Ahh…Indiana. The Hoosier state. It was also, the home of James Dean, a man that they said must have been too good looking to be allowed to live. So, sad. The good (looking) ones go so young. It’s also (we believe) the home state to John Cougar. Who, IS still alive, by the way. But we digress.
We’re talking about Indiana because the Ironman Muncie 70.3 is coming up on Saturday, July 12th and Coeur will be there in a big way. First, we’ll have our gear in the Velo Stop booth, so swing by and pick up some love.
In addition, we have a big group racing. Three Coeur Pros are toeing the line. They are Kate Bevilaqua, Beth Shutt and Malaika Homo. We’re pulling for a Coeur podium sweep!
Ambassadors Melissa Christensen and Jacqueline Brill will also be racing, so you can be sure we’ll be glued to the computer on Saturday!
For those of you who haven’t raced Muncie, here’s a bit of information about the event.
The race has been on the Ironman circuit for only a couple of years but it has been around for quite a while. It was known as the ”Muncie Endurathon” for a while but was rebranded as the Ironman 70.3 Muncie in 2011. It’s a perfect tune up race if you’re doing Ironman Louisville (“IMLV”) and that may be one reason why defending IMLV champ Kate Bevilaqua is racing.
The cool thing about the race being around in one format or another is the fact that some of the volunteers have been working it for more than a decade. Now, all volunteers are just amazing but we’ve heard that the Muncie volunteers are aammaazzzing!
In addition, there are tons of outdoor things to do if you stick around after the race. Boat, fish, check out the Greenways or hit the local Brewhouse for some carb replacement therapy.
Here’s what will be going down “on the course”:
Swim
The 1.2 mile swim is in Prairie Creek Reservoir. Interestingly, we heard that it was wetsuit legal in 2013. If it is again, it will probably be just on the borderline and the athletes will have to decide if a “warm” suited swim is in their best interest.
The course at Muncie looks like an inverted triangle, so the athletes who look at things from a geometric standpoint will realize that it is ok to start to the far left and swim straight to the first buoy. In the past the race organizers have parked sailboats out around the course that can be used for sighting (very clever indeed). Once racers make the final turn toward home, they will be staring straight into the sun and will be glad if they wore darker goggles.
The Bike
The 56-mile bike course meanders through rural Indiana and the roads are closed to traffic (yay!).
The first six or seven miles are on county roads leaving the Prairie Creek Reservoir and reports have the pavement as being reasonably good with a few rough patches on the edges.
Around mile seven they’ll turn on to Indiana 35 which is a beautiful two lane state highway that should be in great condition. Last year athletes made a left turn onto a very narrow county road. We heard that it was either bad or really bad last year. The Race Director actually declared some of this road – about 3/4 mile long – a no passing zone. It appears that they have decided to keep the course on 35 and we think that will translate into a faster, safer and smoother ride.
While not hilly in the classic sense, but it does have enough rollers to make it fun.
The Run
We love the fact that the run course is on country roads near the lake. It’s another out and back affair and it too has rollers. Again, none that are super steep but enough so that you’ll know you got your money’s worth.
Fortunately, there are aid stations every mile and (as we mentioned) the volunteers are fantastic!
There’s a small hill toward the end of the last mile but almost immediately after the runners crest the hill, they make the left and head into the finishing chute.
So there’s our overview of the course. We’ll be cheering and if you are racing be sure to say hello to everyone wearing Coeur!