Challenge Miami Inaugural Race Report, Middle Distance 70.3
- ericdwinter
- May 5, 2021
- 8 min read
Updated: May 6, 2021
Dear Challenge, welcome to Miami! After more than a year of cancelled and postponed races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not only did Miami finally have a live race, but it was an inaugural race brought to us by the Challenge Family. Modeled similarly to their Daytona race, Challenge Miami was held at an actual NASCAR track, the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The event took place March 12-14, 2021. And yes, before you ask, much of the race was on the actual race car track!
The Challenge Family is a European-based international race organization specializing in triathlons. They offer longer distance races including 70.3 and 140.6 mile triathlons. They refer to their 140.6 mile triathlon as a full distance and the 70.3 mile race as a middle distance. Their major competitor and creator of the 140.6 mile triathlon, IRONMAN, calls these distances ironman and half ironman respectively. Challenge Roth, made famous by the documentary We Are Triathletes, is their full distance world championship event. If you haven't seen the 2018 film, I recommend you check it out on Amazon Prime. It's quite inspirational and follows both pro and amateur athletes as they prepare for and participate in this epic race.
The announcement for Challenge Miami came with much hype and fanfare from the local triathlon community. If social media was any indication, and it usually is, Challenge Miami was going to be welcomed with open arms. Especially during a time where there had been no live events for most of 2020. For the past few years, Miami has only one 70.3 mile race but the race organizer appeared to no longer be in business. Turns out they weren't and the future of local races was in question at that time. Also, IRONMAN used to have a 70.3 Miami race, but it had been years since it was last held. Challenge Miami offered a new race including a whole weekend of great events over the course of a 3-day period. For an additional fee you can even park your RV in the midfield for the weekend like at an actual NASCAR event!
Friday: 5K, Kids Fun Run
Saturday: Middle Distance Pro Race, Sprint Distance Triathlon & Duathlon, Pro Am Race, Junior Triathlon
Sunday: Middle Distance Triathlon & Duathlon
Prior to Challenge Miami, my last triathlon before the COVID pandemic was actually the last and only one in Miami for all of 2020. The Huntington's Disease Triathlon held in their annual charity race February 23, just a couple of weeks before the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 triathlon season. Two of my tri-club teammates and I did an Olympic distance tri and placed 3rd (out of 3 male relay teams). I am so appreciative that I got to race with Nick and Jeff for my last live race of the year.
My plans were to participate in my first 70.3 race in 2020. Over the Summer I found out that IRONMAN 70.3 Florida (race report) was postponed to December so I went on the website, hit the registration button and started planning my first half ironman. Turns out that although Challenge Daytona went off without a hitch a few weeks prior, Haines City wasn't ready to host an event of this scale and IRONMAN was forced to postpone again to 2021. I now had to change my plans and start preparations for Challenge Miami 70.3 in March followed by IRONMAN 70.3 Florida a month later. Challenge Miami wasn't only going to be my first live triathlon in over a year and my first 70.3, but it was also THE first triathlon in Miami and would open up the door for more events to start taking place again.
I loved the idea of racing on a NASCAR track. I've ridden the track a few times at other events and I knew the speedway was a perfect venue for a triathlon of this caliber. A middle distance, or half ironman race consists of 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling and a half marathon (13.1 miles) in that order. Check out the race maps from Challenge Miami below. You'll notice that each discipline required 2 laps and that the entire swim, about half the run, and a portion of the bike course were all within the track.
PACKET PICK UP for me was the day before, just after the races had completed on that
Saturday. It was simple, park at the stadium, walk in, take some selfies, get the packet, check out the small store, leave. It was good to run into some friends who raced that day, but I was in and out pretty quickly. You know, COVID... However, I always take advantage of the opportunity to survey the race venue in advance of a race. It allows me to mentally prepare for and envision my race so when it begins, there are few surprises. We even rode the bike course a couple of weeks before the race for good measure.
TRANSITION was very well set up and spaced out although the setup was different in one particular way from anything I've experienced in my many races. Bike check-in was the morning of the race which is not unusual. The surprise came when we were told that we could to choose literally any spot on any rack in a first-come-first-served type of scenario. Normally you have assigned bike racks, if not specific spaces on those racks. I was glad to have gotten to the race extra early on race day. I grabbed a prime spot close to the bike and run out next two a few of my teammates. I set up my stuff and hung out for a while before we got our pre-race team picture.
THE SWIM was two laps around a lake in the infield of the speedway and measured a just short of the 1.2 miles. The water temperature was just cold enough to be wetsuit legal, and for those of you who don't know, this is a good thing. A wetsuit creates more buoyancy which helps your body remain in a better position producing less drag (resistance) and faster swim times. Many argue that the time it takes to remove the wetsuit negates any time gained from the increased speed, but from my experience even a shorter triathlon is faster for me when wearing a wetsuit. I always start to strip the wetsuit off when running towards transition, and the rest of the wetsuit is off in a matter of seconds. I end up saving approximately 8-10 seconds per 100 yards.
For me this translates to around 2 minutes of net gains on a 1.2 mile swim.
The water was a bit murky, which is alright. I prefer not to see what may be lurking at the bottom of a freshwater Florida lake anyway... I never warm up for the swim portion. My warmup occurs in the first 5-8 minutes and then I get into a rhythm for the rest of the swim. The first half of the swim was I averaged approximately 2:12/100 yards while the second half I was averaging slightly faster at 2:01/100 yards.
1.2 mile Swim: 39:51, 2:03/100yds
THE BIKE was on a course in which I was very familiar. I mean, this race was in our own backyard and we ride down to Homestead regularly. Oh, and cycling on the speedway is always amazing! The course was flat and fast, despite the wind. When I say flat, I don't mean flat like how IRONMAN calls the rolling hills of Haines City flat. I mean ironing board flat, like the only elevation is a speed bump flat.
After about a mile around the speedway to start the bike segment, we then exited through a tunnel leading under the racetrack and started West on 344th street towards US1. After a short sprint down US1 and a quick left we were on Card Sound Road for two loops before heading back to the speedway for a final lap on the track. By the way, I don't think I mentioned this before, I HATE LOOPS! And all three segments of this race were two loops. I find loops to be boring and they make the race seem extra long. I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. The one and only benefit for me was getting to see some of my friends a couple of extra times.
So the thing about Miami... I imagine this is specifically a Miami thing anyway. But people tend to be less inclined to follow the rules. You can ask one of our #miamifamous race directors about this as he started a national campaign to help curb bib bandits. A bib bandit, in this case, is someone who races without paying for their race entry, or they are racing for someone else maybe to help them get a better time. Anyway, why did I mention this? Well, because cheating. There is a rule against drafting in most triathlons. Drafting is when a rider moves into low pressure area behind another cyclist which reduces the wind resistance for the cyclist in the back making it easier for them to cycle at higher speeds with less effort. You've seen this in the Tour de France, you may have even learned this in the theater circa 1990 watching Days of Thunder (Yes, the NASCAR reference was intended). Witnessing all the packs at Challenge Miami I almost had to ask if I missed the rule where it declared this a draft-legal race. It wasn't, and many were penalized, some as much as 12 minutes for multiple penalties. I say this is a Miami thing, because when I raced at IRONMAN 70.3 Florida I only saw one rider drafting, as opposed to the dozens at this race.
This was one of my best bike legs of any race. I felt very strong, but I probably should have backed off a little and saved my legs for the run. It's important to find a good balance of speed and energy conservation during a long bike portion given that you still have to run 13.1 miles. I definitely expensed more than I should have on this race considering the weather. But that's okay, I'll forgive myself because it was a really great ride.
56 mile Bike: 2:38:37, 21.44mph
THE RUN was H-O-T hot! This was the hottest Miami day of the year so far. Temperatures reached 87.8 degrees, according to my Garmin Connect, but "felt like" the surface of the sun since the run course had exactly zero shade. I was shooting for a sub-10 minute per mile pace and I was able to hold that pace for one whole mile. Mile 1: 9 minutes 59 seconds. The rest of the half marathon was a run walk averaging approximately 12.5 minutes per mile. It wasn't my slowest half marathon, but also wasn't my goal of around 2 hours 5 minutes. The extra time on the run didn't bother me, it was really fun and my first time tackling this distance in a live race.
The course took us for a tour around the speedway with about half of the run outside of the racetrack. There were plenty of water stations but they lacked cold drinks and ice, which was very much needed with those high temperatures. I saw my friends on the course, and even more spectating and cheering us on. This is what I love about local races, you can just hop on your bike, head to the venue and cheer on your friends. It was so much fun!
When I crossed the finish line I felt a lot of pride completing this race. Part of it was conquering the 70.3 distance for the first time in a live race, and the other part was that I remembered to smile for the pictures and run through the finish line without pausing my watch until after the pictures were done. I can't tell you how many pictures there are of me staring at my watch through the finish line. But not this time!
Half Marathon: 2:43:23, 12:23/mile (my friends keep telling me to hold off on the bike and save something for the run, maybe one day I'll listen?)
Total Time: 6:12:57
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