USA NE course at Lake Sunapee NH
Rory Stuart
the world, but is anyone familiar with Lake Sunapee,
New Hampshire and the race course for the ironman-distance
tri they are holding there on September 16?
I am training for my first ironman-distance event, which I was
planning to do at Martha's Vineyard this Fall, but I have learned that
the race is moved to Lake Sunapee. I know from the race materials
I just received from them that the bike course is 5 loops (each ~22 miles)
around the lake, and that the run course is a double out-and-back.
Is anyone familiar with this lake/this course? In particular,
any info on how hilly it is (elevation profile), and what the roads
are like? 112 miles in the form of 5 very hilly loops(if that's what it
is) is a change from what I had in mind, and may require some modifications
in training plans (e.g. lots of hill work, and combining hills with long
rides). Their race entry sheet describes the bike course as a "mix
of flat and rolling hills," but they don't show elevation profile, and
"rolling hills" is one of those expressions that can mean many things --
I just want to have a better idea what to prepare for.
*Any* information from anyone who knows the course would be very
much appreciated!
Thanks,
Rory Stuart
ccor...@199.232.56.3
>Apologies for sending this note to all of rst around
>the world, but is anyone familiar with Lake Sunapee,
>New Hampshire and the race course for the ironman-distance
>tri they are holding there on September 16?
If it's the same course they used a few years ago, it has an
enormous hill on the bike course. Multiply that by five loops.
That's what I've heard, but I've never done it. Maybe someone
who's raced it could reply?
Cathy Corning
Home: ccor...@ultranet.com
Work: ccor...@vnet.ibm.com
BCoryH
Your goal is a worthy one - good luck!
I have done the Lake Sunapee Endurance/Ironman Triathlon twice, as well,
as its predecessor, the Cape Cod Endurance/Ironman, also twice. (I have
not done the Martha's Vineyard version of the Endurance Ironman, but my
guess is that its difficulty level is similar to that of Cape Cod.)
In my mind, there is no comparison between the difficulty of Cape Cod and
Sunapee; Sunapee is a far more challenging race.
The swim at Sunapee is magnificent. It's really as nice a swim as you can
hope for. Lake Sunapee is clean, clear, and beautiful. The only concern
you might have is the temperature. On an early September morning, the air
temperature in New Hampshire can be pretty cool, so be sure to have some
clothing to wear over your suit until the swim start. Fortunately, the
water will probably still be warm. However, bring your wetsuit. The two
years that I did the race, wetsuits were allowed as the surface water
temps were around 68-70 degrees. Only a small handful of people did the
swim without a wetsuit.
The bike course consists of five, hilly, sometimes quad-burning, loops.
Some of the hills are long, gradual climbs, while others are short, steep
climbs. One hill, in particular, is a monster. It is not particularly
long, but it is deceptively STEEP. By your third loop, you wonder how you
will conquer it again. In fact, towards the later stages of the ride,
many people were walking their bikes up the hill. The moral of this story
is: make SURE that you bring the appropriate gearing. A 12X19 freewheel
is not the way to go on this course. Most of my buddies, two of whom were
favored pros, had 13x26s. You need to think in terms of high rpm spinning
so that you have enough left for the run. The well-stocked aid stations
are spaced at 5 mile intervals.
The run is a double out and back. The course consists of persistent
rolling hills with only a few, shorter, steep moments. Aid stations are
evey mile.
One aspect of Sunapee which makes it special, in my mind, is the fan
support. The local residents really come out in full force to support the
athletes. The whole day has a festive atmosphere: lawn barbecues, keg
parties, inflatable Gumbies, horn-honking - the works. (Yes, I enjoyed a
Bud on the course - it was great! But I didn't break the rules, I
received it an aid station. :) )
Sunapee is a great race. It is well organized, the course is beautiful,
and the fan support can't be beat. My only reservation would be in
recommending it to first-timers. Doing your first Ironman is hard enough.
But doing Sunapee as your first might not be the best idea.
Particularly, if you have not done a lot of serious, regular, and
consistent, hill training. On the flip side, as I recall, the majority of
the participants were first timers, and most of them finished. If they
did it, so can you.
I would recommend an 'esier' course for your first Ironman, but, if you
have got your heart set, go for it! It's a great race.
Good luck and happy training!
Cory H.
joe
ccor...@199.232.56.3 writes:
According to the March issue of MetroSport magazine (free mag on the
east coast), Rich Havens is "moving the Endurance back to Sunapee, NH,
to a new multi-loop course." From that info I can only guess it's a
new loop course on the same hilly terrain.
The rest of the brief article goes on about how Martha's Vineyard
stiffed him, even though he contributed gobs of money to the local Boys
& Girls Club.
There is also a schedule that I'm typing up to post here. FIRM has
about one race per week for the summer. They list the NETS Baystate
Tri as an ironman qualifier (July 23), but I think that might be wrong.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
joe jankovsky
"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
Don't hurt yourself, though."
email: jja...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
WWW: http://www.cis.yale.edu/~jjankov/
New England Triathlon Page:
http://www.cis.yale.edu/~jjankov/ne.html
MichaelVFe
the first year the Endurance was held at Sunapee after several years at
Cape Cod. I think it was held there in '89, '90, and '91 by DMSE with
Rich Havens as the Race Director (Rich is the race director this year with
his own company, Time Out Productions, and was the race director last
year at Martha's Vineyard).
First off: for a first year event, Rich and his crew did an excellent job
in 1989. Well volunteered and during race refreshments as good as I've
seen at Ironman Canada. I would expect nothing less from him due to his
vast experience and first hand race knowledge.
Course: oh...so tough...
Swim: in Lake Sunapee, it was chilly (67F or so) our day, but flat and
clear.
Bike: several loops (4 or 5, I'm not sure) with a little loop at the
beginning of the ride to get the distance to 112. There was not much wind
our year, but it sure had it's share of nice hills and tough rollers.
Believe me, these hills grew by the 3rd or 4th lap :) The downhills were
a gas though. Definitely a 39 tooth front chain ring course.
Run: most difficult, hilly marathon course I've run (in an Ironman or as
a straight marathon). 3 loops with an initial short loop to make the
distance 26.2. Again, I'd swear those hills got bigger by the 2nd and 3rd
loop :). And now that it's been 5.5 years, I actually now think those
hills were actually mountains :).
Race day weather: 90's for the most part that day (oh...my). Eben Jones,
the '89 winner (who eventually turned pro), was quoted in the following
morning's paper "this makes Hawaii look easy." I'm not sure if I'd go
that far, but he's more likely to know.
If you'd like, I'd be happy to send photocopies of pre/post race mailings,
newspaper articles, and accomdation info from my training log.
Michael Valleriano
Webster, NY
Cindy Gagnon
I'm surprised and glad to hear that it is back on.
The bike course loop is rolling hills... I recall that it
actually has 3 hills, one of them ( the last of the loop) quite steep. I
can't remember anything as being "flat" If you are familiar at all with
cycling in NH, there is rarely any flat, and most hills are short and
steep. I think for gearing I used a 42/26 (which I definately used on the
last two loops).
I would definately train for hills... a friend of mine also did the course
but only trained on a flat course in NJ and the hills got to him.
The run course is also rolling hills as well, and it used to be 3 loops and
let me tell you it's tough to head out for that third time. The run also
has an additional hill right at the end (to get to the base of the ski
area)
where the finish line is.
In the years i've done it there have been only 200 or so entrants.One nice
thing is the weather... its always been in the mid-70's and perfect for
racing. I'll take a look to see if i have any specific information from
the
past year's race course (profiles etc) to give to you (maybe fax something
to you if you'd like) I could also compare it to Hawaii and Ironman
Canada courses, if that would help.
cindy
In article <3k80jg$1...@news.nynexst.com>, stu...@nynexst.com (Rory Stuart)
wrote:
ARomania
one lap, and for the road race using the same course, for an ironman distance
race you may want a 39-19, or 39-21 depending on you riding skills.
---arr---
BCoryH
bit presumptious to call the hill "overrated?" I've done that Ironman
twice and the USCF road race held on the same course, once. Sure, anybody
can get up the hill once and think, "no big deal." However, climbing "the
hill" once is a far cry from climbing it five times during a 112 mile
race, and then following those climbs with a marathon. Context is
everything - there is no comparison.
Respectfully,
Cory H.
