I believe you. I'm a middle of pack guy and at the 2016 70.3 palm springs event they were barely getting the turn around setup with aid on the bike course.

I did the same event for 2014 and 2015 you could tell they probably had more money to drop. The field was fuller, great aid stations and support - made it more fun.

The new branding - Alpha? The heck, hasn't our generation witnessed enough of the winner takes all - win at all costs mantra?

https://www.outsideonline.com/2417211/win-at-all-costs-nike-book-review


I think its a fair statement I've frequented Renegade Racing events and adored them. It will be interesting to see what this will all boil down to with added events.

Really sad to see your world is lovers or haters....black or white. Trashing races or praising them.

I did my fair share of IM (TM) races (30 years in the sport), and gotten indifferent to the experience.
But I don't trash their races.
As boring (lack of spirit, soul) as they are, they certainly offer a certain 'quality' for a certain clientele.

The HITS race I did was what I expected, maybe a little less.
And even if I'd have had a poor experience, I wouldn't feel the need keep 'trashing' them on a public forum.

Obviously your criteria for 'quality' when it comes to conduct and experience are very different from mine.
.

I did 2 of their full distance races the other year, I think a few people have said commented correctly...if you are you to do the distance, like the mental idea of a "race" and don't plan on getting a tattoo later, its exactly as expected. It was half the price of the big name, but I had a good experience both times.

I try to rely on other people during events as little as possible but can see if that's not your mentality then the races could be problematic. Could there of been more AID stations? Probably. Did I need more Aid stations? No. I led the bike and had a motorcycle lead me around, seemed safe enough to me. Could it over been better? sure. Did I feel unsafe? No, but I also enjoy drafting box trucks and racing crits.

Think its all comes down to the expectation for the event. I think a lot of the fact with the big name races is the perceived bragging rights you get when you wear the hat or show off your calf, and people "know" the name. I've done a lot of self imposed endurance activities, small events, ETC to challenge myself without caring to much about what other people think, I think that's where these fit in well. Enough structure and support, to get you into a "race" mindset, but not over the top that you leave looking like a walking billboard.

just like IM texas? - 110 bike
Monterrey 70.3 - 54 mi bike
super seal 70.3 - 20km run

the race I did, thankfully the course was accurate. Yes I did see courses run short in other races.



do you only do 70.3+ events? cause i know grass roots events that were much worse, USAT sanctioned where you rode on fully open to traffic roads, had to obey traffic signals for the run and bike (was in florida). Is it a race if you are waiting 2 minutes at a red light?

Hi...I work as a consultant with Alpha, formerly HITS Endurance. I have been at the races off and on for the past 10 years so I have a good understanding of what has been done well and where there needs to be improvement. I have also been at IM races so I have a prospective of the differences in the experience. I welcome comments on our races, both positive and negative since we learn from both sides. I believe the mistake in the past has been not to respond to comments or to encourage dialogue between the athletes.
Are the Alpha races different? Yes they are, these differences may appeal to many of you, yet not appeal to others. Do we have 100 guys going sub 10 hours in a full, no we haven't had that level of competition to date, it is not that we don't want elite athletes it is just who has been drawn to a more personal experience. Our first race was in Palm Springs about 10 years ago. We were new and we made a lot of mistakes in this race, who knew that a dog was going to chase the bikers? I do know that some people left that race with special memories. I drove a car along the run route, it is dark early in December and most people ran in the dark, I would jump out of the car and run along many athletes for 1/4 mile and back to see how they were doing, cheer them up and make sure that their provided headlights were working, if they needed anything etc. The last person that I came across was in bad shape, he just hadn't trained enough and he wanted to quit, he didn't say a word to me for more than a mile so I just kept run/walking next to him, well that mile turned into him calling his wife at at the 1/2 way for the run and then I just kept with him...4 hours/15 miles later his wife joins us for the last mile, the last 100 yards he runs with the police sirens on behind him and he finishes with about a second to spare...almost all of you would be demoralized with a 16:59:59 finish...he will never forget it. Neither will the young girl who I swam with in the open because she was afraid of the open water in Napa one year. These may not be your type of stories, but it makes people love the sport.
We are looking to get better, we have made new additions to the team. We are looking at where to improve, we know that we can improve technical things, aid stations, port a johns, timing results etc. What we will continue to do is to be friendly, offer a most likely smaller race field, to be available for you, you will probably leave knowing our names and we will know many of you. If you have a specific issue, then you can email me at Chris@alpha.win or even call me at 516-523-3418 or you can make a public comment, good or bad so I can respond. Most of the Alpha team are runners or cyclists ourselves and we actually like to put these races on. We have purchased some races and we hope to continue what was good about these races and to improve upon them where we can. In the past we have not always sought the advice or endeared ourselves to the local communities where each race is taking place because we aren't local to all of the races that we put on, however I am trying to change that. This is a difficult past year for athletes and for race production companies. We hope that you give us a chance and we encourage suggestions before races and to give feedback afterwards....Chris

great response! hope dan or herbert can make this an article on main page so people know there are alternatives to ironman that care for the athletes.

Has anyone done an Alpha Win race this year?

I am considering the Hudson Valley 140.6 but I am concerned the organization will be spotty. It is hard to spend $545 or more. I did the 2018 Hudson Valley HITS 140.6 there were a few issues but it was only $400.

I did the Alpha (pka HITS) Hudson Valley last weekend, 70.3 (68.0 actual). Overall it was a good experience for the money. Background: I've done one official 70.3 (Montauk), 3 solo 70.3s (no support), one organized Oly, 10 sprints. No IM brand experience, hard to sign up.

*Transition area set up pretty well
*Swim setup and lifeguard coverage was good

*Bike was short by 2 miles, but a solid route: hugged a large reservoir to limit car crossings. Pretty good police coverage at road crossings. Volunteers and signs at turns. 2 food/water stations (one at intersection, so counts as 3). 2 sharp downhills could have used better warning signage. ~2 miles of road closed to cars, rest was open.
(Olympic / Sprint courses branched off after 3 miles, so hard to speak to them. No food / drink I believe)

*Run was short at 13.02, flat rail trail in the shade, 2 laps x 6.5 for 70.3 (4 loops for 140.6, fewer & shorter for Oly Sprint). 2 water / gel stops (I passed the tables 7 times during 13 mile run; 140's would pass ~13 times; Oly's probably passed 3-4)

*Food after was plain: wrapped bagel, pb, orange, water bottle

*Cheap, and can sign up last minute. I think it was $350. They opened up registrations through the pre-race evening.

*N=61 did 70.3; Approx 20 for 140.6; age groups were too small, following IM structure

cheap? 70.3 used to be $200 ($250-300 last minute) . But I do love the last minute options, including that you can drop down in distance

I am with the Adirondack Multi-Sport Group who started the LG Tri Series. We are hopeful that Alpha will do a good job, it is a great event at a great venue and we want to see it succeed, selfishly because it is our favorite event and in our back yard.

That said, we have tried to communicate with the leadership of ALPHA and they have not been terribly responsive, they did pull the 140.6 distance that the local clubs suggested they should (logistics) but went radio silent after that. Our club was hoping to build a relationship with them so assure our membership would support and volunteer but they have not responded. I think they we struggle to get volunteer support with no ties to the community. Every year it was hard work to staff the volunteers even with local relationships and running a tri without adequate volunteer staffing is really hard

I’m looking at signing up for Texas 70.3 next April. It’s $299 right now, so $350 definitely isn’t cheap and I may not love Ironman, but at least you know what you’re going to get. I mean technically I know what I would get with HITS and it’s not worth $350. Why non-premium triathlons think they can charge premium pricing, and then wonder why they don’t get anyone at their races is beyond my understanding.

I know what I would get with HITS and it’s not worth $350. Why non-premium triathlons think they can charge premium pricing, and then wonder why they don’t get anyone at their races is beyond my understanding. //

But you are getting something extra from them, the ability to enter to the very last minute. And the cost is not why they dont get big fields, they had super cheap pricing for many, many years, and that didnt do much to boost the numbers that you see at Ironman events. So for them charging premium pricing, it makes sense for those that like to wait to the end, then will pay whatever the last rate pre race is..


I know that is a very important thing for me when choosing races these days, no way I enter a race a year ahead of time anymore, I dont even like to enter a month before if I can help it...

I completely understand that and do hate that it’s like this now, which i feel is tied to the downfall of local races. However, on the other side of the coin is it worth signing up for a race that has only 80 people? You’re in California and I’m in Colorado. I’m pretty sure we get 80 people together for a impromptu race without too much trouble.

At least from my perspective, I’d rather sign up early knowing that there will be a solid group to race against with the chance I can’t race and lose the registration fee, than sign up the week before with no one to race against.

I’m pretty sure it’s been mentioned multiple times but they didn’t do one thing really good under HITS. They tried to have every race distance, format etc and it’s too much to handle and they put out a poor experience in part to that. From what it sounds like that hasn’t improved. You’re also fighting the 10000 pound gorilla at this point, grass roots races for long course are practically dead, the Ironman brand has too much weight. If they want to get a foothold they have to pick a distance and knock it out of the park.

not only alphawin with its premium pricing, other local races here in SoCal charging very high. And I see the dismal turnouts. What used to be 500-1000 people now down to 50.

Just saw an ad for Alcatraz aquathlon - 750m swim, 5k run = $350

Just saw an ad for Alcatraz aquathlon - 750m swim, 5k run = $350 //

Ya, but that is Bay Area dollars, works out to about $75 bucks for the rest of us. I was just talking to my buddy who lives in Mill Valley, he said he just saw that his house went up about $600k just this past year, so he probably has no issue with that entry fee...(-;

We’re trying to take them on in Colorado. We’re up like 300k and that is not from, I’m sure, as high of a base. That’s like a 40% increase in the last year it’s just stupid.

Reply to last.

How fast can you find the dubious result?

https://3qr2iq1v1p2j3y5xdk3uxk8p-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/...07/JLHalfOverall.pdf

what in particular? looks like the swim was short. the bike there is 54 mi on fast double loop highway. the run, is hard (mountain trail working at 7000' to 9000' elevation)

The 1:13 run is what looks like the outlier is.

Guess they got tired of first hill and just cut to finish. There are cheaters at any race

Resurrecting this old thread to provide some updated info (in case people do research on this race)

I got sick with one of these bugs running around right before Eagleman and couldn't race.
Being able to wait until 3 days before the race to sign up (AW Hudson valley) was great since I didn't know if I'll be healthy enough and really was in peak fitness.
Also not having to check in the bike the day before is super convenient. I just drove up in the morning and had plenty of time.

This is by no means premium level of Ironman race, but definitely not as horrible as people make it out to be (I don't know about other races they put up).
The bad: Getting into/out of transition is on sharp gravel really sucks, and I would like more aid stations on the bike. But for half distance (and certainly for oly) you can easily get by.
I would never do a full distance with this level of support.
The good: its so nice to be in a small race, lots of room in transition, not having idiots drafting/blocking constantly. Road surface is very good, views are great and there's some climbing to make it a bit challenging.
Run is on trail that is 95% shaded, also a little climb.

So is it worth the money? for me, this year, it was. If you want a "local" race with fewer people, its a great choice. If you want the m-dot experience, you will not get it there.

Hope this helps