The 4th edition of IRONMAN 70.3 Oregon took place on July 21, 2024. LYNX club member CW chose this race as her first 70.3 distance race.  She had dabbled in triathlon in 2016 doing a couple of sprint races but over the prior decade she focused on running. After doing about a marathon a year and too many half marathons to count, in 2023 she decided to trade long distance running for endurance triathlon and signed up for her first half Ironman. You can read her race report below.

My first 70.3……

This race came on my radar when I saw Lionel Sanders’ post race recap on YouTube after he won this race last year. He raved about the course and recommended it for beginners & weak swimmers (i.e. me!). I had no idea where Salem was so I quickly looked it up on Google map and found out it was about a 13-hour drive from Calgary. It was definitely drive-able (although I would recommend breaking it up on the way back). When registration opened in late August last year, I signed up right away and even convinced my OG pool buddy/work bestie Carol to sign up as well. 

In the weeks leading up to race day, Salem had a heat wave (above 100F) so I was really worried about the prospect of a non-wetsuit swim and melting on the run. Thankfully, the water temperature was about 70.3F (for real) so it ended up being wetsuit legal. The swim was 1.2 mile point-to-point down the Willamette River from Minto Brown Island Park.

Race Morning

On race morning, we got to transition at 5:15 am to set everything up, hit the porta-potty, found and exchanged hugs with my fellow MRU swimmers Karen and Lynn. At 5:45 am, they told the front group of swimmers to start walking towards the swim start. The walk was about 1.5 miles upriver from transition into the park. The swim had a rolling start with people self seeding into corrals based on their estimated time for a non-river swim. Being a not-so-confident swimmer and not wanting others trampling over me, we lined up at the second last corral. After we dropped off our morning clothes bag approximately 1/4 mile from the start, we waited and waited and waited for what felt like an eternity. By the time I got to the stairs/ramp, I realized they were only letting 2 people in at a time. I finally crossed the timing mat at 7:34 am (official start time was 6:15 am).

The Swim

As soon as I jumped off the dock, the current swept me away. It was a little choppier than our practice swim due to the number of people around me, but I found my own space, stayed calm and carried on. The swim was blazing fast thanks to the current and now I know what it feels like to swim like a fish. It was actually a lot of fun (trust me when I say I am the last person to call any swim “fun”). The course was well marked with buoys along the right side – yellow to start and orange towards the end. Before I knew it, I came upon the only red buoy which meant it was time to make a hard right turn and swim towards the dock for the exit. After getting out of the water, we had to walk quite a bit (steep ramp followed by a switch back) to get back to transition. Thanks to the amazing wetsuit strippers it was otherwise a very smooth T1. 

The Bike

The bike was an out and back course, through the suburbs and country roads along the Willamette River. It was very beautiful – I saw some flower fields and vineyards. There were two short decent climbs and a few rollers but the rest was relatively flat. The road quality was pretty good. The organizers did a great job marking some of the uneven surfaces. There were 3 railroad crossings each way that I definitely had to slow down for. At the start of the bike, it rained a bit so that was a welcome relief after a week of hot temperatures in Salem. The sun didn’t come out until well into the second half of the bike. There was a headwind going out and I was hoping to get a tailwind back but I think the wind changed direction and it felt like I got the same headwind going back. I didn’t look at my bike computer too much to check on my numbers. I was focused on enjoying the beautiful bike course and making sure to stay on top of nutrition. I came off of the bike feeling pretty good and found my running legs right away. 

The Run

The run course was two figure eight loops through a nature preserve at Minto Brown Island Park. It was completely paved with a little undulation but reasonably flat. Once we got into the park, it was mostly shaded by the trees with a few stretches of exposed areas. I made sure I stopped at every aid station to properly fuel, hydrate and cool down before I got going again. The aid stations were adequately spaced out. Each aid station was well stocked with water, electrolytes, coke, chips, gels, fruits and a bucket of ice. The volunteers were so nice and helpful. I felt surprisingly good on the run despite not having good training runs leading up to the race. My legs were on auto-pilot mode once I put on my running shoes. I actually lost track of the distance and was surprised when I got to the turn out of the park and saw the “taco” bridge and then the finish line. The feeling I got running down that red carpet was something I will never forget. 

I’m glad to finally cross this distance off my bucket list. I absolutely loved this race and I truly enjoyed every part of the day. The course was beautiful and the volunteers were amazing. It would be pretty hard to top this experience.”

Thank you CW for this great race report and course review! It sounds like your training over the last year prepared you well and all those years of running served you very well. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an athlete say “I lost track of the distance…and then saw the finish line” during a half Ironman run. Great job!  👏  ~Coach Mary