St Croix 70.3 Race Report - chasing Lance in the rain!
St Croix 70.3 Race Report. Dateline: May 6, 2012.
The Short Version – 5:27:03 for 5th in my age group. Tough swim, treacherous bike course with steep hills, topped off by a hilly run in high humidity. Rain was the order of the day resulting in a high rate of flat tires and a lot of wipe outs. St Croix had 30 Kona slots and 30 Vegas slots so the level of competition was incredible. I picked up a cold 2 nights before the race, had my goggles kicked off twice, dropped my chain twice and had front derailleur problems throughout the ride, but still managed a decent performance. I was satisfied. Eight minutes faster would have netted 2nd, but still not in the same zip code as the winner for my age. To paraphrase the Soup Nazi- “No Kona for you!” Saw Lance.
The Long Version – This report is especially for those possibly interested in ever racing St Croix. This is a very small race with a storied history in the sport. It is licensed rather than WTC-owned and has many differences from a typical 70.3 This year they had only 575 registered for the Half and 100 more for a sprint that starts right after; and those numbers were apparently up 125 from the previous year (and not because of Lance). Travel to St Croix is a little tricky so people come either because they are seeking a Kona slot or because they want to race one of the toughest courses out there. There’s not much I can add to what has already been said on how hard this is so I’m going to quote an old race report from Michigan Bike Sports.
“The St. Croix 70.3 Triathlon features “The Beast”. This is the hill notorious for being one of the most difficult climbs in the sport of triathlon. St. Croix isn’t just about “The Beast”, the hill with grades up to 27%. The Ford Ironman 70.3 St. Croix is a conspiracy of difficulties packed into a 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 mile run. The conspiracy creates a concentration of difficulties tough to find in any other five half Ironmans around the world making St. Croix arguably the hardest single 1/2 Ironman on earth. Take the toughest swim from any 70.3 race, the toughest bike course and the hottest, hardest run and put them together in paradise and you have St. Croix. It is so much more than just a hill called The Beast. While the hype centers on the hill they call “The Beast” the real character of the course starts with a choppy swim against a noticeable current, an absolutely savage bike course and a grating run that uses heat and hills to slow competitors to a pace-killing grind. You won’t set a P.R. in St. Croix. You will test the limits of your tenacity, bike handling skills, determination and fitness.”
Race Morning – I used Endurance Sports Travel for this trip and stayed at the King Christian hotel which is about 50 yards from transition which opened at 5am. Below is the view of transition and the swim start from my hotel room on Saturday morning.
This is how it looked on race morning as we swam from transition to the race start on Cay Island.
They had problems from the get-go. Body marking was simply not working in the rain and a backlog was building at the entrance until the race director relented and gave up on body marking altogether. So you could not tell anyone’s age out on the course. Likewise, the paper bike numbers disintegrated off of everyone’s bike in the first 5 miles. After 24 years in the tropics you would think they might have learned to set up a tent for body marking and get fiber numbers (which they used for the race belt) that don’t melt in the rain. Despite the race’s history, these little things made me think it was amateur hour on the island. Bikes are not racked until race morning and it’s open racking at your assigned age group pole. I set up my bike and walked the 50 yards back to my hotel (sweet).
Swim – At 6am we were directed to swim to the race start which is on a small island about 250 yards from transition. They had water to drink over there so I took a gel with me since my wave start was not until 6:45. The rain had lightened up at this point, but we could see the real nasty clouds rolling over ridge on the other side. The wind was picking up and we were actually cold waiting for the start. Watched the pro’s go and got ready for my start. The swim is a strange course that combines a hook and a triangle, and requires excellent navigation skills. It is a beach start that takes you around a curving track before it shoots out of the harbor on a long straight line…the first leg of the triangle. Right off the bat, I had the crap kicked out of me and felt like I was in a full IM. I started in the middle but somehow got pushed into the ropes and had my left goggle knocked off twice. I went anaerobic quickly but then settled down as we headed out of the harbor. This is where the chop really picks up until you make a 60 degree turn back. However, the distance between buoys on the 2nd leg of the triangle is much greater than the first, the color is the same throughout, and now you were seeing the buoys from the sprint tri which turned earlier and comes across the triangle…naturally the same color. Immediately, I could see people heading to the middle of the triangle because they were locking onto the sprint buoy. There were opportunities to swim the course each day at 11am (for 1 hour only) on Wed, Thu and Fri. I swam the full course on Thursday and did it again on Friday simply because I needed work on the navigation. Lots of people added time to their swim because of this. I heard the race director tell someone who was complaining about it on Thursday that “navigation is part of the race.” I thought it was ridiculous. But to give them the benefit of the doubt, they probably can’t afford any more race buoys. At least the turn buoys were a different color. At the next turn you are swimming along the Fort and, holy cow, I was swimming against the current again. I had no idea how that happened, but it was noticeable. At the swim exit, they literally have to pull you up out of the water onto a ramp they built…there were no steps. I swam a slow 38 minutes then ran through the mud pit known as transition to my bike.
Bike – with on and off heavy rain, the bike course was as treacherous as it was hilly. Again, no need to rewrite what has already been reported. Ironman.com said this: “The St. Croix Ironman 70.3 was held on Sunday in some of the toughest conditions ever. Oscar Galindez, the 40 year-old Argentinian who has raced here many, many times proclaimed as such. But, it wasn't the "3 H's" that struck this year (heat, humidity, and hills),it was the rain. After several days of on again, off again rain, everyone was hoping the roads would dry up overnight, and minimize the huge puddles throughout this already very difficult course. It was not to be.” And from Dev Paul on SlowTwitch: “There were people flatting, and crashing all over the place. The rain was really heavy at times, and there were many puddles that were 808 rim deep. There was one massive lake that spanned the entire road that was hub deep where lots of people went down on.” Fortunately, it was virtually a closed course and practically the entire police force was out along with spectators everywhere. In 56 miles, I only saw two vehicles on the course and one was an ambulance heading to a downed rider.
I hadn’t gone 2 miles when I started seeing some folks with flats. The road quality down there is really bad, but apparently the rain was putting debris all over the place. For me though, the problem came with my front derailleur. I dropped my chain at about 3 miles into the course and spun it backwards to get it on without stopping. In the process, I think I kicked my derailleur or somehow caused it to slip and found that I could not get it back on the big ring. After struggling with it for several miles, it popped back up so I decided not to use the small ring until the Beast. I was on a compact crank (unless you are a pro, anything else on this course is stupid) so while it wasn’t optimal, I managed in the big ring and tried to keep my watts in control. About 20 yards before the turn up the Beast, I shifted down, dropped the chain and twisted it bad. It took me two minutes to get it unjammed and then start the climb from a cold start. The Beast itself is marked in 1/10th mile increments and the various grades are marked all over. I’ve read a lot of conflicting information about the actual grade and the truth is that it varies. There are switchbacks where the inside corners are 24% and 25% but you can go wide and hold it down to a mere 19%. The steepest section that you could not avoid was marked 21.6%. Regardless, it was a 7/10th mile climb at supermax Zone 6 V02. In short, I was sucking wind like there was no tomorrow. As I crested I worked the front derailleur hard and was able to shift up, but for the rest of the ride I was getting a lot of shadow shifting on the rear cassette due to the twist in my chain. Didn’t matter, because I was screaming downhill in the rain … then my rear brake went out so I was pumping the front to stay alive. Technical bike handling skills are a plus on this course!
Once you got down the mountain, the course was relatively easy (apart from all the flooded culverts streaming across the road) until mile 38 at which the course is an unending series of steep hills rounding the coastline. I think I could have opened a bike store with all the spare tubes, tubulars, and bike parts that littered the road from all the bumps. Meanwhile, I was just praying for my drivetrain to hold together and was whispering love poems to my tires to get me back to T2. For the record, I was riding Bonty Aero R4s with latex tubes. I did not even install my race tires until the afternoon before the race.
I made a clean dismount coming into T2 but my bike slid right out of my hand on the wet road…that’s embarrassing, but at least I didn’t fall. So I was especially careful coming into the transition chute which looked like it was part of a Muddy Buddy competition. I made a quick change and headed out onto the course in time to see Andy Potts with about a mile to go. I didn’t recognize Stephan Poulat, but then saw Lance - with no chance - at that point. By this time, the rain was down to an on-and-off drizzle and I was praying it would stay overcast. The humidity was sky high, but it would have been a death march if the sun had come out. It was a two loop out and back course with rolling hills and some cross-country on a gravel golf course path around the Buccaneer Resort.. There were two really steep hills on the loop (one short, one longer) that I walked each time. I held 8:29 pace the first loop and 8:37 the second so was fairly consistent. I did not want a new personal worst after my 5:28:03 at San Juan, so was happy to cross the line at 5:27:03 – exactly one minute faster on a much tougher course. Success!
So, how does this licensed race compare to others? Let’s compare.
Schwag – Mixed score here. My race packet included a cotton T-shirt which my daughter swiped, one packet of GU, a small sampler of Mango Rum, a plastic bottle opener, and a lot of local ads. Considering that we were gouged at packet pick up for a $15 Virgin Islands sanctioning fee (your USAT card doesn’t buy you out of this) I think they could have done better. The finisher’s medal was nice though -- an island original…a wood carved M dot with the St Croix logo. It’s light, but definitely unique. No finisher’s hat…you had to buy those at the expo.
Expo – none. They had a sad little Ironman store with very little stuff … mostly a collection of T-shirts, some St Croix tri-gear that didn’t match, and a very limited supply of bike products. You were allowed to buy 2 CO2 cartridges if you needed them. Pack what you need folks, and don’t expect to buy anything you’ve forgotten.
Carbo dinner – St Croix wins this hands down. Your entry includes a $13 ticket (treated as cash) good at any of a dozen or so participating restaurants on Friday night which was part of the Jump Up street festival. Basically, you went to a restaurant, ordered what you wanted, then enjoyed the festival which went from 6 to 9pm. They had bands around downtown playing calypso music, all shops open, sales, food vendors, Jumbies (costumed stilt performers who ward off evil spirits), and so on. They only do this four times a year, and the race is one of them. My daughter loved it and I would say it was the highlight of the trip.
Awards banquet – A complete and utter rip-off. It was included in your entry fee but was $30 for family members and guests. The location was at Divi Carina Bay, an exclusive resort out on the southeast end of the island. Having already eaten great food for under $30 a head at nice restaurants we were expecting something nice, but arrived to find insufficient seating, a buffet line (one pass only) with hamburgers, chicken patties, cole slaw, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and punch. It took a lot of gall to charge $30 for that. If you have family members, my advice would be to go to the resort without tickets, skip the buffet, and walk into the Starlight Grille restaurant in the hotel and order off the menu. You will be able to sit down in air conditioning, and eat a heck of lot better. Else wise, expect to stand and swelter while you eat your hamburger. What a downer that was!
Slots – as noted earlier, the race had 30 Kona and 30 Vegas slots. We all assumed that the winner would have their choice, but they were allowed to take both if they wanted. That didn’t seem right, but only a couple of people did, and most winners took Kona only with number two getting Vegas. We watched one Vegas slot make it to 4th and one to 5th … always fun to see someone score at roll-down.
The island itself- the coast and the water are stunningly beautiful. This is snorkeling and diving paradise. But St Croix is extremely poor; virtually a third world country. Christiansted where the race is held is a small town and the tourist area (read safe zone) is only about 3 x 4 blocks. We would not go out of that area at night. The King Christian hotel where we stayed had large rooms, but was like a Motel 6 with a Grand Hyatt view. It also had a beautifully renovated interior courtyard with an infinity pool. The pro’s were drug tested here after the race since it was so close. A new hotel just behind ours looks close to opening and there were other renovations going on along the boardwalk on the tourist area. There is a seaplane port at the end of the boardwalk with 3 rental car agencies. So while I was being shuttled around by Endurance Sports Travel, I rented a car for one day to do some other sightseeing. They drive on the left hand side, but I’ve lived in England so this was not new. We drove over to Point Udall for photos of the southeastern most spot of the United States, and deep into the rain forest to feed the beer-drinking pigs. I think the last part speaks for itself, so all I will say is that it was worth every penny and we laughed our asses off watching the spectacle.
Overall, the race was just different from the others I’ve done on so many levels. I met people who have been back year after year, and others like me who just wanted to race on a legendary course and were secretly hoping for a Kona spot. I’m glad for the experience and to join a long line of people who have raced at St Croix. This is definitely one of those races that folks have to do at least once in their life.
Comments
Sounds brutal Paul, but also sounds like all the experience/training paid off regardless of the humidity, hills, waves, chain drops etc....
Super fine performance/report! Sincere congratulations!
Way to lead IM!
SS