70.3 Oceanside Course Preview

Former winner, Jackson Laundry, will be hoping to repeat what he’s done in the past and take the win in this stacked field.

This weekend, Ironman Oceanside 70.3 is set to kick off the Ironman pro series for 2024. The start list is completely stacked. 

70.3 Oceanside holds the distinction of being the longest-standing event on the current 70.3 calendar, tracing its origins back to 2002. Over time, it has cemented its reputation as the primary “season opener” for North American triathletes, both amateurs and professionals alike.

The anticipation surrounding the new series has drawn considerable interest from professional athletes. Consequently, Oceanside boasts an impressive start list comprising 117 registered pros – 80 men and 37 women. If all goes as expected, this event could potentially surpass previous records, including the 97 overall starters at 70.3 St. George in 2021, 65 male starters at the 2009 70.3 Worlds, and 46 female starters at the 2022 70.3 Worlds. It promises to be an enthralling spectacle.

We won’t do an in-depth preview of the runners and riders – you can check one out here but we will look in depth at the bike course in Oceanside, which is much less boring than most North American 70.3 races. 

The temperature

Oceanside 70.3 is always a cold race, but the lows predicted on course drop to around 8.8 degrees celsius on the bike! The main consequence of this is speed related – cold air is more dense! Luckily, it’s looking extremely unlikely that it’ll rain. 

The elevation

You can see that the course is rolling most clearly with the “Where Power Matters Most” plot. The orange boxes show us where an investment in energy delivers the most return. The Oceanside course is littered with these showing a clear distinction between the most efficient transfer of power and riding a flat time trial effort.

The wind

With a 12m draft distance, the wind coming entirely from the side will aid splitting up groups. It’s also interesting to note that the wind is blowing off the short onto the sea – which you might not expect. That said, wind speeds are low so we won’t spend too much time worrying about this.