High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list

Aug 31, 15 18:37

Post #1 of 16 (2913 views)

Edited to include list

After a few years of mixed success trying to balance career and 70.3 racing, I've chosen to back down to short course racing again. Problem is, it seems like most of the big high profile short course races with deep elite amateur fields and professional fields are gone. The lifetime/5150 races don't have a pro field any more. Just wondering which Non draft Olympic distance races still have a pro field or a deep, competitive elite amateur field. All that comes to mind is St. Anthonys in St. Pete, Florida. And maybe Boulder Peak. Is short course non draft dead?

Pro Races

St. Anthony's
Des Moines Tri
Escape from Alcatraz (not really Olympic distance but still short course)
Philadelphia tri

Elite Am

Memphis in May
Lifetime tri series
Age group nats (not elite am but still competitive)

Last edited by: reefman77: Sep 1, 15 13:31

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 18:44

Post #2 of 16 (2896 views)

reefman77 wrote:

After a few years of mixed success trying to balance career and 70.3 racing, I've chosen to back down to short course racing again. Problem is, it seems like most of the big high profile short course races with deep elite amateur fields and professional fields are gone. The lifetime/5150 races don't have a pro field any more. Just wondering which Non draft Olympic distance races still have a pro field or a deep, competitive elite amateur field. All that comes to mind is St. Anthonys in St. Pete, Florida. And maybe Boulder Peak. Is short course non draft dead?

Philly Tri, which is usually the 3rd or last weekend of June.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 18:50

Post #3 of 16 (2885 views)

AFAIK, Memphis in May is still pretty competitive.

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 18:57

Post #4 of 16 (2866 views)

AG Nats was pretty damn competitive.

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 19:16

Post #5 of 16 (2834 views)

Des Moines this weekend

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Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Aug 31, 15 20:09

Post #6 of 16 (2762 views)

Does Alcatraz count?

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 1, 15 13:37

Post #7 of 16 (2583 views)

The lists seem pretty short, especially for the races with a pro field. Without any major professional non draft short course race series, does that mean most of the pros that focused on short course have had to move to draft legal, or to 70.3?

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 11:07

Post #8 of 16 (2436 views)

This same thread happened last week:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=5670448#5670448

The short answer - with the exception of those few Oly races on your list, all the former short course non draft pros have gone to 70.3. Those that are can compete in WTS and draft legal already were.

http://trainingwheelsrequired.wordpress.com
@KellyNCollier

Last edited by: KellyNCollier: Sep 2, 15 11:07

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 11:16

Post #9 of 16 (2421 views)

The question to me is WHY is this distance dying? Is it the predominance of bucket listers as opposed to mortals (age groupers) who race?

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 11:22

Post #10 of 16 (2407 views)

reefman77 wrote:

Edited to include list
After a few years of mixed success trying to balance career and 70.3 racing, I've chosen to back down to short course racing again. Problem is, it seems like most of the big high profile short course races with deep elite amateur fields and professional fields are gone. The lifetime/5150 races don't have a pro field any more. Just wondering which Non draft Olympic distance races still have a pro field or a deep, competitive elite amateur field. All that comes to mind is St. Anthonys in St. Pete, Florida. And maybe Boulder Peak. Is short course non draft dead?

Pro Races
St. Anthony's
Des Moines Tri
Escape from Alcatraz (not really Olympic distance but still short course)
Philadelphia tri
Elite Am
Memphis in May
Lifetime tri series (12 races)
Age group nats (not elite am but still competitive)

I count 18 races above, which should really be enough for even the most avid racer. So maybe not dead???

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [cloy26] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 11:52

Post #11 of 16 (2372 views)

cloy26 wrote:

The question to me is WHY is this distance dying? Is it the predominance of bucket listers as opposed to mortals (age groupers) who race?

Possibly. I love the short course because I can race ridiculously fast, and still be done early in the day. Then recover fast and get back to training that week. However it isn't as sexy sounding as "Ironman" so the bucket-listers try to all go long.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 11:54

Post #12 of 16 (2364 views)

reefman77 wrote:

The lists seem pretty short, especially for the races with a pro field. Without any major professional non draft short course race series, does that mean most of the pros that focused on short course have had to move to draft legal, or to 70.3?

yes, pretty much. prize money is the issue...there are plenty of short course races, but very few with any significant pro prize purse. i raced trirock philly this year, and when they interviewed cam dye and alicia kaye on the podium, they both talked about how a big part of the reason they keep coming back to that race is that it's one of the few that still offers some prize money.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 12:03

Post #13 of 16 (2351 views)

noofus wrote:

cloy26 wrote:

The question to me is WHY is this distance dying? Is it the predominance of bucket listers as opposed to mortals (age groupers) who race?

Possibly. I love the short course because I can race ridiculously fast, and still be done early in the day. Then recover fast and get back to training that week. However it isn't as sexy sounding as "Ironman" so the bucket-listers try to all go long.

That doesn't apply to St Anthony's. You have to turn in your bike the day before. And then it takes forever to get all the waves off ... even more so now that they added a sprint. Then they limit access to transition so you have to wait to get your bike. You could have done a half in the same amount of time. It is an Olympic distance race with a long course investment in time over the weekend.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 12:05

Post #14 of 16 (2346 views)

HuffNPuff wrote:

noofus wrote:

cloy26 wrote:

The question to me is WHY is this distance dying? Is it the predominance of bucket listers as opposed to mortals (age groupers) who race?

Possibly. I love the short course because I can race ridiculously fast, and still be done early in the day. Then recover fast and get back to training that week. However it isn't as sexy sounding as "Ironman" so the bucket-listers try to all go long.

That doesn't apply to St Anthony's. You have to turn in your bike the day before. And then it takes forever to get all the waves off ... even more so now that they added a sprint. Then they limit access to transition so you have to wait to get your bike. You could have done a half in the same amount of time. It is an Olympic distance race with a long course investment in time over the weekend.

Well to be fair I just traveled from PA to Maine to race an OD (my wife raced the Half so it made sense). I still enjoyed being done early in the morning and just hanging around watching the finish line festivities happening.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 12:50

Post #15 of 16 (2294 views)

Copy. Florida majors/semi-majors are all in March/April and include Los Olas International, South Beach and Saint Anthony's in that order ... sort of a kick off to the season. Long course events start in Jan with HITS Naples and end in May with the Gulf Coast Triathlon. Florida long course events pick up again in October/November.

Other than that the schedule is pretty much sprint triathlons and smaller international events. There are plenty of Olympic distance events if you include the minor races, but only the three I listed above could count as a "major" although I'm not sure South Beach has prize money.

Re: High profile/pro Olympic distance races. Are there any left? Help me make a list [reefman77] [ In reply to ]

Sep 2, 15 13:29

Post #16 of 16 (2253 views)

Not on the same level of the races listed here, both in recognition and by distance, but the Cohasset Sprint Triathlon in Massachusetts has been one of the most highly competitive races in the area for awhile now.

I know that there are always quite a few people ranked nationally that compete every year. Jarrod Shoemaker and Alicia Kaye have both raced there, and many top age groupers from nationals. I remember swimming against Gary Hall Jr also (Olympic gold medalist) as part of a relay in 2009.

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