This was my first time doing this race, and overall it was a great experience. As the race hotels and venues are fairly spread apart you can't expect the type of atmosphere and buzz you find in European events. That said, the locals do put their hears into it, but make sure you have Google translate handy as English is hard to get by. Food can also be an issue as the menus don't have many Western options, which is ok if you're here on holiday but not ideal before an Ironman. I would suggest you're fully self-reliant food-wise for pre-race dinner and race day breakfast. Swim is gentle and easy to sight, with a rope on your right hand side along the whole course. Bike not flat but not a tough course either as the hills are gentle and road surface good throughout. Run is mostly flat and fully-stocked aid stations every 1.6km. Was very impressed that drinks were cool throughout the day and volunteers were really great. This is an event that takes quite a bit of effort to get to, closest international airport is Busan which doesn't really have that many direct links to European or US airports, so you'll have to transit via a big Asian city airport, and then it's another 2.5hrs on the bus from the airport. Flying into Seoul is another option but then it's a 4-4.5hr bus ride to Gurye. Overall a great experience but best to be prepared for some frustration around logistics and food.