Mont Tremblant.

This is a tough question since all of them differ quite a bit based on the few attributes you listed, but of the IMs I've completed (Florida, Canada, CDA, St. George, and Madison), I would go with Madison.

It has some of the best crowds out of any event's I have participated in, the course is fun and challenging, and the logistics are pretty simple. You also cannot beat the helix!

St. George actually had my favorite course, but unfortunately WTC cut it to a half. Canada is spectacular as well, but since the change to Challenge, the spectator support has virtually disappeared.

Ditto.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Hard to beat Whistler if you're looking for perfect race weather, spectators (maybe not spectators), logistics, etc.

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"Sweep the leg...Do you have a problem with that?" - John Kreese

what's the helix ??

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tim nicholls

I have done IMCDA, IMTX, IMWI, IMAZ, IMCanada both courses.

Best family friendly would be IMAZ. They get to see you many times during the day.
Best race course would be the Penticton (original IMCanada) course but the city of Penticton destroyed that event. Kind of a ghost town race now.
Best challenging course with a wonderful venue would be IM Wisconson. The people are all over the course, every turn more support and cheering. (I am racing this again next year)
Best pre race town. toss up IMTX and IMCanada (Whistler).
Course that kicked my ass and I am determined to do a gain. IMTX

Order I want to do them again.

IMWI
IMTX
IMCDA(purely cost)
IMAZ
IMCanada (Whistler)

Why limit to North America?

x2.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

My experiences are IMMT, IMLP, and IMWI.

I would vote IMMT by far and away as the best race venue. Love the pedestrian village, especially from a logistics POV. Park your car on arrival and that's it, no need to get back into it until u leave. Family can see you at multiple points and also retreat back to their hotel at times. Course is awesome. About 6,000' elevation gain and pretty smooth roads. Run is hilly at the start and end of each loop but manageable otherwise. 10/10 in my book.

Imlp is a sentimental favorite, however not as much for the family to do there and there is a fair amount of price gouging in the rentals in my opinion. Not to say IMMT is cheap, just didn't feel so gouged.

IMWI has cheaper lodging. Didn't like much about that race, especially the quality of the roads. I do agree the run at IMWI is very well supported though.

IMMT by far, in my useless opinion =)

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Founder of THE TRIATHLON COLLECTIVE (Closed Facebook Group). A SBR discussion group without the white noise/trolling!

IMLT

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

With or without power cranks?

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Founder of THE TRIATHLON COLLECTIVE (Closed Facebook Group). A SBR discussion group without the white noise/trolling!

Tremblant

With the new date it'll be hard to beat IMLOU


Yes, I am being serious.

Shall see. :o)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

tremblant, madison, lou in that order...

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I'm originally from Georgia, so there may be a tiny bit of bias but Louisville is fantastic. Perhaps the best finish line party outside of Kona and with the new date, the temperature should be great.

http://www.coeursports.com/...sville-course-review

x200 on IMMT. Can't wait to race there again. I have IMLPx3, IMFLx1 and IMMD soon and IMMT takes the cake hands down. I feel bad not giving to to IMLP but it is what it is.

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Head Coach Grn Mchn Multisports Coaching, LLC
http://www.grnmchnmultisports.com

I think one think to ask would be- for you the athlete's perspective only? Or are you concerned about a non racing partner plus or minus kids and trying to pass it off as a family vacation?

x2.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Of the ones I have done, I would rate them in this order

1. Whistler 20
2. Tremblant 18
3. Penticton 16
4. Placid 16
5. Texas 13

Can't comment on Florida, Arizona, Madison, Louisville as I have never done them. No disrespect to Texas....it is an awesome race and I plan to go back. There are just things that resort races offer that urban races cannot match. If you take triathlon out of the picture, how many people will go to vacation in Houston over Whistler? By the way, I am getting on a plane in 3 hours to go to Houston and I see all the good aspects of that place too. If you put an IM in suburb of Chicago or Toronto, they would not rate above 15 on a scale of 20. They just won't because of where they are.

Could you expand a little bit on what makes Louisville so great? It's drivable for me, and I fall into the camp of avoiding it in the heat, but considering it in October. I don't really know anything about it and there's nothing breathtaking that I see about the course so just looking for some more info. Thanks.

This is such an intensely personal question, and oddly enough the points you mentioned are somewhat conflicting.

IMMoo has by far the best fan support imaginable on all three sports. Coming out of the water the helix is lined with cheering fans; they bus people out to the bike course where they line the hills; and the run snakes through Madison up and down State St then finishing around the capital. But logistics suck base on where start is vs where hotels are, and the roads were just god-awful for the bike, parts weren't even paved!

Penticton could have been the best of both worlds, but lack of hotels near the course start, combined with their absurd price gouging meant we stayed 20min away which meant logicists sucked. I would never have done it again for that reason alone.

IMMT nailed it, but I wonder how long that's going to be viable. It is so easy to get here (close to Montreal and Ottawa). Lots of condos for rent making week long stays ideal. Not only were we a 5min walk to transition, they turned the whole thing into a massive party. Friends and family enjoyed the experience as much if not more than the athletes. I fear that next year condo prices will double and more people will be pushed out of the village, where logistically things get real bad real fast. The more successful/popular the race the worse things will get.

IMMT nailed it, but I wonder how long that's going to be viable. It is so easy to get here (close to Montreal and Ottawa). Lots of condos for rent making week long stays ideal. Not only were we a 5min walk to transition, they turned the whole thing into a massive party. Friends and family enjoyed the experience as much if not more than the athletes. I fear that next year condo prices will double and more people will be pushed out of the village, where logistically things get real bad real fast. The more successful/popular the race the worse things will get.


IMMT was my 1st IM and it was an unbelievable experience. I had 12 family members with me and we stayed about 10 minutes from the Pedestrian Village in a rented house. We had no problems driving in every day to the Village and finding parking. It's much cheaper to stay out of the pedestrian village if you're a big group and really is no problem getting around the town - no traffic at all. Even on race day, my family used the shuttles to go to different viewing points on the course and this worked great! I highly recommend IMMT for anyone thinking of doing an IM.

I had friends and family drive in from Ottawa to spectate. Because of problems at previous races I was really concerned they were going to spend hours in traffic and have to shell out hundreds for parking.

Nope. It couldn't have been easier for them (with small childred) to follow the massive signs directing them to the massive parking lot where they were loaded onto busses and dropped off right where they wanted to be. The whole thing was just so well throught out from start to finish.

But let's not forget that weather is highly variable. IMMoo suffers the same problem where it could be 100 and sunny one year, then 55 and rainy the next. Lake Tahoe and Lake Placid also suffer the same fate. Penticton will always have the same weather year after year after year with zero chance of rain. Do you choose the devil you know or the devil you don't?

I have raced five in North America and this is my list.

1. Tremblant
2. Wisconsin
3. Lake Placid
4. Florida
5. Arizona

Is it just me, or is it odd that Penticton is mentioned a few times on this thread, but none of the other non-IM branded events like Vineman?

Because he asked for "Ironman events" in North America.

Is there an IM in Penticton?

Yes, challenge full Iron distance race.

n=8


Lake Tahoe (x1) had great scenery and small-village feel, tough bike but hum-drum run course. Easy to get to and from. Swim was epic.So was Brockway climb.
Wisconsin (x4) great overall experience with farmer's market on Saturday and fantastic spectator support on the run. Swim was funky with algae and murky water. Best transition and venue (convention center) by far.
Arizona (x1) had college-town feel but easy to fly into and out of. Pre- and post-race activities were meh. Bike was flat and boring. Run was flat and boring. Swim was boring.
Lake Placid (x2) had great scenery, challenging bike with wonderful views although a few boring spots. Run had great moments going by the ski jumps. Finishing on the (previous) Olympic oval was monumental for an Olympics fan. Swim in Mirror Lake with 2,500 people and trying to get on the cable was a fantastic memory. Staying in small town outside Lake Placid made for great experience.

Overall, after 8 IM, if I had to stay in North America (and had to do a previously-visited race), I'd do Lake Placid first, Wisconsin next, Lake Tahoe, then Arizona.

For 2015, I'm heading to IMTX and IM Los Cabos.

As others have pointed out, with so many choices now, it's more a question of what you are looking for, what meets your needs and what your expectations are?

Years ago, when there were far fewer races, those races that did exist tended to define, for the people that went to them what an Ironman was/is.

It's hard to compare, something like IMAZ to IMLP or IMMT to IMFL - the race distances are all the same, but the locations, the courses, the amenities, the accommodation, the settings etc . . . are all different.

Case in point. Many complain about the accommodation prices at some Ironman races. It's expensive and there is a real shortage of rooms. Consider IMFL then - where it's the total opposite. The choices are plentiful. The prices reasonable to down-right cheap, and many places come with ocean front views on what is a stunner of a beach!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I can only speak to IMFL but it foots the bill for me and my family. They love the beach and with younger children it's drive-able for us, accommodations are plentiful, and they can hang on the beach as much as they want and have a pretty relaxed experience and still see quite a bit of the action.

Of the three that I have done, my favorites in order are: Wisconsin, CDA, Louisville. Wisconsin and CDA are a close 1/2 but because of the crowd support I go with Wisconsin first. CDA water is cold!

I have done 15 IM
1. IMMT best all around lodging, restaurant, and race logistics
2. IM CDA
3. IM Switzerland
4. IMLP
5. IM Louisville- best finish line
Arizona is fun and easy but too many people in 3 lap bike course.
Manuel

Ironman Roth of course. ;)

immt
im austria
im germany
im lp
in that order

if you have family coming to the event, immt wins hands-down.

I have spectated/volunteered at IMMT the first 2 years, did the 70.3 last year and the full this year, staying in the village each time. I would say prices for hotels have been relatively stable. I don't think it will ever turn into a gouge fest as they won't want to punch the gift horse in the mouth. I'm assuming the resort is contracted to keep prices reasonable. The IMMT events are also used to promote local tourism and have people return. I doubt they want to leave a bad impression. I know a condo owner and he said they aren't even allowed to use their condo during 70.3 and 140.6 weekends to ensure there is enough vacancy to make race weekend successful

absolutely

I'm surprised no one has mentioned IM Chatt as a possibility. I know this race hasn't taken place yet but has potential for being a top notch race. Keep your eye on the forums after the race and see how it turns out.

before starting these threads, why not give reason why you want to do BrandMan as opposed to other grass roots series or big bucks like challenge, rev.

I don't think that was meant directly for me but why does he have to justify to us why he wants to do one event vs. another? WTC puts on a great event and so do the others that you mentioned but it's his choice for his reasons on what race series he chooses.

because he just limited his options by narrowing down to one race series. Perhaps another brand race is closer to him happening under his nose but he doesnt know about it, why fly cross country when you have something in your backyard.

Probably because he didn't want the thread to be derailed off-topic with people questioning his reasons rather than actually contributing valid input to the question. He couldn't have been more specific with his request.

Of the races I've done, I would rank them as follows:

IM Canada (Whistler) (fabulous course, great family vacation)
IM St. George (no longer) (spectacular swim and bike course, but run course needed work)
IM Cozumel (best swim, good bike course, great crowd support, great family vacation)
IM Wisconsin (good bike and run course, good crowd support, pretty dull)
IM CdA (swim too cold for me, good bike and run, dull)
IM Florida (dull course, very dull vacation)

Not only was Whistler my favorite overall course, it was probably the best family vacation (tough call though compared to Cozumel).

As for weather, I hate racing in the heat, so Cozumel was a disaster, DNF. Other races were all chosen for cooler temps.

X2 on Whistler.
Fantastic venue, scenery and course.
Also very reasonable for accommodations. I paid under 100 a night for a studio condo within 2 minutes of the village.

Why limit yourself? http://theratsnake.com/ ;)

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The Rat Snake:
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a few of you mentioned the road conditions of Wisconsin. How bad is bad??? Im not expecting perfection like IMMT (with the exception of the little speed bumps at the old village..lol). i did timberman recently and there were sections where the roads were pretty bad.

If you have not been to Europe and want to go, Ironman France, a little over an hour away from Italy and probably the most spectacular race I have done in terms of the sights and the challenging course. If interested, I can share with you my race/travel report.

Jean

I have been to every IMMT....
1. I would disagree and say the prices have not been stable. Over the 3 years we have seen our room increase from 175 to 300$ a night. I would be extremely surprised if the ' resort is contracted to keep prices reasonable' . I have never heard of that business practice. Rather is it not a simple supply-demand?. The hotel we prefer is 50m from transition and not surprisingly many others prefer it too....hence the rise in room rates. And i dont see this changing. You are correct that it wont likely turn into a gouge fest ala Placid but that has more to do with MT having soo many more rooms available in and around the resort .
2. And re : not wanting to leave a bad impression. One thing we have seen from the quick sellouts at Lake Placid ... its almost impossible to 'leave a bad impression' with Ironman triathletes who have lots of DI. They will pay almost anything and they will keep coming back for more IF you give them that 'superstar treatment ' ::))





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I don't quite understand the fascination with the IM branded event. I have done IM branded events and while they were awesome I don't think that the cost-benefit makes sense for their full distance races. $700 for an Ironman is nuts. $250-$275 for a 70.3 is much more reasonable. Full distance events like Vineman, Redman, and B2B have a much higher value proposition (in all aspects, experience included) than IM branded events. But for some reason people love themselves some M-dot and they fork out the cash.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

I think just for pure racing your right. I just did my first Rev3 event yesterday and thought it was a good value, I did B2B last year, again good value and for pure racing as good as any event. But the IM events have more "buzz" to them - bigger crowds, typically closed courses, bigger expo's, more touches during the event (thinks like wet suit strippers, changing tents, big crowds at the finish). And of course, the hotels because of the size of events drive the cost up. Are they worth the extra cost? Hard to say but after being in the sport for a while I am a bit more choosy on where I spend my cash. The best thing that can happen is to have some true competitors to IM then we all win, but right now they are dominating.

I understand where you are coming from but I still don't think those intangibles (if any) are worth double the cost. Besides, I just did Vineman Full this year and the buzz was awesome, the expo was almost as good as the IM Village, they had wetsuit strippers, changing tents and yes (believe it or not) big crowds (not huge but big). And I paid less than half of what I paid for an IM full! Here's another data point: The Boston Marathon. The best finish line in all of endurance sports and one of the most incredible overall race experiences. Still half of the cost of an M-dot. Does not compute. But to each his own...

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

I disagree that the off-brand offer more value. Different cost definitely, but more value is questionable. Having done Great Floridian and B2B twice and 6 IM events, the WTC events offer significantly more. More closed roads, far more volunteers, better courses (more leverage to close city centers, major routes, etc.)

Another point to consider is the competition. The last year I did B2B, I exited the water ~3rd(?) and finished the bike ~5th. I think I saw 4 people during 5 hours. And I'm not that fast. It's just too thin on the bike. That's pretty dull. Great race, well run, but not the same experience.

I have done IMWI the past four years and I have also done races of varying lengths throughout the country. I would call the roads at IMWI "average bad". They actually have improved a few trouble spots over the past couple of years. There are a couple of RR crossings and a relatively short stretch on Stagecoach that could rattle the teeth right out of your head. Other than those known hazards, there isn't anything else that isn't typical of upper midwest roadways. No doubt, I have raced some better courses but I have also been on substantially worse road courses. I have no idea when or where the one poster said parts of the course were unpaved. I haven't had any experiences like that.

I have not done Timberman so I cannot compare.

Of the ones I've done, I'd rank them like this:
1. Whistler - tough to beat for location, climate, scenery and crowd support
2. CdA - town is awesome
3. Cabos - best vacation spot for the family
4. Lake Placid - similar to CdA
5. Boulder - solid, fair race
6. Arizona - the easiest among these
7. St. George - did the last installment of this in 2012, surprised I'm still alive
Good luck!