i don't know if it will go well or poorly, but i'll be there to spectate it! well, a little more than spectate it.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

See you there Dan. I don't land until 8:30 Monday morning. Do me a favor and start your talk with LA an hour late. Don't want to miss it.

i'll take lance out for a 10mi run and then we'll start when you get there.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Perfect.

My gripe with TBI is that for all intents and purposes despite the name change it still feels like a very USA brand. Oh well.

It is ironic that one of the sponsors is the brand known among most athletes for high prices and bad customer service.

Yes to more women and others to make triathlon more inclusive and affordable. Lance Armstrong, whose many troubling character traits are well-known, needs triathlon more than triathlon needs him. We don't need to be his redemption.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Steve:

Well written as always. Here are my observations @25 years in this amazing world of multi-sport.

1. We all have to stand together and build this sport. Period. WTC/Challenge/Rev3/Indies/USAT/.....++++
2. This is a business and all need to understand without a net for owners there is no sport outside non-profits and NGO's
3. Univ. Sports Pres a few years ago said it well...no pro faces no sport...the next generation of Triathletes need role-models.
4. When was the last or first time this sport did an industry wide SWOT?
5. Attendance number we have seen show a serious decline...?
6. The fact that there is a TBI and USAT on the same weekend is a good thing but needs to be more inclusive
7. We have something like 75 race owners coming to Dallas...what about the other 1,000+?

What did I miss?

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

Herbert,

A quick scan of the attendee list and the only Canadian I see on that list is Sara Gross - who is as previously mentioned is giving/leading a talk on diversity in the sport. I spent some time on the phone with Sara yesterday and she has been working hard for some time in the sport in this area.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Even if Luis Alvarez (Mexico) were to be invited that still dies not make it international

It's not surprising that there aren't any international attendees. $895 for registration + 2 or 3 nights at the Fairmont + an international flight is a big ask for anyone with a tight budget. And judging by the theme of this year's conference, a lot of us are working with tight budgets. I'd rather see twice as many attendees for a $450 registration fee and a more affordable/accessible location for international companies.

I am suggesting that this show does not really address an International audience or International issues. So why would International folks attend even if it was free? I would not attend it traveling only from NC even it were free. Maybe not even if it actually were in driving distance.

I assume that there are going to be numerous discussions on how to get more people to the sport. If you're going to give us a post-mortem, there are a couple of things I would be interested in hearing about.

1. Races trying to provide more amenities for spectators. I've been to a lot (a lot) of races that are at a park with a little lake in the middle of nowhere. Park up to a mile away and cart everything in. I get transition set up, get in the water, and go. And my wife...sits there for two to five hours. She brings a book, there may or may not be a cell signal, she brings her lunch and her water and a chair. Fun. I haven't done a race since our son was born, but I'm going to this year and races offering something to do are going to be at the top of the list. We just finished a full season of cyclocross and it was great. Food trucks, kids races, etc, etc. My son loved it, he would ride the kids course over and over again. Why do races not have kids activities? I'm not talking about child care, I'm just talking about something to do. Strider races, sprints, water play, hell a fucking bouncy castle would provide hours of fun for lots of kids and cost next to nothing. Set up a big screen and show Finding Nemo on a loop for christssake, easy cheap fun.

2. To the same point above, food. Get some local food trucks to come out so people can buy a snack and a drink. I get that racers seem to expect a free meal afterwards (that could be canned in my opinion, who cares), but the whole 'buy a meal ticket for your spouse' seems horribly outdated to me. And while we're at it, let's improve the quality. Every races advertises 'Exceptional post-race meal!', but let's face it, it's grilled cheap hamburgers and beans from Costco, and a cooler full of the cheapest bottled water you can find. We can do better. You want millennials at your race? Pulled pork and yam sliders with mango salsa and a smoothie are going to help.

3. Start times. Again, you want millennials? Quit with the ridiculous start times. As triathletes and endurance athletes in general I think we fetishize early morning workouts and lack of sleep. Guess what? We're the weird ones in that regard. Trying to get new people to come out by telling them they 'get' to eat breakfast at 4am and be in transition by 6am isn't a big selling point. I get it for ironman, people need to get off the bike by the time it gets dark. But we don't need OLY races that start at 6:30 or 7am, there's no need to be done with the 'big thing' you're doing by 9 or 10am. Start OLYs and halves at 10am in the summer and let people have a relatively normal night before the race and a relatively normal morning. Most people are off the bike by 2pm and enjoying an afternoon run, and they're probably enjoying it a bit more because they were actually allowed to sleep the night before.

Rant over. I'll be interested to hear if any of these topics come up.

-Colin

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Love the idea of later start times to attract younger athletes. A lot of European races do this very well. The Bilbao half in Spain starts at 2pm. That might be a bit much, but 10am sounds about right, especially for shorter races.

The issue most race directors will run into is that cities and towns want their roads clear as early as possible so the race doesn't affect normal Saturday/Sunday traffic. In Spain and France the townships and the people could care less. They embrace the race and come out in droves to support the athletes. If you tried doing the same thing in almost any American city and you'd have a lot of angry residents.

Yeah, I've heard that issue as well, but I think it's a bit of a straw man. Most races (at least that I do) aren't on super busy roads, and there are ways around these things (cone off part of a lane, a couple of detours, etc, etc). If a backward thinking municipality doesn't want to work with the race on things like this, then they don't get the economic benefit of having the race in their corner of the world, simple.

I think there's a lot of group-think on this subject, "triathlons start at 7am triathlons start at 7am triathlons start at 7am".

I'd love to do a half at 2pm, that'd be fun. Finish and have a nice dinner, sounds great.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

I hear this all the time, however, inherent in this statement is that there once was a time when the younger demographics made up a significantly larger percentage of participants. I just don't think that is the case. It seems to me that the percentage 18-29 year old racers is roughly the same now as it's always been. During that period in their lives they are focused on other things like school, social life, work, etc. It's not until people get more settled that participation starts to grow.

In fact, I think the lifecycle of my own participation in the sport is a good example of what this age group experiences. I first got involved in my mid-teens as I grew tired of swimming. This was in the mid-80's - even raced in the same race as "he who shall not be named" once. I continued in the sport until about 20 when I got busy with school and social life. After college I was then busy with work and a young family. Most of my physical activity at that point was social team based activities - think office softball, basketball with friends, etc. By my mid-30's as my family was settled and things with career balanced out, I drifted back to triathlon where I've been for about 10 years.

All that to say that while overall participation might be down, it not necessarily the case the declining participation in the 18-29 age group is the case of it.

I don't agree. We would like to attract more younger people. Whether or not they were here before is immaterial.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

The issue most race directors will run into is that cities and towns want their roads clear as early as possible so the race doesn't affect normal Saturday/Sunday traffic. In Spain and France the townships and the people could care less. They embrace the race and come out in droves to support the athletes. If you tried doing the same thing in almost any American city and you'd have a lot of angry residents.


The push-back and obstacle here is the municipalities. The starting point with them for any proposal that needs road-permits is, "No way", and as a Race Director you work from there. In short, you get what you get and are grateful for it. That's what leads to the default early-morning-starts for just about ALL endurance sports events - triathlons, running & cycling in North America.

But some creative thinking RD's have been able to break through on this front or alternatively, you take the race-course off the public roads completely! This is where BOTH, RD's and participants need to think outside the box! Too many modern triathletes think that a triathlon NEEDS to be run in a certain way and confirm to a certain format!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Exactly. Like I said above, too much group-think.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Like I said above, too much group-think.

I don't want to paint all RD's here with the same brush but in the whole of the endurance sports events business (running, cycling & triathlon), there is a GIANT woooshing sound going on and it's the whole of the world passing them by!!

It started with the advent of the mud/obstacle/themed runs, and it's carried on as marketing and the wants/needs of participants has QUICKLY changed over the last few years. Example: Many races/events are still selling banner space sponsorship as their key asset. 1) Most potential sponsors and savvy marketers could care less about banner/logo exposure like this. They want something deeper more sophisticated. 2) Most participants/consumers have moved way beyond being influenced by that - they expect something deeper, more savvy! But FEW races/events get this - YET what they have in their hands - is an POWERFUL* experiential entity that is their race/event, but it ends there. Most brands would KILL for this kind of thing.


*How powerful? When I am Race/Event Announcing and people are coming across the finish-line many have a look of absolute joy and ecstasy on their faces. It's not uncommon for finishers to have tears of joy coming down their face. I routinely get told things just past the finish line along these lines, "This was the best day of my life" - What other business/brand/event whatever get's that kind of emotional response??? AS noted many brands would KILL for this sort of connection with potential customers or existing customers - but a banner ad is NOT going to do that. You have to think about something more creative and engaging to sell to sponsors - and many races/events are not doing that.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

In terms of number one, this little thing called the Sherman Act gets in the way in the US from the first four parties you list really "getting together" to build the sport.

Again, this is where I place a lot of blame at the feet of USAT on needing to help develop the marketing of the sport overall, positioning it, and using the race certification as a means of certifying the actual quality of the event.

IMO, Interbike's date should move, and we move to a four-day conference that includes all the retailers, vendors, RDs, etc. and maybe, just maybe, we'll get some athletes involved.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Of course I am not talking about violating law.

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

I will be there. Hoping anyone attending will stop me and say hello.

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Trent Nix
Owned and operated Tri Shop
F.I.S.T. Advanced Certified Fitter | Retul Master Certified Fitter (back when those were things)

I'm sure you aren't. That being said, relatively innocuous things, like discussing potential overlap of race weekends and trying to push them out to maximize participation in all (something that, I think, we would all consider to be a good thing for the sport!), is considered a violation.

We've got to get more creative in our presentation to potential audiences. And IMO that starts right with USAT.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter