Forgot this part:
www.thenationstriathlon.com/course-swim.html

What is the benefit for the racers besides "less wait time"? This sounds like an attempt to get more people on the course in less time, thereby reducing the time and money spent on course control during the bike and run.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Well, I'm not sure. That's why I asked the question about whether the bike course can accommodate xx number of riders, safely. If it can, and if the race has closed out the past couple of years, then the dual swim format might be a way to increase the number of participants. Maybe this is a good thing, maybe it isn't. I'm certainly inclined to give the organizers the advantage of the doubt that they are working to make the race accessible to more participants, rather than just finding a way to sweep up more entry fees without making any decent changes. But maybe I'm just being naive here??

Any idea on the entry fees, I cant find them on the website.

$165 Elite and Age Group
$225 Relay

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willmillertriathlon.blogspot.com

I got an email from USAT this morning that members can sign up early (now) in advance of registration being open to the public on Dec 1. Wasn't the fee $150 last year?

I don't think the race is worth doing. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find parking, and you finish pretty far away from transition-and you are pretty much up to your self to get back. They do offer a shuttle (an hour after you finish, and it takes forever to get back to where you need to-plus, they drop you about 2 miles short of the transition, and you have to walk yourself). You must attend the pre race meeting (I don't like that rule-especially when you can't find a place to park).

I understand that you have to pay for the city being shut down and all, but I am definitely never doing this race again. I could taste the jet fumes in the water as the planes flew by-strange I admit, and I felt the aid stations were lacking. They actually ran out of water on the course (from what I heard)-I believe it to be true. The expo was a joke. I guess it was a one and done for me. The swag bag also sucked hardcore. The t-shirt was okay, but that was all I felt I got for $175 bucks. Not happy.

On the other hand, a week later, I went to Savageman (a must do!) and was EXTREMELY happy with the way it was run, and felt it was incredibly organized. Just my 2 pitiful cents.

Just noticed they changed the run route as well - you aren't ending too far away from transition in 2009. Might alleviate some of the issues getting back to pick up gear..

As a former DC resident, I thought riding on the closed roads was cool. The parking wasn't an issue if you took their advice. I parked at the expo hotel and took the shuttle in. Easy. Rode my bike back after. The finish to transition situation wasn't great (I walked it) but they seem to have fixed that. I thought it was cool overall and have already signed up.

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Hello everyone. My name is Charles Brodsky and I'm the owner of The Nation's Triathlon. I try and read posts about our race which helps us do what we do better as the years go on. So I wanted to post some information in response to the questions and comments so far on the thread. Last year getting back to the transition area from the finish line was horrible. It was the number one complaint from our athletes. So this year we moved the finish line to wihtin 100 yards of the transition area. The finish line is also now about 200 yards from the swim start/swim exit so there should be no problem getting around on race day. The dual swim start innovation was done to reduce wait times as the race grows. Since the bike is a single loop (with many sections two lanes in each direction) and with faster athletes placed in earlier swim waves there will be no congestion on the bike course. Same holds true for the run. In addition the roads are completely closed to traffice by DC and Park Police so we are not sharing the roads with cars.

In recognition of rising registration fees and our tough economic times we decided to hold the cost for Nation's Tri the same as last year. We just did a lousy job of explaining how. Last year the registration fee was $150 then active.com tacked on $15 in processing fees. This year we priced the race at $165 with no other fee's attached (unless you need to purchase a one-day USAT membership). So the cost is the same we just presented it differently.

So thank you for your interest in our race. More than 90% of our athletes said they would do the race again and we are excited to have them back and looking forward to hosting our new athletes too. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to email me at chuck@wseminc.com or call me at 202 257-3472.

See you at the starting line.

Charles L. Brodsky
Chairman and Ceo
The Nation's Triathlon