Ironman Puerto Rico 70.3: 2024 Race Review
Hey there! Another post about Ironman Puerto Rico 70.3 on March 17th in San Juan. No doubt, the race itself was fantastic, but hey – those Caribbean temperatures were no joke All athletes had to face 30-32 degrees Celsius (upper 80s Fahrenheit) temperatures, so staying cool and hydrates was definitely a key.
As always – some numbers related to athletes:
- 701 athletes registered.
- 677 showed up to suffer…I mean, start the race.
- 629 crossed that finish line!
- 48 DNFs, 24 DNSs, 1 DQ!
- That’s an 7.6% DNF rate – gotta factor in the heat.
Ironman athlete status categories are defined as follows:
- DNF (Did Not Finish): This includes athletes who started the event but were unable to cross the finish line, or who crossed the finish line after the course had officially closed.
- DNS (Did Not Start): These are athletes who, despite registering for the event, failed to start the race.
- DSQ (Disqualified): This category comprises those who started the event but were subsequently disqualified for various reasons.
- NC (Not Classified): Athletes in this group started the event and crossed the finish line before the course closed but did not meet certain established course or discipline cut-off times, or the overall event course cut-off.
Bike course and Run Course Review
Okay, as always – time to dig deeper into elevation gain data after the race. I wanted to know more than just who won, so I did a deep dive on Strava.
I randomly picked 20 athletes who did the race and stalked their profiles (don’t judge, we all do it). I wanted to see the course elevation, what kind of gear they used, basically get inside their heads a bit. To equally represent all athletes – I’ve selected 10 male and 10 female athletes across most of the age groups.
Why? Because the elevation tells you how brutal or not the climbs were and how much you’d suffer on that bike or run. And the gear? Well, I’m a gear nerd, and it’s always interesting to see what other triathletes are using.
Bike course and Run Course Data Table
Bike Course Elevation (m) | Run Course Elevation (m) | Device |
|---|---|---|
208 | 236 | Garmin Edge 830 / Garmin Forerunner 965 |
341 | 259 | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
305 | 300 | Garmin Edge 530 / Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE |
265 | 210 | Garmin Edge 530 / Garmin Forerunner 965 |
402 | 273 | Garmin fenix 7x |
258 | 300 | Garmin Edge 520 Plus / Garmin Forerunner 245 |
334 | 238 | Garmin fenix 6X |
253 | 190 | Garmin Forerunner 945 |
252 | 190 | Garmin fenix 6S |
643 | 299 | Garmin fenix 7x |
258 | 208 | Garmin Forerunner 955 |
345 | 257 | Garmin fenix 7 PRO |
649 | 813 | Garmin Forerunner 935 |
268 | 213 | Garmin Edge 1030 / Garmin Forerunner 965 |
251 | 191 | Garmin Forerunner 945 |
391 | 232 | Garmin Forerunner 955 |
295 | 228 | Garmin Edge 520 Plus / Garmin Forerunner 945 |
283 | 288 | Garmin Edge 130 Plus / Garmin Forerunner 265 |
400 | 240 | Garmin Forerunner 965 |
297 | 258 | Garmin Forerunner 935 |
Ironman Puerto Rico 70.3: Summary of the Analysis
Okay, so I dug through the data from my 20 random Puerto Rico athletes – mixed bag of genders and age groups. Just like I expected, the elevation data is kinda all over the place!
The official bike course elevation from the organizers? 103 meters. Two of the athletes had high numbers. One Garmin Forerunner 935 clocked 649 meters, and a Garmin Fenix 7x got 643 meters. However, our elevation data calculated based on Strava athletes profiles (excluding one crazy result) has 300 meters of elevation gain. 3 times more that officially advertised.
The run course is supposed to have 196 meters of gain according to the organizers. Well, same Garmin Forerunner 935 that went wild on the bike also thought the run had over 813 meters of climbing. We know elevation data can be wonky, but that’s next level – almost 4 times of average.. I’ll excluded that one too. Once I excluded outlier – average elevation gain for the run is 243 meters, which is not far from 196 meters stated by organizers.
Bottom line: elevation numbers are always a bit of a gamble, especially with different devices with different settings in the mix!
Fun fact: according to official race page – Puerto Rico is probably the only 70.3 course where run course is much hillier that bike course.
Bike Course Elevation:
- Average Elevation: 300 meters
Run Course Elevation:
- Average Elevation: 243 meters
More information
To find more information about the course, air temperature, water temperature, number of laps and more, please visit dedicated Ironman Puerto Rico 70.3 page.
P.S. Want to geek out over elevation profiles and plan your race and nutrition tactics for next year’s Ironman Puerto Rico 70.3? Check out the course maps below – they’ve got all the ups and downs you need to strategize your way to a podium finish (or, you know, just survive the heat!).
