IM Portugal – Race review/preview – Ian Moore
Ironman Portugal is run mid-October (October 19th in 2024) in the picturesque seaside town of Cascais, which is approx. 44km from Lisbon international airport. There is good connectivity to Lisbon from Dublin Airport with Ryanair and TAP. Getting from the airport to Cascais can be done via taxi (approx. €50) or train (approx. €5). There is a train station in the airport (just like Dublin, not!), and one or two changes will get you to Cascais. The train will take up to an hour and half, the taxi ride can be done in 40 mins, depending on traffic. I went in 2022 and hired a car because I thought it would be more convenient. It wasn’t.
The race itself has an IM and half IM option over a similar course, with the half IM starting at 6am and the IM an hour later. This means that there is plenty of company on the course for the first half of the day at least. The swim starts on the beach in Cascais and goes parallel to shore for about 1500m. Then a 90 degree right turn away from shore and another 90 degree turn back to the pier. The bay is sheltered, the water clear and there are plenty of sighting points. The swim times were fast, presumably due to local currents and saltwater buoyancy. The temperature was comfortable (average water temp. 18C), especially if you’re used to swimming in the west coast of Ireland. There is no risk of non-wetsuit swim or algae causing the swim to be cancelled. There is a risk racing at that time of year that there may be autumn storms, but the race has gone off in excellent conditions for the last few years.
There are two transition areas set up in the town with the half IM set-up close to the Marina and the full a little further away in a sports arena.
The bike course has two main sections. The first is up along the coast to the national park with a climb of 250m elevation. The first year the race was run it went up to 500m but apparently there was carnage on the decent so that was changed. On the decent there is a loop of the Estoril racetrack and back into Cascais. The second part of the course is a relatively flat out and back towards Lisbon and back to Cascais. Then do it all again for total elevation gain of 1465m. The cycle is scenic and when I was there in ’22 the benign conditions in the morning changed as the day went on and by the end of the day there was a good stiff breeze for competitors to contend with. Times were pretty good and the feedback from athletes was that it’s a fair but challenging course.
The IM run consists of three out and back loops, heading out towards the coast and the scenic cliff top and returning through the marina and into the very heart of the town. The turn bollard is situated 2 meters from the beer garden in the Irish pub, which is a bit cruel. As it’s a clifftop run it is breezy and rolling, but very well supported especially the closer you get to the town. There were also loads of Irish competitors and supporters.
The town of Cascais is a tourist town with all the infrastructure that brings, including a variety of restaurants, supermarkets, accommodation and non-Ironman activities like surfing, museums and getting sunburn. Lisbon is also really easy to get in and out of via the train, so it’s a good option to have in the days before or after the race. The weather in’22 was good (Irish summer‘esque) but not oppressively hot. Average air temp at that time of year is 18C, and cooler in the evenings. It gets dark quite early which some people commented on but I am not sure if it was an issue.
My own race in ’22 was over before it began as I was ill on the morning of the race, so I am back again this year. If you want more details on travel, the course or anything else feel free to contact me, but the main piece of advice I’d give is don’t get sick and don’t hire a car.
Car hire story – plane arrived a bit late (20 mins), budget car hire place 2km from airport, no shuttle and car hire place closed, went to get a taxi, queue too long so jumped in an illegal taxi, got “the fear” on the way that I’d be killed or worse still that my bike would be stolen. Bike wasn’t stolen. Went back to airport in the morning, got shuttle to car hire place, long queue, got forced to pay extra insurance as I missed my pick up time. Drove back to Cascais, lots of traffic. Parking was a nightmare at my accommodation. Dropped back car early to save on car hire but then realised that there was no place in airport to store bike / bike box and Ryanair wouldn’t let me check it in early. Spent 14 hours minding my bike in the airport.