Race Day in Poreč: Timeline, Common Mistakes and Plan Bs

The Days Before

Arrive with time to spare. The official website has dedicated sub-pages for race week and the schedule: read them before leaving home and build your calendar around those, not around memories of other races. Two recons are worth the early trip: the Funtana section on the bike, to memorize the potholes and bumps flagged in race reports, and a swim in the bay to get a feel for the water. The official average temperature is 18°C: that's not something to discover on race morning. Get your neck and face used to cold water in the days before, and arrive at the start with wetsuit sessions already done — not with a brand-new wetsuit still in the bag.

Race Morning

The compact format — everything within about 500 meters, accommodation included — makes the alarm clock easy: no shuttles, no transfers. Mid-October in Istria means average lows of 11°C: stay covered while waiting for the start. The wetsuit rule isn't spelled out on the pages consulted, but with an average of 18°C, athletes in race reports used one: check the official rule and prepare for the wetsuit scenario as your baseline.

Swim: 1,892 Meters in a Sheltered Bay

The course is point-to-point, clockwise, in the sheltered bay of Plava Laguna, starting in front of Hotel Parentium, near the Villa Romana restaurant. Race reports describe calm seas and very clear water, with three or four gentle right-hand turns. The recurring advice in race reports: start on the outside. Several athletes report chaos and breaststrokers in the middle of the pack; wide and in open water you lose a few meters but save yourself the knocks and held breaths.

Transitions and Bike

From the swim exit you run straight into transition at the Byblos parking lot, change in the designated area and take your bike to the mount line. On the bike the plan is simple: steady watts on the false flats, maximum attention on the Funtana section where the tarmac is rough, and make the most of the good asphalt on the highway. Roads are fully closed: use the full lane, but remember the actual elevation gain is uncertain (sources range from 650 to 1,000 m): pace conservatively in the first half.

Run: Managing the Steep Kicker and the Rising Heat

The half is rolling, with 100-130 m of elevation gain, including a steep pitch of about 300 meters reported at the halfway point toward Poreč. As the hours pass, the course heats up: pour water over yourself at every aid station, as the race reports suggest. Check before the start whether the course is one lap or two: sources differ.

Common Mistakes

• Trusting a single bike elevation figure and setting your pacing on it.
• Wearing a wetsuit for the first time in a race in 18°C water.
• Starting in the middle of the pack on the swim and spending the first 400 meters defending yourself.
• Running the half at a fixed per-kilometer pace on a course that's anything but flat.
• Ignoring the midday heat because "it's October."

Plan B

• Strong wind on the bike: historical data is scarce, so have a reduced-watts plan ready for the headwind leg out, recovering on the way back.
• Flat tire in the Funtana section: repair kit secured properly and tested beforehand, because those bumps put every mounting to the test.
• Run course different from expected (one or two laps): decide at the briefing how to mentally break up the 21 km.
• Colder morning than expected: an old throwaway shirt to ditch before the start solves the wait.

The perfect race doesn't exist. The well-prepared one does: arrive at the start with your decisions already made and race day becomes pure execution.