IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz | 2025

The IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz is a long-distance triathlon known for its scenic California coastline course and laid-back "Surf City" atmosphere.

Course description

1. Swim

Distance: 1.2 miles.
Course: A single clockwise loop in the ocean, starting at Santa Cruz Main Beach next to the historic Boardwalk. Athletes swim around the Santa Cruz Wharf before exiting onto Cowell's Beach.
Conditions: Water temperatures are typically in the low to mid-60s Fahrenheit, making it a wetsuit-legal race. A thick marine layer (fog) can occur, and sea lions are often spotted near the pier.

Transition: After exiting the water, athletes run about 75 to 100 meters on the sand and then 1/2 mile on pavement to the transition area in Depot Park.

2. Bike

Distance: 56 miles.
Course: A scenic out-and-back course that starts from Depot Park. It takes athletes north on Highway 1, passing beautiful coastal scenery before reaching the turnaround point near Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
Elevation: The route is described as "rolling" with approximately 2,700 to 2,800 feet of elevation gain.
Return: Riders head back south on Highway 1 to return to the transition zone.

3. Run

Distance: 13.1 miles.

Course: A rolling out-and-back course with a single loop, primarily following the scenic West Cliff Path. The course passes Natural Bridges State Park and turns around at Wilder Ranch State Park, offering dramatic views from the ocean bluffs.
Terrain: The route includes long sections on dirt trails at Wilder Ranch, which can be uneven.
Finish Line: The run concludes with the famous finish, which is directly on Cowell's Beach, with the final 100 yards being on the sand.

Race experience, atmosphere, and Scenery:

The event has a long history and is known for its relaxed, "local race" vibe, blending a chill culture with a high-end IRONMAN experience. It is a popular choice for a late-season race.
The coastal course offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and local landmarks, including the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, wharf, and West Cliff Drive.
The event attracts both seasoned and first-time triathletes, with an uneven long trail section on the run and utilizing the swim's rolling star.

How did it go for me?

We flew on Tuesday, September 2nd, 6 days before the event. I packed my bike at home; in a special bike case-luggage. I've done this many times before. With this new bike, it was my second time, but it's always a challenge. I am not a mechanic, and I do not pretend to be one. I also do not enjoy this part, like some may think, because I am willing to learn and do my best with the mechanical part, I like it, and that's not true; I just want to be self-sufficient.

The most challenging part is building the bike correctly, more than anything, because any detail is vital for safety purposes. I was planning to bring the bike to a local bike shop, but all bike shops in the area were fully booked for a whole week.

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”

— Roy T. Bennett

Furthermore, I ended up building the bike myself; it took me around 4 hours, since one part was not clicking properly. It was stressful because I wanted to ensure that the bike was fully tuned. After talking to a nice mechanic, I fixed it myself.

I noticed something unusual that had never happened before. When I was packing my bike for California, the new carbon race wheels had water trapped inside the carbon portion of the front wheel. Usually, I wash my bike frequently with a hose, so this surprised me. After doing some research online, I found that this is a common occurrence. I was optimistic about fixing these minor issues before the race, but when I tried to take my bike to the mechanic at the race venue, they were also fully booked. Ultimately, I decided to race with the bike as it was.

Furthermore, I was not 100% comfortable with the idea of not tuning my bike with a professional mechanic. Still, I stayed focused on the things I had control over, I learned from everything, and remained optimistic. Next time, I will plan and book a professional bike tune-up 2 weeks before or right before my next triathlon race, depending on the race location.

The Morning Race: Alarms were set to 4:30 AM. We were staying in a nice hotel located less than 2 miles from the start.

The transition opened at 5:30 AM on Sunday for athletes to set up their gear. I arrived at 5:45 and had no issue getting my gear set up and down to the beach in time to go to the toilets and be fully set to find my swim pace wave group.

🌊🏊🏽‍♀️The Swim: 1.2 miles or 2,112 yards in the Pacific Ocean. Time: 27:44 (Garmin watch)

🦭The water was very smooth on the race morning; there were no waves at all.

Note: Before race day, I did a swim practice in the same area close to the wharf, to feel the water and the wetsuit. We could hear the seals “barking” from a distance. Santa Cruz is full of sea lions. I swam 20 minutes close to the shore; there were some big waves at that time, which was in the afternoon. The funny part is that the water was not clear, and when I came out of the water, two sea lions were very close to me, like 10-20 meters; I was shocked. I read the sea lions do not “attack” humans, but if they get scared, they can bite as protection.

🚣The race organizers and volunteers did an excellent job, with many volunteers on paddleboards, kayaks, and jet skis to look out for the athletes. At no point do I think I was more than 25 yards from a lifeguard-volunteer. During the swim, I felt excellent and I was relaxed. I took it as a warm-up; it went fast and felt very easy to me, I had a lot of space, just some arm bumps with a male swimmer. 👊

Transition One (T1): After exiting the water, athletes must complete a half-mile run/walk to transition. I don't like to run barefoot on the streets, so I left an extra running shoes closed to the sand. Everyone is different; some people are less sensitive and can run barefoot without any issues.

T1 Time: 5 min with 10 seconds

🚵The Bike: 56 miles with 2,800 Feet of elevation.

Time: 2:40:33

The bike course is a fun out-and-back adventure along Highway 1, just north of Santa Cruz! It kicks off with a little uphill to get you warmed up, then meanders through the lovely streets of Santa Cruz for the first few miles. Enjoy the ride and soak in the beautiful scenery!

At around mile 3, you'll be greeted by a fantastic section of the course that features long, rolling hills and breathtaking ocean views—it’s truly a sight to behold! As you keep going, you’ll encounter a couple of steeper hills near mile 15 and again at mile 35, both on the same hill. Embrace the challenge; it’s all part of the adventure!

There are three aid stations along the ride at miles 15, 30, and 45. Each had water, Mortal Hydration (an electrolyte drink), Maurten products (gels and solids), and bananas.

I just took some water from one of the friendly volunteers. I had my own nutrition, but grabbed one at the end of the course to have some fresh water.

During the bike ride, I felt very comfortable. My coach, Coach Mark Olson, suggested keeping the wattage range between 160 and 170. I did average 175, and I was feeling so strong and relaxed, as if I was going around 75- 80% of my maximum effort. Compared to other long-distance past experiences.

Transition two (T2): I took my time to change socks and grabbed plenty of nutrition; actually, I got more than I needed. However, for this race, I was very focused on having a good nutrition plan and following it up, as nutrition used to be one of my weaknesses.

T2 Time: 2 minutes with 8 seconds.

🏃🏻‍♀️The Run: 13.1 Miles with 673 ft elevation. Pavement and gravel/trail run.

The elevation changes and trails add to the challenge of the run, making for a memorable experience.

Time: 1:38:07

During the run, I also felt fresh, fast, and strong. The first 4 miles I was going and feeling more rapid than I thought I would go. At exactly mile 4, I was going below 7 minutes per mile. Subsequently, I got entangled with my shoelaces, I fell flat on the pavement, It felt so hard, on my stomach/core more than anything that I count move, many people athletes and spectators came to help me, I spent like 2–3 minutes on the side trying to put my self together, it was excruciating, I kept jogging until I was feeling good again, getting back to my pace, then since I did not notice what happened at the first time, I got entangled again. I can’t believe it, I fell super hard a second time on the pavement. It was one of the most painful things I have ever felt.

This time, I almost cried; again, I lost around 2–3 minutes. I was frozen. I started talking positively to myself, reminded myself of a good mantra, and then I told myself, “Raquel, just keep going.” I tried quickly to fix the laces. I got the shoelaces with the Speed laces or Fast Lock laces, but since I had new shoes, I kept the laces too long, and these were not elastic (YES I DID TRAIN with these new shoes and laces a couple of times). To avoid these entangling issues, I did a few quick stops trying to fix them, but I know all these stops and issues made me slower. I am sure that if none of this had happened, I would have run a sub-1:30 or close to that.

Finish time: 4:53:56

I finished in second place, but it truly feels like first place, because I know what happened and how well I handled it 🥹🎖️🏆🎉.

Nutrition: This time, I used a new, unflavored carb product with water (90 gr/hr) and added some drops of concentrate minerals, and a 100% natural gel every 20 min. This was a total game-changer for me; once again, I kept feeling energetic, light, and strong from start to finish.

I am thrilled, grateful, and proud of myself. After this fantastic experience with a lot of juicy positive emotions, I learned a great deal and gained a lot of confidence for the future events that await me. More than ever, I am self-assured that with a better-planned bike mechanical maintenance strategy, using my regular fast-lock laces 😝, and utilizing the same nutrition that has worked so well for me, I can achieve even better results. 🤩