish line, calling you home and welcoming you to The Family will be none other than Whit Raymond, the Voice of the Ironman World Championships at Kailua-Kona Hawaii. The Challenge team believes this will be the greatest finish line in America with the only other place to see something similar will be in Roth Germany.

After the race, the athletes will be guided into Boardwalk Hall where only the athletes will be allowed. There will be state of the art massage chairs, food and medical attention as well as showers and other world class amenities.

What is going to make this race special is that your Challenge Experience will begin at Triathlon Park at Bader Field where you will see a true Health and Wellness Expo with blood pressure exams, melanoma screenings and other advanced medical screenings made available to the athletes. The Challenge team is also proud to be giving the athletes backpacks already filled with swag and goodies. The Challenge team has announced they are working on a custom athlete tracker app designed solely for Challenge USA.

For folks coming from out of town or folks who have never done an Atlantic City race, Challenge team member Tom Manzi will be running a familiarization camp on May 17th. Tom will also be issuing a training plan next week on the Challenge site so keep checking for that.

Stephen is also proud to announce that along with the full distance race and a relay event there will also be an Aqua Bike event. Stephen announced that at Challenge USA, all 3 members of the relay will cross the finish line together and all 3 will get medals.

As for hotels, the bidding war is down to 2 facilities and is close to being wrapped up. Challenge USA still has not reached a deal for on course nutritionals and hydration but that announcement is coming soon as they want to make that deal so the athletes can start training with it for race day.

The Challenge team has set the bar for themselves that they aim to create a World Class experience and a race we can all be proud of. From what was said tonight, one has to believe they are well on their way.

Lots of great info guys!! Thank you!

I dont get the part "voice of the Ironman" Isnt it that Mike Riley?

The guy they got preceded Mike Reilly as the `voice of the ironman' or some such thing.

So are you still on the fence?

Bike course video now available for those interested - on YouTube under ChallengeUSA Bike Course Complete. Thank you to Onefortypointsix Media for the video. Guess I know what I'll be staring at on the trainer for a while.

My wife goes back to work in january. I dont know how training will be. So ill have to see if itll work out. But 80% im in!

Well, training derailed slightly. I started the 30-week plan ... then my dog tripped me down the stairs. (I know - I need a better cover story!) Fractured the 4th and 5th metatarsals. Ortho says they're "good" breaks though (what does that mean?!) and he hopes to have me at least back in the pool and on the trainer in the next week or two. Walking boot for just 4 weeks, and he'll assess clearing me to run a few weeks after that.

So, slight setback, but as long as recovery doesn't stretch out too long, I think I have time to make a come-back Maybe it's a blessing in disguise - I'm kind of forced to focus on swimming and biking for the next little bit.

Lodging/Hotel information now available via the Challenge website for those interested.

Im In!! wasnt sure if id be able to get a slot since its filling up fast. But this will be my first IM. Cant wait!!

Booked our room at Bally's today. It's the host hotel -- there are no more rooms available with the `negotiated rate' but the price is about the same, according to the reservation agent. I've read the reviews and am not really that impressed by the hotel but it is the host hotel so it's all good, I reckon.

How is the recovery coming along?

Actually, pretty well! Today is my first day without "the boot." It's been five and a half weeks since I fell. I still feel some pain when walking barefoot, but no problems when I have shoes on. Still slight swelling across the top of my foot, but most of the bruising is gone as of last week.

I was back in the pool about 12 days after the fall, and back on my bike in early January (at 3ish weeks?). I was originally going to follow Don Fink's 30 week intermediate plan, so for the past two weeks I've been following just the swim and bike portions of it. When I'm able, I'll start working the running back in. Luckily, I have a running background, so time spent focusing on biking is truly not a bad thing for me.

I had originally planned to run the Paris Marathon on April 6 - I signed up a long time ago - even before registering for Challenge AC. Looks like that race is out of the cards. Even if I am able to run in early to mid-February, there is not enough time to safely work up to marathon distance by early April. So I'll find something else to do with that plane ticket and focus on Challenge AC training in the meantime.

How is everyone else's training going?