Beach2Battleship

Bwalker

I am looking to do a late fall full distance and have heard a few good things about Beach 2 Battleship.  The biggest key is that it is still open but I am wondering has anyone in the House done this race and if so what is your feedback.  If no one has done it, does anyone know anyone who has and their experiences?

Nemo Brauch

There are folks here who have done it- hopefully they will speak up. Also, do a search on "B2B" in the Race Report forum and I am pretty sure you'll find a report or two (might want to check EN3.0 too). I know a few folks who have done it and it has gotten good reviews. The swim is fast- it's brackish/salt water so you are more floaty and it's a point-to-point swim where you get to swim with the tide. The bike and run are both flat but can be windy (like IMFL but without the draft fest). The logistics seem a little tricky when you read through the website since T1 and T2 are in different locations, but from folks I've talked to the race organizers have made it pretty easy to get all your stuff where you need it so it's no big deal. The run will be a little lonely compared to most M-dot races because the field is so small, but that's the deal with small races like this. Frankly- B2B is very tempting but the time of year just sucks for training for me.

gedpayne

B2B is a great race. It is very well run. The swim is great. You are totally swimming with the current and your swim time wil amaze you. The bike is fairly flat, but the last 45 to 50 are straight into the wind, at least when I did it. The aide stations were a little mismarked, so prepare for that and special needs was about 8 miles later than it was supposed to be, but those were the only two issues to worry about and that is nothing really. The run is nice because the weather is cooler, but it is fairly hilly. It is a two loop course and you run over those bridges twice and they are steep, so the run is far from flat. It was not as lonely as others I have done that are indie races and the aide stations are very well run. I would do this race again easily.

Dave Campbell

Might want to also check out the Great Floridian in Clermont Fl. I've done 3 1/2's there and one full. Late October timeframe.

J.T. Thompson

Reach out to Pete Joachim in the haus - he did the race last year. He also posted a race report....Found it to be a good 1st iron distance race....

gopetego

Hey Brian - the 2010 version was my first full distance event. It was my first doing an event run by Set Up Events (the biggest triathlon event player in the southeast). I did a RR - so I suggest you check that out. Feel free to ask my any questions. A few things I'd note that may be helpful:

1. Alot of 1st timers do this race (due to the swim with current, flat as pancake bike and pretty flat run). However, the swim in 2010 was against current and colder than usual - but this was solely for the later than usual November date. Its 2 weeks earlier in 2011 so those 2 cons should not exist.

2. Logistics ran smoothly - I got everything back and T2 include special needs bag. Morning set up and ride to beach went smoothly. Its not Ironman so everything is just alot easier to get done from packet pickup, bike rack, T1 / T2 Tent, etc.

3. Swim in large bay makes for less contact than an Ironman event. A reverse "L" shapped course is nice. But water could be choppy.

4. Bike is flat on nice roads once you get out of town onto highway. Sometimes it felt not like a race since we all got spread out quickly. obviously winds can play a factor depending on luck of the day.. My day was nice. The beginning of bike and end of bike were the least favorite sections but 90% was very nice.

5. T2 is very congested w/alot going on - just be aware.

6. Run is decent with boring sections, great sections in town, and quiet / lonely sections in park. 2 loops.

7. Biggest con was for spectators getting back & forth from downtown to T2/Finish area. Not enough boats. There is a HIM going on as well.

8. Finish area amenities were very good.

9. Volunteers Spectators were fine but not quite Ironman level - mostly kids rather than next year's participants who know a little more about what your going thru on race day

They've done this race 3yrs now - so they 've worked out most issues for athletes. I would do it again.

Pete

Nemo Brauch

Great summary Pete! Thanks!

Rich_B

Brian, I have never done it but will be signing up for it this week.  I rsearched it quite a bit and compared it to Redman and Great Floridian.  Almost everything I came across was positive.  BT has about 20 good race reports on it, ST has a few pretty good threads in the archive as well.  That is in addition to anything else you can pull from those in da haus! For me it was a reasonably simple decision.  After melting at IMLOU, IMAZ and IMTX, i want to do a colder climate IM race.  I should get that in late October in North Carolina.  Plus the race coordination sounds excellent even with the split transitions and the coarse seems reasonably fast.  So I'm in. 

Paul Hough

@ Dave - Great Floridian is still late October, but the Challenge 1/2 has been moved from Sep to mid-June (June 12 this year). That's the only 1/2 in Clermont. I've done the Aqua-Bike portions of both for IM training. No way would I select GFT for a serious IM effort unless you are really into the "loneliness of the long distance runner" and have a penchant for hills. B2B sounds much better.