Email text:

Dear Ironman 70.3 National Harbor Athlete,



The inaugural Ironman 70.3 National Harbor Triathlon has been cancelled. Athletes registered for the event will receive a full refund of their entry and processing fees.



Refunds will be issued within 30 days and will be credited to the card used for registration through the Active Network.



Ironman is committed to helping participants reach their goal of racing an Ironman 70.3 in 2012 and will further offer each athlete impacted by the cancellation a $50 discount to one of the events listed below:



• Ironman 70.3 Mooseman – Newfound Lake, NH - Sunday, June 3

• Ironman 70.3 Boise - Boise, Idaho - Saturday, June 9

• Ironman 70.3 Kansas - Lawrence, KS - Sunday, June 10

• Ironman 70.3 Syracuse - Syracuse, NY - Sunday, June 24

• Ironman 70.3 Muncie - Muncie, IN - Saturday, July 7

• Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island - Providence, RI - Sunday, July 8

• Ironman 70.3 Racine - Racine, WI - Sunday, July 15

• Ironman 70.3 Timberman - Gilford, NH - Sunday, Aug. 19

• Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - Benton Harbor, MI - Sunday, Aug. 19

• Ironman 70.3 Muskoka - Huntsville, ON (Canada) - Sunday, Sept. 9

• Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Augusta, GA - Sunday, Sept. 30

• Ironman 70.3 Austin - Austin, Texas - Sunday, Oct. 28



Ironman will email each Ironman 70.3 National Harbor athlete a unique discount code within one week. The discount and code are non-transferable and for one-time use only. The discount is restricted to new registrations and will not be offered on existing entries. Entries will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and if an event closes during this time, it will no longer be available. This offer will expire on Oct. 1, 2012.



Please contact info@IronmanNationalHarbor.com with questions.



Thank you for your understanding and patience through this process. We wish you the best of luck with your training and racing.

The registration link was still open. I am not going to go through all the stuff to actually see if it works but it might be worth it to get the 50 buck discount to the other race. Too bad I am already planned for the year.

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Disco
South Bend, IN

Habitual Line Stepper..

Got the e-mail, too--unfortunately. I was really looking forward to this race. Luckily, I still have Eagleman (no worries about that one being cancelled). DC Triathlon gets kaboshed, and now this. Seems like post-Fenty DC is declaring war on triathlons.

This was going to be my son's first 70.3 as well. Did they give a reason why it was canceled?

FUDGE

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Yeah this really screws up my season too. I think my only option is Timberman, as the others on the list that are geographically acceptable are all too early.

there's a story on this on the front page. not much to add beyond what the e-blast said. i can tell you that WTC was taken aback, surprised, caught off-guard. i can't see where they are at fault here, tho i don't know why the race was canceled. i did talk to WSEM. they did not tell me why the race was canceled. it seems a mystery to just about everyone except WSEM.

i know the WSEM folks, and they've moved from rising stars in the world of triathlon production to just flat-out stars. they're great at what they do. top flight. among the best.

therefore, i'm scratching my head. there's certainly a very good reason why this race was canceled, because a lot of athletes are not inconvenienced. but i don't know what it is. it's not race entries. it seemed as if this race was poised to sell out. mystifying.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Except that the National Harbor is in MD...

I hope that Nations Tri isn't going to be canned, too, as it's the MidAtlantic qualifier.

With two races cancelled looks more like they are falling or failing stars

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

What idiot voted for Gray anyway?

Via dcrainmakers route recon I'm thinking that that they might of had permit problems with closing that main drag for the bike leg

I predicted this one when Ray Maker (DC Rainmaker) had to tell them that portions of their proposed run course were un-runable.

Bob

Do athletes have to give back the black headsweats hats void of all logos, etc. that were mailed out to registrants? I thought that was odd. Not that everyone doesn't appreciate a free hat, but it was interesting that they wasted the opportunity to advertise the event with a logo on the hat. Perhaps a premonition?

It is a part of Obama's and the Democrats: 'War on Triathlon'

All you one percenters thinking you could ruin a perfectly viable "Occupy" protest................

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**

As a side note for those outside of the DC area, no part of this race actually went into the District, thus, the direct powers of a post-Fenty world weren't likely at play. Now, indirect, potentially.

One has to remember that the Hot Chocolate Fiasco really ticked off a LOT of Maryland local officials. Even though this is an entirely different company, I could easily some official simply making a blanket statement that says "No races at National Harbor, period."

Or, as noted above, they may have realized that the run course just wasn't going to work (kinda strange they never bothered to go run the run course prior to me trying). Though, there were some alternatives one could have come up with - it wouldn't have been too tough. The bike course would have been ugly scenery wise, and potentially traffic-wise after the Hot Chocolate thing and the ramificaitons of that finally trickled down over the months since.

Whatever the case, it's super-poor they don't offer an explanation. Sending out an e-mail at 5PM Local time saying "Sorry, tough luck", without anything more. While still leaving their site up for registrations, and no comment on the site, FaceBook, Twitter or anything else is just poor form.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

It will be interesting to see how long it will be before WTC announces another race. They seem to bring on several new ones a year. This year, they lost two (well, one and a half)

A bigger and more "important" event came along, that's the "explanation"

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**

+1 on all points.

I think the National Harbor could be a perfect starting location since there are several new hotels within walking distance to the water (Gaylord, ALoft, Wyndham, Hampton Inn). I'd have athletes swim across the Potomac to VA, bike south past Mt. Vernon, with the run starting in Belle Haven - turnaround by the Pentagon - and finish in Old Town. Participants would take the ferry back to National Harbor once finished. Of course, this route would never happen in a million years, partly because it would be almost impossible to get 56 miles on the bike in Northern VA. This is why we all need to travel to the remote Eastern Shore for 70.3 or longer.

Oh yeah, and knowing how nasty the Potomac gets in late summer with Hydrilla, I'd hold the event sometime before mid-June.

Dan, with the DC Tri fiasco and now this, how many data points will you need to see before you change your opinion? In the time they have been operating in our city, WSEM has done a fine job building events up and then unloading them, but that doesn't seem to have done much for anyone other than their owners. I've posted here before that they seem to be OK, particularly for the very casual or new athlete, and in my book that's a good thing. At some point they need to come clean if they want to maintain any goodwill in our community.

I have to agree with Ray.

After the Hot Chocolate fiasco, I would guess that some PG County officials are exercising some preventive care. Can't say that I blame them much. Not only was that whole race a mess but local residents were pissed about the road conditions (traffic). So while this 70.3 may have been a completely different and better run race, they are finished supporting these things for a while.


Steve

Thanks for what you can share Dan. Extremely bummed as this was to be the closest WTC event to us in SW Pa.

20, or so, from our area were signed up and booked.

Loved the whole idea around this race...even with the limitations of the proposed run course.

Looks like Whirlpool or REV3 or SavageMan for me.

There are non MDot halfs as well that are as well regarded or better than Mdot 70.3s. Unless you require the MDot tattoo and/or a Vegas slot, I highly doubt Timberman is your only option. In 2003, maybe. Nowadays there is a glut of long course options out there for you.

Your route idea sounds pretty cool. If you know some of the backroads south of Mt. Vernon well enough, there's some really nice quiet areas down there - rolling farmland too. You could do a two-loop course and easily get 56 miles. But even without two-loops, you could do a lolli-pop down there fairly well.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

While I had hoped to shoot for a Vegas slot, I'm all ears on non Mdot races. I'm in Philadelphia, would like to drive, and 7ish hours is probably my driving time radius. Need something between late July and early September to fit into my season. Ideas?

Tupper Lake
Musselman
Morgantown
Rev3

Lake George
Rev3 Maine
Shoreman
Quakerman
Rev3 Cedar Point
Patriots Half (Williamsburg, VA)


http://www.trifind.com/iron-h.html?page=2

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IG: idking90

Rev3 Columbia MD.

Around the Bay:

Skipjack in Cambridge (Tri Columbia)
Waterman's Half in Indian Head (Set Up Events)

Both are in late Sept or early Oct. The google has all the details.

Steelhead! GREAT race on August 19th! Z

Trifind.com

Rev3 Cedar Point in early August. Cool venue, I'd guess right at the edge of your driving radius. Stay an extra day and go to the park...best coaster park in the world.

Hope your training schedule is not laid out for you to peak for this race....it is Sept. 9, not early August.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Typo. Meant early September.

If you don't care about setting a PR, but wouldn't mind the opportunity to be permanently immortalized in a road, SavageMan should be on your list. Of course, you have to HTFU because it's hilly as hell.

I'm involved in the race production, so will let others do the talking...
http://www.racevine.com/...n-triathlon-festival

There is the shoreman half just across the river Sep 8th. Its put on by DQtri and I would trust it just because of the other races I've done with them. In fact I think I just talked myself into it.

I'm in south NJ by the way at the bottom of the NJ TP

Delaware Diamondman? It's going to be my first half, I heard it is well run.

As a marketing professional for over 25 years, I've seen my share of clients who have had do to crisis management and damage control from time to time. However, WSEM's handling of the IM 70.3 National Harbor cancellation is by far one of the most perplexing--to put it mildly--instances of poor crisis management I've seen. They've had over 48 hours to formulate a response to athletes and sponsors, but have done neither. Instead, they've pulled down the IM 70.3 National Harbor FB page--which would have been one of the better places to post their response and engage with angry "customers"--and remained reticent. Not only that, but it's now forced those angry athletes to voice their displeasure on The Nation's Triathlon (no longer owned by WSEM) page that is supposed to support the only triathlon associated with WSEM that still remains unsullied (I think WSEM still manages the race). As I would tell any of my clients--that's not a good strategy. Race directors rely on the goodwill of athletes, who act as brand ambassadors by promoting their races by word of mouth. I'm afraid they've severely damaged themselves in that regard. Furthermore, WSEM not only risks losing a substantial number of athletes who are their customer base for future events, but they risk losing sponsors who will now be hesitant to have their name attached to anything they do. People are willing to forgive mistakes (although there will be those who will continue to hold a grudge). What they are not willing to forgive is being ignored. It tells them you don't care. WSEM and Chuck Brodsky can perhaps still salvage their reputation in this very active (and financially powerful) triathlon community here in DC and just tell us what happened. We paid over $300 to do this race. We are owed more than a cursory note and dodging answers.

Do Savageman, it stands as my PW and one of the all time best races I have done. Ever.

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http://www.johnhirsch.org
http://www.stronglikebulltraining.com

Thank you for teaching to fish!

Diamondman rocks. Did it twice. No crowds. You park about 50' from the finish line. Very laid back event and well run.

I had just signed up for it the day before it was cancelled, not a very smooth move by WTC as people could still register the day after it was cancelled.

There are several races that are held around that time frame in the central Atlantic area. I am probably going to replace IM National Harbor with the Half Full Rev 3 race on October 7 or the Patriots Half on September 8. There are other races too, like the ChesapeakeMan series on Sept 29, and IM August on Sept 30.

Still sux that National Harbor was nixed, the start line was about 20 minutes from my apartment.

too bad too sad... Would have been a nice venue.

Did you make it up the wall?

Yeah, had a great swim and got over the wall to earn my brick but the rest of the race was awful for me; but I slugged it out to make sure my brick goes up. I went from 3rd to 600th!

Pain and the shame of walking the run is tempory: bricks and glory is forever.

Dear WTC--When will we be getting an explanation about what happened with Ironman 70.3 National Harbor? While what happened may not initially be WTC's fault, you own the brand and--given that the race director, Chuck Brodsky, and his company WSEM seem to have skipped town--you are now the unfortunate owners of this mess. Brodsky and WSEM have taken down all their sites and gone completely dark, so we athletes are left with no other recourse but to turn to WTC for answers--and restitution. We are entitled to answers. And while you may not have all of them, to simply ignore our questions is unacceptable and unfair. We signed up for a race because we put our faith in the race director and the Ironman brand. The race director let us down. Please don't be next.

Is anyone really expecting to get a full refund?

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Not really. Given that nearly all of WSEM's website have gone completely dark, I suspect that there will be no refunds to be had. I'm not counting on getting my money back. However, good brand management would dictate that a fair effort would be made to compensate those athletes who paid the $325 entry fee--perhaps by giving athletes "free" entry into other IM 70.3 events (given that we've already paid--and yes, I realize that we haven't paid that specific race director--but that would be up to WTC to figure out). They did it in the case of Miami 70.3.

I didn't sign up for this but whenever I don't get the service I pay for, I dispute the charge with the credit card company. If IM doesn't provide info in a reasonable timeframe, you have that option.

How far can you go back?

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I got my email with my refund today. I'll have to go check but it appears to include the active.com fee as well.

I imagine money will be coming back. Maybe not all, but some. Unless it's all been spent and then cbrodsky is gonna find himself in a world of hurt. But he isn't going to successfully pocket the money himself without lawsuits. He'll have both athletes and WTC up his ass to recoup whatever's left. His only hope would be to fly the country, but I really doubt any of that would happen, which is why I expect that at least partial refunds will be coming.

Saw this link re: Brodsky's checkered past in the comments section on dcrainmaker's blog on the topic.
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/05/former-d-c-alcohol-official-vows-to-fight-police-impersonation-charges-61615.html

Yeah, I saw that post, too--hence my suspicions. Odd that people who were signed up for the cancelled DC Triathlon are only now getting their refunds--although there are still many who are waiting. This is pure speculation on my part, but one wonders if Brodsky was borrowing from Peter (IM 70.3 National Harbor) to pay Paul (DC Triathlon refunds). Makes you wonder when they go completely dark and don't answer any inquiries. Usually, it's the sign of a company that's in financial trouble and closed. Even if I don't ever recoup my money, it would be nice to have some answers and put speculation to rest.

I have never had to do this for a race but I have gone back ~1 year for past charges. I once happened to look at an old statement that had ~$100 charged to a cheap Chinese restaurant. I can't imagine who could eat that much but I knew it wasn't me. I called Capital One and the charge came off. A couple months later I received a notice that the dispute was resolved. The merchant can dispute your claim but they don't want to risk being labeled as a front for fraudulent charges. If you bail on a race and dispute the charge, you may get away with it but may also get banned from using that merchant (WTC, Active, whoever). But if your claim is legit, then stand up for your rights. I doubt WTC would fight very hard as they likely don't want additional bad publicity.

" We are entitled to answers."


I am sorry, but says who? This sucks yes. It's a huge inconvenience for anyone involved. But this stuff happens and you are not entitled to anything - expect a refund.

You don't like it? Don't do WTC races. Don't do races put on or managed by WSEM. You have choices, you have options. Are they great, no. But you have them. Just as WSEM/WTC has the choice to not provide you with a reason.


Yes, it sucks. But entitlement, really?

Anyone else wondering what that means for the future of the Nation's Triathlon? I know that is a big and popular race, but what do you all think? It's always been a personal favorite of mine so I hope it doesn't get canceled too.

Set Up Events is now in Virginia and Maryland. I'm sure they would jump on the chance to produce a successor event.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Yeah, Hillzboo2--"entitled". I stand by that word. When the company putting on the race and claiming to offer refunds suddenly shuts down all its websites, closes its offices, doesn't answer its phones or e-mails--all of which doesn't bode well for recouping our money--then yes, we're entitled to answers. I've been in this sport for over 20 years and have had races cancelled on me. This isn't my first rodeo. But in every one of those instances, a note went out to all athletes explaining what happened--as well as assurances that money would be refunded. What they didn't do is shutter their doors before refunds were paid and refuse to answer even the simplest questions. I've never bitched about cancelled races before--I realize stuff happens. But to handle this cancellation in such a shady way is beyond reasonable. People are angry not because the race was cancelled. They're angry because no one at WSEM is responding and they've shut down all means of communication--including their offices. And I'm not blaming WTC. They were caught off guard, as well. At least they've had the decency to try and respond to athletes--although they don't seem to have an answer as to why it was cancelled, either.

I just got an email from Setup Events, they are giving those of us registerd for National Harbor discounts to five races $10 off to sprints and $20 for Halfs if you register by May 16. Doing Patriots Half myself, glad I did not register last night.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Actually this IS the WTC's fault.

They contracted / bought the race.
They hired directly or indirectly the race organization running the race

If they put "their name" on it, it is their race.

Maybe if the WTC was more concerned about the QUALITY of the races, instead of promoting McMdot and over 1 Billion Races sold, things like this would not happen.

Seems like on a yearly basis a couple WTC races are cancelled and it is "always" someone else fault.

Guess this is why I try very hard now to just sign up for a race on race day. I am tired of losing money on races that I am sick or hurt for, or become duathlons, etc.
Very few races sell out that I really care about doing luckily.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I believe they sold Nations Tri to Competitor group in February so new management.

You may have something here. WTC did contract this race from Brodsky and WSEM knowing (presumably) Brodsky's past and knowing (presumably) he was currently involved in a lawsuit regarding this past. I have no idea whether this active suit against Brodsky has anything to do with WSEM fleeing the coop, but the suit is out there and it is active. I still kind of feel that some reasonable explanation will come out, although with each passing day it seems less and less likely.

http://workmancompattorney.net/...y-among-others/3555/

It all comes to this... If WTC Brands the race, and sells the race... it is THEIR RACE.

Some race orgs RUN ALL of their races. You go to one event or another, the same people are setting up and running the race.

WTC for the most part CONTRACTS out most of their races. They may have some media folks that will be at the race, and they may have some "officers" there, but the RD and general responsibilities are contract. It does not matter. It is up to them to make sure they have hired/contracted well as well as their responsibility to check in and assure the race is up to their quality.

I am not surprised with what happened with National Harbor 70.3, because, in my opinion, and it is just that... WTC is more concerned with number of races and trying to own all the races they can, and less about the QUALITY of the race experience.

I would have (until the last two months) argued that WTC did find a pretty high-quality race group with WSEM. Aside from what seemed to be their goal of the largest triathlon on earth, they did execute their races spot-on and at a world-class level. I don't think WTC could have found (again, up until now) a better partner out there to maintain quality. Obviously, something changed - but rewinding to last fall - I'm not sure anyone could have predicted that.

Now, I think there are things WTC could/should do around minimum bar for new races. For example, requiring proof of permits, proof that courses have been scouted out, and proof of 'validation' from the local city/county. None of which appeared to ever occur here.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

I understand what you are saying about WTC growing so big, but I think they really do care about the competitors. At least some of their RDs do: Beth A. at Louisville (a KQ athlete herself), KJ at Texas (he posts on here) and supposedly Frank at the "new" IM Silverman/IM Nevada/IM Las Vegas.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I generally agree. I cannot comment on WSEM, since I am generally unfamiliar with them.

I can look at Ironman China, Ironman 70.3 China, and National Harbor 70.3 and see that there is a trend with not having paperwork in place, and the pass-the-buck style leads to late cancellations. We have Clearwater 5150, which shows that they would rather cancel a race if it is not profitable and screw the athletes who have committed, rather than taking a temporary loss, running an amazing race, and building interest for a future year.

Ironman Japan I will give a pass

Poconos 70.3?? That race was a cluster F since inception and the course was still in flux 3 months out. One would hope that when a "race" is "announced, they would have a solid idea of the course, logistics and permits, but this clearly did not seem the case. As someone who watched the course unfold, there were even times where the bike course in its iterations "crossed" over itself. It is bad enough when a bike in and run out cross over, but when a bike course crosses itself? That is a disaster in the making. Proof is in the Schwaggle so when you see an "Ironman" event being sold on Schwaggle at a 40% discount, that can tell you that the feedback on the race was poor.

Is NOLA 70.3 a well designed race? Back to Back years with cancelled swim, and not overly severe conditions which tells me more that the course is questionable for the numbers.

Similarly, with Providence 70.3 swimming in the cess pool and charging for the finish line shuttle? Charging? For a shuttle???? Really???

And what about Miami 70.3? That race was plain dangerous given the roads and lack of course hydration. And yes, despite Ironman passing the buck stating it was poorly run by the RD and they would implement changes, the early-bird sign-up email came from the same RD

See a trend? Is it any coincidence as they have bought out races left and right, the number of cancelled or poorly run races has risen. If anything the trend is escalating, not improving. I won't even touch the lack of timing in most cases. It is clear that there are some "A" races, and some others that are the ugly bastard cousin no one likes to acknowledge... And to me... a branded race should be a branded race... If you buy into the Ironman experience, it should be consistent, which clearly it is not. To me it is a sign of over expansion, poor management, and lack of caring.

The Nations Triathlon is no longer owned by WSEM. It's owned by CGI. Thje race date is outside of the window that the National Park Service says races can be held.

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__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Can't comment on Beth A, though the race two years ago was poorly run and dangerous. They ran out of fluids, and saw more than a few comments about locals on the course who picked up water. Aid stations running out of water? How hard is it to see the weather is going to be hot and ensure you have more than enough? That was 2010.

I have done two KJ races with mixed reviews. Not overly thrilled with the Austin course, but the race was well run. Timberman in 2010 was a wreck, with two hour shuttle waits, and KJ had cancelled many buses in the morning. The Timberman course is overcrowded, and would be a much nicer race at 1800 than 2500+. This is one of those races where where you walk around the expo and hear all of the old timers talking about how nice the race was pre-WTC and how this time is likely their last. Last year when I was doing some photography on the course it was not uncommon to see pelotons of riders, and one of my favorite sites was two women riding side by side having a conversation. I had seen one USAT judge with the lead men rider, another with the women, and then did not see another official for most of the the AG. I did see the two judges on as the riders made their return trip, so was a crowded draft-fest.

A classic example of Pre-post WTC is Timberman as well. Find bike shirts and gear from the pre-wtc races and they are awesome. The WTC version... cheap cookie-cutter

I pretty much grew up on the Timberman course, but will not do the race again until it has much more reasonable numbers as well as a clear indication that it is better run. The great thing about Timberman is the locals on the run course... They are the ones that make the run so great.

Patriots half in williamsburg is a must do. Great road course. My bet is most people will beshocked how.fast theyride there. I love it. Savageman is also a greatrace. Both are well run with excellent aid and volunteers. Setup events is topnotch and so is savageman (although their shirt is.odd).
Wtc is waste of money.

I have heard excellent things on both Patriot and Savageman... Savageman arguably is one of toughest races in the US.

Spaz is offended. Don't piss off Spaz.
http://www.savagemantri.org/.../640x384/KG_5169.jpg

I guess I should skip those races even though the WTC is offering discounts and even steeper $65 discount on the Poconos.

About that...I just tried to register for Poconos 70.3 using their $65 code and it didn't work. Has anyone had success with this?

Does Active have customer support or am I SOL? I want to enter this race.

Not exactly relevant to 70 .3NH, but has anyone looked into race entry fee reimbursement through 365competitor? I noticed that FS Series here in NC was one of their biggest supporters, so at this point it looks like 365 is only getting bites from little fish. My understanding is that this is something the RD purchases (like an insurance policy) in the hopes of increasing early registration.

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__________________________

I tweet!

I received an email from Ironman, but Pocono was not listed as an option for the 50.00 discount. When and how did you get a 65.00 discount for Pocono?

Active.com emailed National Harbor entrants with a code (ACTIVE65) that would supposedly get us $65 off the Pocono entry (making it $210). However, I had no luck using the code.

Well, now we have our answer:

Dear Athlete,

The Ironman 70.3National Harbor Triathlon was cancelled because not enough athletes were registered for the event.

Initially we kept quiet because Ironman asked us to stay silent, not post anything on social media and not send out any press releases so that the damage to Ironman’s brand would be minimized. We were fools to agree and that was a big mistake on our part.

We should have communicated immediately and told you the reason from the start. We have nothing to hide from the truth and were just initially intimidated by Ironman's request.

We apologize.


[moderator's note: the edit executed here was for typesize. nothing in the text of this post was changed.]

Whoa.

Not sure where you got this but it was also posted as a response by Chuck Brodsky to Ray Maker's blog post (dcrainmaker.com) where he also indicates that the losses from the event were in the 6 figure range.

I just received the email as well.

+1 me too. So disappointing, there really isn't another race that fits in my timeline.

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__________________________________________________
Twitter: @jayasports
Web: http://www.jayasports.com

Wow!

This is akins to walking into your boss' office and say "F** you! I quit!" It may feel good at the time, but reflects badly on you, your professionalism, and your future endeavors. The man should have taken the high road and just said, "we're sorry for the cancellation and lack of communications, but due to the lack of registrant, we made the painful decision to cancel the event."

Classless!

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__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I would take this with a grain of salt, but even if there is just the smallest element of truth to it it's kind of ironic. Brodsky has been chasing for an IM event in Washington, DC area since at least 2006. He finally got his wishes and clearly now must wish he had never entered into a relationship with them.

Classless? He didn't say Ironman was a bunch of Dbags and he hopes they rot in hell. He gave the reason why they didn't speak up for it. This is more like a partnership where one guy wants to keep quiet about the failure and the other one thinks he's going to get screwed by keeping quiet. Ironman I can assure you doesn't give a crap about his business, why should he care about damaging Ironman's when they were trying to force him to do something he didn't want to.

I see, so telling the truth is classless?
The classy thing to do is to hide the truth and support higher powers when they are douchebags?

No wonder the world is messed up, with attitudes like yours.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Institutionalized

This is he said/she said. How do we know what he is saying is true? This kind of argument should stay in house. No need to throw anyone under the bus by placing blame on them in such a public manner. The classy thing to do would be to say what I said.

If the Ironman didn't give a crap about his business, they wouldn't have partnered up with him in the first place. They wouldn't have bought out his DCTri race. It's a partnership, they loose if he loose so they do care on some level. Again, we don't know the whole story. It's classless to air dirty laundry publicly like that.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Jack ... we don't know the truth. We only know one side. Do you know the truth? I've only heard one side so far.

The world is messed up because attitudes like yours that take one side of the story as gospel. How do we know that Chuck isn't the one that was the douchebag behind the scene demanding crazy things from WTC?

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I wonder if this will start to have a chilling effect on all new ironman brand events. I know that I would think hard a about getting in a first year event again. Seems like it would be tough to grow a brand when you cancel all your new races.

Probably would have helped the race if they had actually applied for permits to hold the event on the roads of Maryland. As I understand they met with the Maryland Highway Administration last week and were met with skepticism and "shenanigans" from the folks there.

Bob

Not sure where the previous quote came from, but this was from the email .. Which is slightly different. Perhaps the other one was a modification on the original Facebook page.

"Dear Athletes,
The Ironman 70.3 National Harbor Triathlon was cancelled because not enough athletes were registered for the event.

Ironman asked us to stay silent, not post anything on social media and not send out any press releases so that the damage to Ironman’s brand would be minimized. We were fools to agree and that was a big big mistake on our part.

We should have communicated immediately and told you the reason from the start. We were definitely wrong not to do so and apologize. The six figure financial loss from the event was more than we could manage."

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I agree with you. Their response seems very emotional and burns that bridge. Placing blame so publicly is probably not the best option.

I didn't take one side as gospel any more or less than you did, dude.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

If its true, it is the best option. Honesty always is.
If it isn't true, then of course it is not the best option.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

If you didn't take one side as gospel any more or less than me then what is your issue with my attitude? You seem to imply that he was telling the truth, whereas I'm saying that we don't know what the truth is and for him to come out and throw WTC under the bus like that that was classless. They should handle that among themselves without throwing mud in public.

Anyway, to add more fuel to the fire, here is a tweet from WTC.
[Disclosure: I'm not mjpanarella]

Ironman Triathlon ‏ @IronmanTri
@mjpanarella we are as surprised as u and dont have a clear answer either. If you have more questions u can contact WSEM at info@wseminc.com

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I agree. Honesty is best policy. We will probably never know the real details. It's the publicity that seems unnecessary.

Any idea of how many people were actually entered?

Is it therefore fair to say that WTC's attitude towards their customers here is "go fish?". Brodsky has now burned his bridges with both his customers and his partners, I didnt think (and still dont) that WTC would go down the same path.

I'm curious why they didn't start pushing it harder to get more registered athletes if that was the case. How many athletes were registered, 200? 500? 1000? Everyone was complaining about the choice of date(hot/humid) and the Potomac so perhaps that limited the signups.

You would think a few months ago they could work with WTC and get the word out that they need more registered participants or it would have the chance of being canceled. Just seems weird that WTC wouldn't want them to actually try to get more participants to me.

What bothers me about the whole thing (and this was to be my first Ironman event), is that we as athletes take on a lot of personal risk when signing up for the tri. If we are injured and can't compete, tough shit. If our flight is cancelled and we don't make it there in time, tough shit. If the weather doesn't cooperate and they cancel the swim, tough shit.

If WTC doesn't do their job and properly promote the event (and get a certain critical mass of athletes? TOUGH SHIT. I'm just glad that this is not an event I had to buy plane tickets in order to get to. I learned my lesson though. WTC can take their $50 coupon and shove it. I'm already signed up for Rev3 Maine.

I was planning on signing up for this race. I was happy to not have to do it 6 months/9 months/1 year out. I wonder how many people were thinking like me?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

at least 1 that I know of.

I was not going this year; I have IMMT a few weeks later.
I was really interested in 2013. However, this scorched-earth approach makes me think that this event is dead. now and forever. what a shame.

my default setting is to be a conspiracy crank. this fits right in there:
* it was announced with somewhat short notice - January for an August event. I say short because it’s in a competitive location, going against existing events that have longer lead ups.
* it was a partnership with a well respected group; WSEM but that respected group is now acting like a school girl. that seems out of character.
* the passivity of WTC seems to corroborate the WSEM behavior and seems to doom the event going forward. that is astonishing. it’s such an ideal site. center of a region. great logistics. great terrain. a fair bit of excitement. etc

I am baffled.

I would love to see Setup Events organize a Half in the that area in that Late July/Early August timeframe.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

WSEM's COO made changes to his employment status on FB very recently to list the event production company he founded along with his wife as his current employer while a day or two ago it was listed as a past employer. Making some reasonable assumptions this may free him up to share a bit about the goings on at WSEM regarding National Harbor (and more...) with local athletes who are likely to press him.

I'm local to the area. I think that people are discounting the strong backlash by local officials in having races there after the Hot Chocolate fiasco. The community around that neck of the woods weren't all that thrilled about the 70.3 race in the first place. Perhaps the real problem wasn't the lack of registrants, but problems with getting all of the local permits and local support.

Setup Events already has General Smallwood in July just a stone's throw from National Harbor. A much better option is for Setup Events to put a 70.3 into the Smallwood weekend. The General Smallwood area is a beautiful area with good roads to race on. They have a century ride that goes through there every year, so it can suppot it.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Are you insane? A HIM just outside of Washington, DC would have a lot of things going for it. But logistics and terrain are at the bottom of the list for any race from National Harbor.

logistics are great there are about a hundred ways to get around down there and in general a fit population used to seeing events and bikes. The terrain is flatter than flat so that being a plus depends on what you like.

I like it. I'd just like to see a Half up in the DC area when school is out so we take the kids to DC and stay up there for a week.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

In the end, if the low number reason is indeed true, which I believe it is, it is just further confirmation that WTC = We Take the Cash, and it is not about growing the sport, but growing the profits at all cost.

In defense and support of this reason possibly be true, WTC did cancel 5150 Clearwater with short notice because of low numbers.

While money is important, showing that every race needs to be highly profitable is a bad model, whereas, at least in my opinion, the correct model is to promote, build and foster the interest in a race and a well run race will grow, especially from word of mouth, repeat competitors, etc.

Long and short, the current trend appears to be "give us the cash, commit to us, but yeah, in the end, we may decide it is not profitable and cancel last minute"

Granted, the posted reason could be sour-grapes and taken with a grain of salt, but if indeed true, what a screwing of the athletes who ponied up.

I agree completely. The Smallwood Oly course was awesome, just loved those roads. It would be terrific if they could set up some cross between the two and incorporate National Harbor in it, maybe a point to point would work? The roads out towards General Smallwood Park are much less traveled, basically vacant.

And I think Hot Chocolate doomed this race. Even deterred the locals from signing up for it. I am doing IMKY so it was out for this year, but was looking forward to it for next year. the backlash from having the highway lane closed was huge, and honestly, I'm not sure how used to having races that area is. Some other areas, like in Montgomery County or Annapolis, you expect it. I just don't know how many races that area is used to holding. Its sad, b/c the Hot Chocolate volunteers were some of the nicest volunteers I can remember. But the community as a whole seemed to react very negatively to it. I can't imagine they would be so quick to want to hold another race, let alone a much bigger production in terms of roads that were being employed.

Hey DC...it's Bill.
Not sure how many were signed up but thought I'd heard ~1000. who really knows.

After stewing on this email from Active.com I thought of the perspective from Active.com BUSINESS side.

Here they've accepted a bunch of entrants(and recieved their commissions I'm sure). Then they have to stop and refund a bunch of those funds back to the entrants, likely pay back some of their commissions(i'd have asked for a fee just to do the refunds for WTC). Meanwhile their biggest customer WTC is telling them...don't include on your email WHY we really cancelled this event.

We all know it's not Active's fault that it was cancelled but this email was downright strange, to get, and I'm left wondering how far up the food chain this came from within Active.com

VOICEOFIRONMAN...are you out there?

A couple folks have mentioned Set Up Events putting on a half at General Smallwood State Park; well we are. It is the Waterman's Half on October 13. It's followed on the 14th by a Sprint/Oly event. Great courses all around. We also have the Battle of the Potomac sprint triathlon at National Harbor on Sunday, September 30.