Check out the accommodations link on the Waco 70.3 ironman page. Lots of rooms still available within walking distance of transition.

I raced Waco the first year and had a blast. Called to reserve rooms for last year and the majority of the hotels had entered into some booking service for the event that required a three night stay or no room. That was enough of a turn off for me to stay away. There might be plenty of rooms available but the terms might not be agreeable to some if not most traveling to the area. Maybe they've changed that policy but i doubt it.

Should have already had a room booked when you signed up. Gonna be an issue for the IM folks to find a room though

Agree that it's seen as prioritizing the IM and the 70.3 feels a bit shafted. Gonna be hot as hell, but not the end of the world. Very frustrating for anyone who was trying to fly home Sunday afternoon/evening though.

Still haven't seen an email from WTC, only saw the update on FB. In general, this company comes as scum to me, but they have to be hurting with months of events needing to be rescheduled/cancelled. They're doing their best to make all these races happen and we all need to be a bit flexible with the pandemic and all. 2020 is just not an ideal year in any scenario

I am not thrilled about it myself, I was on the fence about Waco or Galveston before I signed up and wanted more time to train. Well now that Galveston was moved to Nov I could have made that one work and would have preferred that one but I wanted more time. First world problem though.

If the swim is wetsuit legal I hope they get people in the water quick. A bunch of high strung people standing around in the heat and sun for a while in neoprene could have some people DNS if they stand around too long. The poor volunteers too, two days in a row possibly isn't going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Will be extra aware to thank them more than I normally do.

IM is trying to make lemonade out of lemons, but I do agree that the 70.3 racers are playing second fiddle to the full racers now. The big wild card for us all will be the weather and who knows until race day if an early or noon start would be better. I am hoping that a later start means I run as it gets cooler instead of as the heat ramps up. Time will tell.

When I saw the IM was being moved I jumped on getting an Airbnb, we hadn't booked a hotel yet thinking that we had time. Very glad we got that booked before a lot of the IM peeps now. I do feel bad for the 70.3 peeps in hotels that will now have late IM finishers going up and down the halls of the hotels. Or should I feel worse for those full finishers based on getting back to the hotel that late?

galveston is in nov now? thats really interesting as oilman is in the same month. i was planning on oilman for this year waaaay before the world was turned upside down.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Is there a chance this event even happens this year?

This is what I saw on the IM website:

We are pleased to share with you the new 2020 race date for Memorial Hermann IRONMAN 70.3 Texas triathlon which is now scheduled to take place on November 22, 2020.

Right before Thanksgiving now. Thank goodness right before and not right after.

I’m kind of like “meh” about it.

There are so many logistical things I’m trying to wrap my head around.

1. Packet pick up.
2. “Mandatory” athlete info meeting
3. Bike check in.

All while an Ironman is going on.

If I could just show up the morning of around 9 and do all 3 of those things on Sunday and stay in Austin rather than Waco the night before that’d be nice.

Hot as hell??

It's the end of October definitely not hot as hell.

20+ degrees warmer than a 7/8am start time

Packet pick up - everything gets mailed.
“Mandatory” athlete info meeting - should have been an email years ago. Have the RD record a video and email a link.
Bike check in - well, that's a challenge, but that applies to the transition as a whole.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Average temps are 75.

Oilman have put some posts out in the last few days - obviously with their date in November they are in a better shape than a lot of races with not having to make any absolute decisions yet.
I say signup for Oilman now - I signed up as soon as they opened - this is a race that needs to come back this year after having to cancel last year because of the resort construction. A great locally run race.
Plus if you have a strong race you can sign up for Galveston and put that fitness to good use.

where do they post?

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

It's Texas, could be in the 50's or high 80's in the middle of October. The first year of Waco, it was in the 60's four days before the event, shot up to mid 80's on Saturday and seemed hotter on Sunday. Swim was cancelled, bib start and it was plenty warm when I rolled off. I missed the last year, but they had the swim.

Last year the weather was great. I’m hoping to do it this year, work schedule pending. I don’t give a shit about the start time to be honest

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

amen to that, or better yet write it out in the email rather than a video. the whole concept is so outdated its crazy and just really time inefficient for everyone (at a time pre-race when RD and athletes have better things to be doing) as well as a poor means of communication - you can usually only catch every other word!

I’ve had emails and seen Facebook posts but that might be because I’m signed up for the race.

I hope this is the reason for the noon start time. Would be brilliant.

I'm super pissed about the late start. I'm already signed up and may have to eat my registration because of the change in time. I am coming from out of state and me and my travel partner will have to back at work Monday, making it impossible to do the race at if it's starting at 12. It'd be nice if they would give us a refund since this was not the schedule when I initially signed up, but I know that's not happening. This whole IM weekend thing they're trying to pull off just seems like a shit idea. I did this 70.3 last year and was excited about racing it again, despite the sketchy roads. Just another punch in a gut that's been punched a lot this triathlon season.

Just wait for the deferral option. You’re getting worked up about a race that likely won’t happen. I don’t say that to be a dick but it’s by far the most likely scenario.

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Local races for 2020... sorry Ironman!

I'm no expert, but my guess is legally they would have to give you a refund if requested. As per the waiver you are not allowed are refund if the race is cancelled due to an 'act of god' etc. The 70.3 race is not being cancelled/moved because of this reason, they just decided it would work better being moved to latter in the day, so surely they could not deny the request. Anyone able to shed more light on what IM can legally do in this case?

II would prefer a later start for all 70.3's. Did IM 70.3 Luxembourg a while back and it started at 2pm if I remember correctly. It was great, had a sleep in and because I had my time was able to stay a bit further away in the city where there was way more accommodation options and cheaper options. Though I would want to know what time the races is starting at before I sign up and make my arrangements.