Great Floridian Triathlon Race Report 2011
Hey guys - I found this on the Rocket City Triathlon Club site. Spot on with my experience at Clermont.
Great Floridian Race Report, Oct 2011
Submitted by sarahc
on Tue, 10/25/2011 - 11:52
Team Rocket Triathletes, Great Floridian race report
Parker Edmiston, wife Dawn, Mike Sparks, girlfriend Angie, Becci and I all went down for the 21st Annual Great Floridian “TOUGHER THAN IRON” Ultra. The race is put on by Sommer Sports (Fred Sommer – owner and RD). Fred has been in this business for 28 years and it shows. Everything was professionally run, organized, and well thought out. The only issue I had was that I was mistakenly given the wrong chip at check-in and did not realize it until 45 min before race start. I told Fred about it, he calmly took care of everything, went to his back-up system, and in the “final”, FINAL results had everything recorded spot-on. Fred is the perfect example of an individual 100% interested in growing the triathlon community and giving the racers a quality event for their dollar. Unfortunately, his attendance has fallen off in recent years. The ONLY reason we could see is two-fold. One, the course is VERY tough (more on that later), and the other reason, I assume is that people prefer all the HOOPLA of an M-Dot race, which is all well and good if you can afford it. M-Dot entry is now what, $650? I can’t afford that any more. I CAN however sign up before Nov 15 for the Great Floridian 2012 for $250! Plus, on top of that, Dave Nicholson had arranged a very nice 5 bdr house, with a pool for 5 nights, …I wrote a check for $180. This puts the Iron distance racing back into the neighborhood of “normal” (ha ha) people.
So, what about the course..
The swim was in beautiful Lake Mineola. Nice, clear, calm, clean water. Two loops, well marked and well supported. Transition area and change tent, as nice as anyone could want.
On to the bike… You think Florida’s flat? You’re wrong, dead wrong. This is a HILLY, three loop course. Fortunately I had spent several weekends this year going up and down Skyline, so I was ready. Being a three loop course gives you access to your bike special needs bag twice which is a very nice feature. Also, with three loops, you don’t really get bored out on one, long course. I liked it a lot. Aid stations were located at approx. 10 miles apart, stocked with water bottles, Gatorade bottles (lime), and bananas. When I go back, I will race with a camel-back as I cannot stand the taste of pre-mixed lime Gatorade. I can easily grab another pack or re-fill my camel-back at special needs.
Time for a little run… The run course, another three loop affair is entirely on a wide running trail through Clermont, winding though wooded areas, some housing areas, and around the lakes - very scenic. What a perfect run course. It is mostly flat, with a little bit of rolling hills at the far portion. Transition is situated on the run so that you have access to your run special needs bag 5 times. Aid stations on the run course were well stocked with all the usual Iron distance goods, to include the all important Chicken Broth. The aid station workers on the run course were phenomenal and went OVER and ABOVE to see that we were all taken care of. I even had one girl at an aid station come up to me with a hand full of snickers bars to offer.
There was also a Sprint distance triathlon, Intermediate distance triathlon, a (limited) Duathlon, an Aqua-bike, a 15-k run and I think a 5-k run all going on simultaneously. There really was something for everyone. There is a half-iron in April down there, that I’m sure would be outstanding. There is a current promotion for the half, three entries for the price of two.
In summation, this is an EXCELLENT RACE that should be on everyone’s calendar. Also, it’s only about 20 miles from Disney, so you can make a family trip out of it.
Rick Greif (13:33, 2nd place age group)
Rick Greif
Race Director/Heel & Crank Duathlon
TRI-101 Head Coach
Race Director/Heel & Crank Duathlon
TRI-101 Head Coach
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