Haven't heard anything on the wrecks.
I think people forget that once upon a time, you had 1200+ entries at this event, without an issue. I do think, very generally speaking, that people are more likely to underestimate the difficulty and technical nature of the course at an Ironman branded event versus a non-branded one. You're also more likely to get a crowd with less experience, which will exacerbate the bike handling and positioning noted here. The road conditions have always been a little rough -- particularly the stretch from Camp Dutton Road on 63 until the right turn to head toward Morris.
Here's the problem -- I don't think a field size limit smaller than 2000 is going to happen. Not without some cartoonishly high entry fees to make up the revenue -- police costs will still be the same, and the fee that is charged by Quassy to host the race isn't going to change. There's a reason Syracuse doesn't exist anymore -- that's not enough athletes to run the event at a reasonable margin.
At some point we also need to hold athlete's responsible for showing up completely unprepared and underskilled.
Aside: where in Vermont? I'm just over the NH border from Brattleboro.
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