A seriously special race this one. From the natural beauty of swimming along a coral reef to riding the bike course around the island with sunning shoreline views, then the fantastic local support and lift you get out on the run course it really is a bucket list race. If you struggle to qualify for Kona this race is as good as it gets! 

IM Cozumel was a fantastic experience.  A great race on a beautiful island in the Caribbean.

 I flew to Cozumel from London via Atlanta.  On the way there I had to spend one night in Atlanta as there was no connecting flight to Cozumel on the same day.  Returning to London I was able to fly on the same day.

 The race location is fantastic.  Cozumel is a beautiful island off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico.  The weather was great with a high of 32C and about 78% humidity.  The island lives off tourism so the tourist infrastructure is superb.  There are great restaurants, bars, hotels, guest houses, etc. and visitors can really enjoy great service.  As it was my first time in Mexico, I was a bit concerned about safety on the island, but after a day on the island and talking a bit to other tourists, one definitely feels he/she is at a safe place.  That said, I was still walking around town having my wits about me, safe is safe.

The race organization was superb.  The race checkin was really efficient and the expo was fairly big with vendors selling the standard tri stuff: energy bars, tri clothes, water bottles, etc.  One thing I didn’t really see a lot of was serious bike mechanics.  There were a couple of basic bike repair areas, but I think they only provided the very basics.  For example, if you’re in need of some special bike part, I doubt you would be able to find it there. I did, however, discover a bike shop in town.  The race briefing was very good and thorough and the race logistics were pretty straightforward.  On race morning there is a bit of travel needed as the swim start and T1 are at different locations, however, buses were moving all 2700 athletes around pretty efficiently. 

The swim start was a rolling start, similar to a marathon run race.  Your race time starts when you cross the timing mat.  Naturally, the fast athletes placed themselves up front.  There was a bit of chaos when the gun when off, as the platform taking athletes to the water gave in once the first pack of about 300 athletes walked over it.  What followed was a bit of panic and people jumping into the water let and right of the platform.  I heard that the start of the remaining athletes was delayed by about an hour.  From the 3800m swim, 3500m are swimming parallel to the coast.  There was a swell that was pushing you towards the beach and every time a buoy was in sight, I had to tack up to it, so I felt I was swimming a bit in zig zags..  Out of the water and into the changing tent there is quite a bit of sand around when was annoying having to bike and then run with sand in the socks.  Next time I would definitely have a bottle of water in my swim bag to rice of my feet. 

The bike course is the crux of this race.  A three loop bike course with strong head/cross winds.  I would say at least 65% of each loop is in head/cross winds making it a pretty challenging course.  The course is mainly flat with a couple of 2% sections, but the winds are the challenge. Riding up the coast in the head winds you get to see a beatiful coast line with massive waves breaking on the beach.  There are plenty of aid station on the course and navigating is extremely easy.  When you get off the bike a volunteer grabs your bike and the athlete just picks up the run bag and goes to the changing tent.

The run is a three loop course heading out of town that’s flat and has many parts in the shade.  There are numerous aid stations which provide water, ice, sponges, Gatorade, gels, bananas, Pepsi, pretzels!  These were the cleanest aid stations I had ever seen.  There is a cleaner at every aid station picking up all cups and garbage tossed by athletes, really impressive and clean!  Coming into town there are hundreds of spectators cheering people on and creating a great atmosphere.

Finishing this race is an awesome experience.  The finisher shoot was fantastic.  They offer whole coconuts with a straw, pizzas, they have pools where you can take an ice bath, great massage and space blankets.  The volunteers were all amazing.  Essentially, you have a volunteer taking care of you once you’re in the shoot so you don’t need to move around. You just ask for things and you get served.

Picking up the bike/bags was really efficient.  The bikes were all racked right next to the finish line and all your bags were tied to your bike!

I would definitely go back for a perfect race vacation!