Hotel Options for out of towners

I was just looking into the different hotel options for B2B and thought a post might help. I am gathering from the forums and other blog posts that there was some considerable issues with transition are locations and getting back to hotels post-race last year.

Anyone have insight to the problems? Any indication there are changes for this year?

The main hotels appear to be the Hilton Wilmington Riverside and the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. Thoughts on the benefits of either one? Issues?

I will also have some spectators staying with me (as most racers will, I'm sure). Any ideas for how the different hotels may be better/worse for that long spectating day?

Thanks!! Happy training...

10 Most Annoying People At The Gym - Page 1

This is why I won't workout at my YMCA (other than the pool) until after Groundhog Day...

10 Most Annoying People At The Gym

After that, it's usually safe to go back as all the temporary resolutionists have quit. The parking is better too...

Marathon swim

Ironman Tony... The nicest guy in the sport is going all out for charity

Marathon swim

26.2 mile swim, in a pool.

The dude abides!! Check out his site, and kick in some coin for an awesome charity!

Registration numbers

Just to update those of you who may be sitting on the fence about B2B 2009 - don't delay! It's about 38% full in 2 days of registration.

Entrants as of December 2, 2008, 7:36 PM EST:
HALF: 293
FULL: 285
I believe I saw that they were capping it at 750 athletes in each (1500 total), if I'm not mistaken. As of Tuesday morning, December 9 (registration open 8 days), it looks like the signup rate has slowed:
Full - 317 registrants
Half - 348 registrants
If they cap it at 1500 total (750 each) like they indicated, that looks to me like it's 44.3% full.

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Update: December 31st, 2008:
Half - 412 registrants
Full - 365 registrants
51.8% full

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Update update: January 8, 2008:
Half - 492 registrants (65% full)
Full - 392 registrants (52% full)

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Update update update: March 3, 2008 (69% full overall):
Half - 588 registrants (78% full)
Full - 442 registrants (59% full)

Who is attending the party?

Here's my list of folks that I know who are attending Beach 2 Battleship, so far. There are several additions whom I hope to add soon!

Half:
Shawn - http://shawn526.blogspot.com/
Stefanie - http://ramblingbydesign.blogspot.com/
Calyx - http://astrongercalyx.blogspot.com/
Donna - http://undermyownsteam.wordpress.com/
Ken - http://spikenail.blogspot.com/
Wife of Kevin at http://triaflete.blogspot.com/
Nancy - http://nancytoby.blogspot.com/

Full:
Linae - http://linae.blogspot.com/
Pam - http://deeplanguage.blogspot.com/
Nancy's training buddy Dave
ShirleyPerly - http://humbletriathlete.blogspot.com/
IMAble - http://approximationthereof.wordpress.com/
Waddler26.2 - http://www.1waddler.blogspot.com/
Tri-Sharkie - http://www.trisharkie.blogspot.com/
Kevin - http://triaflete.blogspot.com/
Jim - http://runsnailrun.blogspot.com/
Ron - relay bike - http://onehumanoidescapee.blogspot.com/
Dread Pirate Rackham - http://dreadpiraterackham.blogspot.com/
Holly - http://triandbehappy.blogspot.com/

Volunteers:
?

B2B weekend schedule

Unofficial schedule for planning purposes!

Thursday, November 5, 2009
Packet Pick Up: 12 to 5 PM, Coastline Convention Center - 501 Nutt St. - Wilmington, NC 28401
Kick Off Dinner: 5 to 8PM, Coastline Convention Center - 501 Nutt St. - Wilmington, NC 28401 (we will have a special tri-blogger table or group somewhere together - please join us!)

Friday November 6, 2009
Packet Pick Up: 10 AM to 7 PM, Coastline Convention Center - 501 Nutt St. - Wilmington, NC 28401
Bike Check In: 12 to 8 PM, T1 / Wrightsville Beach Town Hall - 321 Causeway Drive - Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
Pre-Event Meetings: 12 PM / 2 PM / 5PM, Coastline Convention Center - 501 Nutt St. - Wilmington, NC 28401 (All athletes must attend one of these meetings)

Saturday November 7, 2009: Race Day
Hilton hotel shuttles to T1: Begin 5:00 AM
Beach shuttles from T1 to swim start: Begin 5:45 AM
Full distance start: 7:00 AM
Half distance start: 8:30 AM
Full swim cutoff: 9:20 AM
Half swim cutoff: 10:00 AM
Half bike cutoff: 2:15 PM
Full bike cutoff: 5:15 PM
Half finish cutoff: 5:30 PM
Full finish cutoff: Midnight

Sunday November 8, 2009
Awards Cruise: 11 AM to 2 PM, Henrietta Riverboat - 101 S. Water Street #1 - Wilmington, NC 28401

I'm in!

Are you in!?
Don't wait or you may be shut out! This one will sell out fast, I believe! Note: registration is via Paypal.

Thank You
Invoice: R-I-XXX98-YYYY
Payment Status: Completed
Registration type: Individual
Registrant: Nancy Toby
Event: Beach2Battleship Iron Distance 2009
Event Category: Age Group

I also booked a room at the Holiday Inn Resort on Wrightsville Beach, which is about 1.7 miles from T1 (where there will be parking, and I understand there will be beach shuttles from T1 to the swim start in the morning). They have the special B2B rate of $119/night available for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights if you call up their reservations line at 877-330-5050 (but not for Sunday night, that's the regular rate of $142 for a king nonsmoking room). Here are some hotel reviews - it sounds like a solid 3-star place but not terribly fancy.

2009 registration opens soon!

Information about the 2009 events are posted!

Full iron distance ($325 individual, $450 relay; limited to 750 athletes)

Half iron distance ($165 individual, $250 relay; limited to 750 athletes)

Registration for both events begins at 8:00 AM on Monday, December 1, 2008. Be ready! The 2008 event sold out in 12 days.

Race day tides

Just for the record, here is the tide table for Wilmington Beach, NC for the inaugural Beach to Battleship triathlon on November 1, 2008 (just for comparison of swim times in future races - can't find one for November 2009 yet):

Tides for Wilmington Beach starting with November 1, 2008:

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
_____/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 1 Low 3:22 AM 0.4 7:32 AM Rise 11:04 AM 7
___1 High 9:49 AM 4.8 6:18 PM Set 8:41 PM
___1 Low 4:32 PM 0.6
___1 High 10:06 PM 3.4

Tides (nearly identical!) for Wilmington Beach for Saturday, November 7, 2009:

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
_____/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Sa 7 Low 3:40 AM 0.2 6:37 AM Set 11:31 AM 79
___7 High 10:11 AM 5.2 5:13 PM Rise 9:53 PM
___7 Low 4:54 PM 0.3
___7 High 10:36 PM 3.8

The high tide will be 22 minutes later than for the 2008 race and very slightly bigger magnitude. If my calculations are correct, peak flow should occur midway between the tides at . . . *drumroll* . . . 6:56AM!

There will be a 3/4-full moon to run with starting at 9:53 PM on the run course, as well. Hopefully most of us will only have an opportunity to see it after crossing the finish line!

Here's a YouTube video where you can see how the swimmers were absolutely FLYING down the channel:

News coverage of 2008 B2B

Results from the 2008 iron-distance event are posted here! 56 female finishers, 324 male finishers (380 total). The slowest swim was about 1:34. Median finish time for women was 12:49; for men median finish time was 12:22. DNF rate of those who finished the swim was 4.2%.

From the half iron distance results, there were 122 female finishers with median finish time 6:19; 250 male finishers with median time 5:49 (372 total finishers). DNF rate was 2.7% of those who finished the swim.

Locals report some significant traffic backups for the inaugural race (especially around the bridges and T2/finish area). Plan ahead to avoid these as much as possible in 2009! Also the water taxi service from T2/finish to the spectator parking areas had reported waiting times in line of over 2 hours.

Congratulations to Debi Bernardes on her 3rd place finish in the half-iron event!!

Iron competitors show mettle in Beach2Battleship triathlon

WECT TV6

Starnewsonline.com

Here's some photos and a report from the 2nd-place women's relay team for the half-iron distance. Congratulations, podium girls!!

Rebecca DeWire took second place in the full iron distance in 10:44 after having a baby in January 2008!

A thread from Beginner Triathlete is up, about 2008 participants' experiences and results. Here's a BT race report for the half iron distance.

Here's a very detailed race report from a 14:52 full iron distance B2B finisher.

Here's another with several photos of the area (pdf).

The post-race participant reviews on Slowtwitch seem quite positive. "Nippycrisp" posted a nicely detailed race report on the full iron distance as well which sounded excellent.

Here's a spectator/triathlete report that confirms most of the good things people have said elsewhere about this race.

2008 event

It looks like they had close to ideal weather for the 2008 event today, chilly in the morning but with high temps around 71*F, with very light winds. Hope all is going well - we look forward to the results and reading the race reports as they appear!

The Athlete Guidelines for Beach to Battleship 2008 are here in pdf form - those participating in 2009 may want to save this guide offline now for reference until the 2009 version has been produced.

Wilmington weather forecast

For the record, average weather on November 7 in Wilmington, NC:

Mean Temperature
59 °F / 15 °C

Max Temperature
71 °F / 21 °C
record 80 °F / 26 °C (2005)

Min Temperature
48 °F / 8 °C
record 31 °F / 0 °C (1982)

Precipitation
0.10 in / 0.25 cm
record 1.51 in / 3.84 cm (2006)


Winds may certainly be a factor on race day, but I don't have that data yet.

I'm in, for CAF

I'm planning to register for Beach to Battleship iron-distance triathlon when registration opens on December 1st. The race is planned for Saturday, November 7, 2009 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Through this effort I will be raising funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation which supports people with physical disabilities in sport, always a huge inspiration to me.

My CAF donation page is at: http://raceforareason.kintera.org/nancytoby

I know many of you have pledged to donate AFTER I cross the finish line, and that's fantastic! I've recorded your names, so I plan to be back bugging you in mid-November 2009!

Famous CAF triathlete and amputee Sarah Reinertsen didn't finish her first iron-distance triathlon, and the distance also defeated me on my first attempt at Ironman Florida in 2006 when even with two intact legs I only made it 127.5 miles. I hadn't planned to attempt the distance again, but Pusher Extraordinaire Brian Gatens made me an offer I couldn't refuse: If I finished, he would make a substantial donation to the charity of my choice. How could I turn that down!?

This second time around - just like Sarah - I'm going the full 140.6-mile distance, along with several of my best triathlete friends. We're keeping a blog on the details of the race and our preparations at http://beach2b.blogspot.com/

Thanks in advance for your support both of me and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Note: If anyone else would like to join me in fundraising for CAF at this event, I've set up a team called "Battleship or Bust" on the website. I invite you to join the team!

2009 registration

According to the 2008 B2B website:

When will registration open for the 2009 event? General registration will open on December 1, 2008 at 8AM for the 2009 event. The 2009 event date is set for Saturday November 7, 2009.

In 2008 the registration fee was $250 for USAT members for the iron distance triathlon. Refunds minus $50 were available up until August 1, 2008 or until the event filled, whichever came first.

CAVEAT! There may be NO refunds if the event fills, which it may do very soon after registration opens. Check the current policy carefully.

T2 and finish area

I believe there is just one main access road (which will be used by cyclists and runners) to this area - the tourist parking lots for the Battleship North Carolina - so it's probable that traffic, parking, and spectator access will be difficult on race day.

The Swim Courses

Yes, unfortunately, they do get stinging sea nettles in the area. It's possible that the numbers may subside by November, however, if waters are cool that year.

Wrightsville Beach Lodging

Just in case you're thinking about B2B - here's a link to vacation house rentals by Wrightsville Beach, where the swim start is (and walking distance to T1 and bike racking on Friday):
http://www.visitwrightsville.com/lodging/beach-rentals.html

Lots of nice properties in all price ranges! They have prices on most of the houses if you click for individual information. I've seen everything from $500/week to $2500/week for places that looked nice.

Of course, since the finish line is in downtown Wilmington (9 miles away), you will have to figure out how to get transportation back for you and your bike after the race. If you're doing the full, probably riding your bike back tired in pitch blackness isn't an optimal plan.

Welcome!

Welcome to our group blog, for and by triathletes who hope to participate in the Beach to Battleship triathlon in Wilmington, North Carolina (mostly in November, 2009). See you there! Here's a link to the race website: http://www.beachtobattleship.com/