Tri Boulder Course Preview

By 303 Ambassador Kirsten McCay Smith
Boulder is one of Colorado’s most beautiful places to visit and is easily accessible from Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs. It is also one of the most fun places to race and train as there is everything you need right there. A big reservoir, unlimited paved roads with great bike lanes that include both flats and hills, and several paths (both paved and dirt) to get your run on.
It’s no wonder the BBSC Tri Boulder Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons are both getting more and more popular each year. BBSC makes their races very “first-timer” friendly by having a “first-timers” swim wave and making the cut-off times more generous than other races out there. The sprint distance is 750 meter swim, 17.3 mile bike, and 5K run. The Olympic distance is almost twice that with a 1500 meter swim, 26.4 mile bike, and 10K run.
This year I am doing the Olympic distance race and have already spent time on both courses and wanted to share with you what you are in for when you decide to do either of the races this year on July 24th. I’m using the Olympic as my tune-up race for Boulder Ironman on August 7th, either distance would be great for that!
SWIM: Currently the water in the reservoir is about 72 degrees. This is a great temperature that is warm enough for you to swim without a wetsuit if you don’t have one, but isn’t too warm to legally allow wetsuits if you are relying on that to help your swim time. The sprint course is a 750 meter clock-wise triangle and the Olympic just doubles the distance out and back from the shore. There will be large buoys at each turn and small buoys for sighting. The swim is a wave start for safety and ease for beginner swimmers. Typically there are less than 100 people per wave.
BIKE: The bike course for the sprint is typically called the “Neva loop” and is basically a large loop around the NW part of Boulder. After leaving the res road, there is a very gradual climb for about 3 miles and then a fast rolling downhill for the next 10 miles. Once you are back on the Diagonal, it is another very slight incline for about 2 miles and then basically downhill (other than 2 short hills on the road back to the res) to the finish. The Olympic starts and ends the same way with a couple extra miles of slight incline rewarding us with several additional miles of declines! YAY!
RUN: The run for the sprint is primarily on dirt road and is a simple out and back around the res along the dam. There is a hill immediately when you leave transition, just remember it will be downhill on the way back when you need it the most. The Olympic is also an out and back, it just passes the sprint turn-around and goes an additional 1.55 miles slightly inclining to the 10K turn-around which will be fast for the return home to the finish line.
A great way to practice the swim and run is the Boulder Stroke & Stride series which is a swim/run series held at the res every Thursday night. This will get you used to open water swimming, running up the beach, and that first hill on the run.
Hope to see you all out there on the 24th.
Registration is still OPEN! Click Here for more info.