I was very impressed by how well this race was run given it was the first edition, and really suprised that it managed to sell out so the organisers certainly had their plate full having to accomodate almost 2,000 athletes with half of those first timers.
Cascais is a beautiful and charming small town just a 25min drive from Lisbon airport, cab costs around 40 euros and would suggest you pre-book (google taxi cascais) so you don't have to line up. I stayed at an airbnb and as long as you stay in town then you're pretty much within walking distance to everywhere, including all race related venues. The food is fantastic, people very warm and friendly, quite a touristy town so no problem with English.
Swim - not very easy to navigate, lots of boats in the bay and hard to see the buoys, and that's with very calm conditions, worth making a mental note of large landmarks inland to use as sighting targets. Australian exit a bit pointless in my view. Water temp around 20-21 so no problems, not much visibility in the water. Swim exit slippery so many thanks to volunteers helping us get out in one piece.
Transition smooth but quite a long run on what was rough cement at times so caution is needed if you decide to run barefoot all the way to the mounting line. Bike was super fast for the first 50kms, beautiful coastal road on great road surface (apart from a few cobble sections at roundabouts). Drafting an issue but people just need to realize it's impossible to avoid with such a large number of people coming out the water at similar times, almost pointless complaining about it these days. After 50kms we entered the hilly section and soon enough we did a loop around Estoril race course which was a nice touch, still very hilly so no chance to give the legs a rest. Once out of the race course we continued climbing and entered the national park where more hills waited. Once the hill section was done with we had a nice long descent, not too technical which meant there's little need to break even if descending is not your strong point. Once on the coastal road for the last 10kms wind is usually on your back, making a very fast ride back into town. I absolutely loved the bike course, has something for everyone and the scenery is spectacular. Not a PB leg for sure but nothing to really dread either.
On to the run which was NOT flat. There's 3 hills on each lap which means you need to go up then down 6 times in each lap. Unless mistaken, in total there were 14 climbs and 14 descents. First lap not really an issue but following such a tough bike ride the downhills especially took their toll on the quads for the second lap. Aid stations very well stocked and support amazing all throughout. Not too hot or windy, probably around 26 degrees and dry. An honest run course which if paced properly allowed for a good time.
Food at the finish not that great and we actually had to line up for 10mins or so to get our finishers t-shirt. Having said that it's probaby one of the most nicely deisgned finisher tshirts ive received! But seriously, lining up is the last thing you want to be doing after a hard 5hrs.. Also, it may have made more sense to have the street gear bags closer to the finish tent so that you don't have to walk all the way back to transition (a 15-20min uphill walk from the finish). That would also allow people to spend a bit more time around the finish area.
I didn't attend the post-race events so no comments there.
All in all I would definitely do this race again, the warmth of the people, the uniqueness of the course, the meditteranean climate, great food, proximity to major airport and easy logistics along with walking distance everywhere make this a really really great event. More importantly, you could really feel that the organisers pulled out all the stops to make this a special event for athletes, so I'm really looking forward to see how they can further improve on an already great race. I suspect this race will sell out fast for 2018 so dont leave til last minute.