The CATS Iron Mountain Man half iron distance race was held at DeGray Lake State Park in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on Saturday, August 18, 2007. The race was one of four held during the DeGray Lake Triathlon Festival. The Iron Mountain Aqua Bike (swim-bike only) and the Tri Arkansas International Distance triathlon were also held on August 18. A sprint distance triathlon race followed on the morning of August 19^th, 2007.

Participant transition set up was required to be completed prior to 6:50 and course referees inspected transition areas on an ongoing basis, paging the race number of those who violated USAT set up requirements. They also provided helpful information such as informing participants of any observed flat tires. The front parts of the racks loaded up quickly but there was ample room near the back. As it turned out, the front portion was nearer the bike start but the run course went out the back, so neither location was bad. I took advantage of the excess room and set up near the back side of one of the rack set aside for female participants. This gave me the added benefit of having a highly visible transition area as I’ve been known in the past to temporarily ‘lose’ sight of my space.

The 1.2 mile swim was organized into two waves. Male triathlon and aqua bike participants hit the water at 7:00 a.m. and women triathletes, aqua bikers and relay team members were given a 7:08 a.m. start. Just prior to the start, participants were permitted to gather in the water adjacent to the boat ramp that marked the start/finish of the swim course. Water at this point was shallow enough to allow participants to stand on the bottom if they desired. The race director requested that participants seed themselves, with stronger swimmers lining up in the front. The race proceeded in a straight line marked by several bright buoys for ½ mile before coming to the first (right turn). DeGray Lake, which is recognized by the Army Corp of Engineers for exceptional cleanliness, was the cleanest lake I have had the opportunity to swim in to date. My general experience with open water swims in lakes is that you are fortunate if you can see your own hands at any given time. In DeGray Lake, I could literally see the bodies of many of the swimmers for a distance of several feet, if not yards. Since the race wasn’t terribly large (total finishing participants numbering around 200), I didn’t find that the wave start presented too much of a problem although I found some bruises on my calf afterward that I believe resulted from a couple of ‘crashes’ I felt from behind as the swim got underway. (Knowing my own limitations, I attempted to seed myself in the back third of swimmers.) The boat ramp presented a slightly slippery surface upon leaving the water, but more uncomfortable was the very rough pavement that had to be navigated on the way to the transition area. Wise and/or experienced swimmers left flip flops placed along the edges of the boat ramp. More evidence of the high level of course refereeing was presented as the lead swimmer was ‘forced’ to go back and re-navigate the last buoy after passing it on the left rather than on the right (as was clearly instructed prior to the beginning of the swim).

The bike course, which contains the race’s namesake "Iron Mountain," is an out and back ride that meanders through the park and beyond to some rural roads. Much of the first 6 or so miles of road is surfaced with chip-seal. It gently slopes upward, gradually getting steeper as it leads toward 3 short, almost choppy, steep peaks, the second of which immediately follows a very steep, curvy downhill. Participants who have ridden the course before likely have quite an advantage, although after a left turn away from the park (and one less steep but still noticeable climb), many riders sped up as the road seemed to slope generally downward, with a couple of rolling hills along the way to the turnaround. It was pretty easy to make good time on this portion of the bike leg; likewise I found it challenging to hold my average coming back after the turnaround. The peaks of the mountain felt worse to me on the backside, but that has to be in part due to the fact that I had close to 50 riding miles in my legs before getting back to that stretch of the course. Knowing that the last several miles should have a gentle downward slope helped my state of mind, but I found it more difficult that I had hoped to keep a good pace on the chip-seal surface.

Portions of the bike course, especially during the climbing, have great views. Volunteer support (6 aid stations well stocked with water, Gatorade Endurance Formula and various food items) and traffic control were exceptional. I saw frequent passes by motorcycle referees as well as regular presence of (one or more) bike repair van(s).

Once off the bike, there is a straight uphill start to the run course. The run course consists of two loops, one in each direction, heading off the initial uphill. As participants complete the first loop and head down toward transition (with the finish line enticingly in sight!) they are given a colored ‘scrunchi’ to identify the fact that they’ve completed the first leg. At least one participants dropped her ‘scrunchi’ and had to turn back to retrieve it, (and I greatly appreciate the volunteers who pointed out that fact to me). The second loop, after again climbing the initial hill, turns to the right and heads toward and around some camping cabins before coming back and proceeding (finally!) all the way to the finish. There wasn’t much flat surface at all on the run as both loops began with a downward slope (gentle on loop #2 but more dramatic on loop #1) and finished by climbing back up before heading down toward the finish line. Aid stops were located at every mile, again stocked with water, Gatorade, fruit, ice and cold wash cloths. This race also had some of the best, most helpful and friendliest volunteers I’ve encountered.

All portions of the course were well marked and volunteers knew (if you asked) things like distances to turnaround points or the like. After a week with temperatures in excess of 100, Saturday the 18^th had early a.m. temperatures in the 70s, and remained overcast until around 10:30 a.m., giving the pavement for the run course less time to heat up before the bulk of the participants were well into that portion of the race. Post race amenities included lots of food, massage, and a fire hose ‘shower,’ where several of us spent more than a few minutes collecting our thoughts. Although it was, for me at least, a tough course, I don’t know that I could have asked for a better experience for my first race of this distance. The CATS Iron Mountain man is also one of the ‘official’ qualifying races for the USAT age group "HalfMax" national championship race, and since CATS takes place in August, qualifiers can opt to participate in either the 2007 or 2008 "HalfMax" race. I would highly recommend this race to anyone contemplating a half iron distance, especially if you’d prefer racing on a course that offers some challenging terrain.

Age group results at: http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/44999_209492_2007.txt