stacey Racing USAT Nationals in 2024 in Atlantic City? If you are racing Sprint or Olympic Nationals in Atlantic City this fall, these tips might be helpful for a successful race.
SWIM:
Jump of the dock to a mass wave start. The buoys will be on your right. The sun will rise on the right side of the course and if there is no cloud cover, you will want tinted goggles
Based on tide chart, tide will be outgoing on race day. High tide is 4:38 am and Low tide is 10:36 so the latter waves will have a shallower swim, where your hands may feel the bottom at times. Some years, there have been jellyfish in the bay waters during Ironman Atlantic City 70.3. Typically the water will be wetsuit legal but can sit on the cuff depending on the summer.
Visibility is usually poor due to the sediment and the salt in the water.
As you make the turn to come back into shore, you will have a harder swim as the tide is going out. Be prepared to up the effort and do some sets that have back end tempo work.
BIKE
Olympic two loop course and Sprint one loop course. Best description would be a paperclip ride. You will need to have good bike handling skills, be heads up as the course can get crowded and be able to navigate tight turns.
Exiting Bader Field you will get on a local road which connects to AC Expressway, which stays open during the race. While on the AC Expressway, you will have the shoulder and the right lane out and back. There are cones that separate the race course from the traffic but important to note you are on a highway. There are rumble strips which are present between the two lanes, you want to avoid crossing over these when possible. After a few miles, you exit the expressway and find yourself once again on roads some of which are in less than ideal conditions. At the bottom of the exit ramp, you will do a 180 turn before heading back up the ramp. You head back onto the expressway and once again share the course with high speed traffic and depending on your wave, lots of athletes. Overall, minimal elevation on this course with the exception of on and off ramps.
Weather can be completely variable during this time of year. It can be windy, rainy or calm. Since you are near the ocean, likely that there will be a headwind on the first section and after the 180 turn, a tailwind when you are heading away from Atlantic City. There is little shade on this course, if it should be a hot, sunny day.
Sprint athletes will exit the expressway after one loop and head back towards Bader Field. Olympic athletes will head out onto a second loop of the bike course, and then exit the expressway and head back towards transition.
You may be able to see fellow competitors at the turn arounds, keep in mind that the out and backs are on a 6 lane highway.
RUN
Once again a course with very minimal elevation. You head out of Bader Field, there is a slight incline over the bay bridge and then up onto the boardwalk, but nothing that requires any sort of hill work. You will run several blocks on the AC city street to make your way to the boardwalk. The run course is completely exposed and once on the boardwalk you are running near the ocean. Be prepared for wind and zero shade.
Also note, this is a public boardwalk. In some of the races I have done here they have put out cones, but there will be people on the boardwalk who have no idea that a race is going on. Once on the boardwalk, you will head up towards Boardwalk Hall. You will pass the finish line and continue to make your way to the run turnaround. There is a small jetty that you will run out and around. This is likely the only shade or coverage from the elements that you will get on the run course.
For the Olympic you can see competitors on the out and back one you are near the turnaround, which looks like mile 4. For the Sprint, the out and back on the run course is shorter, so less than a mile.
You do this jetty both heading out and on your way back. Shortly after this segment is the finish line, so make a mental note of this on the course. In all previous Delmo, courses there has been a segment on sand. It is unclear if this is going to happen with the course being a national championship.
