Lake Placid Ironman Course – UPDATED 2021 – A Complete Guide

If you are looking for a new goal, the Lake Placid Ironman course is one of the most sought after Ironman events on the calendar. Every year triathletes from all over the world travel to Lake Placid for the atmosphere and most notably, the challenging course.

Located in the Adirondack Mountains and home to the famous Adirondack climbs. The Lake Placid Ironman suits the experienced triathlete that is looking for a challenge Ironman course.

Lake Placid offers the convenience of a small town but the amenities of a larger city. Thus providing world-class accommodation, restaurants, and many other luxuries. This provides more than enough facilities during the week of the event for most athletes.

Part of the Ironman Royalty Club, the event receives numerous gold awards and is voted by participants as one of the best bike courses in North America. They have been also merited for the post-race celebration and overall satisfaction of the event.

With the event offering 40 qualifying spots to the Vega IRONMAN World Championship you can imagine that the event is growing more and more popular each year.

Lake Placid Swim Course

The swim course takes place in Mirror Lake and offers a calm and fast two-loop swim course in the heart of Lake Placid. Being a friendly spectator course, expect to see large crowds of people supporting you along the way.

The swim starts with a continuous stream of athletes, similar to that of a running race. The athlete’s time will then start as they cross the timing mat. With a temperature of around 22 degrees in the water, each athlete will have to make a short run to the beach before entering the second lap of two.

It is also worth noting that the swim is self-seeded. This means on race morning your swim start is based on your projected time. While this is not mandatory it is encouraged by the event organizers.

Ironman Lake Placid Bike Course & Elevation

The Ironman Lake Placid bike course is not one for the weak cyclist. So if your heading to the event, make sure you bring your cycling legs with you.

The Lake Placid bike course takes you through the hills of the Adirondacks. Each lap you will need to ride up the famous 11-mile climb up “the notch”. The bike course is based over two loops, so remember you are tackling this hill twice.

If the distance of the climb doesn’t startle you, the Lake Placid bike course elevation will. Starting at 514m elevation and climbing to 1274m. The elevation will play an important role in your results, but don’t expect a fast bike time,

A simple tip is to learn the course beforehand, as it can help produce a nice lead over your competitors heading into the run. With the bike course being tough, it is important to work on your power to weight ratio as well. It is also wise to spend some time simulating the course if you have access to a longer climb.

Since we have helped many people improve their cycling heading into the event, We have decided to offer a cycling training plan catered to this event. The plan is designed around your current swim and run training, so that means anyone can adapt this training plan to their current schedule. Our Coaches always take this into account when building a plan of this nature.

Click here to check out our Ironman Lake Placid bike training plan

Lake Placid Run Course

The Lake Placid Ironman Run Course sees a similar two-loop layout as the bike course. It takes the athletes past the famous Olympic ski jumps to the scenic River Road. You will then head to the turn around on the shores of Mirror Lake and will pass through the city center four times. This will allow the spectators to offer you words of encouragement along the way.

Although only climbing to 488m during each loop, the run still provides a challenging course. After the severity of the bike course you will find that the run elevation feels much more. So it is important to constantly fuel during the bike. This will make sure you can tackle the run course with your full fitness.

Ironman Lake Placid Tips – What You Should Know?

If you looking for some Ironman Lake Placid tips you have come to the right place. Maybe you are wondering what to expect or fearing the severity of the course. While it is not on paper the hardest Ironman course around, its still a challenging course. It has humbled many athletes over the years. So a word of warning, don’t underestimate the bike and run course.

– If you don’t have access to open water try to focus on steady efforts in the pool. These should be between 5-7×600 meter efforts and try to keep these at a steady and consistent pace.

– For the bike try to keep your Intensity Factor closer to 0.70, this will help most age-group athletes to ride conservatively and save enough for the run. This means steady rides in training at an Intensity Factor of between 0.68 and 0.72 IF. Don’t forget to add some longer rides in and each week add some low cadence work to replicate the hills of Lake Placid.

– Try to focus on your longer runs and include some long uphills and downhills to replicate race day. You can also include shorter hill repeats such as 9-10 x 2 minutes, as this will both help your run form and your strength needed for the marathon.

Like all training, try to stay consistent and allow enough recovery in after these sessions. You will then get to the Ironman event healthy and in top shape.

Ironman Lake Placid Athlete Guide

The Ironman Lake Placid athlete guide is uploaded 6-8 weeks before the event. You can find the full athlete guide on Ironman.com.
The Ironman village serves as the athlete check-in, where athlete briefings take place. You can also find the merchandise store located there. The Village is a great opportunity for the public and athletes to interact with partners and vendors of the event. this means you can pick up any race day essentials you have forgotten.
The Ironman village is located at the Olympic Speedskating Oval, 50 Cummins Rd, Lake Placid, NY 12946.

With the uncertainty of the 2020 event going ahead you can keep up to date with the outcome on their Facebook page.