Hardman full distance 31 Aug 2019

rodneyr1981

So I'm sure there are a few from these parts who have raced the hardman full distance.
What are people's views?
Looks like a decent option for a late summer full distance race without the expense and hassle of going abroad.
I expect it's obviously hilly but roads decent?

peter kern

if you want a razz matazz , red carpet at finsih line and draft on the bike stay away.and go to cork as you will enjoy that more.



if you want to do a simple honest race with a friendly spirit its an awesome race and you will love it, there is one aid station where you pick up your own nutriton and there is another table after 135 k no frills but nothing missing either if you plan it well.


Its definitely not for everybody but thats a good thing.
very honest course chopyish lake swim, fastish bike course if you are fit ( if you dont draft in both i would think hardman about 10 min slower on the bike than barcelona for a 5 hour cyclist, its hilier but hardman course is a few, k short as it uses the ring of kerry) run is undulating but nice.

what i love you rock up into transiton in the morning non rack your bike the day before stuff and packing stuff in bags ,no traffic jams on race morning around transitons , just like most local triathlons which allows you to cycle from hotel or campsite and do a bit of a bike warm up or park your car 200 meter from transiton.

what be a bit annoying is that you have to slow down a bit when you go through 3 towns after 90 120 and 155or so k that can cost you 1-4 min on the bike.( personally it cost me maybe 1 min to 90 sec but i guess the laster you pass the more traffic)



2017 when i did it there was some bad parts of road into kenmare ( i have no idea if that has improved thats about 15 k or so, someobdy with more recent knowledege might chime in ) . i they did quite a lot of work on the ring of kerry 2018 and the suface is in parts almost europe fast now ( mainly in the 2nd half of the course) its not barcelona smooth but for irish standards very good ). the nice thing the few times you go out of the aero postion the landscape is great at the same time form 30 to 175 k you might spend 5 -7min out of the tri bars.



there is 1000 euro for course record and 1000 euro for sub 9 or sub 10 for female on offer this year.

rodneyr1981

peter kern wrote: »

if you want a razz matazz , red carpet at finsih line and draft on the bike stay away.and go to cork as you will enjoy that more.



if you want to do a simple honest race with a friendly spirit its an awesome race and you will love it, there is one aid station where you pick up your own nutriton and there is another table after 135 k no frills but nothing missing either if you plan it well.


Its definitely not for everybody but thats a good thing.
very honest course chopyish lake swim, fastish bike course if you are fit ( if you dont draft in both i would think hardman about 10 min slower on the bike than barcelona for a 5 hour cyclist, its hilier but hardman course is a few, k short as it uses the ring of kerry) run is undulating but nice.

what i love you rock up into transiton in the morning non rack your bike the day before stuff and packing stuff in bags ,no traffic jams on race morning around transitons , just like most local triathlons which allows you to cycle from hotel or campsite and do a bit of a bike warm up or park your car 200 meter from transiton.

what be a bit annoying is that you have to slow down a bit when you go through 3 towns after 90 120 and 155or so k that can cost you 1-4 min on the bike.( personally it cost me maybe 1 min to 90 sec but i guess the laster you pass the more traffic)



2017 when i did it there was some bad parts of road into kenmare ( i have no idea if that has improved thats about 15 k or so, someobdy with more recent knowledege might chime in ) . i they did quite a lot of work on the ring of kerry 2018 and the suface is in parts almost europe fast now ( mainly in the 2nd half of the course) its not barcelona smooth but for irish standards very good ). the nice thing the few times you go out of the aero postion the landscape is great at the same time form 30 to 175 k you might spend 5 -7min out of the tri bars.



there is 1000 euro for course record and 1000 euro for sub 9 or sub 10 for female on offer this year.

Very interesting thanks Peter. Another pro is not having to sign up 12 months in advance and there is a lot to be said for it as a low cost option for an end of season race.
The TI calender is out on the 22nd so see how things pan out

griffin100

I’ve done it 4 times so must like it - including the first year when there was only a handful of us and we did the ROK the ‘right way around’ - now they do it the ‘wrong way.’ My race reports for each year are around here somewhere if you want me to link to them.

It’s a brilliant race with no bullsh1t. Honest course, swim can be tough, road surfaces can be rough in parts, you can get stuck in traffic, weather is unpredictable (I last did it in 2016 when it rained for the entire bike and we had gael force winds) but there’s nothing like it in Ireland I’d say.

It can be a bit rough and ready and you won’t get any pampering but you can enter, drive down the day before and be back home the day after the race for the same cost as just entering an IM branded race. The organiser is always available and contactable and they can be flexible / relaxed about any issues you might have.

I’m doing IM Cork next year but fully plan on doing Hardman as well.

trainerman

Couldn't agree more with the 2 posts above - I've done it twice now and will do again in the future. Low key, very relaxed atmosphere which I like. Swim is in the lake from the golf club and has been perfect both times I did it - rising sun can prove a bit tricky heading to the 2nd buoy. Not sure I'd consider the bike course fast but that could just be me! Be prepared to spend most of the bike on your own, I could probably count on one hand the amount of others I saw on the bike course. I think they've resurfaced the decent from Molls Gap which was the worst part of the roads when I did it last. They've changed T2 from previous years but by all accounts it works well enough. Run is 3 loops, bit up and down but nothing major. All in all would highly recommend!:)