My Top 5 Half Ironman Races
Let me know what you think and what your favorite Half Ironman Courses are!
5 - Mountain Man Half Ironman in Flagstaff. I really like Flagstaff and I have raced there many times. In the summer it is always great weather and a really good place to vacation and race. It gets really hot in Vegas and going to Flagstaff to race in July is a great way to escape the heat. This course is a good course and the race is very well organized. They also give really good overall awards! I have a handful of these cool overall awards from the various distances over the years. I really enjoy this race and hope they continue putting it on.
4 - Oregon 70.3 was a really great race. It was a great city to visit and a nice place to race. The weather was great and it is a very fast course. You could literally float the swim, the bike was pretty flat and the run was nice. I would highly recommend this race but keep in mind it sells out pretty fast. 
2 - San Juan Puerto Rico was a great place to race. The run was stunning and difficult. It was hot but I tend to enjoy warmer races and usually perform better. I started getting sick on the plane ride there and slept for 36 hours straight when we arrived. I didn't have much hope of performing well because I had gotten sick. I was very surprised when I finished 2nd in my age group and qualified for the 70.3 Championship in Las Vegas. 
Some other notable races that I really enjoyed were Wildflower, Honu Half, Miami and Toughman Provo.
3 - I qualified for the World Championship 70.3 in Las Vegas two years in a row. I am from Las Vegas so doing this race was extra special. It was a course I was familiar with because I did races and training rides at the lake regularly. It was a challenging course because it was hilly on both the bike and run. It was also very hot and humid both times I raced it.
1 -My favorite 70.3 race was Panama. It was a great place to race and vacation. The bike course was rolling hills and the run was flat but it was HOT! The temperature was 90 and it was very humid. I placed 2nd in my age group at Panama and got a spot to the world championship race in Las Vegas.
Coincidentally I recently looked up Wildflower and it is coming back after being gone for many years. This race was known for its hippy like atmosphere and many people camped out for a weekend of racing since they had multiple races over the weekend. The run course had an aid station with women who were flashing you as you ran by. My racing partner at the time especially liked that!
I did the Honu Half the first year it became an Ironman branded race. Hawaii for obvious reasons is a great place to race and this course was really great.
Miami was flat and fast and again it was a warmer temperature race so I really enjoyed it. Miami is a fun place to visit too.
My fastest ever half was in Provo Utah at the Toughman Half. This course was super fast and I finished in 5:01. I went back the following year to try and get sub 5 but they canceled the swim because of an algae bloom. The swim was in a really small lake was very shallow in some sections. Some people were actually walking the swim and in some places my hand was touching the bottom when I would stroke. The bike had a lot of college kids that didn't have any idea about biking etiquette so that was kind of frustrating. It was however the place to be if you wanted a fast time!
Let me know what your favorite Half Ironman Courses are!
Coach Cyndee
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