Yeah, this is a sticky situation for all involved. It seems the community wants to do more with their race but they are limited by the WTC format and control. They also feel that Graham is "their local guy" and if he can't run it and represent them to the big corporation then they will align with anothe corporation that will give them more autonomy. WTC is basically stuck in a bind. In this power play scenario, WTC kind of needs Penticton more than Penticton needs WTC, which is the opposite of other communities where the community needs WTC more than WTC needs then....for example if the town of Tremblant did an Ironman and initially aligned with Challenge there is no way on this earth they'd have the smashing success they did being aligned with WTC. Challenge has no brand appeal in North America. However Penticton on its own has brand appeal to athlete through years of building their event.

Anyway at this point from the outside it appears there no way WTC can win and really get back into Penticton. Messick must be totally fried...the guy was at IMNYC, had to deal with the post event registration shut down/suspension, went back to Tampa, flew up to Tremblant, did an 11:40 Ironman, was on a flight the next morning at 5 am back to Tampa, then flies up to Penticton to deal with this fire. I would not have liked to spend the last 14 days in his shoes. Wow. Then again, that's what CEOs do at other corporations (minus cramming in an Ironman).