Maybe the 140.6 + 70.3 at the same time make it a viable option. Right now there's about 1000 registered for the full and 900 for the half.

It's a shame really. Weather has been great besides 2015, so it hasn't been unlucky in that regard unlike other tough races like Tahoe or St. George. It's obvious the difficulty of the course scares people away. It's a perfect place for a race. Registration costs are cheap compared to US races due to the favorable exchange rate. There's a ton of hotels, restaurants, and things to do for everyone in/around the Village.

I hope it stays but my guess is it becomes a 70.3 only within the next two or three years.

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

There are some threads in the Ironman Canada Facebook page on this - lots of discussion and rumours, but nothing solid.

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"It's Ironman - it's supposed to be hard!"

Author of "Letters to a Driving Nation: Exploring the Conflict between Drivers and Cyclists." http://www.brucebutler.ca

Why can't they continue a race that has 1000 registrants? I can see if it gets down to 500 but 1000 if quite few and there are races that have went on a long time with about that number. Switzerland, New Zealand, probably are others. Muskoka had 900 in its first year and they pulled the plug. I would do Muskoka again but iffy if I will travel for a full again.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

This is kinda relevant, but for those who are competing this year there was a fire at one of the condo's (that I am staying at ack!!!) last night:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/whistler-village-fire-damages-vacation-homes-1.4072204

It's obvious the difficulty of the course scares people away.

That's the sad part of many IM competitors. They are so focussed on their times that any course with a few waves, hills on the bike or anything but a dead flat run is out of the question.

Tough courses don't survive yet so many want others to recognize the difficulty of the sport. It's a strange contradiction.

Agree with this. It has all become about setting PBs, etc. When people realize that PBs are so subjective they might start to enjoy the races. Mind you, I was like that for my first few years in triathlons. All about times. I was getting faster and faster but it comes a point when you realize that times are subjective to the given course after given training under given circumstances etc etc.

Ad Muncher

I don't think I totally agree. With the first part, yes, absolutely. Triathletes, and first/only timers in particular, are way too concerned with times. I would be willing to bet that many would not sign up for a hard course due to finish time envy, but would not hesitate to sign up for a race with a 53 mile bike course.

But tough courses definitely do survive. Lake Placid and Wisconsin are two of the most popular north american ironman courses, and those are the two toughest I've done (I've done Wisco, LP, FL, Penticton, and AZ). I'm not sure why those two thrive and Whistler doesn't. In fact, it confuses me. LP is a great course, but it's kind of in the middle of nowhere (fairly close to several population centers, though), the lodging is expensive and scarce, and honestly there isn't much to do. Madison is in the middle of midwestern corn country, and the course isn't exactly scenic (hey, more corn!). Sure it's a great town, but would you go there on vacation? Utah suffered from being an early season race, having some terrible weather, being kind of in the middle of nowhere, and the tragedy of someone passing away during the race. Penticton certainly wasn't easy, but it stuck around for 20+ years. One time I did it I think there were 3000 starters. The road after Richter pass was a mad house of triathletes on bikes and vacationers in motor homes.

But Whistler solves all those problems. Easy to get to, close to several population centers (Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver, Portland), plenty of condos to rent for relatively good prices (not true in the winter, it's clear where Whistler makes it's money), beautiful course, good time of the year, lots of stuff for the family to do. And they offer a half on the same day! I truly don't understand why it's not more of a draw. Maybe it's too close (geographically and temporally) to CdA so there are two races splitting the pool?

I'm really looking forward to the half this summer. Hope it sticks around.

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

It's a fantastic race at a picture perfect venue. It would be a real shame if it didn't survive.

Not to turn this in to one of 'those' threads, but if the race disappears, WTC will have successfully destroyed a very healthy and long standing multisport scene in BC. Very sad.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Totally agree, I feel the same way. I'm probably spoiled living close to several large race venues (Whistler, Penticton, CdA, Victoria) and being able to take advantage of the current CAD exchange rate.

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

It's a great race, but there are some problems. The location is a little more difficult to get to than it appears on a map. Yes it is close to Seattle and Portland, but due to traffic and the boarder, the trip can take an extra 3 hours resulting in a full day of travel.

The timing being so close to CDA is also a problem. Most people have to pick one or the other. If you try to do Whistler earlier in the year, you have a hard time getting in enough good weather for training in the Pacific Northwest and the weather for the race is diceyer. If you push CDA back, you get into the school year and lose out on the family vacation crowd.

Whistler has great roads, beautiful views and great community to stay in. I hope Whistler holds on for a few more years so we have an excuse to go up there again. The course isn't that hard if you have proper gearing. Nothing over 6% grade and nothing too technical.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

Yeah, all races have problems. I just don't see Whistler having any more than LP, certainly not to warrant 50% fewer participants.

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

It is a race that a person has to do to believe how good it is. When signing up, people look at the daunting elevation map for both the bike and run and get scared. Throw in extreme weather possibilities and it is another nail in the coffin. People might also not look into it because it is at a high end ski resort and they think it is going to be expensive. We stayed in a two bedroom condo last year for USD$110/night after taxes. And, we were about 150 feet from the IM village. World class hotels can be had for a fraction of the cost of their winter prices.

IMLP has a much larger population to draw from. It's an 8-9 hour drive for me to get to Whistler. If applying this criteria to IMLP, that radius would include, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Providence, Montreal, Ottowa, Toronto, and Connecticut. Vancouver, Seattle and Portland are not quite in that league for potential recruits.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

I'm curious to hear the rumors. Anything interesting?

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

One rumor is it moving to Victoria. The bike course was recently changed to a single loop for the 70.3

CdA should've stayed in June and Whistler should be in August.

For those of us in the northwest, an August or September race is ideal, training-wise, because it allows us to ride outside the most.

But CdA in August is going to be hot and miserable year after year. If WTC hangs on with Whistler, I bet CdA racers will defect and head back to Canada after a year or two of CdA in August.

I have it on a pretty solid source that the full distance will not survive beyond 2017. Given the registration numbers and the additional Kona slots for Japanese citizens, it's pretty much done. The Japanese slots thing is what it looks like, an attempt to bump up numbers and nothing more. The attitude to the event in Whistler village is somewhat "blah". The village is so busy now it doesn't need the event, add to that the hassle of closing the highway for the better part of the day and the hostilities experienced in Pemberton area towards cyclists, it's pretty much over. It sounds like the 70.3 will try to live on, as it's a great race for a 70.3, but now with the moving around of other events there's not going to be a full iron distance race in Western Canada after 2017.

Chatter about a full in Victoria in my opinion is likely a non-runner, given the attitude of the locals to the current 70.3 event plus the swim venue doesn't lend well to a full distance swim. Folks in Victoria like their quiet island lifestyle and Sunday church, so closing the roads for any length of time throughout the morning is likely met with a lot of opposition as it will cause hassle in getting to praise Jesus on time. There is still some rumor that it could head back to Penticton, but WTC's experience with how they were blindsided by the town has left a lingering bad taste in their mouth. In all likelihood it's going to be Mont Tremblant as the only full to remain in Canada (they're posting strong numbers each year). Coeur d'Alene is not looking healthy these days either, so I suspect WTC will carry it into 2018 to see if shutting down Whistler full will have a positive effect on their numbers.

The thing to realize is that the full distance events are loosing their luster to their target audience, and I think WTC are looking at 70.3's now to keep the money coming in. The whole epic ironman achievement geared towards the "one-and-done" market model has expired. The majority of people who bought into the epicness of the distance and completed one event are looking to do other things. The demand of the full ironman is now driven by the more competitive minded athletes and sadly there isn't enough of them concentrated in enough areas to keep full events going. That's why WTC are looking to Asia to expand, and more and more North American full distance races will dwindle in numbers to the point where there will only be a handful of full events, and will be dominated by 70.3 events instead. The 70.3 event still carries the "Ironman" name and status which makes it more appealing to newbies and is achievable to a lot more people.

CCF: Where were you staying to be only paying $110/night ?? I booked my lodging this past Feb and I am paying $272/CAD per night.

Guys,
There are many, many factors that go into renewing the contract for this race. We are working through all aspects. Registration numbers are looking good for 2017, and discussions are ongoing with all relevant stakeholders for 2018 and beyond.

Christine - RD.

The registration numbers for the full in CDA were way down last year after the the move to August- the paper even commented "where are all the racers?" I don't think it will be different this year- I think the 70.3 numbers are great. I can't imagine they will keep the current schedule of Whistler and CDA the same, maybe with Vineman/Santa Rosa moving to earlier in the year that will have more west coast racers looking at full sin July/August

I duno. Politicians come and go. Ironman will go where it can make profit.
I've heard it's very likely to move back to Penticton, but what date?
End of August is now IMCdA and Ironman won't want the two races on the same date.
The rest of the summer Penticton just doesn't need any more tourists.
I can't see Penticton wanting a July Ironman.

No! I'd like Whistler even earlier by a few weeks. Much later starts interfering with CX season too much.

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

It was a condo through VRBO. The exchange rate was 1.41:1, so that was a big help. It wasn't luxurious, but it had a kitchenette and free parking. I booked in June, IIRC. Keep looking, something else might open up.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

Said every RD ever. LOL.

as much as i'd like it to stay (amazing course in my back yard) - Ironman is clearly not pleasing all....

https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/vop-releases-ironman-survey-results/Content?oid=3432164


http://www.whistlerquestion.com/news/pemberton/pemberton-officials-share-frustration-with-ironman-1.20270826