In May, I had an extended conversation with an IM employee that was knowledgeable of the negotiations with the entities involved with approving a new race in a community.
Bend was my first guess, but it was a definite no. The Tacoma area sounded the most plausible. There was supposed to be an announcement this summer about a new 2019 race in the PNW. Since that didn’t happen, there is a chance that negotiations fell apart.

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Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

The rumor I heard was they were having negotiations to host in Maple Valley, WA. However, I would love to see the race come to Bend! There are a lot of Pros that live & train there, I could see them having some interest in that area as well.

I thought it's decline was because it was 'too hard' a course for the finishers and because it kept getting super hot days?

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Bend or Sunriver would be fantastic

3 races doesn't make for a stat. Scour below stats from obssessed triathlete to see that 70.3 overall in the Americas (I wish there was a separation for South vs. North, but we know the North dominates #GoT) is still growing rapidly. Of course, you do also clearly see the continued drop in IMs in the same region which I think does support the arguments here that another IM is not very likely. fwiw, Santa Rosa isn't a far or difficult flight from PNW, in my short time living in Portland, the discussions I hear around the options doesn't seem to me to indicate there is a huge desire for another IM round these parts, but that is a very limited anecdote.

https://www.obstri.com/?stats=1

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Nice, thanks for the info! Fingers crossed for another good PNW option!

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Not a bad idea Gilliga, but probably will never happen. It's all about maximizing revenue. I could see maybe applying this to a handful of the most prestigious or popular IM's. The ones that always sell out...

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

You think there aren't 1K people who believed they were gunning for a Kona slot? We've definitely talked about how so many/too many people in the top 20% (hell, 40 or 50%) of their AG think their next race could be *the* race where magically 25 or 50 people who typically finish ahead of them in AG have rotten days while said competitor improves their own finish time by 5% with a flawless race to capture that elusive KQ. #notpink

IMO IM moved CDA to August to deliver its death blow and justify phasing it out in favor of a 70.3. Basically, reversing your assertion with "the decline was the reason for the move to late August." Chicken or egg question.

Removing a June full from North America certainly left a gap in the race calendar, specifically for people eyeing summer races due to school schedules or for people who want to balance both a spring and fall IM.

RIP IM 70.3 Lake Stevens. I think I'm one of the few who liked that race. It was a neat venue.

Who are the Patriots and who is Bill Belichick?