Ironman 70.3 Miami

I was very happy about all of the changes they made to the 2011 Ironman event. The only issues were on the bike course. There were lots of crashes near the rr tracks and the road had lots of debris from trucks (industrial area) in the bike lane. The planning and support was much better then the 2010 event.

As multisport enthusiasts, we strive to move the bar just a little higher with every effort we make, every event becomes a benchmark and as age groupers, our Personal Record becomes the holy grail.
We are fortunate to live in a place that where we have more that ideal conditions for these type of endurance events, the calm waters of Biscayne bay, or even off Key Biscayne and Miami Beach, not to mention Broward and Palm Beach counties, always provide for unique and beautiful settings for the swim leg of a triathlon.
Flat roads and amazing skylines, are always a welcome backdrop to some pretty cool bike legs.
Urban environments, parks and trails are the ideal setting for a challenging run portion in any event.
Enter IRONMAN — a trademark best known for staging the most famous race in the world — the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii —
Its events are always well regarded and known for attention to detail, athlete safety and top notch organization, thus the immense brand recognition and respect they enjoy worldwide.
The athlete community in South Florida were thrilled when IRONMAN announced in 2009 that it was finally going to field an event in Miami, other notable 70.3 Ironman events in Florida are Orlando held in the Wilderness Resort in Disney World and Clearwater up until 2010 considered the world championship for this distance.
The Ironman 70.3 is aptly named as such because of the total distance that must be completed, with a swim leg of 1.2 Miles, a bike portion of 56 miles, followed by running a half marathon at 13.1 miles it all adds up to 70.3 miles total. A grueling event that takes the professionals over 4 hours to complete and the mere mortals over 6 hours was formerly known as the half Ironman, but as most of you would agree, covering a distance of 70.3 miles in 6 hours shouldn’t be considered half of anything it is a full, complete effort followed by and incredible sense of achievement.
The Miami Ironman unveiled a promising route — Swimming in calm bay waters off Bayfront Park, cycling through Downtown, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay all the way to Blackpoint Marina and back, a route very familiar to any cyclist enthusiast but with the added benefit of being closed to cars during the race and finally a run around downtown Miami over to the port of Miami in a two loop course that covered a total of eight bridges.
Ironman 70.3 Miami has all the makings of becoming a classic, a wonderful destination, beautiful weather, great people and a huge multisport community. Unfortunately, in their maiden run, they failed in one key component: Execution
First for the water exit, coming up a ramp of stairs right off the water was extra challenging and then a huge step down that caused many injuries including a broken foot. Followed by an extremely narrow and treacherous bike leg with too many sharp turns and narrow roads that caused many accidents and injuries and finally a run leg in the middle of a Miami heat that had us climbing over 8 bridges, in a city with no hills it seemed like a cruel joke, I heard a very accurate depiction of the grueling run leg described as being in a scene from the movie groundhog day, it seemed like climbed bridges forever.
Finally, not enough water, and Gatorade in a long 56 mile bike leg and the same for the run, some aid stations were completely of water when we passed by them.
I believe Miami will definitely be a classic in the 70.3 circuit and I believe that Miami Ironman 70.3 2011 will get a solid 5 star rating, because IRONMAN has taken a proactive approach to this challenge and there is absolutely no doubt that the next event in our wonderful city will be no less than flawless.
In the end, Miami deserves to be on the Ironman circuit because we rock !