Atlantic City 70.3

I did Challenge AC a few years back and liked it. Haven't done the 70.3 course but plenty of 70.3s. Here are some general 70.3 tips that might help you. Good luck a the race

http://www.thomasgerlach.com/2017/03/ironman-703-triathlon-race-tip...

I did IMAC last year and 140.6 challenge out of AC the year before.

I am signed up for this year but have been plagued with injuries, at this point looks like I'll be doing it.

As for tip.

The swim had a treadmill on it last year, RD had to shorten swim coarse on the fly as the first 3 heats could not make progress 3/4 of the way through the swim. Its tuff to predict this because of the currents/tide/channels/intersect of channels. This year he said he modified the swim so it would not go as far out and should avoid that point. It could be a fast swim or a slow swim depending on the currents that day. If you breath to the right you will have the morning sun blindingly in your face for 3/4 of the swim.

Bike, mostly flat and fast, it can get windy especially on the AC expressway ,but mostly cross winds there. Save some energy on the bike for the last 10 miles, once you hit the airport on the way back we will most likely have a head wind all the way in.

Run, HOT! this is mostly on the board walk, an almost no shade, be prepared for that.

Make sure you are at transition early on race morning- traffic can be bad.

The RD puts on a very good race- he had his pro card at one time and understands what we go through during the race. We will run through sand at some point, since its the beach he likes to do that. last year it was 1 block of running in the sand(not bad compared to some of his other races)

I did this race last year and agree with mike761 100%. I thought the race was great. The only thing I could add about the run is that the first mile or so is several switch backs on the old airport runway which is not that exciting. The course also goes out on to some long piers from the boardwalk. I didn't really notice them before I did the race so I didn't anticipate them when mentally trying to visualize the remaining distance. The run is HOT!!!!!! and there is absolutely no shade for the entire course. Let's hope for a cool and cloudy day.

The bike course is going to change from last year according to an e-mail back in april:
"3. BIKE: "DelMo, the bike was awesome, why are you making a change?" You are correct, the bike was awesome... for those of you in the race. For the people who live in the community... it was a traffic nightmare. In fact, 36 people missed their flight at the Atlantic City International Airport and there was a 2 hour back up in each direction by the Wawa on Rt. 30. So, how do we make it better? In 2017, we are going to close 99% of our bike course to vehicular traffic. To do this, we're going to utilizing a 2.5x loop course that takes athletes INTO Atlantic City via the expressway two times in the exact same manner that we do for the Atlantic City Triathlon every year. We are 100% CONFIDENT our new, safer course is going to be a better experience for the athletes, spectators, and equally important the amazing members of our community."

Overall an exceptionally well organized and fun race.

Keba




Edited by KebaNYC 2017-07-19 7:48 AM

It's worth repeating. Get to transition early on race day. I've done multiplie races there and it's ALWAYS a nightmare parking on race morning. Leave at least 30 mins before you think you should.

Did not know about the bike coarse change.

The OLY tri does this with 2 loops on the expressway into AC, So if they are doing this for the HIM then they must be extending it somehow. The expressway is also where the wind has more effect, so keep that in mind. I did the AC oly tri a ccouple times and one year we had 25+ MPH wind gust on the expressway. They were cross winds so it was not too bad, but something to keep in mind for people who ride a deep front wheel.

The other thing with the bike change. I don't believe it will be 99% closed to traffic. If it's similar to the tri AC course you'll be riding miles on the expressway. I'd be shocked if they get permission to shut that down to traffic. It'll be coned off well with a dedicated lane but that's a far cry from 99% closed. That is if I figured correctly what will be the course.

Thanks for all the posts. Looking forward to it. Did a 7 mile run on the Boardwalk the other day and it was HOT with zero shade so looks like that will be chanllenging.