a mate and I are keen to go to head to head and we need to select a race
we want one of the harder one.
I personally prefer an easy bike but hard run. he wants it the other way.
but basically we need them ranked first.
based on what I read around here I think the hardest one is Tahoe. Weather and elevation was the main reason.
Ive only done Placid and thats a hard one too!
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They are all hard. If you think it’s easy it’s because you aren’t racing hard enough.
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It all depends on who shows up, but I believe Kona usually has the strongest field of people actually racing, so I’d think its the hardest.
They are all hard. If you think it’s easy it’s because you aren’t racing hard enough.
Ohhh I like this one A LOT
Go to runtri.com
They have all the analysis you will need.
Not quite ALL. Their race rankings are more about quality of the field than actual course difficulty. As an example, they rank Arizona a lot harder than Switzerland but having done both races, I believe that is because the former has far more first-timers and bucket-listers which skews the average finish time.
To the OP, I suggest Tahoe, Placid, Mt. Tremblant, and possibly Cabo (I’ll know more about that one next week).
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I would throw Louisville into the list given the usual heat/humidity. There is a lot of carnage on the side of the road as people underestimate the hills on the bike and then die in the 95 degree heat and 80% humidity.
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4 times at Ironman Wisconsin = great course, rolling hills on the bike, flat run = great race but not too hard
2 times at Ironman Lake Placid = BIG descent on 2-lap bike, climbing but not brutal, rolling a bit on the run = great race but not too hard (PB here)
1 time at Ironman Arizona = coldish swim, flat and fast bike, relatively flat run = good race and good for the first timer
1 time at Ironman Lake Tahoe = shivered the whole swim in cold water, couldn’t feel my feet or hands for first 3 hours on the bike, lots of HARD climbing, got cold on the run once the sun went down, slowest time by 2 hours over any other Ironman = hardest Ironman for me, by far!
I think an average of the top male/female winning times over the last 4-5 years should be the baseline, then rank them on those times to eliminate the depth of the field or differences between NA and Euro/Asia race fields. All IM races are hard, but some are faster than others due to conditions, so ranking by time is better than a subjective feeling if one wants to set up a man v man competition.
Regards,
Why don’t you two just go race Embrunman?
Tahoe is more suited to your buddy.
Calm lake swim and good wetsuit temp, but altitude may be an issuelots of elevation on the bike courseflat run
I think it’s better suited to a strong biker than a strong runner.
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a mate and I are keen to go to head to head and we need to select a race
we want one of the harder one.
I personally prefer an easy bike but hard run. he wants it the other way.
but basically we need them ranked first.
You should start with agreeing on whether the race will be hot or cold and what time of the year it will be. This is the most important.
If you and your buddy want to go head-to-head, why don’t you simply create your own two-man race? You can cooperatively develop a fair and safe course to compete on, and - for way less than the price of two IM entries - I’m sure that you can deploy provisions for both aid and safety. This will have the added benefit of removing additional race variables (drafting, congestion, etc.) that tend to pop up at different times and locations throughout a normal race.
Anyone that has done one of the Epicman training days/weekends will attest to the fact that it’s is as close to unofficial racing as one can get (without calling it racing). Even under self-supported conditions, it plays very much like a long course race.
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If you and your buddy want to go head-to-head, why don’t you simply create your own two-man race?.
Its also about the holiday for the families to the North America.
The trirating stuff looks good.
Thanks
Overnight he now wants Texas or AZ as he has done Tahoe and doesn’t want to go back.
But I am worried about drafting. I don’t want us to race something that is full of drafting like Florida.
Clearly Tahoe would be the best.
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If destination is a factor and it does not have to be IM brand, Vineman is a great race.
IM Texas is one loop on the bike, so there’s fairly little drafting.
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IM Texas is one loop on the bike, so there’s fairly little drafting.
Cool. I’ll push for that