New Race Scheduled - Door County Half IronMan

Ok, needed to find a Half IronMan to participate in this summer before heading off to IronMan Louisville. Last year I participated in the High Cliff Half IronMan, but to stay with my desire to do new events I decided to look elsewhere.

Team BRAZO participated in the Door Country Triathlon in 2007 with Youngest Mini doing the Kids Tri, Oldest Mini and Mrs. Team BRAZO doing the Sprint, and I did the Olympic version. This year they eliminated the Olympic version and replaced it with a Half IronMan.

The Door County area is special to us with us having our Cottage in that area and also having a boat that we keep in Sturgeon Bay. We spend much of our summers in Door County and a good part of the winter weekends. Last year the Triathlon was so well run, it almost felt like a mini-IronMan as far as the support and organization. This will probably be one triathlon that we do each year, breaking my thoughts of doing as many new events as possible. Even though we live in the Madison area -- our real home is our Cottage.

Youngest Mini will again compete in the Kids Tri -- in which he still is proud of his 13th place finish. Oldest Mini and Mrs. Team BRAZO will compete in the Sprint Tri -- Oldest Mini is a bit bummed that he will not be able to defend his 2nd place finish in his age group - moving up to the next age group this year.

I'm very excited about the Half IronMan distance. Last year the swim was in the Bay of Green Bay and was just about a mile in length. The water was a bit cold but thankfully the bay was pretty calm. Our Cottage is on the bay of Green Bay, so most of our open water swimming is done on the bay -- so we have experience with the possible rough waters.

Here is a brief description:

This challenging Half Iron course begins with a 1.2 mile swim in the clear waters of Horseshoe Bay. The 56 mile bike route travels along Door County's scenic backroads, through the main retail district in Sturgeon Bay, along the shipping channel, out and back on a wooded back road and gradually ascends 200 feet up the famed Door County Bluff before returning to Murphy Park. The 13.1 mile run course takes participants north to the Egg Harbor Dock, up Harbor Heights Road, through the village of Egg Harbor, up the infamous Bluff Pass Road (200 foot climb in 1/2 mile), and through the stacked stone fences of Horseshoe Bay Golf Course before a downhill descent to the finish line.