Chapeau !

No way that Dan wrote that. It has capital letters in it.

:-)

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Thanks Dan. I commented on your commentary expressing my appreciation for Lake Placid and the members of the community for letting us race in such a great place. Hope to get back there some year to do the Monday night tri!

Wow. That was great. Dan, thanks for taking the time and effort to share with the people of Lake Placid what all of us (?should) feel. Much appreciated.
Adam

It really is one of the best venues in the world. I feel it is shame that the 70.3 World's did not end up in LP for this year. Also commented on it and thanked the community for their contribution to our sport....squeeky wheel residents are a pain as far as I am concerned and hopefully the local biz community can overrule most of them and keep things going. Whether the owner is Providence Equity or Dalian Wanda, makes no difference....that's just shareholders.

Dan, great letter to write. you really work hard for the sport in it's entirety and on so many fronts, i recognize that.

it's not only true of what you write as it pertains to ironman - communities tolerating events - that's true of every triathlon from sprint on up, there's always some of that same thing at play, that same pushback. there's always an element that would rather not have anything happen in their sanctuary. yet, they're mostly a minority. but they can be quite vocal and affect other's opinions. your letter speaks to all of that.
thank you for your tireless work supporting our industry.

and yes, dans style permits me to write without caps, so there! ;-)

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http://www.PatGriskusTri.com USAT Certified Race Director
2024 Races: USAT State of CT Age Group Championship/State of CT HS Champs/ CT Club Championship - Sat June 15th (Oly/Du/Sprint) Hopkins Vineyard Tri at Lake Waramaug Saturday July 13th http://www.HopkinsVineyardTri.com

Thanks for your letter Dan. I do take exception though to your genorous characterization of Mr. Barrett's commentary as "well-reasoned."

By way of background I am part of a family that has a 100 year presence in Lake Placid with a sibling (and her family) and mother who lives there. Rest assured Mr. Barrett does not represent the majority of Placidians or the leadership of the village who are rightfully proud of their desire and ability to host world class sporting events.

Mr. Barrett is a criminal trial lawyer who arrived in Lake Placid about 10 years ago with little obvious understanding of the heritage of Lake Placid and its connection to sporting events. He comes across as someone who likes to take contrarian views and relishes the attention he gets.

After slighting the company that owns IM he makes grossly unfounded statements that essentially link Ironman (a one day event) on a Sunday as a cause of the lack of affordable housing in the area and indentured servitude of guest workers. Really? Then after griping about how terrible Ironman is and it defecating unappreciative participants (simply not true) says it should be pushed off on to our fine friends and neighbors in the nearby town of Saranac because they have a better mayor. Starting to understand? This likely has to do more with future political aspirations of Mr. Barrett (he who already lost a run for a town judgeship) as he gins up support amongst a small minority of citizens who simply don't like any type of disruption of their Sunday drive to the grocery store or their failure to understand the economic realities of what ironman and a whole host of events of equal size bring to the community including multiple horse shows, lacrosse and rugby tournaments and many other annual events.

On his social media he writes " Its true. Nobody wants Ironman. That is just factually wrong. He also wrote to the effect that Ironman is tacky and arrogant. But since deleted that post.

Listen, even my sibling gripes about the traffic and the disruption IM brings. It is only natural in a small town with only three ways in or out - two of which are blocked for the day. But that same sibling is there at 6:30 am for the start and cheering on competitors throughout the day and appreciates the fact that LP hosts the event.

Everyone I know in town supports the event and understands the important economic and other benefits that ironman and all the other annual sporting events bring to Lake Placid and the surrounding area despite the perceived inconveniences. This is why we now have 70.3 and sending delegations around the world to get winter events scheduled.

Still, there is always a small group who oppose anything. We actually had a larger group oppose the 1980 Winter Olympics with some folks even leaving town for a couple of weeks to avoid the circus like atmosphere (to their eternal regrets.)

Looking forward to my 8th IMLP in 2018 and more beyond. For those that haven't been to IM LP I think you will find it to be a great experience and once there you will understand why so many return year after year after year.

There really will be people like this in every community. A good example is a woman in the area where I live. She was petitioning that people should not be allowed to mow their lawns or use anything that would create noise on Sundays so that she could garden in peace... I wish I was kidding.

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Team RWB Rochester / Team First Knight

nice one !

it's amazing to me how some people can't be slightly inconvenienced for even a moment. it's like people in my neighborhood who hate the group cycling rides on Saturday that come through our neighborhood and may slow them up for potentially 30 seconds. This is on a 4 mile stretch of road with a speed limit of 35mph and only 1.5 miles of it being a two lane road. But you would think that their entire lives have been ruined listening to them complain about it.

Great commentary. Thanks Dan!

Not meaning to de-rail the tread, but relatedly, is there an IMLP 70.3 race thread? I can't find one.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins