It’s more than warm enough in the Cairns region during winter. Even the rest of Australia is far more pleasant to explore in winter than in summer imo. I’m just north of Sydney and mid winter means max temperatures of 17c or so and heaps of sunshine, pretty warm for anyone coming from the northern hemisphere. The weather is just awful if you visit the southern states, rainy and cool in the Melbourne region.

I think if Victoria hadn't of kicked off again both Port and SC would have gone ahead and Cairns too. But that's really messed things up. I think Busselton 70.3 will go ahead in October, although it's an Ironman branded race, it's run by Triathlon WA, so they have the final say not Ironman. IMWA and the 70.3 run in December might be more of an issue.

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Cheers to the Westralians…(Todays Tri WA announcement)
http://www.triwa.com.au/...on-17th-october-2020

But do you consider 2 months plenty of time as I’ve had July and Sept races yanked when the pandemic started (and I appreciated this early notice so I could then cancel or change any travel arrangements). This isn’t something that just popped up in the last couple of weeks ...

I’m actually surprised they’ve still got the other Sept and Oct races on the calendar.

Edited to add that WA has probably been the most strict out of all of the states in keeping the borders closed. Is Busso going to be a race btwn West Australians only?

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Tri WA announcement less than an hour ago...
http://www.triwa.com.au/...on-17th-october-2020

Wow they’re encouraging ppl to register too so they don’t miss an entry!!!! Hurry on everyone!! 🤪

I think so, yes.

2 months is a lot more notice than some other events have given. A couple of months ago when we were having a surge of cases I thought all Australian events should be cancelled for the year. Just a couple of weeks ago it looked like we had it under control here and I was glad they didn't cancel.

Now I think it is time for Ironman Oceania to get real about what the next couple of months could look like and whether running a large triathlon is realistic.

With two events in NSW and two in Qld just two weeks apart I think it was always in their plan to drop one race on each weekend and just run one Qld and one NSW event. I believe that will play out this week with Cairns cancelled. I hope I'm wrong.

This is the where I think it becomes a problem, continuing to accept and encourage registrations when you are planning to cancel an event. I don't know what was happening with IM Aus registrations prior to the announcement it is cancelled but registration payments should have been suspended as soon as they had an idea it wouldn't go ahead.

Melbourne back into a stay at home order

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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

I totally agree that if it's a lost cause and no hope of racing, they should give as much notice as possible when cancelling. But COVID 19 is almost eradicated in Australia, apart from Victoria. I think there is a very good chance the remaining races this year in Aus will go ahead. As mentioned above, due to travel restrictions, the races would have small fields, so they could be trying to consolidate that into less races.

Apparently Ironman Cairns is a go......

"*IRONMAN Cairns and IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns Event Update**
With less than two months to go until the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns and IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns, we wanted to give you an update on the status of the event.
We have been working closely with all local stakeholders, health, and government officials to determine if we are able to proceed with the event in September as planned.
We are pleased to advise today that we are full steam ahead with the planning and delivery of IRONMAN Cairns and IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns on 27 September 2020.
Current Queensland Government restrictions mean that with an approved COVID Safe Event Plan, events between 500 - 10,000 can take place. More information about our IRONMAN Cairns COVID Safe Event plan and how it relates to your experience will be shared over the coming weeks, but for now, you can read more about IRONMAN’s Return to Racing guidelines here: https://www.ironman.com/return-guidelines
We know right now that change is constant. We also understand that some of you may feel nervous about travelling, or currently be prevented from travelling to Queensland due to border restrictions. With this in mind, the following policies will apply to IRONMAN Cairns and IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns 2020.
👉 What if I am unable to get to the 2020 event due to border restrictions? If this remains the case less than 30 days out from the event, affected Athletes will be offered a Free Deferral to the 2021 event or an Event Credit to the value of your entry (including additional purchases).
👉 What if the event does not take place on 27 September 2020, for reasons relating to the Covid-19 Pandemic?
If this happens all registered athletes will have their race registration moved to the 2021 event date. We will provide as much notice as we can, and if this doesn’t work for you we will provide other options such as an Event Credit, which can be used on any of the IRONMAN Group’s portfolio of events in Australia.
If you have any questions or concerns please email our team at cairns@ironman.com
Our team can’t wait to welcome you to the stunning Tropical North Queensland soon! " ..
...
Unless of course it isn't.... :-)

Well I was wrong. I was sure they would cancel this week.

The Cairns Marathon, which was due to be run the week before the IM Cairns deferred date, has just been cancelled. I wonder how much of the decision was due to COVID restrictions vs low entrant numbers due to the combination of COVID and IM moving dates to within one week of the race.

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It isn't going to take much for everything to change again with the state borders opening up today. If Queensland gets a quarter of the new cases that Victoria has then it will be all over. I am still going to do my ride through Qld that will have me in Cairns during Ironman weekend but I'm not going to enter because of the uncertainty.What I would have spent of the race entry will pretty much pay for my three/four week ride.

June is winter in Aus .. No idea what old mate is on about

http://www.bom.gov.au/...bles/cw_031011.shtml
http://www.bom.gov.au/...recasts/cairns.shtml
You were saying?

Cheers from Australia by the way.

Queensland remain close to Victorians and WA doesn't allow any travel
Should be OK, although one has to watch NSW....there have 3-4 community cases over the last few days. Hope its nothing

Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney has just been cancelled due to govt restrictions on mass gatherings. This was a pretty obvious outcome for anyone following the situation in Australia. There has been a low but steady level of community transmission in NSW.

The situation in QLD is a bit different and at this point in time gathering size is not an issue. What may become an issue is turnout if athletes can't make it from VIC and NSW. I presume there is some minimum athlete number to make the event viable.

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There is also some pushback from some Cairns and Port Douglas local businesses .The race is falling during the school holidays and some folks are pissed off that Ironman will get in the way of the usual school holiday trade.The mayor of Port Douglas is being very vocal about the "inconsiderate" timing of the event. and he has the support of a lot of locals.

I saw that in the local paper. I think the conflict between Douglas Shire Council (local government in Port Douglas and beyond) and IM Cairns has been going on for a number of years. They don't get as much of the direct benefit from the event that other areas such as Palm Cove and Cairns CBD get.

I can’t imagine QLD allowing folks from Victoria to come in till late Aug at the earliest. Anyone residing in Sydney is now prohibited too. WA folks are allowed to travel as far as I know. That leaves maybe 50% of the population or less? They have not make a final decision by early Aug I am guessing?

The WA border has been closed for months. WA Premier has long said it won't re-open until community spread is eliminated in other states.