The Aquaphor New York City Triathlon is a fun event, with tons of people flying in to tackle a great race and enjoy a weekend in the Big Apple. With a run through Manhattan and Central Park, it is rightly a popular race, but it is also a difficult course.

I have raced the NYC Tri twice, and coach Team in Training and Tri Latino teams for this race, practicing the route regularly throughout the year. Here are my top tips to help deal with some of the tougher elements of the course. Give them a read and profit from some insider knowledge!

Let me know if you have your own tips to add, or any specific questions.

Read the athlete guide, course description, etc. on the official New York City Triathlon website well in advance! Do it before you do anything else. If you have supporters coming, the Spectator Guide is full of useful info too – make them read that rather than asking YOU stupid questions and distracting you from vital race day prep!

Mandatory race briefings: These are a compulsory element and there for your benefit and safety. Try and attend on Friday before the hordes descend on the hotel. It’ll be a much easier chore and you can enjoy the expo. Show up on time to your briefing – they don’t admit latecomers and you don’t want to be hanging around aimlessly. There’s a city to explore and much pre-race relaxing to be done.

Racking your bike: You have to leave your bike in transition on Saturday afternoon (~3-9pm). Cover your bike with plastic bags in case of rain, and deflate your tires a little bit to avoid them going POP! in the sun. I’ve jumped at many an exploding tire in the background.

You don’t want to turn up to your bike on Sunday morning only to find you have to fix a flat! Bring a pump to re-inflate them on Sunday morning. Even if you don’t need it, you will make a lot of BFF’s if you have a pump to share!

There is plenty of security there, but don’t leave your other gear there, just the bike. You don’t want it getting moved, scattered, misplaced, rained on, etc. overnight. Bring it with you on Sunday morning.

Bring a torch and headlamp for pre-race set-up. It will be dark at 5am and while there is lighting, you will be glad of it when you are poking around in your bag looking for your lucky teddy bear.

Walking to the swim start: You walk from ~72nd St transition area to the swim start at ~99th St. That’s 27 blocks or over a mile. Leave enough time to set up transition, walk up, collect your chip, drop off some belongings, etc. Wear some comfortable shoes that you don’t mind forgetting about. Bring a mag (to read, not for your gun. No guns allowed in transition), do your stretching, visualize your race, relax on the grass. Bring some snacks, gels and a water bottle as you will be there a while. Talk to your teammates.

Relax! Don’t stress about the swim. The water is (officially/technically) clean. You might bump into some flotsam but ignore it. It ain’t a 3-eyed critter, just some driftwood. Carry on.

Let the current do the work. Take advantage of the fastest, easiest swim you’ll do in a triathlon. When you jump in (don’t dive!), the current will whisk you down river. Don’t stress, it is benign and trying to help! Get on your belly and start stroking. Be glad of the current. If you don’t like the idea of jumping in with 30 other athletes, let them jump first, wait a second or two (but not too long) and then go for it, start your race!

Swim to the outside, away from the wall where the current is strongest and let it carry you home. Near the wall is where the water will be choppiest.

You don’t need to do a lot of sighting in the swim as you will have the wall to your left which will take you down to swim finish in a straight line. There are also signs marking the route at 500m, 1000m, etc.

At the swim finish let the lifeguards pull you up. Swim right into the dock and take your time standing up. The floor is muddy (and gross) and you don’t want to get dizzy as you stand up.

Grab a shower on the way to transition to clear the Hudson muck, and then make your way casually to transition. It’s another 5-7 blocks back to your transition area. Read the course guide, to prep for the route in and out of transitions.

Transition: There are two different transition areas (red & yellow) and specific routes in and out for bike and run. Basically, run in and out of one entrance/exit and bike in and out of the other entrance.

Bike start: After cruising out of T1 (watch out for wayward, dizzy swimmers running to T1) you hit “Hot Corner” which is a sharp, 90 degree turn into a steep uphill. Thus, make sure you rack your bike in the easiest gear so you can get up that hill. There are crowds right on that corner for the bike start and swim finish, so make sure you don’t fall over in front of them!

Hydrate! It will be hot out there.

Bike course: The course is crowded, particularly on the bike, with scant regard for drafting rules, and a lot of dangerous riding. This is partly due to newbies but also to aggressive, overly competitive athletes. Be alert, call your passes, check before you pull out to pass, ride defensively. It might cost you a couple of minutes but you’ll minimize the risk.

At the end of the bike course you ride past transition down to 59th st before looping back to 72nd St and into transition for T2. Read the course map so you aren’t surprised by this. It is utterly demoralizing when you are looking forward to getting your butt off the bike, only to have to cycle an extra 20 blocks!

On the way back in for T2, remember what goes up, must come down! Ride slowly down that steep hill into transition. Some of the volunteers may be overzealous New Yorkers and will not be shy in stopping you and “helping” you off your bike.

The run is fantastic! The crowds along 72nd St are so supportive, loud and motivating. However, first you have to tackle a short, steep hill out of T2 onto the roads. Manage that part, especially given your legs will be jelly after the bike. Once you reach the crowds and the adrenaline starts pumping, don’t go crazy. Enjoy their cheering, but manage your pace. You don’t want to cramp up as soon as you get into the park!

Take advantage of the aid stations for water and nutrition, as NYC can be hot and humid in the summer, even at 9am.

There are some nice, rolling hills in Central Park to keep you on your toes. They gradually get tougher until you are at the northern-most part of the course near Harlem (video of Harlem Hill, opposite direction). Once you conquer those hills and start heading south on the east side of the park it is relatively flat before you hit downhill Cat Hill and arrive at 72nd St where the crowds will again welcome you!

Just when you expect to turn left for the finish line, you will have to turn right and run around a little-who-put-that-there-and-why-the-heck-do-I-have-to-run-around-it fountain before looping back for the finish line. Read the course map and there’ll be no surprises on race day!

Look out for the Team in Training and Tri Latino support crews. Feed off their energy. They are cheering YOU on as well.

Good luck and have fun. Remember: Strong like bull.

Then hit the city to celebrate.