While it's fun to "PR" on a course you've done before, it's also fun to break in brand new terrain a la Lewis & Clark. In place of a fur hat will be your swim cap, instead of rifles you'll be armed to the teeth with energy gels, etc, etc... but it will still be an epic adventure, we promise you that!
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| Sacagawea famously points over Lincoln Beach, home of this year's swim course |
A picture is worth a thousand words, and thanks to Tyson Alexander you don't have to go into the course blind... check out this recon mission he recently undertook on behalf of Utah Tri Buzz, as well as his written course preview below!
If you're feeling spontaneous and want to get in a race and/or good training day... sign up!
Toughman Utah Half – 2017
Course Preview
For those of
you who have looked forward or backward (or sideways maybe) to Kona with two eyes
and a heart full of wanting year after year, and yearned for the day when you
could test your meddle against the harsh elements; the charred landscape, the
unforgiving heat, the swirling wind, and the mental challenge of seeing the
course stretch on before your eyes. For
those of you who have spent countless hours on a treadmill (or the trainer) while
watching Kona DVD’s and visualized yourselves grinding through the energy lab
knowing full well the relentless physical and mental assault that eludes you -
prepare yourselves for the 2017 Toughman Utah Half, a great course that will
allow you to test your mind and body in a Kona like setting on (the west side
of) West Mountain. A place without a
name – a no man’s land where you will be able to visualize the big island as
you bike and run past the charred, fire burnt landscape of one of Utah County’s
greatest, most hallowed, yet less travelled terrain. Thank you RaceTri. Having grown up in Payson, and having lived
in Santaquin and Genola, this course is a perfect jaunt through some great
parts of the county that many never get to see.
Location:
The entire
course is located in and around West Mountain, which happens to be the name of
a town west of Payson, but also the name of the actual mountain that will be
fixed in your mind for the rest of time.
Located at the south end of Utah Lake (the northern tip of West
Mountain), the transition area and swim start are located at the Lincoln Beach
Campground.
Transition Area:
At Lincoln
Beach there is a grassy area with bathrooms and space to prepare yourselves –
as you are able to gaze across the lake to see Utah County with the backdrop of
Mt. Timpanogos. A wonderful sight if
you’ve never ventured to this part of the state (that is, a sight you may not
have enjoyed quite as much if you were locked into aero position during
previous years races). This transition
area is approximately 250 feet from the swim start (asphalt road) and is wide
open.
Swim:
Straight from
the RaceTri website, the swim is a long straightaway, with two laps in the
triangle, followed by the long straightaway finish. As you can see from the
image above – there is a lot of area that spectators can utilize to watch the
swim. This is a bonus, since there are
limited races where spectators can watch the entire 1.2 mile swim. Below is a picture from the actual boat dock
(swim exit) with the swim start being the dock on the left side of the image.
Bike:
The bike leg
will take you in a clockwise direction for 2 laps around West Mountain (the
actual mountain).
The image and elevation chart above only
show 1 of the two laps – so everything you see will be done twice.
You will head
south out of Lincoln beach, through some farming country, and then onto highway
147 south. The elevation gain is approx.
842 ft. per loop (1680 total) with miles 4 through 14 being a mild climb. Some of these roads have recently been refinished
and you will enjoy the difference between those roads and the roads that have
not been refinished. Please note that in
the course video below, I did encounter a goat running along side the road
(2:10 in the video). This may or may not
be a normal occurrence on this course.
Be advised that there is a downhill portion (mile 3) coming out of the
beach followed by a right turn. It isn’t
extremely tight, but you will likely still have more speed than normal
following the downhill portion on this turn.
Many of these turns (90 degree turns) and winding roads from miles 3-10
may have gravel on the road, and possiblly hay, debris, etc. from the farms and
wind. Please be careful. At mile 10, you will be on Hwy 147 heading
south. There are apple orchards and
cherry orchards for which Payson and Santaquin are famous (well, as famous as
Payson and Santaquin can be). Mile 14
will bring you through the “Goshen gap” and down into Genola. A hidden gem of farmland and homes where many
will want to live following this race.
Enjoy this through mile 18 where you will encounter some more cherry
orchards (and probably some cherries on the road). At mile 19 you will be at the southwest corner
of West Mountain and turn towards the North on Lincoln Beach Road. This stretch (miles 19-25) is a dry, burnt,
wasteland on the right and will remind you of Kona if you want it to. Be on the lookout for the few trees that
survived the fire, and are thriving in the burnt hillside, inspiring your
mental image to grind through the heat, and your aching glutes/quads, just like
those you’ve seen so many times on TV.
At mile 25-26
you’ll have a brief section with some shade as you make the turn back south to
start loop 2.
Run:
The run portion
is an out and back section that goes the opposite direction of the bike –
meaning you’ll be running out the last 6.5+ miles that you just finished on the
bike and back on the same 6.5+ section you finished on the bike (twice). Mile
1-2 may give you a bit of shade, but after that – you’ll be fully exposed to
the scorching sun on the western stretch for miles 2-11. This is where you can imagine yourselves in
Kona, running through the lava fields, with nothing but burnt dreams and wasted
landscapes taunting you to give up or quit.
This is where
you can dig down into our psyche, and motivate yourselves with that inner
voice, reminding you that all throughout your life, you’ve had charred
hillsides or negative influences urging you to quit, giving you reasons to stop
running - but you aren’t a quitter – you are a triathlete – and so you just
keep moving. You keep reminding yourself
that a burned up mountain that is baking in the July heat is no match for your
awesome. So you keep on moving forward
to the next aid station, and to the next mile marker, knowing full well that
just on the other side of this mountain, around the next turn – is the finish
line – and that is where you
belong.
Preliminary Start List
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