Today was my first time racing with HITS. I raced the Olympic as a tune up for HIM Fl. Those that finished the 70.3 or the 140.6 the day before have my respect. There was some crazy weather the day before.
Today it was a crsip 54 degrees in Ocala but warmed up to be a nice perfect day for racing. Since the post is regarding HITS lets, stick with them. The course was rather nice except for a few sketchy section with traffic and racers on both sides of a two lane road.
I would defiantly race with them again however; if your looking to compare to big fields like other brands it’s not quite there yet. The people were very nice, great transition area and felt very welcoming.
The cost is only fair if you get in in some of the early bird specials. Late pricing is way to high for later registraion and not worth the $ There were some complaints about not having enough people in the water watching in prior years. They seemed to have enough out there today. My only real compliant would be no clocks our timing mats at all the turnarounds so quite easy if someone wanted to cut the course.
Would I do it again? Yes… I’m signing up today because its $65 vs. $180 for next years early bird special. I would use this as a local or B race for a bigger event.
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I did the half on Saturday. Started to sprinkle at the end of the bike and on the run it went from raining to pouring bad. Did enjoy it and plenty of volunteers even though it was raining. Was the most spacious transition area I’ve ever had as well.
I did the Oly on Sunday, good race and well organized. It is certainly not the place to go for a big-field-feel, but the organization is just as well-drilled.
I have to say I have big props to those that finished the half and full on Saturday. I sat in a deluge on 75 trying to get up to packet pickup on Saturday, saying to myself, “there’s no way people are racing in this”. But the folks got all the physical AND mental discomfort on that day. Might do it again next year as another rust buster or tune up effort. No real “hills” but enough undulation on the course that you aren’t in your bars hammering at a constant cadence/pace like you are in 99% of Florida races. Kept the racing honest. Swim was right on, bike was long by just under 2 miles (thank you, I need all the bike I can get), and slightly short run. That was based on what my team mates told me, because someone kicked my Garmin off my wrist on the first lap of the swim.
l have done several HITS races. They do not have all the frills of big races, but big races do not give out race directors cell phone number either. l signed up for Ocala race twice and had to postpone races because of injury. Again, something big races do not allow. l did Naples half and love that course. l plan to make that an annual event for me. l would highly recommend this series. Sign up real early and it is a great value.
I also did the half on Saturday - my 3rd race with HITS. Kudos to race director Mark Wilson and his team for their efforts. I’ll be back for another dose next year!
I did the half on Saturday. It was quite the adventure running on the trails (instead of roads) with all that rain/lightning. Last year it rained as well while we were on the bike but cleared up during the run. Hopefully next year we wont get such weather conditions.
I was wondering while i was running how bad it really had to get before a race director would stop an event in progress? I found out later that there were tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service for parts of Florida that were getting the storm (not sure if Ocala was part of it yet)? Since i was on the run i could stumble through to the finish on the run, but i was really concerned for the athletes doing the full. They were out on the roads in the worst of it.
Has anyone ever been in a race that was halted or altered after the start due to weather?
did they have a clock at the finish? last few I did they have a nice finish set up but no clock.
No unfortunately they did not. Maybe it had something to do with th heavy rains the day before.
I’ve beene at race just this year that was called short due to weather. The Donna MH/HM in Jackonville was called for some of the BOP on the marathon. I believe it’s the RD call. At the Donna they were concerned about the volunteers scattered thought the course since it was a one loop MH. I felt really bad for the BOP’s that were just a few miles away. I’m sure an IM would be a very difficult call by an RD.
I did the half Saturday too. Bike was 60 vice 56 (not the end of the world) but miscalculated. Yes, sprinkle at end of bike. The run was raining and then the torrential downpours happened near the end. The run was quite the adventure. The transition area was great. Had the feel of a local race vice a biggie.
did they have a clock at the finish? last few I did they have a nice finish set up but no clock.
No unfortunately they did not. Maybe it had something to do with th heavy rains the day before.
I’ve beene at race just this year that was called short due to weather. The Donna MH/HM in Jackonville was called for some of the BOP on the marathon. I believe it’s the RD call. At the Donna they were concerned about the volunteers scattered thought the course since it was a one loop MH. I felt really bad for the BOP’s that were just a few miles away. I’m sure an IM would be a very difficult call by an RD.
this should be for all races. cut off times are soft.
I did the half on Saturday. Started to sprinkle at the end of the bike and on the run it went from raining to pouring bad. Did enjoy it and plenty of volunteers even though it was raining. Was the most spacious transition area I’ve ever had as well.
What is the swim venue? What were the bike road surface and run course like?