IRONMAN 70.3 RUIDOSO NEW MEXICO

For years being the Team Zoot Southwest Captain was a breeze. We had Tempe 70.3, St. George 70.3, and IRONMAN Arizona all in my region. An embarrassment of riches. Over the past 4 years we have seen all those races canceled for various reasons leaving me without a Ironman branded event in my territory of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. When Ruidoso 70.3 was announced last year I immediately did two things: I figured out how to spell it properly and I looked it up on a map as I had no idea where in New Mexico it was. The phrase “in the middle of nowhere” is often overused but in this case it does apply. It was 3 hours from Albuquerque and a whopping 8 hour drive from Pheonix.  The closest airport was actually San Antonio Texas, a scant 2 hours south. OK, so it was a bit of a tough putt to get there. It was also at 7000 feet elevation. But despite those two initial obstacles, I was determined to try and rally my Zoot troops to support the event. The race was going to feature not only the 70.3 but a Sprint and 5150 Olympic distance the day before to create more of a festival atmosphere surrounding the weekend. It was also one of the first races to offer slots to the 2027 Chattanooga 70.3 Worlds and I was keen to get one of those. So I registered early and made sure the Southwest Team, especially those in New Mexico, made the effort to attend.

The Town

Ruidoso is a very typical western mountain town. It has an anachronistic quality about it. It feels and looks older, like time stopped circa 1984, and makes no apologies for it. It’s very casual, nothing fancy, with a small downtown area along a single road. It’s nestled in a valley surrounded by higher mountain peaks and has a lot of charm. Finding a VRBO for me and two friends was very easy and very affordable. Of note, the town is famous for the wild horses who wander around and by golly, they are EVERYWHERE. So are their dropping so one need be mindful walking around the grassy areas. We even saw two heard of Elk just walking around like they owned the place, which they do apparently.

The Logistics

The expo, T2, and shuttle busses to T1 were all located at the White Mountain Recreation Center and Convention Center. It was all within a few minutes’ walk of parking of which there was ample. We arrived Friday midday and the expo scene was just getting going. Because the Sprint and 5150 folks were doing there packet pick up as well, there were already a decent amount of people there. One of the Ironman employees, nice guy named Drew, said they had about 500 registered for the two shorter races and almost 1000 for the 70.3. Quick spoiler, they finished around 360 for the two races Saturday morning and 771 for the 70.3, so call it 1100+ finishers for an inaugural race at 7000 feet in the middle of nowhere, not too shabby. School buses leaving from the Convention Center carried athletes and their bikes out to the lake and T1, there was no parking, bike, or athlete drop off allowed at the lake.

The Course

The swim was contested at Grindstone Lake, a lovely man made affair about 2 miles literally above town it seemed. It has a large damn on one side and is just large enough for a two loop 1.2 mile course. T2 is situated above the lake in what must be the parking lot. The bike course brings you back down from the lake onto a 4 lane highway where we did 2 loops before peeling off and riding back up to T2. The bike course is FAST. You descend from the lake at 30+mph for almost two miles and then there are large downhills to the turn around at the far end. What was curious is that the “climb” back up didn’t seem commiserate with the velocity on the down, you would do some climbing and some false flat, some actual flat, and a dusting of downhill but it never felt hard. After the second trip up and back you turned off onto a lovely back county road that climbs for about an additional 2-3 miles to T2. Myself and others clocked it as having 2300 feet of climbing although the website says 1300. The run course was HARD. Over 800 feet and punchy as all get out. You run for the most part around the permitter of what looks like a 9 hole municipal golf course on an asphalt rec path and do an out and back on a side road. It was a 3 loop run with 4 aid stations that were well staffed. I should add here, the community came out for this race in support. On the bike and run course, there were a lot of people cheering and waving signs and offering word of encouragement. It was great to see.

My Race

The swim was self-seeded by time, you lined up on a long dock that jutted about 25 meters into the lakes far side near the damn. Two at a time, 5 second interval, no diving. The water was a lovely 72 degrees, clear and green. The first lap was a breeze as I started towards the front. The second lap did get busy and the lake became noticeable choppy with everyone started. But I managed to avoid almost all contact and I exited in 31:19, 3^rd in M55-59. It was a decent trek up to T1, you had to negotiate a large wooden staircase. Once you had your bike, you had to “run” down a somewhat steep road to the mount line which was out on the road. They had carpet down to make it less treacherous but I was already in my shoes and decided caution was the better part of valor and sort of walked the steepest parts as not to take a tumble.

Once on the bike I was immediately hauling ass. I have a 54/11 as my biggest gearing and after I hit 45 mph I was spinning out. Could have used a 56 but I have spent a lot of time dialing in my position and have gotten my CdA down to .201 so even freewheeling I was passing guys still hammering the cranks. I had targeted around 210-220 NP for the ride. Lap 1 I was 207NP on the descent and 217NP on the climb. It seemed I was towards the front of the race so lap 2 I just held that 207NP the whole way to try and save some for the run. On the bike I averaged 120g of carbs per hour which consisted of two bottles of Precision Carb and sodium drink, a liter of coke, and 3 Precision 30g carb gels. I got off the bike with a 2:22:25 split, 1^st in the AG.

The run starts with a gradual uphill for the first mile and I felt awful. Like how am I ever going to get around this 3 times bad. I would see the mile markers for 5 miles and 10 miles and it made me depressed to think I was only around mile 2! I carry a large gel flask with Precision Gels, 120g of carbs worth. I immediately began taking hits off of that to see if I could perk up. That did help and by mile 3 I wasn’t hauling ass but I was steady. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and the course offered some shade in spots. As I came towards the end of lap 2 I saw a guy ahead on a hill who stopped running and was walking. As I ran up on his shoulder he said “hey Bryan”. I look over and it’s my friend Alex from Tucson. He’s usually in the AG below me but for two years we share an age group and that started this year. He’s a 27min ace swimmer and has a strong bike and I realized he must be first in M55-59. He was struggling and said I “looked good” so I gave him a “hang in there” and tried to drop him like a bad habit. It gave me the focus and motivation to get after it in the final lap but even then, the last 5k was a struggle of mind over matter. Around mile 12 along the out and back I didn’t see him and started my little mental celebration. I finished the run in 1:48:47, 1^st in the AG and was happy at least I was under 1:50, it was that challenging a run.

Result

So I won M55-59. I finished in 4:49:43, 39^th OA, 36^th for men. For the fantasy triathlon performance pool age graded game, apparently I went 4:08:40 and was 7^th overall. That would be a lifetime PB by 10min. 🙂 Back to Chatty I go.

Post Race Musings

I was there with two friends both of whom finished 6^th in their respective AG’s and both scored high enough in the pool to get slots also. Watching the new allocation system in real time, I have to say I really have warmed up to it. Slots didn’t roll very far, 30 for each gender and the men stopped at 42 and women I think it was 46^th. Most AG winners took their slots. So I would expect uptake in the US to be strong and it seems to be starting off that way. For a first time event, this was a very well run race. Logistics were handled well, from my perspective everything went off without a hitch. As mentioned, lot’s of enthusiastic volunteers and spectators and a really fun and rollicking post-race vibe at awards and slot allocation. They are off to a great start, have a three year contract, and I will continue to support the race and encourages others to give it a try, it was worth it just to see a horse in the expo rummaging around looking for some food at the end of the day.

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