Makes me sad, I've done the majority of the Steelhead races including the first 2 that had September dates. Tom Zeibart did such a great job with that race back in the day.

I think moving it to June was a poor decision. I know they had to make room for TC/Michigan 70.3, but the weather is Michigan is too moody in June. It's why I stopped doing the race. Early July would have been a better time frame, but I'm sure there were logistical constraints.

I believe this race was originally called the Fire Cracker triathlon. It was 4th of July weekend.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

It was always called Steelhead. Firecracker was a different race, a sprint that was held for a couple of years at the same location. They both originated from the organization that did Mrs. T's in Chicago. Capri Events. This is making me nostalgic.

I did Steelhead in 2016. Was that the only year the swim wasn't wetsuit legal?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I think so. I'm pretty sure shortly before that I predicted on this forum that it would never be a non-wetsuit swim.

This is 100% a case of local money telling city officials that the race needs to be done.

I am from the city that hosts it but moved away a few years ago. I talked to some folks that know everything about this race and asked why transition was moved this year, they had no idea. I asked the race director and he said that they got some feedback about closing roads down and the locals didn’t want it to be closed. If youve done the race in the past and did it this year you know exactly what street and which 10-15 houses it was that complained. This year felt like the last year of the race anyways with transition being different. The bike course constantly changing the last few years. It just felt like it was over.

I am a bit said as without it I’d likely not be as into the sport as I am. Jean klock was a great place to host a race. Despite people complaining about the swim being canceled it was always a good time. But also as someone born and raised there there’s a side of me that’s happy to see it leaving. It was growing to lose some of its charm and the triathlon culture in general always seemed a brash difference to the way of life of the area. Seeing all the money from out of town come in and obnoxiously demand to be the center of attention was sometimes difficult to stomach.

Enjoy

https://web.archive.org/....firecrackertri.com/

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I did the race in 2018 and it wasn't wetsuit legal.

Can you expand on this? I'm assuming you're talking about Grand Bvld.

My team does a lot of economic impact studies, and I've noticed an increase in tension between the community and event organizers. Doesn't matter the event (carnival, festival, parade, race, etc.). It seems like communities are focused more on the cost of inconvenience (a tangible cost) vs the economic benefit (intangible benefit). Thus, I get requests from organizers to help explain the intangible benefit to community organizers. Traverse City 70.3 is a good example of this.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

I agree - when this race was in August, I was doing it most years. When it moved to June, it clashed with other races I always do (like IM Mont-Tremblant 70.3). Have not been back since.

Too bad, I really liked that course; Had my best race there too.

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T. Guertin / Spocket

I wonder if IM will move one of the other Midwestern 70.3s to late June. Madison, Michigan, and Muncie are all within three weeks of each other in September. IM probably wants to keep the Madison 70.3 in the same weekend as the full, so maybe one of the other two will move.

I'm sorry to see Steelhead go. It's the closest 70.3 to me and I never did it, which I now regret.

There’s not a lot to explain more so then I’m sure multiple folks complained to city organizers about their road being closed most of the day. The road was transition out and run in so we’re talking 6:30/7am until at least 2pm? Other important note is every single house on that road is a vacation home so any economic benefit or any other intangible is likely moot to these folks. And these folks do a lot of enjoying the area and not giving much in return, it is a pretty big vacation town as well.

Thanks for adding to it.

There is economic benefit to those with vacation homes , they just don’t care. They have no real interest in the greater good for the community. They live there less than half a year.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Traverse City didn't have a problem with the Race it was the county over that was wilding. But Frankfort and Elberta seem to love the race as TC Tourism (which reps Frankfort and Elberta) re-upped their deal.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I will say while I have a lot of insight into Steelhead, the tri scene in this area going back 20ish years and a lot of other things surrounding this race and how it vibes with the local community and regional areas if you have any other specific questions feel free to DM me I’d love to chat about it. Not sure how much this is similar or different than other races but would love to chat more about it if you have any desire.

Like I said, this year felt like it was the final year for the race. I was even talking to a buddy race morning and he mentioned this was the last year for doing it and I thought the announcement had already been made and that’s how I’m hearing of it. Had to clarify it was his last year of racing it.

That was my first 70.3 - definitely did not have “non-wetsuit Steelhead” on my bingo card!

Not surprisingly my other Steelhead (‘21) had the swim cancelled.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Not to hijeck this thread, but when I was in Kona this winter and I talked to our airbnb host and other locals. This was what a lot of them said..."The financial gain is no longer worth the disruption to our lives for the 2 weeks." In short, they feel the aloha way of life is greatly disrupted during that time and they want that more than the cash flow.

I am sure many more smaller commutes could potentially feel this way.

It’s possible to show them the benefit of an event and what impact it has on taxes. Example, potential increases in taxes to compensate for lost tax revenue if the event leaves. I forgot what community had a vote on not renewing a long term event (festival) and also had a vote on millage increase to compensate for the lost tax revenue. Millage was defeated, event was renewed.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Another thing to note is that Benton Harbor where Steelhead is actually hosted receives very little benefit from the event itself, tangible or otherwise. The majority of triathletes are not going to want to stay in many hotels in BH and book in neighboring towns st joe and Stevensville.

I don’t want to venture into political territory but the demographic makeup of BH is not one that traditionally gets involved in small town local politics. So if there’s a few ‘out of towners’ that come one or two weeks a year and own a house are complaining they’re going to get their way.

Additionally there’s not a ton of people coming into town during the summer to preride the course and actually stay because many athletes live within a couple hour drive and make it a day trip. Also the run course is advertised as a don’t prerun it because the large chunk that’s on private property and only open for race day. I think steelhead is a case where the only reason it was a Ironman race is an existing half was owned and ran and they were making a ton of money off it once IM bought it. The instant numbers went down due to covid its time was limited.

I would agree with all that of that. BH is not a tourist draw. St.joe is, however the race is not there. However, when it comes to economic impact, you really look at the county, the not the city. The data is too noisy at the city level (unless you’re a bigger city). Regardless, your points are key factors in its demise.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.