Yup, just checked the website and it's 93 registered for the iron distance. Looks like the beginning of the end for Challenge Penticton, way to go local city council great move giving the WTC the boot!!! Too bad Penticton was a great place to do an Ironman, but looking forward to Whistler in the next few weeks!!! :)

---

Proud Kiwami Ambassador/Team Member
ask me anything about:
https://kiwamitri.com

I counted 242 "Long distance individual" here.

Then it looks like 300-ish for the half distance individual. The rest appear to be team entries.

If this was an iron distance race in its second year I doubt many would be sneering.

If I could get off my ass to run more, I might sign up for the full. A chance to experience the course before the days of over-crowding.

Challenge AC "only" pulled in 600. Not bad for a first year event. But this is disappointing news for CP.

---

Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

This is such a beautiful and historic course. It would be a real loss if this disappeared . I'm glad I got to race it at least once.

---

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

It's too bad that everyone talks about how it's such a great course, but whoa.. no MDOT! F THAT!

Maybe I'm older and wiser... but I pick my races for the course and experience.

non wetsuit swim with a strong current ... it would be interesting to see if next year's numbers will reach the same as this year.

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I can pretty much guarantee the answer to that question is no.

---

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

I looked again but only saw the 93 and 822 total which includes all three team members and half distance as well. I get the whole drafting crowding aspect that may other posts have referenced and I get the whole WTC/M-DOT business angle but in my opinion the one loop bike for the full will be a very lonely experience for the BOP's. I think that was important for people who liked that no matter where they were in the race, there was always someone to be with and keep them going and at a similar time.

As I said I have done (never would call it raced) the old IMC 6 times and it spanned 12 years. I saw a lot of changes (some good and some bad) but in the end this was (can still be) a historic race and venue and I am sad that it is not that now. I was in Penticton a little while ago and thought back to my times doing IMC there.

It is becoming the "community" race again and I know the new owners are passionate about the community and race it will have... but I am not sure it will ever be what is was which was a BIG community of people from all over the world that came for that event and spent a lot of time (and $) in the region and loving Penticton.

being nostalgic today :)

It would be more interesting to see if Challenge abandons the idea of doing full "iron" distance races in NA and just runs 70.3/HIM races. That would seem to make sense to me. Since most people can do only one full 140.6 a year, I think people are more willing to take a "risk" on an unproven race that is not going to eat your whole season if its a failure. While I doubt the race reports out of AC so far will convert many people to Challenge over Ironman, a lot more people who are "curious" might sign up for a half as long as they know they could just do another half later in the year. It just does not appear there is substantial market for non-branded full 140.6 distance events. Not when the total finishers for all non-branded events in NA likely is less than a single Ironman.

If you sort by AG you get the 93 number. Sort by "Class" and you'll see 200-something under the "Challenge - Long Distance Individual."

---

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

For many reasons, the IM brand is a bigger draw than the course and the town. Penticton's local government mistakenly thought it was the other way around. I still have trouble understanding how they could have thought that.

In reality the numbers are bad and they are not bad. Rev3 will get about 300 in it's full distance race on average and with the half and sprint races that happen on the same weekend make it a worthwhile effort. It looks like Challenge Penticton will be in that same league. Not bad, with proper management they can at least break even.

At the same time, when compared to the 1500-2500 IM Canada (Penticton) of years gone by it looks bad.

Does it really matter? I don't know if it matters to the local businesses as they sell out all Summer long regardless of Challenge or WTC being in town. I don't know if it matters to the West Coast triathletes as there are loads of races going on.

I'm coming to the conclusion that the only people it matters to are those who wanted to race the "Original Ironman Canada".

---

Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Because Penticton is pretty damn awesome? No beaches in Whistler... FTS.

I think you're correct, I see 244. What is interesting to me is that I think the total number for IM Canada & Challenge Penticton combined is fewer than the number that raced at IM Canada when it was in Penticton. I signed up for Whistler two weeks ago, that would not have been possible in years past. It worked out well for me because I would never have traveled to Penticton a year in advance just to sign up for the next year's race. I'm sure some of this is due to the addition of races in Canada, especially the popularity of Mont Tremblant.

It does matter locally. Trust me. Downtown revenue was down about 30%. But sometimes in "relationships" thing run their course. Obviously that happened here & locally it was time for a divorce. Before I moved here I was all for it because I was seeing from athlete perspective. Now as a taxpayer I have a very different view. I am very thankful Axel Mercx brought his Gran Fondo here. In 2 weeks 3000 riders will be here. So maybe one is replacing other over the whole season.

Regardless, I will be captain for bike special needs with my TD team to make sure the athletes that choose to join us have an amazing experience.

---

@rhyspencer

Uh, OK. You may consider it awesome but it's basically just a quaint little lake town that most people never heard of and/or never will hear of. If it wasn't for IM Canada, I'm fairly certain that I would have gone my entire life without knowing it existed. That doesn't mean it's not awesome, it just means it doesn't have near the draw of a popular global brand. The hubris of the local politicians turned a Win-Win into a Lose-Lose.

From a Canadian perspective, there is no other place like the Okanagan to vacation.

To a foreigner, there's better places.

It will be interesting to see if Lake Tahoe's full distance numbers this year can come up to last years! :) Pretty much anytime there is are significant environmental challenges at a full distance race in North America you can be assured there will be a hit to the next year's registrations regardless of who is putting on the race.

I think building the brand with 70.3's would be a smart move for them. Build up your customer and your volunteer base before taking on too many full distance races in NA.

Seems to be working OK for Rev3.

---

Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Paul,
Obviously the IMLT full numbers were not that great which is why the half was introduced to subsidize the event.

Look at St. George. Everyone was giddy the first year, then people realized it was a real hard course so numbers dropped. Then the "environmentally challenged" race of 2012 happened and that nailed the coffin shut on that race. I know IMLT is contracted through 2015 which will be the last year the full will exist. Though I have my doubts it will even happen in 2015.

---

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

I think you are right on both Atlantic City and Tahoe! I'm also wondering if Los Cabos will go belly up after the next edition on 25 Oct 2015. If the date change doesn't get the numbers up closer to 1500 then my guess is it will be gone.

I predict that Cabo will be gone after 2015. October is on the edge of hurricane season and it's likely to be a no wetsuit swim. In April, people were freaking out thinking wetsuits wouldn't be allowed and I think the RD fudged the temperature reading to make it wetsuit legal.

Also, despite the fact that the Mexican Government does a lot to make sure Cabo & Cozumel are the safest parts of the country, there are a lot of people who don't want to go to Mexico.

I don't think there is any way they will get 1,500. I suspect it will be 700 or less.