Ford Ironman Florida Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Cody H.
Denver, CO

  (11-09-2011)

"Background: This was my first Ironman and one of the greatest experiences of my life. Fourth season of doing triathlons, I've finished four 70.3 distance races and a handful of sprints and olympics; also completed three marathons. I signed up for IMFL in December 2010 and started training in earnest in February 2011 for nine full months. In the season leading up to IMFL, I raced Escape from Alcatraz, Chicago Triathlon (Oly), Boulder 70.3, and Harvest Moon Long Course.

Pre-Race: Arrived in Panama City Beach (PCB) the Wednesday evening before the Saturday race. Athlete check-in on Thursday followed by athlete dinner and race meeting. The great thing about IMFL and the small city of PCB is that the event consumes the entire town. Athletes are constantly swimming, biking and running all over - it's a very cool atmosphere. Friday was bike check-in and transition bag drop off - all very quick and efficient.

Race Morning: Definitely take advantage of the shuttle from the Wal-Mart to start/finish/transition - lots of parking, two buses make for short lines, drop off is less than a 1/4 mile from transition. Not worth trying to get dropped off or park near the start. Plenty of body markers, quick entrance into transition, LONG lines for the bathrooms. I did not bring a pump, but make a friend in transition and ask to borrow, plenty of people sharing. Inside tip for finding a bathroom: since the transition area and swim start are at the Boardwalk Beach Hotel, find a room with an open door and ask to borrow the bathroom, plenty of people willing to share. Head down to the water for the pro start, national anthem, and take a moment to reflect. Despite all the nerves and excitement, there is a calm before the start.

Swim: 2-lap, ocean swim. The best way to describe an IM swim start is hand-to-hand combat in the water. The first quarter of the swim, out to the first turn, is wall to wall people. Luckily the surf was calm and the current was a light right to left. After the first lap, you come out of the water, up onto the beach and over a timing mat before heading back in for lap two. Take a minute to find your spectators, give a wave and a thumbs up - they'll appreciate it. Lap 2 is much more gentle and you actually swim, as opposed to just push off of people.

T1: In a word: chaos. The changing area is not nearly big enough and the adrenaline is high. Find a square foot of ground and get down to business. Find a volunteer and ask them to put your wetsuit, goggles and cap in your bag and get out as quickly as possible. Sunscreen and bathrooms are outside the changing area.

Bike: Flat? Yes. Windy? Yes. Boring? Hey, it's 112 miles what do you expect. Other than the first out and back around mile 55-60, the roads are impeccable (compared to Colorado). Bike special needs was well organized and very quick. Aid stations were every 10 miles, well stocked with volunteers, provisions and 2-3 porta-potties with bike racks. If you have to use the bathroom, do the math between the number of porta-potties and number of racked bikes. The aid station after special needs had the lowest bike to pottie ratio (special needs was the highest). Last five miles of the bike are brutal. Massive headwind coming through town and every tall condo building creates a wind tunnel right in your face...plus, you're a little tired of riding.

T2: Much better than T1, plenty of space to sit and plenty of volunteers to help you. Make sure to thank your volunteer on the way out.

Run: The support on the run course is AWESOME. The first 2-3 miles are packed with people and since the course is 2 laps out and back, you get 8-12 miles of distraction from the pain. The turnaround at the far end of the run (in the state park) is a bit desolate and gives you the opportunity to reflect on your day. The run course is even flatter than the bike course and other than some annoying turns and doubling back is very straightforward. Aid stations are well stocked with water, Perform, flat cola, soup, cookies and snacks. Eat early and eat often. Starting around mile 20 or 21, the crowds are massive and loud...let the excitement carry you. About 1/2 a mile from the finish, you run past the 1/2 marathon turn around and into a very LONG finishing shoot. The crowds thin a bit and then build again about 250m from the finish line. The more excited you are, the more the crowd cheers...play to the crowd. Then, before you know it, you hear the six greatest words ever: "Cody Holloway, you are an Ironman"

Post-race: Great catchers at the finish line, 2 per person for the most part. Food tent had pizza, fruit, cookies, water, soda and Perform. I finished just before sunset and within 15 minutes was freezing, be careful. Head inside the Boardwalk Beach Hotel to sit and get warm. Sign up for a massage, if only to lay down with a blanket over you.

Post-post-race: One of the great Ironman traditions is the last hour of the race. After a hot shower, a nap and some food, go back for the midnight party. Cheer in the final finishers of the day and countdown the last 10 sec to 17 hours...try not to get emotional.

Other: Yes, PCB is not a fine dining mecca, not even close. We ate twice at Bonefish Grill and once at Saltwater, both sub-par. Breakfast/brunch was at Another Broken Egg, nothing special here either. Rent a condo and do most of your eating in. The Publix grocery store is huge and has good quality food (yogurts, granolas, fruits, Mix1, etc). Finally, and quite possibly the most important thing to note, the ONE Starbucks is at the far west end of town in the Pier Park shopping area...you're welcome."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2011

Gregory L.
San Francisco, CA

  (03-10-2010)

"This was my first ironman, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

On race day, I was up at 4AM, was able to fall asleep a bit before 10PM the night before, so was happy with 6 solid hours of sleep. Ate two bowls of yogurt + granola, drank a bottle of Gatorade, prepared bike water bottles, and made a bunch of PB+J's to munch on leading up to the race. Relaxed, flushed the pipes, and grabbed the last of my stuff.

Got to the transition area and it was pitch black outside. Triathletes all over the place along w/ their entourages. There was a calm silent feel, maybe something like the eye of a storm. Made last minute preparations for the bike, I'd recommend you to bring your own bike pump the morning of the race. Otherwise you might be scrambling around to use one of the provided (which there definitely aren\'t enough of).

Headed down to the beach around 6:25, threw on the wetsuits and were on the way to the start area around 6:40.

Pros go off at 6:50AM. The cannon is absolutely heart shaking. National Anthem gets sung, then the countdown begins. My buddy Paul and I lined up towards the right side in the middle of the pack. For the last time, we ask each other, "What the hell are we doing here?" A quick fist pound, them BAM! Our cannon goes off, the energy was infectious. Paul slips through a few people, and there goes the hope of ever seeing him on the swim again. There's something addictive about rushing into the water w/ 2000+ other people, knowing everyone's put in so much time and effort just to get here. I was preparing for a full on fight through the water, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Sure I got swam over a couple times, and bumped into enough, but not too bad overall. Sighting early and often for people, and swimming in almost full catch up style did wonders for keeping me going in the right direction. I've never swam in such a large pack before, but the pull of such a large group is just amazing. The gulf water is clear and warm, so life is good, just gotta watch out for those jellyfish, which I didn't see any of.

I would recommend to anyone doing a swim w/ a large mass start to stay clear of the buoys during a turn. I got a bit tight on a turn which resulted in a good kick to the face and almost lost the googles. Rest of the first loop was pretty uneventful, came out of the water at about 38 min, which is right on target for me and my floppy left arm stroke. Quickly we all run over the timing mat, and back into the water. I really tried to enjoy the second loop as it's probably the best I'd feel all day. Found a couple good feet to draft behind during the second loop, and came out of the 2 loops at 1:17:00 and feeling pretty fresh. Works for me!

T1 was pretty uneventful, the most exciting part was my first wetsuit stripper experience. I never knew a wetsuit could come off so quickly! Onto the bike!

Florida is as flat as it gets. My strategy was to stay in the small front gear for the first 40 miles to gauge how the body feels. Miles 0-30 felt pretty good. Then we hit a BIG headwind. Speed was dropping into the 15MPH range. After we hit special needs at mile 50, we did a quick turn, then hit the biggest tailwind of the race. For a good 10-15 miles, it was effortless pedaling to hit 25MPH. Next challenge was I needed to pee. To anyone who has spoken w/ me about the race, they know one of my big concerns was where to pee during the bike. The dilemma is that you're supposed to use the porta-johns are the aid stations, but they can have long lines, and I had heard of people needing to wait 15-20 min to go. Others actually pee themselves, which is something I don't think I could ever do :). Finally around mile 70 I find a decent clearing and boy, that could've been the longest pee of my life. The rest of the bike was pretty uneventful, spent most of the time worrying about my nutrition and getting pumped up for the run. Off the bike in a little over 6 hours.

T2 was quick and easy, just tried to get as much nutrition in my system as possible.

My goal was to get started on the run in under 8 hours so if I ran a decent marathon, I'd have a shot at hitting my goal of finishing in under half a day. The run course is also pancake flat, pretty well supported being that it's a two loop course. The first half of the first loop goes real well, legs are feeling strong, but I'm struggling a bit to keep my pace down to make sure I don't blow up later. Because of a slight nutrition error and not eating enough during T2, I have to start on my gels sooner than I would ideally want to. I paid for this later. Coming back to the finish to complete the first lap, I'm holding a good pace, and am exactly where I want to be. Only problem is I'm starting to get sick of eating my gels cause I started on them early. I get to special needs, grab even more gels, and continue on. In hindsight I should've had another odwalla bar stashed in special needs. When I get to mile 15 I BONK. After almost passing out from hunger, and walking for a few min, I get to an aid station and absolutely dominate the chocolate chip cookies. Took a few minutes to get them digested but once they were, I started feeling MUCH better. The new protocol was run to an aid station, take fluids/food while walking to the end of the aid station, and repeat oh about 10 more times. As I approached the finish line I started to feel a wave of excitement unlike anything I've felt in a long time (perhaps even dating all the way back to my first marathon in 1999). And then I hear my name "Gregory Lou, you are an ironman!!!"

Perfect day, perfect weather, pretty much a perfect first ironman experience. Highly recommended!"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

alan m.
Branford, CT

  (08-22-2009)

"What you need to know:

There is no such things as an easy Ironman. When you get it in your head there is such a thing, repeat this phrase.

The swim: IM Florida is an ocean swim. So it can be a little hard predicting what you'll be in for on race day. The water is clean and clear. Sight lines on this course can be hard to maintain.

Transition. The transition area is in front of the beach the swim is on, in a parking lot. They have changing tents but it's quicker to change where you pick up your bag then run through the tent for sun screen.

Bike- the first 40 miles of the bike are flat. After that. It's kinds of flat but if you do this race a second time you'll realise flat is not as flat as you've cracked it up to be,

The run- the run is as flat as you think the bike is.

I'll re-iterate my first point here. There is no such thing as an easy Ironman. I've done this race twice and seen it four (five ?) other times. Epic meltdowns on the run in the late-day heat are not uncommon.

I hear a lot of people saying that they went to Florida to put a fast time, and you can certainly do that if you manage the race well. The bike and run are good for first-time ironman distance athletes. The swim ? Not necessarily. It depends.

The swim: Another two-loop swim, Florida has advantages and disadvantages as an open water swim. One big advantage is that you have the whole beach (or at least the part they corral off) to start your swim in, so it's not a chum tank like the start of Lake Placid. The salt water is buoyant so this can be a fast course.

However, if it's windy, the course can be hard to sight on and you could end up swimming a couple hundred extra yards over the two loops as you try to stay on target.

The bike: The only reason I don't give this course a five is the bike. It's not the course, although there was some road after about 60 miles that ought to have been paved or patched. It's the athletes who cheat.

Of all the races I've done, this is the one where there is the most drafting, and it's really frustrating to have a train of 30 people pass you, drop, build up the speed you need to pass them all back again, and have them just ride you down again. Some people have no pride...

The course is flat- relative to the distance. However, it's not board flat. Ironically, one of the two big climbs is at the special needs bag. I've gotten away from using special needs on the bike in part because of this race. Stopping partway up a hill just seems like a bad idea.

After 40+ miles, there is a little climbing. Also, on the back half of the course there are some sloping sections.

And There's one other factor that can play havok with you goal of an IM bike PR- wind. On a windy day, the course will take more out of you than you think.

You come back in on the same basically flat roads you went out on, riding back in along the ocean to transition.

The two loop run is flat. The big hill ? Crossing the road- if you've done this race, you know what I mean. Fan support and aid stations on this run are, like all IM (WTC) races, great. There are people all over the course, out in the neighbourhoods and even in the park. You will not be alone on this run, and you may need the support.

You loop back through the venue at the end of the first loop and back out again and you wind through 13 miles. It's all out and back so the run really seems like four sections, making it very, very manageable.

They have moved the finish back down on the road, which increases fan support and makes for a nice straight finish.

I think this is a great race.

I also hear a lot of comments from people about the course lacking beauty. People have told me they wouldn't come back because it's boring and there's nothing to look it.

Maybe it's just because I live in New England, but Florida in November ? Shorts in November ? The weather is usually great (not always, but...). There's sun, sand and palm trees on the run and lots of smiling faces, and the bike course, well, the one section on the highway is a little blah, but there's nothing wrong with the scenery. It's green off the sides of the road- it's not like you're biking past strip-malls or struggling with city streets. And the ocean is spectacular.

Besides- you came to do an Ironman, right ? I think everyone has different expectations and if you've done Lake Placid, it's true Florida is not going to knock you out, but it may not be as blah as advertised."

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2008

Paul M.
san francisco, CA

  (06-26-2009)

"This race meets its reputation - it is a flat race that was good for a first time ironman like me. But gosh, it is not pretty, nor exciting... I would be hard pressed to do it again.

I gave it 4 stars for difficulty because it was my first IM, and since it is an IM, it should be "difficult". But I could definitely see other IM-distance races being much more challenging. IMFL was pancake flat on both the ride and the run, the water was WARM and beautiful (which was almost a distraction since it was so clear). Only downside was a miserable head-wind for much of the bike ride (it felt like it was both directions of the out-and-back)

Panama City is also not a place I would like to visit again. Condos were nice and relatively cheap, but the food was underwhelming, and for people like me who had family in tow, there wasn't much for them to do whilst waiting for us to finish the race.

The race was very well supported, with tons of volunteers. AND the run course had people for 2-3 miles around the start/finish, which was great since there were two laps, which meant that almost 12 miles of the race had loads of fans cheering you on (and boy were they drunk!).

It was a good first timers race, especially if you are skittish about IM-distance, but in retrospect, I probably would have preferred a different (and more scenic) course."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

Jason S.
Chicago, IL

  (06-11-2009)

"If you're looking for a fast course, this is you're race; if you're looking for a nice atmosphere, look elsewhere. Race spectators are great, especially on the run which is a big help. Very boring bike but nice run through a forest preserve. Host hotel is reminicient of a spring break party motel and could be better but is in a good location. I've done nicer IMs elsewhere but this could be an ideal first-timer's race given pancake-flat course. Weather can be a crap shoot this time of year."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008