Ironman Texas vs Ironman South Africa
I recently completed both Ironman South Africa (12:43) on 2 April and Ironman Texas (11:58) on 22 April. Instead of another race report, I thought I would provide a comparison of the two races to show how different they can be even though in the end, they were both incredibly challenging events. I am proud to have completed each of them, although South Africa was vastly more memorable.
Venue – IM South Africa is held in a beach resort area (Summerstrand) of Port Elizabeth on the Southern Coast. You only had to go one mile from transition on the bike course and you were literally out of town. By contrast, IM Texas is in “The Woodlands”, a very upscale community just off I-45 north of Houston that is rapidly urbanizing.
Bike Check & Body Marking – South Africa checked your helmet stickers and your brakes at bike check in while Texas did not care. South Africa also had ZERO body marking which is typical for races under Ironman Europe portfolio. IM Texas marked although I’m not sure it is required, and a lot of people paid for their own Tri Tats. Since I have a sleeved tri-suit, I ended up with illegible, smeared markings on my forearms. I wonder if Tri Tats is paying WTC to keep body marking in North America … there is no need.
Swim – The South Africa swim is held in Nelson Mandela Bay open to the Indian Ocean…and the critters that live there. The water was 66 degrees and it was a single loop course. The swells made sighting challenging. Texas was also a single loop in a fresh water lake with water at 78.8 degrees and an optional wetsuit wave which started last. A key difference is that the Texas swim finishes in a canal which is kind of neat except for that it felt like being in a salmon run. This is where an experienced triathlete died this year very near the finish. Both races had a rolling start but South Africa paced theirs at 7 people every 7 seconds, while Texas was just a slow moving herd right into the water resulting in much greater swim density, especially since Texas is a much larger race.
Transition 1 – In South Africa there were no wetsuit strippers (which is a common theme for the races I’ve done in Europe) and you ran through transition grabbing your bags off a peg. In Texas they did have strippers for the folks who chose to wear wetsuits. In Texas, transition bags were arranged in rows and you grabbed it off the ground as you headed to the changing tent. South Africa expressly forbid any ribbons, colored tape, balloons, etc. on your transition bags while in Texas I saw all manner of special markings on the bags.
Bike – IM South Africa is a two loop out and back on rolling to hilly roads with some beautiful coastal stretches. A monkey crossed my path on the second return loop. Roads are chip seal. IM Texas is boring as all get out with about 80 miles held on the Hardy Toll Road without any trees, any wind block, or any scenery; and the roads are all concrete. Before getting up on the toll road we did go behind Southern Shingles which was representative of this route. Although Port Elizabeth is the South Africa version of the Windy City, IMTX 2017 will be remembered by most for the wind, especially the last 30 miles which was just brutal. Also, my Garmin had IMSA at 112 miles and Texas at 109.5 miles. Yep, Texas was seriously short. Another difference between the two races is the penalty for littering. Intentionally discarding trash outside of the approved zones in South Africa was a Red Card (DQ) penalty, while in Texas littering was a Blue Card (5 min) penalty.
Transition 2 – Nothing remarkable here except that in South Africa you re-racked your own bike but Texas had a volunteer take it for you. That was nice. Notably, in South Africa my Bike to Run bag was where I left it on the numbered peg, but in Texas they had completely moved the bag row from when I last checked on it that morning, and MISPLACED it. I was standing there without a gear bag for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 90 seconds, when the volunteers found it in another row.
Run – IMSA was voted as the top run venue in the world for crowd support and this was patently evident. Folks who thought the IMTX crowd support on the run was excellent really have no idea what a large crowd is. While IMSA had about 800 fewer competitors, the crowd support in Port Elizabeth put Texas to shame, and I was thinking during the run that it was depressing by comparison. IMSA was 4 loops with spectators on both sides the entire way, while IMTX was 3 loops and apart from the wonderful crowds along the canal, it was mostly deserted the rest of the course apart from the aid stations. IMTX is also 100% concrete so you really take a pounding on your legs and feet.
Announcer – Texas was my 12th IM and my very first with Mike Reilly. So I was able to see personally whether Mike lived up to his reputation. Reilly was energetic at the welcome dinner and I fist bumped him as I was heading down the ramp to start my race. At the end he quickly picked up on the fact that I flashed a five twice with my hand, then two; and announced me as a 12 time IM. Impressive. But I have to give the edge to Paul Kaye, the top IM Europe announcer. Kaye is multi-lingual and when I came down the chute in Port Elizabeth he announced that I was in the Male 60-64 age group, that I was competing for Endurance Nation, hailed from Tampa, Florida, then called me an Ironman, and then thanked me from coming all the way from the United States. However, I did find Mike R very likeable.
Logistics – IMTX is the hands down winner. Did I mention that South Africa is a looooong way away? Although I registered for Texas just 10 days before, I was able to score a very close hotel, find a good flight, rent a car, and I dropped my bike off with PremierBikeTransport just 5 days before the race. I was back at home the night after the race.
Destination Venue – Is this even a question? J Unless mall shopping is your thing, in which case I recommend The Woodlands, then South Africa is the place to go by a long shot. South Africa reminded me a lot of St Croix 70.3 and Puerto Rico 70.3 in that every other person asked if you were coming back. I didn’t get any feeling from Texas that the community cared whether Ironman stayed, and I certainly felt that a lot of them, apart from the hotels, want to see it go. South Africa also had a much better vibe before, during and after the race, particularly since a third of the field was international. As another example, cheerleaders are a big deal for races under the IM Europe umbrella. Perhaps they are considered too sexist for the U.S., but South Africa had them at the swim start (along with tribal dancers and drums), along the bike course, along the run course, and of course, lining the carpet as you finished.
Price – A toss-up. Airfare was much more expensive going to South Africa but my race entry was less than half as much as Texas (which you could have registered General Entry up to 2 days before the race), and everything else was vastly cheaper due to the exchange rate.
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