Race Guide - Ironman Tallinn

Looking at this race now, the route has completely changed from the one I did back in 2018 so there's little point in talking about that, as you all breath a collective sigh of relief!

The swim that year was in a harbor, and despite the temps being in the high 20's, the current was coming in from the Baltic so the water temps were so cold that it was touch and go whether the swim would go ahead at all. Change of swim location seems to be a theme of Ironman Tallinn. 

My overriding memory of the swim was passing a docked warship in the harbor and the taste and smell of diesel was horrible!! Not Kilkenny Triathlon/Smithwicks factory bad, but bad enough ;-)

The bike is the only discipline of the 3 that has some of the same route these days, its a fast bike, mostly flat on a good surface, and the run has changed for the better, gone is the hill up to the old parliament buildings that had to be done 8 times, now it looks a more "sympathetic" route. God that hill was rough!!

Anyway, all of this moot, as the main takeaway and the main reason you would do this race, is because Tallinn is one of the most beautiful cities you will ever visit, so even if you don't do the Ironman, just visit it anyway, the old town is just an incredible place, which considering its location, is a miracle its serviced as well as it has that you could wonder around all day, but if you are doing the race, maybe shuffle around after the race, not before! Just don't let the tram ride in from the Airport put you off, the suburbs in Tallinn are not pretty and have that grey foreboding eastern block feel to them, but once you hit the old town, its like another world!

There are a few things you should note though, back in 2018, (I've just had a cursory look there now too) direct flights from Ireland were only twice a week, and not on the days you'd like to fly (Wed/Thur returning Monday) And despite it being a beautiful city, its a small city, a week in Tallinn would be pushing it. So then you're into alternative options, which are alternative options for a reason!! We ended up flying out direct but back through Stockholm which then got changed to Amsterdam, running through Schiphol to catch a connecting flight with Ironman DOMS is not something I'd like to experience again!!

The other option is flying through Helsinki and getting the short ferry crossing over to Tallinn, this is a viable option if you have time, but does add another layer of travel fatigue which you should try avoid pre-race. Or.. you can take the absolutely bonkers options, as one Irish Guy I met over there did, and get the 7 hour bus journey (the day after the Ironman!!)  to St. Petersburg. Although looking back now, I bet hes glad he did!!

So with all that in mind, I would advise taking a bike transport service if at all possible.

There's very little other advice I can give you in relation to this race, other than: 

• pack for all conditions, it could be very hot, but also could rain, we got everything during our race,
• sit in the raekoja plats, have an aperol spritz and watch the world go by,
• it was and still is a split transition, have your logistics and timetable well sorted before you get there as this can be messy if not planned.

The race and city has so many happy memories for me, it was only my second go at an Ironman, so to come away with a 9.09, posting one of the fastest AG runs of the event (3.06 on a route with over 300m climbing and well before there was such thing as super shoes!!) and most importantly, getting an unexpected Kona Slot, opened my eyes to my potential at the distance. Although, I'll never forget sitting in a cafe after receiving my slot, trying to plan travel to Kona with less than 2 months to the race, first world problems I know. It looks like its later in August these days so maybe its now a good place to try go get your KQ, so if you do book it, give Comeragh Coaching a shout.