I'm racing in Vitoria Spain the same day. Hoping the virus is on the decline by then and nothing gets cancelled. Been holding off on getting my plane tickets. I'm thinking we have maybe 2-3 months to get things turned around before they decide to pull the plug.

A little optimism doesn't hurt anyone! And it's also common sense in these cases, there are five months to go. I'll travel from Argentina to run in Thun. I am registered since the 1st week that the registration opened.


And I'm waiting that there is no news and we can all run. See you in Thun.

Looking at upcoming IM races I guess the watershed race will be the first race of the North American season that’s 5 weeks away in Oceanside. If O’Side gets canned then maybe that will set the tone for the next few months as the season in the northern hemisphere starts to gather momentum. *I guess you could argue that Coronado 5i50 could be the watershed race a few weeks before Oceanside*

Vested interest in O’Side as I’m entered and rather looking forward to it.

Agree. I'm signed up for the MaxiRace in late May in France just across the border from Switzerland and I'd be very surprised, at this point, if the Maxi-Race is cancelled more than a month out.

Thank you for your concern Mark.
I have talked to my neurologists and GPs, they do not mind me racing IM New Zealand. They advised to take the usual precautions from WHO (washing hands, maintaining social distance where possible, etc.)

Just received the following from IM New Zealand:

Kia Ora,

The IRONMAN Group is aware of the evolving situation related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that has resulted in the World Health Organization declaring a public health emergency of international concern. We are monitoring the situation very closely and are continuing to work with the local authorities to follow and implement measures dictated by national and international health agencies and governments.

At this stage the Ministry of Health (MOH) does not propose altering arrangements for public events, and therefore we will be proceeding with Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand 2020 as planned.

We do want to reiterate that the most important thing you can do is practice good hygiene. The MOH recommends the following:

• Covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or coughing/sneezing into your elbow
• Disposing of used tissues appropriately in a bin
• Washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water and drying them thoroughly or using hand sanitiser
  
  • Before eating or handling food
  • After using the toilet
  • After coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose or wiping children's noses
  • After touching public surfaces
• Trying to keep metre away from people who are unwell

For up to date information on Covid-19 refer to the Ministry of Health Website at www.health.govt.nz.

Kind regards,
Wayne Reardon - Race Director

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It doesn't get easier, you just get slower
https://mymsracesironman.home.blog/

Great! I wish you safe travels and a fun IM!

I did another internet search after responding to your initial post and found this 2018 study that discusses the myth of exercise-induced immunity suppression. Interesting reading. I certainly agree that leading an active lifestyle is likely to be beneficial, rather than detrimental, to immune function.

Super news and best of luck on your own race!!!!

  


Hi from Switzerland

Despite of what you may hear in the medias, this is by far not what some make of it.
There is a lot of overreacting going on. To compare:

- In any normal year 4'000 - 5'000 People die in Europe from the regular flu.
- In the hot summer 2003 15'000 died from the heat, in France alone!
- Worldwide 13 millions(!) of people are actually suffering from leprocy. Right now.

The 97% who survive the corona virus will be fine within 7 - 10 days.
I don't expect my spring bike training in Italy around easter to be in danger by now.

The chance of cancelation for IM Switzerland are imho around 1 %
If this is still a talking point by the end of April, we will have a much bigger problem than canceled triathlons.....

Best regards, stay safe anyone. We are looking forward to you racing here:-)

massi

So it's been about 6 weeks from your post and IM Thun is still showing as happening on July 12, but I can't imagine it goes off that day. Can't imagine getting volunteers to help out. And I can't imagine flying with my family and doing the race then.

Received an e-mail this morning that is it officially rescheduled to july 11th 2021..

I think this was the first thread in the tri forum to discuss coronavirus. What a long two months it's been. The race in France I discussed earlier was recently cancelled and I deferred my entry until May 2021, so hopefully both you and I can respond to this thread on the first anniversary of your initial post with optimism about traveling to Europe in the coming months for our chosen races!

I was able to modify my hotel reservation with no additional costs. I hope you didn't lose too much $ with the postponement to next year.

This was the first thread ever to discuss the coronavirus. And some responded by saying that I was hyping it too much and blah blah blah...

So I stopped posting on the thread.

Its been two months since I made that post and the worlds has changed. I wonder what all those naysayers think now. (You know who you are.)

Anyway, I did get the notice from IM and I will do IM Switzerland in 2021. I intend to move my hotel reservations to a year from now. We will call
Air France today to move our flights too.

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are you still convinced? I guess wherever you live, by now you are in lockdown

1% and bla bla bla...

where are you?

"... if this is still a talking point by the end of April, we will have a much bigger problem than canceled triathlons...."

Well he was absolutely right on that. We're witnessing the wrecking of the global economy. I'm not concerned about the odd cancelled Tri.
I'm concerned about how I'll be paying my mortgage in 6 months time.

With the way things are going down here in Oz it looks like we will be racing again this year. Triathlon Australia today pinned October 1st as the possible start date for our 2020/21 season.They will review the current removal of sanctioning of events in June.

Just signed up for Thun 2021, and came across this thread. Wow. Remarkable how far off most predictions were. In case anyone wants a second chance, any guesses about the likelihood that 2021 IM Thun will happen?

I dont think i was part of the people who underestimate this situation

and here I ll tell you again the same prediction: it will happen if a vaccine will be available by then OR if a reusable daily personal testing device which provide a result in 2 minutes will be available

I was one of the respond to the initial post because I had registered for the MaXi-Race France trail ultra in Annecy at the end of May. It was cancelled after initially being postponed to July and I deferred my entry to next year, also to be held at the end of May.

My guess at this point is that MaXi-Race France (and IM Switzerland) will happen in 2021 but my wife and I remain skeptical that we will be willing to assume the risk of catching Covid-19 on the transatlantic flights and/or be willing/able to quarantine as may be required.

Yes, lots of not-so-accurate predictions in this thread. You know who you are. ;)

That sounds about right to me. I'd guess better than a 50% chance, but not much better.

MaXi-Race France, which just opened for registration for next year with a reduced cap of 5000 entries, has already named an alternative date (10/30 - 10/31) in case their scheduled date at the end of May needs to be postponed. I'm more confident that we'll be willing to fly to France in late October.

Hi,

I also registered for IM Thun 2021 (and live in Switzerland). Although the date is quite far away, I am rather optimistic.

We had a "semi-lockdown" in the whole country last fall, but in June/July 2020 the life was almost "normal" again with low numbers of Covid19 infections. I was even able to race a Sprint triathlon in September 2020. The initial date was end of June, but it was postponed to early September 2020. Reduced amount of participants: 300 persons instead of 500. Most competitions are/were cancelled this year, like everywhere else.

So even though the winter is going to be "bad" from a medical point of view (we have a lot of Covid cases at the moment and surprisingly the situation is worse than last spring), I think that the organizers will have the time to learn from other experiences (like IM Florida last week). Besides, the timing of early July is probably one of the best time windows (hot temperatures and dry weather, meaning probably low Covid cases at this period).

From a political point of view, currently the economy is pressuring a lot in order to refrain the Swiss authorities to proceed with a semi-lockdown like the one we had last fall. The medical decisions are being taken by the local (cantonal) authorities (last spring decisions were taken by the federal governement). The canton of Bern (where Thun is located) is not one of the most concerned by the Covid infections, amongst others due to its rural character (only rather small cities, the biggest being Bern, 4th biggest city of Switzerland, population of roughly 150'000). As far as I know, the cantonal authorities of Bern are not taking the most restrictive medical measures, compared to other cantons where the Covid 19 has spread much more within the population.

well the race is not running for the inhabitants of Thun and surroundings. there will be 2000 participants coming from all over the places. it doesnt matter where the race is organized (geographically). it matters what is the worldwide covid situation because you cant run Thun ironman with 500 people

The more rural areas in Switzerland that aren’t most concerned about COVID should pay attention to the more rural areas in the USA that had a similar mentality and weren’t more concerned about COVID. Parts of the USA that were mostly unscathed by COVID-19 during our spring and summer peaks in higher populated areas are currently getting their asses kicked by it. So you can tell the hicks in Switzerland that it’s eventually coming for them too.

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