By John Boel
If you had to design an Ironman triathlon course around the city of Louisville, what would you do? For the past several months, since the surprise announcement that the real Ironman brand was coming to Louisville, race organizers have been tackling that interesting math problem: how to insert a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run around greater Louisville.
The first decision was easy. The transition area has to be the Great Lawn. As I wrote in a previous column, the first time I ever saw the Great Lawn, I said ‘that place is made for a triathlon transition area.' The second decision was brilliant. Set up the finish line at 4th Street Live. That way, friends and family have a nightspot as cool as anyplace in the country to while away the hours waiting for loved ones to stagger across the cherished line.
The third decision was a no-brainer. Make the run course similar to the route that's become one of the most popular half-marathons in the nation. Basically, we're running out to Iroquois Park and back twice, without actually enduring the hills in the park. It's very similar to the Derby Festival Mini-Marathon, as we largely use 3rd street and Southern Parkway. It's flat, fast and already proven as one of our community's pillars when it comes to neighborhood support for an important event.
The next decision was predictable and wise. Take the cyclists out along the scenic Ohio on River Road and U.S. 42 to Oldham County and back. But having just sampled them, the two loops, roughly bordered by highways 393, 146, 153 and 42, are going to be an issue. The final decision was tricky. Louisville is not next to an ocean, or even a big lake. We're stuck with a river. Rivers have current. And 2.4 miles is tough enough without dealing with current.
One of the ideas that was ‘floated' early on was taking all 2,200 plus swimmers 2.4 miles upstream on a couple of barges and, in something vaguely similar to an “Escape From Alcatraz” triathlon, dump us off and have us swim all the way back with the current. But the final decision was made to have one long loop, starting and finishing in front of Joe's Crab Shack and extending all the way up to the other side of Towhead Island. I never realized 2.4 miles was that long. Throw in 2,200 thrashing humans and current in your face for the first half, and it's extremely intimidating. I sure wish they could have gone with a straight downstream swim. When Tri-America did that one year in its Louisville triathlon, I chopped 13 minutes off my normal time for a mile. “We did consider that idea initially,” says Blair LaHaye from Ironman headquarters. “We decided upon what we believe is the safest swim course to take athletes from start to finish. We are working with the Army Corps of Engineers to control the flow of the river.”
It also occurred to me that shutting down U.S. 42 from River Road all the way out to highway (Ky.) 153 could pose a major traffic nightmare. LaHaye says Ironman will stick with the same approach they always have used. “Our priority is athlete safety and all roads will be closed to vehicle traffic. However, it is impossible to keep all vehicles off the course. We will be blocking in some homes and there will be folks that need to leave their home on race day so we are communicating with all of those residents so they are aware of road closures and race day athlete traffic."
Jeff Schneider, of the Louisville Sports Commission, was hugely instrumental in landing an Ironman event here. He's personally watched the world championship in Kona, as well as the Arizona Ironman. And he just raced in the Florida Ironman 70.3 event. I asked him how the Louisville course stacks up. “I believe the Ford Ironman Louisville event will be tougher,” he replied. “Why? It's Aug. 26, which in Louisville means heat and humidity. And heat and humidity can take its toll on the very best, especially when you could be on the course for 17 hours. With that said, I believe our race is fair to the people who put in the training. Kona had rollers on the bike, but nothing compared to what they will see on highway 1694. Arizona had the wind, but I'd take the wind over heat and humidity. And in Florida, the bike strangled me with the never-ending up and downs of a seemingly flat bike course.”
Schneider helped in the planning of the course here as well. “The only real obstacle has been the swim and parts of the bike course. At first we wanted to do a point-to-point (downstream) swim, but that couldn't work because there was no logical place off of River Road to start. So now it's up and back. And parts of the road in Oldham County had too many hairpin turns and narrow roads. The easiest part of the course will be the run — that is if you can transition from the bike. It's a fairly flat course to Iroquois Park and back twice. What we now have is a challenging, but fair, course.”
I walked out of swim training this morning and a guy behind asked me if I was going to do Ironman Louisville. I said yes. When I asked him if he is too, he told me he had already signed up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene, but because this is the inaugural event in Louisville, he signed up for this one too. That's two Ironmans in two months for a guy just like me. He doesn't know much about the Louisville course at all. But he's got the fever. And so do I.
I just need to try to convince Jeff, Blair, and the others to change the swim to a straight downstream path.
