For athletes that complained and wined about weather conditions - if you think it was awfull to race in it, think how horrible it was be a spectator. You, are least, had a royal goal and internal metabolic heater…
2008 Lake Placid Ironman will always be marked with “rain year” identifier. Sadly, local Weather Channel continued to insist during the race day (contrary to the radar image and actual conditions) that rain probability is only 40% and showers are expected after 1-2 p.m. Gracefully, I give you the guilty party – Coach Earl. See the evidence picture above – this captured to eternity moment is of Earl telling Coach Ross and Coach David that by mistake he ordered rain instead of pizza.
Ironman™ race registration scarcity seem not to affect this Lake Placid race in terms of filtering less committed, newbies and under-prepared – race continues to be not limited to experienced (and faster) athletes. Actually, several TriLife coaches commented that the gap is continuing to grow between a more experienced and an “under-prepared” participants. This divide (actual distance and implied experience/skills level) was clearly observed before the swim start, as a very dense band of the athletes crowding the start line was followed up by a thin band of middle-of-the-pack swimmers but was was bookended bya significant (and seemingly growing over years) number of athletes on the beach, in the shallows on the right shore, and inexplicable crowd near the shore in front of tennis courts (note: I timed their average arrival time to the actual start line – 2 minutes! – to cross beach embayment).
Rain, temperatures, and wet roads did not affect a DNF rate compared to other Lake Placid years. If anything, I venture that colder temps and rain were beneficial to many athletes, limiting their fueling, hydration and GI issues. Most athletes did not have the usual GI stress related to high effort level performance in the hot and humid environment, and had less sweat and electrolytes/sodium losses to replace. Anecdotically, more athletes this year were reaching out for solid nutrition and chicken broth.
“Yard sales” were in force on the bike course – dozens of glasses spread out on the road, and concentrated deposits of assorted gear in the usual rough road spots masked by water.
Apparel trends were not apparent - rain and mid-60′s temperatures unaffected (or were ignored by) most athletes but some were clearily under-dressed for their lean body composition while others were overly protective (plastic cycling jackets and billowing garbage bags, tops and jackets on the bike).
March of compression socks continues. While I am still waiting for evidence-based proof that they work DURING the race, I plead with their users to color-coordinate them with their race kits and to consider weight penalty from water absorption.
Cheering crowds were decimated by the weather. “Hot corner” in town and Papa Bear were atypically lonely - just a single layer of spectators in town and dozen hard man and women near the Cobble Mountain Inn. In their defense, Lake Placid supply of garbage bags, umbreallas and rain jackets were sold out by the swim end. (This coach sported TriLife color-coordinated umbrella through the race but was forced to share it with athletic supporters, I mean cheering support.)
