The standard distance had been 10K/40K/5K, now it's 5K/35K/5K. The distances have been watered down, it's a simple fact, you don't need to do the race to understand that.

Holding two "national championship" races on the same day, at two "different" distances (that are basically the same distance), absolutely waters down the competition as compared to if everyone just
competed in the same race. Again, it is a simple fact, I don't need to do the race to understand this.

Paying to travel to MN to race what is basically a glorified sprint for the standard distance to race against half a field is not worth the time and expense, there is no satisfaction in it. I would gladly race a single field at the legitimate distance in the national championship. It has nothing to do with the competitors, it is USAT and/or ITU just catering to "everyone being a winner", making shorter races that are easier to finish and multiple "championships".

Powerman is taking a big gamble with trying to put on a large series.
If they were smart they would have tried to put on 4-5 races total, in shoulder season only (spring/fall) and put up some reasonable pro purses at a couple of the races to get some buzz.
I think if they had done this they may have attracted some duathletes to travel a little bit to get some real competition in moderately sized fields.
Instead they are spreading themselves too thin, they are going to get small fields and this series is going to fold. There is a market for duathlon, but you need to be realistic
about filling a boutique niche, not trying to become WTC.

I guess I take that back, when I last checked they were talking about 8-10 races on their schedule, now it's 5.
However putting two of them at the end of November, early December is just really bad timing, most people
don't race seriously at that time of the year. Likewise for the February race.

March/April and Sept/October are when you have a hope of getting on peoples schedule.

Agreed on the fact it should be 10K/40K/5K in my opinion, for standard. Stick with the 2K-3K or whatever the *sprint* was last year--hell, I don't even remember the distances of the sprint but it wasn't much different than what the standard was. However, do not confuse or label the races as "watered down" because with reduced distances comes increase in intensity of these races.

I agree with you regarding the 2 distances essentially being the same; however, almost all of the top talent compete in the standard distance. There are a few fast guys/gals that do both, but if you compete in the standard you'll race against 90% of the best there.

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You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman

This is one of the things I hate most about triathletes. Triathletes have been brainwashed into believing that longer = harder and longer always = better. They believe that only long races are real races and that everything else is easy, watered down, whatever you want to call it. "I would never travel to a race that is only X distance. That is a waste of time because there is no satisfaction in completing just X distance." This is complete and utter nonsense. Go tell a collegiate or professional 800 runner that their event is easy because it is just 800m. The fact is that most triathletes think this because they never actually learn how to run. They have one running pace no matter the distance of the race. They think a 5k is easy because they have no concept of what 5k race pace is vs. 10k pace vs. half marathon pace vs. their 70.3 half marathon pace.

Now, I happen to agree with you that they should make the standard distance 10/40/5 to mimic the distance at worlds (or at least it should be the same ratio of run to bike), but the pointy end of duathlon nationals would be the same whether it is the current distance or the ITU standard distance. The race would be no more or less legitimate if it was longer. The same people would be at the front of the race, only they would be there for a longer period of time. The only difference is that it would slightly shift the race more in favor of the stronger runners. So race St. Paul in June, win the race in dominating fashion, and then come back and post all you want about how awesome you are and how you can't be bothered to ever race such an easy, watered down race again. Heck, you can even give a post race interview about how lame and easy the race is after immediately after breaking the tape. I will even buy you a post race beer to celebrate your crushing victory and your illegitimate championship.