They hosted a 70.3 out there this year with an attendance of 116 (an ultramax event which included a half, oly, sprint, aqua bike). IMO ultramax is going to drive Innsbrook into the ground. I thought the bike course was poorly designed and the run was brutal as usual. There are not a ton of hotel options close to Innsbrook, so I don't see this being an option for WTC.

I think Innsbruck is a great location for triathlon. You won't find a better lake in all of the St. Louis area to swim in. Unfortunately it suffers from the same fate as Branson. Too hard (the run)!

I did the Border Wars Tri in Alton a few weeks ago .

I did all three 70.3 Branson and the run was dead flat the whole way. The bike was hard, but the run was easy...

For a first time event, it was very well organized, I thought. There are a couple logistically things, the swim is in a location that without a mile or so walk, is inaccessible to spectators, which is kinda bad. The swim was in a slough of the river, and was really low on Saturday, and water temp was 72, but by Sunday the level was up a little, there were people still walking the swim on the backside of the loop, but the temp had dropped from 72 to 58, quite a shock.

Like I said the bike couse is FLAT, but the roads were nice, the turns were very well marked by paint and volunteer. While most of the roads weren't closed, the general public was pretty accomodating to the race, with a couple of exceptions.

The run from what my wife said was again dead flat along the levee, with a few hills up and down off the levee. Her biggest complaints were, a couple aid stations ran out of water, and the other was that it wa a very "lonely" run. Being on the levee, there were virtually no spectators so aside from other runners, not much encouragements.

The finish area was nice in the fact it was in a park with an ampitheater, I think that having a large centralized tent for spectators/athlete would have been nice. There were a lot of clubs and teams that had tents up as well. They would be well served to get another timing mat further down the finishing chute so they had a better idea of who was finishing, they tried to announce names from bib numbers but not the greatest success.

Post race food was good, BBQ, but being from KC it's hard to top hometown BBQ.

Overall, I thought it was a good race, and the public support was great. Work out a few kinks and this could be a really nice race. We plan on going back next year.

The real X factor will be the weather, the first week in October is iffy in this region. Saturday it windy, gusting to 30mph from the north, wind chill felt like the 30s, but Sunday was awesome. 50s at the start, 60s finishing, with very little wind.

For a first time event, it was very well organized, I thought. There are a couple logistically things, the swim is in a location that without a mile or so walk, is inaccessible to spectators, which is kinda bad. The swim was in a slough of the river, and was really low on Saturday, and water temp was 72, but by Sunday the level was up a little, there were people still walking the swim on the backside of the loop, but the temp had dropped from 72 to 58, quite a shock.

Like I said the bike couse is FLAT, but the roads were nice, the turns were very well marked by paint and volunteer. While most of the roads weren't closed, the general public was pretty accomodating to the race, with a couple of exceptions.

The run from what my wife said was again dead flat along the levee, with a few hills up and down off the levee. Her biggest complaints were, a couple aid stations ran out of water, and the other was that it wa a very "lonely" run. Being on the levee, there were virtually no spectators so aside from other runners, not much encouragements.

The finish area was nice in the fact it was in a park with an ampitheater, I think that having a large centralized tent for spectators/athlete would have been nice. There were a lot of clubs and teams that had tents up as well. They would be well served to get another timing mat further down the finishing chute so they had a better idea of who was finishing, they tried to announce names from bib numbers but not the greatest success.

Post race food was good, BBQ, but being from KC it's hard to top hometown BBQ.

Overall, I thought it was a good race, and the public support was great. Work out a few kinks and this could be a really nice race. We plan on going back next year.

The real X factor will be the weather, the first week in October is iffy in this region. Saturday it windy, gusting to 30mph from the north, wind chill felt like the 30s, but Sunday was awesome. 50s at the start, 60s finishing, with very little wind.

Word going around is: The race will happen in 2015. It will replace Kansas. If you look at the Kansas 70.3 web page, you'll notice a lack of date and a lack of ability to sign up, there is a reason for this: Kansas is done. The swim will be at CC Park. The bike is not set yet, but will probably remain in one "county". The reason to remain in one county is that you don't want to inflict the traffic "pain" on neighboring communities, when they aren't benefiting from any of the revenue generate by the race. The run will most likely be around the park on the outer loop.

Word going around is: The race will happen in 2015. It will replace Kansas. If you look at the Kansas 70.3 web page, you'll notice a lack of date and a lack of ability to sign up, there is a reason for this: Kansas is done. The swim will be at CC Park. The bike is not set yet, but will probably remain in one "county". The reason to remain in one county is that you don't want to inflict the traffic "pain" on neighboring communities, when they aren't benefiting from any of the revenue generate by the race. The run will most likely be around the park on the outer loop.

I really enjoyed Branson in 2012. The run was flat but I enjoyed the route through The Landing. Best bike course I have ever done for a 70.3. I don't see it returning, but I would go back if it did.