IronMan Tips for Parents & Supporters

Start Planning:   Find your event on the IronMan website and get the address of IronMan Village. Get the IronMan Schedule and Swim, Bike, & Run courses. Print them and download them to your phone or iPad. Use the schedule to determine mandatory competitor and bike check in times. Make note of the Athlete Briefing times.

Accommodations:   Book as close to IronMan Village as possible and reserve more beds than you think you will need. Lots of beds provide the ability to maximize privacy & comfort. It is possible to get good prices if you book as far in advance as possible (e.g., when event entry has been confirmed). We have had good success with Air B&B. We get there the afternoon or evening before IronMan Village opens and leave the morning after the race.

Bike Transportation:   Figure out your plan in advance. Get a really good bike rack. Have a trailer hitch installed on your car for your bike rack. Ideally, your bike should be smaller than the width of the back of your car to reduce windage. Your bike should be in the closest slot to the back of the car to reduce windage. Windage, especially at high speeds, can damage a bike. The man who sold my son his carbon fiber bike said it should be transported within the vehicle because a regular bike will scratch or dent while a carbon fiber bike will shatter. We bring our rack on our hatchback SUV but use it only for short-distance transport.

Bike Moving Times:

1. Transport from home to event lodging.
2. Drive around the bike course to check it out and let the athlete bike strategically on the course.
3. Check the bike into IronMan Village (usually the day before the event). Have the IronMan competitor(s) leave the receipt in the glove box of the car so a supporter can retrieve bike & gear bag from the Transition area after the race. Alternatively, the competitor can retrieve bike & gear from the Transition Area using his/her wristband as identification but our family considers bike & gear retrieval as part of support.
4. Transport bike to lodging. It will be covered with sticky sports drinks and road dust. A bike sock (e.g., velosock.com) will protect your lodging and earn respect & affection from the people renting to you.

Research the Swim Leg:

1. Find a chart ( https://www.charts.noaa.gov/InteractiveCatalog/nrnc.shtml ). Select the Paper Charts tab then search for the city. Several products, including Chart Book (BC) are free.
2. Look Up ocean tides to calculate water height and currents.
3. Atlantic City at low tide was extremely shallow at the far end - shallower than the length of an arm.

During the Weeks Before the Event:

1. Make sure the bike has been adjusted for best fit, mechanically checked, cleaned and lubricated.
2. Start regularly checking the weather (historical and forecasts) for the IronMan location.
3. Using the timeline and map figure out the route from your accommodations to the drop-off area for the start. Determine when you need to leave and what the athlete wants to eat pre-race, then when you need to get up. The athlete will need a ride to the start because parking then walking is generally not possible.
4. Stock up on lubricants to protect skin from clothing. Glide is water resistant and used by many; 2Toms SportShield is theoretically waterproof; Vaseline is ok for practice. Sun screen is also important.
5. The bike will need to carry extra tubes and CO2 air supplies to repair a flat. Bring supplies for at least 2 flats in case a tube replacement goes bad. IronMan does provide bike mechanics on course but it is likely faster for the athlete to plan on fixing their own flat. A competitor recently experienced a 50 minute wait.
6. Buy a number of tissue packages (at least 1 for every supporter) because the bathrooms and Porta Potties near the race might all run out of toilet paper.
7. Expect to spend some money at the IronMan store (birthday gifts?). Plan to get there early as the really good stuff sells out fast. They sell beautiful memorabilia including an iconic shirt with all competitor names on the back. The jackets are high quality and a badge of pride. The oval car magnets are cheap, and you cannot buy too many.
8. Install the free IronMan tracker from the Apple Store (iPhone/iPad) or from Google Play (Android).
9. Spectators frequently deplete their cell phone batteries during the event, especially when using the tracker app. Battery use is further increased in areas of poor cellular coverage. Bring a portable USB charging capability so support crew cell phones can be recharged. Search Amazon using the term "USB Charging Brick." Replace your cell phone battery if it seems weak and minimize the number of background processes and notifications on your phone.
10. In my experience, IronMan spectators and competitors are kind and helpful. Consider it shared discomfort and not cutthroat competition. Pack extra supplies so you can share with other spectators, and take comfort from the expectation that someone will likely help you if you are in need.

During the Race:

1. Use the IronMan Tracker: Open the tracker, find your event, then select your entrant(s). Each IronMan wears a tracking device. Tracking sensors are spaced along the course and visible on the tracker map. Keep in mind the athlete's position is updated when detected by a sensor and estimated while traveling between sensors.
2. Using the course maps, figure out how to move around the course so you can see and call to your athlete. Sometimes IronMan will provide shuttles.
3. Take a picture of athletes you know as they go by and post to Facebook. The posts will make people at home feel good & reduce the number of texts you need to answer.
4. Be prepared to cheer for ALL of the athletes that pass by - they really appreciate it. The IronMan store sells cowbells which makes cheering less tiring.
5. It is a foul for a spectator to touch, pass a supply to, or attempt to "coach" a competitor. Competitors cannot carry cell phone or ear buds for this reason. Specifics are posted on the IronMan website in the Athletes > Athlete Guide. The guide also states the athlete must wear their tracker throughout the race or they will not be scored. It is easy to slip off the tracker while changing in the Transition area.
6. At the finish: The after-race care areas are sometimes inaccessible to supporters, but after-race care is critical. Make sure your athlete accepts the medical oversight and after-race food & drink that IronMan provides. Your athlete can talk to you after they have safely recovered from the race. This may be a good time to send someone to the Transition Area to retrieve the bike(s) and bags.