A couple of clarifications.
(1) Community Support: The people who came out and volunteered were terrific. I'm not faulting them at all. But the community leaders, and/or IMNA just did not promote the race. I think that having a remote race director (in Lake Placid...she was the race director's secretary last year) was a mistake as well.
(2) Course choices: There is, for example, a lake ~20 miles from the current venue (it is the one in the picture on the website--sailboat, beautiful mountain in the background..the olympic cross-country skiing was there next to the lake in 2002. It's crystal clear, with lots of open roads for the bike in the surround valley--we ride there all the time. Last year the race director tried to get the swim moved there, with the bike and run still in Provo/Utah County, but the powers that be said no...they wanted it all in their community.
It's a shame, really.
(1) Community Support: The people who came out and volunteered were terrific. I'm not faulting them at all. But the community leaders, and/or IMNA just did not promote the race. I think that having a remote race director (in Lake Placid...she was the race director's secretary last year) was a mistake as well.
(2) Course choices: There is, for example, a lake ~20 miles from the current venue (it is the one in the picture on the website--sailboat, beautiful mountain in the background..the olympic cross-country skiing was there next to the lake in 2002. It's crystal clear, with lots of open roads for the bike in the surround valley--we ride there all the time. Last year the race director tried to get the swim moved there, with the bike and run still in Provo/Utah County, but the powers that be said no...they wanted it all in their community.
It's a shame, really.