That's excellent news. I wish they'd just grow worldwide and work with Zofingen and a bunch of other duathlon races, like Spalt, which I think
still exists and a bunch of others that are long gone (NZ, Australia etc.)

Seems that the Powerman organization never cared one bit for how tough they were making their races and how bad conditions were. It's what
it is and that's what you race in. Cancel? Why?? :-)

And if I had read the link you provided I would have seen that they are working with them :-)
Even better news.

I have no idea why triathletes don't participate more in duathlon. It seem that most "casual" triathletes that I know can't swim. But it is those same non swimmers that don't do duathlons.

The better swimmers I know, are the ones that will jump at the opportunity to race a duathlon in the "shoulder" season.

Very bizarre!!

I am considering Florida this season, but the end of my year is already crowded with late season tris, and a few half marathons..

---

Austin Hardy -

FYI...Toughman is USAT...would not it without them!

---

STIndiana
America Multi-Sport, Inc.
America's Half June 10, 2017
USAT RD Century Club
http://www.americamultisport.com

Yes it is. I was saying its one of the few races I'd do even if it wasn't.

Too bad we haven't seen the race organizers on this thread to respond to questions and concerns so far and to promote their series. With two events scheduled for next month and no apparent communications out there other than their website and Facebook page I don't know how they expect to get this off the ground successfully without some serious networking, advertising, etc. Again, I would love to see it take off.

I hope this works out. I'll do my best to rally the troops in Michigan to do the event in Frankenmuth.

They are going to have a tough time in Alabama with a race on
Thanksgiving weekend
Day after the Iron bowl
On Sunday.

Any of those things are potential deal breakers.

That said, I'll be there!

---

@christopher_borden •
Spinning Spoke • Dimond Bikes • Flo Cycling • Castelli Cycling

   Just found out about the GA race, one that is close enough that I'm interested, though wish there was better promotion for more prep time. The girlfirend was interested as well when I called her a couple hours ago. All that said, the site reads as if they really aren't ready, with no courses finalized, and the town consistently mis-named Peach Tree City instaed of Peachtree City. I would not have a problem going ahead and signing up, but their site makes the 175 bucks look like a pretty big gamble on having everything turn out well on raceday.

I am a total non swimmer and only do duathlons. I hope it takes off but in looking at their website I am not optimistic, not very polished. No way this site will attract recreational types, which
H will be necessary to get the total numbers needed. They need to really market this better and make the championship destinations. As it is, I don't see why people would travel and spend all the money to participate.

Curious why the lack of long distance duathlons ? Just the powerman and american zofingen for long distance.

Curious why the lack of long distance duathlons ? Just the powerman and american zofingen for long distance.


Great Lakes 100 has been offering a longer du in conjunction with their tri events for a couple years; granted it's a pretty lopsided distance (1, 84, 15), but it's still a du! I did the Lake Ontario one last weekend, and it also had a big drop in numbers from previous year. 50 degrees, windy, and rain made most people switch over to the du anyway; it was a pretty lonely and miserable day out there.

I was talking with the director about how to attract more people (for either the tri or du), and I think they could get more people just by offering a 50 mile version (one loop bike and shortened run). People just don't seem as interested in events that aren't standard distances.

Was really happy to hear that PM is making some inroads to bringing duathlon back to the US. Being that duthlon was what really got me into multisport, all I can do is hope that they can market the brand successfully here this time around.
I agree with a lot of what folks have said here. Triathlon just has more money behind it, so the illusion is that it is sexier. It's got the biggest events (funny how people don't know what USAT is but everyone knows what Ironman is). Everyone wants to just go fast & set PRs, rather than challenge themselves on a variety of terrain, in a variety of conditions. You stage a long distance triathlon in a place like, say, Utah or Idaho, and you get a lot of drop outs and complaints about terrain or weather conditions. You stage a long distance du in, say, High Falls, NY, and you have adverse conditions, and while you do get drop outs, everyone generally loves the you-know-what out of it, even if they couldn't finish.

You'd think there would be some audience for duathlon, seeing that you can stage it pretty much anywhere, and there are quite likely more people that cannot or do not want to invest time in swim training.

Having raced multisport for nearly 20 years now, I'd say it's something that the three standout races in my book happen to be duathlons (in no particular order) - Powerman Zofingen, American Zofingen, and the original Saturn Columbus Classic course. As Boots said, the original Powerman Alabama course was pretty sweet too.

Duathlon needs some key figures - be they someone crossing over from du to tri or vice versa, and doing really well in long distance triathlons, especially here in the US - to plug the sport. It needs some sponsorship backing and some brilliant marketing to the triathlon community (to be able to sustain itself) as well as be the hipper, grassroots alternative that will attract newbies. And have a few races staged on great courses with the possibility of spectator support. I don't think any of us that are fans of duathlon think it needs to be as big as what Ironman is, but it should be strong enough to sustain itself and offer some cool venues at least a few times a year.

I am almost convinced that marketing Duathlon to the triathlon community is fruitless. I think someone with an interest in developing the sport would be better suited marketing the sport to the running community. It would be interesting if someone other than USAT held the reins because it is obvious USAT could care less and has bigger fish to fry.

THIS


Quoting myself from almost three years ago:

"IMO and IME the vast majority of tri folk aren't du folk. Trifolk identify with the combination of three sports. You aren't losing #s to them because they're just not that into you. In their mind or the minds of their friends (or what they imagine is in the minds of their friends) du doesn't conjure up visions of great personal triumph over inner demons or spark "wow, you do all that on one day" conversations."

---

Carl Matson

Krol, you are so right in that the original Saturn course that HFP produced was amazing. That race showed exactly why Duathlon should be huge. Downtown, urban course, with a finish line at the capital building. great viewing for spectators, plenty of hotels and a foodie/beer drinkers district within walking distance.

---

Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

Boots - And that was BEFORE a lot of downtown C-bus (Victorian Village, Short North, German Village, Arena District, Brewery District (I don't even these last two were on the map in the 90's) was as happening as it is now!

Maybe the Autumn classic is due for a face lift- new venue, different distances, a couple weeks earlier, etc...?

You need to do fly-by-night. Not the hills of AZ but is on a nascar track and starts about 6:00 pm.

I've got a couple ideas that might save it. Not sure if it is worth the reinvention but I'll decide in the next few weeks

Earlier is not an option as my team is a little busy producing the Rochester Marathon 2 weeks before the AC.

---

Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

60% of the WTC fanatics are pu$$ie posers and will have no interest in duathlon as long as they can tell their friends they are racing IM (70.3). The lack of appeal of PM is that it is hard and the sport is not sexy (your friends won't be impressed).

I would love to see some PM distance races on the schedule. Raced AL way back in the day, Saturn, "Powerman" Canada in Ottawa (Gaitineau) and OH when it was LC Nats back in 2008? and all the races were fabulous. After racing all the distances at AmZof multiple times it would be great to have some variety.

I live in OR. There are exactly two USAC races in the state of OR. Everything else is OBRA sanctioned and an annual license is only $20, and a 1 day is $5.
OR has the most bike racers per capita of any state. My point is that here is an example of races going just fine without some expensive national governing body.

So why is sanctioning by a body that charges 3X as much, better? If you are relying on the race insurance (instead of your own), you may be in for a rude awakening.

Does a market exist for a duathlon with a $150+ price tag? Absolutely not. There were several members of a local club that were talking about heading down there (one hour away) and then someone brought up the cost. There was a collective "hell no." $150 for a sprint or Olympic around here is outrageous.

Oh yes. My first race was a biathlon at Scioto Downs in Columbus. That was before they changed to the name of the sport to Duathlon!

Give them reason to go and they might just turn up. There's got to be something about it other than just the race - awesome venue, crowd support, cool place to hang after the race, great group of athletes to hang with....whatever.

I think early reg at American Zofingen is $125. NO WHERE ON EARTH can you jam as much suffering per dollar into a race. Whether you want to submit after 5 hours because you think you can't get up Mohonk without dismouting or walking the next time around or you just say "f#ck it, I'll finish this" - the choice is yours.

And personally, I'm a big whiner about race entry fees. They were 1/4-1/3 the cost when I started racing of what they are now. But I've gone the route of seeking out ones that either are palatable from a cost standpoint or go to the ones that I find most unique, challenging and fun.

Would love to see more Du's. Northeastern Ohio, Mansfield (Powerman), and Columbus all had great duathlon events years ago. One problem is that many of the tri community who could do an Oly, really don't think they could do a Du (sub a 5k run in place of the swim). I was amazed at how many people dropped out of a race once when the swim portion was cancelled and it was turned into a Du with a 5k run. The idea that it was a Du didn't bother them, but the thought of running a total of 15k (5k, 25k bike, 10k) really frighted people, they didn't think they could or even wanted to run that much!

But there is a stigma that the Du isn't as good as a Tri. In some early season races I'll do the Du instead of the tri (don't feel like getting into cold water, then freezing on the bike, then getting a cold, etc.). For some reason it feels as if I'm participating in the 'fun run' or easy part while the real competitors are doing the real race. Most likely it's because the organizers sort of treat it that way.