Oil Man Texas Triathlon 70.3

Oil Man Texas Triathlon 70.3

Oil Man Texas Triathlon 70.3

( 1 review )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Montgomery,
    Texas,
    United States
  • November
  • Relay, Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Marc

Katy, Texas, United States
7 32
2016
"Challenge Accepted"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Marc 's thoughts:

Oilman 70.3 was a great race. It's the first 70.3 that I've done that wasn't an IRONMAN event and I thought it was well supported with very good organization.

The packet pickup can be done one of two ways. You can pick up in west Houston the Wednesday before at Bicycle World or you can pickup the Saturday before the race at La Torretta Del Lago Resort.

In the packet you get your swim cap, race numbers and a number of fliers from sponsors. For swag you receive a cotton race shirt and a trucker hat. Timing chip is picked up the morning of the race.

Race morning. Transition opened at 5:30 am. Most racked there bike and then went and picked up the timing chip. The racks had plenty of space between them so there was no concern with running down the isle and tripping on anyone's gear during the race.

Swim: The swim start is located by the La Torretta tower (hotel) on the beach area next to the resort water park. It's a beach start with multiple age groups together. For example I'm in the 30-34 age group but the swim wave was for 30-39.
The swim course is will marked with orange buoys on the way out, 2 large red turn buoys and yellow buoys on the way back in until your back in the cove with more orange buoys. The swim has one right hand turn to leave the cove and 2 left hand turns before coming straight back into short. The swim exit is at a wall and you climb up ladders that are down into the water. This was a new one for me but easy enough with volunteers to help pull you up. Once you were up they had wetsuit strippers to help you before entering T1.

Bike: The bike leg of the race is 56 miles mostly on country roads. On the way out there are hills but they don't feel like much until after mile 30 when you start to get the long steady climbs. This is also when your legs are worn out and for 2016 there was a headwind on top of it. Overall the course intersections are well managed with local police an the turns are clearly marked with volunteers directing you to make sure no one gets lost or misses the turn.
There are two railroad crossings on the course. The first one was very typical and smooth. The second one located around mile 42 was rough but well marked to slow down with rubber mats laid across to help with wheel transitions. The total elevation change was 190 ft which equated to 2,000 ft of climbs and downhills throughout the race distance. Just a heads up for those who train in flat locations.

Run: The run course was a mix of grass, golf cart path and road. The road sections were nice for running. The cart path was a mix with sections at steep horizontal inclines as well as the ups and downs of the golf course. Some of the path was also uneven or damaged. The race organizers did a good job of marking these areas with paint, take and cones but it was a challenge to hold a pace while running these sections and through the grass areas near transition with the ground being a little uneven as well. It can be done but be prepared to pay attention to your footing.

After party: This like the rest of the race was well organized with Pizza, Water, Juice, Beer at the race hospitality tent. Some of the sponsors also had tents set up for example the Cryo Spa had Normatec Pulse recovery sleeves hooked up for the athletes. I even heard there was a cold dunk but that’s not usually for me.

Spectating:
The arrangement of the race makes for a cool swim start to watch and see for the first 100 yards and the finish as the swimmers get out of the water into T1. There is also plenty of road to see the bike start and finish. The run depending on how much your willing to move around can have multiple cheer locations but many hang out at around mile 6/12 because you can see your runner 4 times in total just from this spot as they run by two times between mile 6 and 6.5 to start the second lap and then mike 12.4 or so as they are entering the final mile and the finish.

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