Eagleman is certainly (timing wise) a good warm up for IMLP, but I'd argue that the terrain is so different it's like comparing apples to oranges. I say this as someone who just did Eagleman and is racing IMLP for the first time this year. I don't want my confidence from Eagleman to cloud the added challenge of the hills in LP throughout the bike and run, because Eagleman was Flat. Flat. Flat.

I would argue that Eagleman provides a surprisingly similar experience to IMLP - because you basically don't get to stop pedaling for so much of the course. There's very little rest/recovery outside of the Keene descent, which you do more pedaling on than you might think. People talk about the hills, but what they really mean is "I never get a break."

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one of the reasons you see late season races in these locations is due to the summer rental business. Atlantic City and maine are prime summer vacation spots for families and the renters certainly wont be happy to have their weekend day given up to a race. especially since there's enough demand in the area to rent already. also, local residents see Saturday as a traffic day for home rental turnover day, so throw a sunday race in and they will shoot it down. the concern about the timing in the northeast is hurricane season.

White Mountains has really grown. Total participation was over 400 this year, and they are paving the part that some people did not like because it was very rough. It is a great venue and spot for a family vacation. Super clean swim. Only negative to make it a really big race would probably be that it is a really challenging course, not one for any PRs.

Well, I certainly like your argument better than mine! I just hope you're right, for my own sake! ...because I thought Eagleman felt easy! (relatively speaking)

The Musselman half in Geneva is a fantastic race and would be a great ‘replacement’ for Syracuse.

The Musselman 70.3 is a couple weeks before Syracuse 70.3. I always thought those two races were a bit much for upstate NY and way too close together from a scheduling standpoint.

I raced both and really like both. Syracuse was great, right close to my parent’s house. Musselman has more character, more of a tri festival weekend and great local support. And love the music along the run course.

So, at the end of the day, prob a good decision by WTC, but nothing really lost because the Musselman can be the pre-LP race for the region.

That's one of the reasons why I raced Cuse this year, because it fell on Father's Day. I told my wife and kids, "Daddy's doing a half-Ironman for Father's day!" We packed up the truck and off we went as a family to Syracuse. I spent more time with them Friday, Sat and Race Day then I normally would.

I'm glad I did Syracuse this year because I still regret never doing Timberman, and even the short-lived Nova Scotia 70.3!!

And granted it was pretty damn hot; but that's never thwarted Eagleman. I guess hills and heat are too much of challenge combine? It was a beautiful, scenic, fun race. Shame.

I came up from Houston in 2012 to do this race as my first ever 70.3 and loved every second of it, the hills kicked my flat-lander butt, but man it was fun. I have lots of extended family in western and central NY, so it was fun seeing them all over the course, especially on the giant absolutely brutal 2-part hill on the run. Definitely sad to see this one go, I was considering doing it again in 2019.

Here's a suggestion. Want a pre IMLP tune up? Race the American Zofingen duathlon. What it lacks in shiny IM glitz and kona seeking podium chasers it makes up for with solid elevation gain at half the price of any branded 70.3 race. The middle distance race has more gain than the full at LP.

Quassy is also a solid race if you simply must swim for your tune up.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I couldn't agree more with Musselman as an alternative. I'm not a fan of WTC and I always saw the creation of Syracuse 70.3 as an attempt to pull people away from a great independent race nearby during the same time of year. For a few years it seemed like WTC's business model was to buy great local independent races when they could or start competitive races nearby when they couldn't. I'm happy they failed here. I've done the double (Sprint - Saturday, 70.3 - Sunday) every year for the last 5 years. For me, the DoubleMussel is one of two must do races every year.

On a side note, I wish I had raced Syracuse 70.3 the year the finisher's medal featured a nice replica of the Rochester city skyline.

Musselman is this coming weekend, making it a week before IMLP. Doesn’t quite fit the timing for a warm up race. To the best of my memory it has always been a mid July race.

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The Musselman 70.3 is a couple weeks before Syracuse 70.3.
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Musselman is traditionally ~4 weeks AFTER Syracuse.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Do AmZof, then Tupper Lake, then IMLP.
There’s your ideal lead-up to LP.

AmZof as part of your build, and to get your hills on.
Tupper is a nice final big race-specific session 4 weeks out from LP.
You can even do one more big weekend around/before July 4th, then it’s taper time.

I don’t think you can draw it up much better than that.

No need at all for an overpriced, overhyped M.Dot event -
You’ll get your fill of that and then some at LP.

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float , hammer , and jog

I stopped reading after this. LMAO! winner winner

X2 what Murphy's Law says. The prescribed lead up race schedule he noted can be done very affordably, and the races are outstanding (+ in really cool areas to visit). Plus, if you do the AmZof long course, IMLP won't seem that difficult.