The 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco is a 1.2 mile downriver swim on the Brazos, a 55.9 mile bike through the farm roads of Central Texas, and a two loop, 13.1 mile run along the river through Cameron Park. Here's your course breakdown and Best Bike Split race plan for race day.
If you're racing Waco this October, you picked a course built to reward fitness over technical skill. The swim runs downriver on the Brazos with barely a current to speak of, the bike opens and closes flat while tucking a rolling, wind exposed middle third in between, and the run doubles back on itself twice along the same river path before finishing across the historic Waco Suspension Bridge. Nothing about this course is complicated. It's just long, often hot, and unforgiving of anyone who treats the flat sections like free speed.
Race Overview
IRONMAN 70.3 Waco joined the calendar in 2018, and Central Texas made enough of an impression that IRONMAN added a full distance race here in 2021 and then locked the region into a seven year hosting agreement in 2022. That commitment has turned race weekend into one of the more established mid size stops on the IRONMAN US calendar, with the half and full distance races sharing logistics, aid stations, and a finish line built around the Brazos River in downtown Waco. Race weekend opens with IRONKIDS on Saturday, then the 70.3 field takes over the river and the surrounding farm roads on Sunday, October 4.
Course Description
The swim is a 1.2 mile point to point trip down the Brazos River, starting at Pecan Bottom Park and finishing at Indian Spring Park. Don't count on the current to do much of the work for you. Race officials describe the flow as slight rather than the free ride some downriver swims offer, since releases from the upstream dam vary and the current on any given morning can end up minimal. Seed yourself by your actual swim time, not by what you're hoping the river hands you. The line itself is about as simple as triathlon swims get, close to shore with almost no turns, so sighting off the bank works better than hunting buoys. Water temperatures in early October have landed around 81 degrees the last two years, warm enough that a wetsuit is unlikely to be legal, and the final call won't come until race morning. Bring tinted goggles. The sun sits low over the water at the start and creates real glare for anyone breathing to the left.
Out of transition, the bike settles into three distinct thirds. The first 15 miles are flat and fast, a chance to find a rhythm before the terrain changes. From roughly mile 15 to mile 33, the course picks up nearly all of its climbing on rolling farm roads through the countryside around Waco, close to 1,000 feet of gain packed into that middle third. After mile 33, the road flattens back out and stays that way for the 20 plus miles back into transition. There's very little shelter anywhere on this course. Open farm roads mean wind, not elevation, ends up being the bigger variable on race day, and a headwind on the closing flat miles can undo a bike split that looked great on paper an hour earlier.
The run is two loops, 13.1 miles total, following the Brazos River through Cameron Park before finishing across the Waco Suspension Bridge, the oldest suspension bridge in the Southwest. Don't mistake riverside for flat. The course picks up close to 300 feet of gain across the rolling terrain in the park, and a good stretch of it runs on concrete path, worth accounting for in your shoe choice and impact training before race week. The math on this run course works against you in one specific way. The second loop lands squarely in the warmest part of the afternoon, so whatever pacing discipline you used on loop one to bank energy is exactly what keeps loop two from falling apart in the heat.
Forecasted Weather
Early October in Waco runs warm by most triathlon standards. Daytime highs typically sit in the mid 80s, with mornings closer to the low 60s, and that swing means a cool start can turn into a genuinely hot run by early afternoon. Rain isn't the main concern here. Central Texas sees a wet day roughly one day in four through October, so a dry race is the more likely outcome, but heat and humidity management matter more than most athletes plan for on a course with almost no shade on the bike and only partial cover on the run through Cameron Park. Plan your fueling and cooling strategy for the second run loop specifically. That's when the heat has had the most time to build.
Why This Course Rewards a Best Bike Split Plan
Waco is a course that punishes pacing mistakes more than it punishes weak legs, and that's exactly the kind of course a BBS plan is built for. A BBS race plan for the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco will:
- Set your number for the rolling middle third before the wind does it for you. Miles 15 to 33 carry nearly all the climbing on this course, and on exposed farm roads with no shelter, chasing a speed target instead of a power target is how riders spend matches they need for the run.
- Give the flat closing miles a ceiling, not an invitation. The last 20 plus miles back into transition are fast and tempting, but a plan built around what you'll need on two hot run loops keeps you from hammering a flat stretch you'll pay for at mile 9 of the run.
- Account for a run course that isn't actually flat. Close to 300 feet of gain through Cameron Park and a warm second loop mean the run asks more of your legs than the riverside setting suggests. A plan built around the whole race, not just the bike leg, protects for that.
- Build in the wind, not just a wind forecast. Open, unsheltered farm roads mean the same power number can produce very different speeds depending on what the wind is doing that morning. A BBS plan adjusts your targets to conditions instead of locking you into a number built for a calm day that might not show up.
Interactive Race Plan and Course Map
This power plan was modeled for an athlete with an average CdA of 0.2938, an FTP of 280 watts and weighing 165 lbs. Want to see what your time would be on the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco bike course? Try the Time Analysis feature below, where you can quickly adjust Drag, Power, Weight and Crr to your own values. Check out our demo race plan to see what a premium race plan looks like.
Build your own personalized 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco power plan today! Sign up for a free Athlete Basic account to get started with your athlete profile and bike setup, then grab the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco course to model your own race plan.
Interactive Race Plan and Course Map
This power plan was modeled for an athlete with an average CdA of 0.2557, an FTP of 250 watts and weighing 165 lbs. Want to see what your time would be on the IRONMAN 70.3 Waco course? Try the Time Analysis feature below, where you can quickly adjust Drag, Power, Weight and Crr to your own values. Check out our demo race plan to see what a premium race plan looks like.
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| Interval | Int. Time | Total Time | Int. Dist. | Total Dist. | Grade | Speed | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 00:04:36 | 00:04:36 | 1.57 mi | 1.57 mi | -0.04 % | 20.50 mph | 210 w |
| #2 | 00:00:13 | 00:04:49 | 0.06 mi | 1.63 mi | +5.88 % | 15.19 mph | 311 w |
| #3 | 00:05:02 | 00:09:52 | 2.04 mi | 3.67 mi | -0.08 % | 24.26 mph | 184 w |
| #4 | 00:00:38 | 00:10:31 | 0.24 mi | 3.91 mi | -2.62 % | 21.81 mph | 27 w |
| #5 | 00:28:11 | 00:38:43 | 11.67 mi | 15.58 mi | +0.11 % | 24.84 mph | 191 w |
| #6 | 00:01:04 | 00:39:48 | 0.49 mi | 16.07 mi | -1.79 % | 26.92 mph | 69 w |
| #7 | 00:11:05 | 00:50:53 | 4.33 mi | 20.40 mi | +0.35 % | 23.44 mph | 206 w |
| #8 | 00:00:09 | 00:51:02 | 0.06 mi | 20.46 mi | -1.56 % | 24.47 mph | 91 w |
| #9 | 00:00:43 | 00:51:46 | 0.27 mi | 20.73 mi | +2.37 % | 22.00 mph | 263 w |
| #10 | 00:00:19 | 00:52:05 | 0.12 mi | 20.85 mi | -2.10 % | 22.23 mph | 41 w |
| #11 | 00:04:41 | 00:56:46 | 1.93 mi | 22.78 mi | +0.27 % | 24.74 mph | 194 w |
| #12 | 00:00:21 | 00:57:08 | 0.16 mi | 22.94 mi | -2.51 % | 27.36 mph | 3 w |
| #13 | 00:00:48 | 00:57:57 | 0.33 mi | 23.27 mi | +1.30 % | 24.26 mph | 235 w |
| #14 | 00:06:36 | 01:04:34 | 2.59 mi | 25.86 mi | +0.80 % | 23.48 mph | 185 w |
| #15 | 00:00:17 | 01:04:51 | 0.13 mi | 25.99 mi | -5.03 % | 25.77 mph | 1 w |
| #16 | 00:00:07 | 01:04:59 | 0.06 mi | 26.05 mi | -1.72 % | 29.47 mph | 110 w |
| #17 | 00:00:25 | 01:05:24 | 0.13 mi | 26.18 mi | +5.36 % | 18.67 mph | 311 w |
| #18 | 00:08:52 | 01:14:17 | 3.43 mi | 29.61 mi | -0.20 % | 23.21 mph | 189 w |
| #19 | 00:00:31 | 01:14:48 | 0.22 mi | 29.83 mi | -2.87 % | 25.10 mph | 32 w |
| #20 | 00:03:32 | 01:18:21 | 1.36 mi | 31.19 mi | +0.08 % | 22.93 mph | 201 w |
| #21 | 00:00:05 | 01:18:27 | 0.04 mi | 31.23 mi | -5.82 % | 26.58 mph | 0 w |
| #22 | 00:06:20 | 01:24:47 | 2.27 mi | 33.50 mi | +0.11 % | 21.48 mph | 208 w |
| #23 | 00:00:09 | 01:24:57 | 0.06 mi | 33.56 mi | -2.20 % | 22.79 mph | 113 w |
| #24 | 00:02:09 | 01:27:06 | 0.76 mi | 34.32 mi | +0.15 % | 21.12 mph | 209 w |
| #25 | 00:00:46 | 01:27:53 | 0.34 mi | 34.66 mi | -4.10 % | 26.57 mph | 1 w |
| #26 | 00:02:58 | 01:30:51 | 1.03 mi | 35.69 mi | +0.65 % | 20.69 mph | 226 w |
| #27 | 00:00:36 | 01:31:28 | 0.24 mi | 35.93 mi | -2.92 % | 23.89 mph | 51 w |
| #28 | 00:01:34 | 01:33:03 | 0.55 mi | 36.48 mi | +0.83 % | 20.90 mph | 231 w |
| #29 | 00:00:36 | 01:33:40 | 0.24 mi | 36.72 mi | -2.91 % | 23.85 mph | 52 w |
| #30 | 00:52:18 | 02:25:58 | 18.45 mi | 55.17 mi | +0.10 % | 21.17 mph | 211 w |
| #31 | 00:00:22 | 02:26:21 | 0.14 mi | 55.31 mi | -4.15 % | 21.71 mph | 10 w |
| #32 | 00:01:24 | 02:27:45 | 0.54 mi | 55.85 mi | +0.36 % | 22.93 mph | 210 w |
| Totals/Avg | 02:27:45 | 02:27:45 | 55.86 mi | 55.86 mi | -0.75% | 22.68 mph | 196.50 w |
Climb Summary by Category
| Category | Climb Count | Total Time | Total Dist. | Avg. Time | Avg. Dist. | Avg. Grade | Avg. Speed | Avg. Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat4 | 1 | 00:01:54 | 0.47 mi | 00:01:54 | 0.47 mi | 4.01 % | 14.94 mph | 279 w |
| All Cats | 1 | 00:01:54 | 0.47 mi | 00:01:54 | 0.47 mi | 4.01 % | 14.94 mph | 279 w |
| Climb | Start Time | Start Dist. | Duration | Distance | Speed | Power | Grade | Elevation Gain | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 01:02:39 | 25.38 mi | 00:01:54 | 0.47 mi | 14.94 mph | 279 w | 4.01 % | 101 ft | Cat4 |
Build your own personalized 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco power plan today! Sign up for a free Athlete Basic account to get started with your athlete profile and bike setup, then grab the IRONMAN 70.3 Waco course to model your own race plan.
2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco FAQs
Your target power depends on your FTP, body weight, bike setup, and finish time goal — not a generic number that applies to every rider. The variables that matter most are your current fitness, your aerodynamic position, and the specific demands of the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco course. The best approach is to build a personalized plan in Best Bike Split using your actual athlete profile — you'll get a segment-by-segment power target based on your specific inputs rather than a one-size-fits-all recommendation.
Every course is different and requires its own unique pacing plan. On a multi-loop course, fatigue and wind shift between laps and what felt comfortable early can become unsustainable later. On an out-and-back, headwind in one direction becomes tailwind in the other — an asymmetry a flat power target can't account for. On a point-to-point or single-loop course, you only get one pass at every section with no opportunity to recalibrate. When you create a Best Bike Split race plan for 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco, we model the specific demands of that course so your pacing strategy reflects the race you're actually doing.
Significantly — and the effect varies depending on the course profile. On flatter courses, wind and aerodynamics become the dominant variables in your speed equation, more so than on courses where gradient naturally dictates effort. On climbing-heavy courses, your power-to-weight ratio and how you manage the descents matter most. A Best Bike Split race plan lets you model the specific conditions forecasted for 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco, so your targets reflect what you'll actually face on race day rather than what the course looks like on paper.
It depends on the course and how well you pace it. Flat, fast courses offer genuine PR potential but only if you execute correctly — without terrain to naturally regulate your effort, going out too hard early is easy and costly. Technical or hilly courses reward smart segment-by-segment pacing over raw fitness. Either way, a physics-based race plan from Best Bike Split gives you a realistic split prediction based on your actual profile so you know before race day what a well-executed bike leg looks like for you specifically.
Yes — and this is one of the most underused features. Once you've built your 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco race plan, you can export it directly to Zwift, TrainerRoad, or any ERG-mode trainer for indoor sessions, or push it to your Garmin, Wahoo, or Karoo for outdoor rides. Training on your actual race plan means you arrive at 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 Waco already knowing what your target effort feels like at every section of the course — not just what the number says on paper.
