Raced this as part of the 70.3 World Championships and loved it. Tough but great course and whole set-up was set to impress. 

Apart from ridiculously long registration queues (it was a world champs so high volume of athletes - had to delay registration by a day), it was well organised.

The welcome banquet and briefing was a bit congested and not very well thought-through - it was table service food which meant that if you didn't get a seat at a table (which I didn't, due to lack of space), then you didn't get any food. I think it should have been a buffet as this would have worked much better given the volume of athletes.

Transition was huge and well constructed but unlike normal 70.3 races, you didn't have access to the bags on race morning. Not an issue for me but can cause issues if you are used to racing the 70.3 circuit and they suddenly change the regular rules (at least for us Europeans).

The course was beautiful - a choppy sea swim in warm water, a largely flat bike course (far too much drafting - again they probably didn't think through the volume of athletes here) apart from one massively steep but short hill and a few other lumpy bits, and a hilly tough run which took its toll on the legs!

Maybe just me but I felt like there could have been an extra aid station on the run as after the 5k turnaround point there wasn't one for a while.

Finish line was good but not as impressive as some other non world championship races I have done, becvause it was in quite a confined area in the town.

Other than these small points it was a great race. The location is absolutely mind blowing - an hour from Brisbane, the Sunshine coast is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and the nature is incredible. The beaches are some of the best in the world. This region of Australia in general seems like it has a very high standard of living.

Would definitely recommend but make a holiday out of it if you are travelling from Europe!

The Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, were my first triathlon world championships despite being a regular middle and long distance racer. This was my 3rd trip to Australia and I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the trip despite only 9 days in country. We flew out the week before to ensure we acclimatised properly from the jetlag. There was almost nothing to criticise during the trip, which is a rarity, whether it was my company for the week, the laid back local lifestyle, the amazing beaches or the atmosphere around the race itself.

The race itself was supremely well organised, with the usual Ironman corporate positives and negatives. From the moment we entered the event village the official merchandising was a notch above equivalent races and as expensive, but high quality as usual. The registration was slick, friendly and efficient, despite the large numbers being processed, although we did leave the latter until the second day. The only slight negative would be a slightly smaller expo than usual to fit within the site used. Event pre events, swim practices, race briefing and banquet were all efficiently run, and again a step up in size and scale from a standard race. The race briefing and pre race banquet was particularly impressive in its scale!

Pre race racking was ultra relaxed with a large window for people arriving at all times to rack whenever suited them. We were able to enjoy the whole of the preceding day having racked by 11am. On race day morning the swim start waves and transition was managed well, despite the transition length along the promenade. The swim course was clear and well laid out. The bike was condensed due to the shear number of cyclists hitting the roads at once, sometimes with 3 or 4 abreast on the initial 40km. The latter 50km was a lot clearer riding into the hills and well supported for sections.

The run was a lovely rolling scenic route heading north and then back into town for 2 loops. The weather was great at around 24 degrees and the local support was even better. On course nutrition was pretty good, particularly on the run, where it was needed most. The finishing shute could have been better laid out with stands for supporters, but most of this was due to navigating local street layouts and street furniture. The finishing line itself was fantastic. Who doesn't like crossing a World Championship finish line, particularly your first? :-)

Until the next time....

This was my first world champs as a participant and I must say everything worked like clockwork. However I'll focus more on the course and race rather than the world champs aspect of it as it will be more relevant to athletes looking to race the sunshine coast 70.3 in the future.

We were lucky with the weather. It was absolutely perfect conditions and the swim was pleasant in perfect temperature / crystal clear water and easy to navigate. Transition however was a bit of a shocker due to the amount of people crammed in.. like 1km long and the parking floor was uneven so not a pleasant run out to the mount line at all. 

Bike was mostly flat apart from some hills thrown in for the world champs. I hear that normally the course is simply out and back on the motorway which means PB course for sure. Drafting was an issue, it happened everywhere, all the time, pros as well. Saw a few people in the penalty tents but many times marshalls on bikes just turned a blind eye. The endura sports drink they served at the aid stations was horrible - dont know what you get next year but if its the same then i suggest you either rely on water or just carry all your hydration with you from the start. 

Run course was also mainly flat apart from the Alexandra healdlands hill, which is not that steep or long, but having to do it 4 times does take its toll. Also, the way back is usually a headwind so be prepared.

All in all a great 70.3 in a lovely location (if weather permits). Two days before the race it was impossible to swim in the sea due to the chop, but I hear that they move the swim to the river if necessary.  

The first and only 70.3 Worlds that I have been to was at Clearwater, Florida in 2008. When I was there I had the thought that the Sunshine Coast was a very similar location and would make a great venue in the future. Luckily the powers at be at Ironman had the exact same thought and decided to rotate the race around the world to different regions. After Europe (Austria) last year, it was Asia Pacific's turn to host the race in 2016. And Mooloolaba was the chosen location. Mooloolaba has a great pedigree as it has hosted an excellent standard distance triathlon since 1992. (I actually did that race and every year until I left the coast in 1997). And they have held a 70.3 race over a similar course there since 2013. You can read about about the race and the course here.

The venue was near perfect. Transition area was on the beach front, and the swim in the sheltered waters of Mooloolaba Beach. The ride was up and down the flat Sunshine Motorway with two hilly loops thrown in to add a challenge. One hill had a 20% grade which made it tough for some. Many had to walk up it. But I didn't find it too bad.

The run was two laps along the coast and over and back Alexandra Headland twice. Flat for most, except for the Headland which was also not too bad.

The weather on race day was perfect. Clear blue skies, a flat sea, light winds and a high of 24 degrees Celcius. 

My only big negative was that drafting was rife on the Motorway, mainly due to the nature of the course.

Summary

The total race experience was excellent. Before and after the race. I was concerned about how would they fit the 3,000 odd bike into the transition area and how it would flow on race day? They managed to make the bikes fit, but they were jam packed. Transition was very long, and crowded, but it worked. Just!

I am very proud of the Sunshine Sunshine coast for staging such a successful, spectacular race. All of my friends and everyone else I spoke to had a great time. There were many international visitors, all of whom were friendly and easy to talk to. There were about 3,000 athletes from 82 countries represented. After the Aussies, the next largest group was Americans. Japanese ranked 10th. Many more than I expected came from South or Central America, I was always seeing Brazilians, Chileans and Mexicans in large groups. The atmosphere was relaxed, everyone seemed to be happy to race there and to soak up the laid back atmosphere of the Sunny Coast.

General points

Having travelled to the other side of the world I expected a little more from Ironman than what they delivered.  Maybe my expectations were too high for the 70.3 World Championships in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. 

As is always the case, Ironman charge more for this race because it is the World Champs.  Being charged more for the event does tend to elevate your expectations for race organisation and race experience. To add to this I was emailed two weeks before the race and notified that I needed an Australian licence - an extra £10.  I now know that this was not true and that my membership of the BTF was sufficient. However I bought it at the time as the email said I couldn’t race without it.  I suspect if I asked for a refund it would not be forthcoming.

I was disappointed that the race was not clearly marked out before the event.  In most European races it is possible to ride the course stress free, knowing the roads are all clearly marked usually with little M Dots on the road.  While some of the route was marked – it was not easy to follow.  I did try to ride some of the route but the section of the course which leads out of the town is very busy.  I would not recommend riding this part of the course while the roads are not closed. It is also not possible to ride the motorway section of the course prior to the event for obvious reasons. In short – if you want to do a bike recce and decent ride prior to the race you will need a car to ride out to the quieter roads and a good map.  

Wave starts

The wave start system they used at the race was a bit convoluted and not in AG order. My AG (40 – 44) went at 0715 with the slower female (50 +) athletes starting 15mins ahead of us.  This meant we caught them pretty soon in the water, not great for us, but worse for them as they were swum over.  It also meant transition was very congested when you ran through.  Some of the athletes did not start until after 0800 – so they had to wait nearly 2hrs for their start as transition had closed at 0600hrs – not great. 

Transition area.

This was the worst transition area I have ever seen at an Ironman event.  It was long and thin (around a 1km in length) and the space for racking was too tight. In addition to this there was limited room to manoeuvre your bike from the racking area and then run with it to the mount line. The area was just not large enough for the large numbers involved and they didn’t have enough racking.

Swim

The swim was a deep-water start with a well-marked 750m swim to the first swim buoy and left turn – all very easy to navigate with no real issues with other swimmers of the same AG.  That said the slower swimmers from previous waves did become an issue in the latter stages of the swim.  Luckily on race morning the water was flat and pretty easy to navigate, with lots of buoys and surf boards in the water.  It was noticeably a lot rougher with big swell in the days leading up to and after the event. In future events here I expect they may get rough water which would make the swim quite a challenge.

Bike

The bike course was well marked and marshalled. All the roads were fully closed and I didn’t see one car during the whole race.  A large majority of the bike route was on a flat section of motorway, which created massive packs of riders in the big AG waves.  This will always happen when you have 3000 athletes racing on flat roads but they could have staggered the start more to break this up.  The second section of the route was more interesting with a short sharp hill and a double loop configuration.  This double loop did create issues as riders had to cross the line of other athletes. Furthermore if not recced the laps could have been confusing and Slowtwitch have reported that over 50 athletes missed a loop.  Not a particularly easy 2 lap system, as a former event coordinator I would have been nervous about this route.  Athletes are too busy racing hard to be thinking about a complicated 2 lap system within a 90km bike course and the chances were high that some would get it wrong. As it transpired many athletes will be disappointed to have a DNF on their CV.  That said – in previous years the route had simply gone up and down the motorway and I do think the hillier section of the route provided much needed interest on the bike and served to break up groups of riders.

Aid stations where good, but I don’t really use them on a short race. 

Run

The run took you out on a double out and back along the beach and was very well supported especially at the Mooloolaba end of the route. It was reasonably flat for the most part with a small hill in the first 1km. It was also very well marked with lots of room to overtake.  Or should I say be overtaken!  Aid stations provided good nutrition and were really well manned and supported.  My only concern was  the taste of the water on a couple of the aid stations. A spectator later told me that they were using water directly from the hosepipe and as such it needed to be treated with sterilisation tablets.  It didn’t taste great and I was worried about the quality, but have had no side effects yet.

The Aussie volunteers were great and always happy to help throughout the day.  Even picking up the bike after the race, sometimes a bit of a nightmare, was a pain free experience. 

So in summary, I can’t really put my finger on it but this race lacked a little razzmatazz and the excitement that I normally associate with Ironman events.  The race location in the heart of the Sunshine Coast is beautiful and has fabulous accommodation and family attractions – and of course Australia is a great place for a holiday. However – as a race experience I would not recommend this as an event to travel to the other side of the world for – even if it was the World Champs. 

A short race report from Half Ironman World Championships on the Sunshine Coast in Mooloobara, Australia.

Location: Mooloobara is stunning, houses with yachts parked at the bottom of garden, fantastic long golden sand beaches with rocky headlands and some good waves for surfing. Almost perfect place to live for someone who loves the ocean.
Weather: And as expected for a place called the Sunshine Coast the weather was superb, mid 20's and sunny, perfect conditions for a World Championships.
Accomodation: I stayed at Excellsior apartment,  http://www.excellsior.com.au about 800m from start/transition/registration/party. Very reasonable price, in a nice quiet spot overlooking canals with yachts, a good kitchen and separate bedroom.
Logistics: Registration, party and briefing were all very straight forward and simple.
Race:
Swim: The breeze turned offshore overnight so sea was glassy flat and water clear. A good swim but nothing to write home about, 33mins.
Bike: Completely smashed it up, going full gas from the start, murdered the small hill and broke for home with about 40k to go, 2:23min bike.
Run: The moment of truth, what was left in the tank after that bike? Started stupidly quick at 4min pace for the first 5k, dialed it back to 4:20-30 pace for next 10k and then looked at the watch... Damn it, 4:3x was on, but only just! Pushing well in the red zone, particularly over the last hill, managed to put a 1:33min half marathon on the board and sneaked in for a finishing time of 4:39:32.
A lifetime goal of 4:3x achieved, ecstatic, physical broken and looking forward to a new chapter in life starting very soon.
It was great to share the experience with so many of the Tokyo Triathlon community, a great event.

Could have easily have spent 2 weeks or longer in Mooloobara but had to get back to start that new chapter.

Overall I really enjoyed this race, the local support and volunteers were amazing, and it is a beautiful location. However, definitely some areas for improvement:

1: overpriced - why should it be a higher price to enter than other races? You have to qualify for it, and it isn't like they are giving the pros rear prize money (should definitely be better for a world champs race!!). Especially when it is in a location that most people are travelling a long way for,and given what you get for that money

2. Standard of expo - I was expecting there to be everything at the expo, but it was quite small and limited in terms of brands - could have done th better range of brands

3. Registration - huge queue, took ages 

4. Race briefing - English one was relatively late on the Friday evening - they always go in for ages and don't add much value. I can't understand why all ironman branded races don't have the same rules - that would make life much easier. Would suggest ironman put a recorded briefing on the website, much easier for people to watch when suits them, and then have designated time slots where people can ask questions

5. Transition - soooo long (at least 1k that you had to go through twice), barely any room for racking

6. Wave times - not sure of why all the times were set out as they were, but putting most of the fastest ladies as the last wave meant we were having to swim through previous groups, gt stuck behind people in transition (which was too narrow to overtake). 

7. Aid stations - on the bike they needed to be longer to cope with how many people there were on the course and give enough room for everyone to get what they wanted. On the run, why were there no sponges?

8. Post race - most of th other ironman events I have been to have had much better post race stuff - could have done with better selection of food and drink (no beer??), shaded seating area, massage etc 

9. Prizes - I find it unbelievable that at championship races there aren't better prizes - especially for the race entry. Take a leaf out of some of the more local races re prizes (start with aah events and castle triathlon). To podium at a world champs I travelled halfway across the world for, something more than a boomerang would be nice.