I raced HITS Ocala 70.3 in 2016, so its been a while. When I did it, the swim was canceled because of thunderstorms (lightning) and they changed the format to a duathlon. I will never forget the bike of this race. It was so dangerous and I was so close to pulling the plug because of the conditions. Between the pouring rain and the logging truck traffic I am truly shocked no one was injured or killed that year. To add to it, the run kind of sucks in the sugar sand.

That said, I think people want this race, but its the venue that has killed it. I know its easy to say change the location, but the logistics of putting on a 70.3 to 140.6 race is a nightmare with city councils and the general public.

isn't that a common theme with many of their races? I've never done one of their races but I've read many complaints about low participation (you end up completely alone on the bike), spotty bike courses, etc.

#pinknotpink

It's hard to have your fastest bike split ever, claim everyone but yourself was drafting, when you're alone on the bike.

It appears they only have 4 races left. Napa Valley, CA. Hudson Valley, NY. Palm Springs, CA. and Sarasota, FL. Looks like everything else has been cancelled. Sarasota does not offer a Full.

When I went to Athlete Briefing last weekend, the RD was out setting buoys instead of doing a briefing. The two volunteers at packet pickup didn't know what to run course was. The Strava map was different than the printed map in our Bags but the cones on the course were different than both of those. Definitely some issues. It appeared Tom was trying to do it all by himself. I appreciate his effort to keep it going but the light has been dimming for a while now.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I felt for you all. I had some friends doing it and that weather was awful.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

They’re still around I thought they died off awhile ago. They never seemed to have any success with their races.

we've had 8 years of the HITS experiment. has it carved out a place? part of it was just bad timing; the series began in 2011, just as the sport began its downturn. but some other races have prospered anyway during this decade.

what we now know is that you can't just hang a shingle and business will waltz in. you have to grind it out. a race like barrelman, which i just wrote about, probably north of 1000 individuals (excluding relays) for the half, adding a hundred every year in a tough market, what john salt has are two things: 1) he's daily invested in producing an exceptional event; 2) when he hits any sort of headwind, instead of getting discouraged he gets ornery.

he's like me in that way. neither john salt nor i have a gift for living. success doesn't come naturally for us. we are more abrasive than elegant. we're both still here because what we lack in grace we make up for in cussedness. HITS does not seem to me to have that cussed, hard-bitten, doggedly determined person demanding a level of success that these races need.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I just need somebody else out there so I know I’m not lost. :)

Agreed 100%. I hope that John takes the "more abrasive than elegant" as a compliment but it is apt and one of the reasons that I like him. Last year it was quite fun listening to him explain about wearing the bib on the bike course to several athletes concerned about the wind resistance. The attention that he gives to the race and the athletes is truly first class.

This will be my 3rd year going back to Barrelman, and I think that it is a race that everyone should check out.

you know how it's hard to watch lionel sanders run? form wise? but then you look at how much ground he eats up? and you just decide to ignore his form, because the pace speaks for itself? that's john salt, and i can say that because it's also me. don't look at john and i too hard. we'd rather you judge us by the work product.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I've ran both of the NY ones they've had. I think they suffer from poor venues.

The one they used to have that wasn't in Hudson valley, had a no joke bike climb right out of the gate. It's pretty gnarly, so much so that I went back and video'd it in my truck just to show other people because its was hard to relate to. And the run course I'm not sure has a flat spot on it.

The Hudson valley one is pretty nice, except when I did it, it was POURING rain out for a bit, and the run is on a muddy rail trail. So again not ideal.

The price was right for me. I'm a no frills guy, did them both self supported, but can see how they wouldn't draw a huge crowd. I just wanted to knock out some 140.6's and a 100miler once summer and they fit into my budget/schedule the best.

I guess their early low entry fee promotion for Ocala 2020 did not get many takers. The only thing that surprises me is how long it took them to pull the plug. HITS has suffered from poor execution from the very beginning and has been dying an agonizingly slow death for many years now. You wonder what it will take for the owners to finally kill the remainder of the "series". As to those who choose to race HITS because it's cheap; well, you get what you pay for!

The only 140.6 I did and just paid $150 to do!

Yep, personalized transition spots complete with a bin for your gear, and better weather at the exact same course as another race a couple months later is a HORRIBLE value. Much better to pay 150 yo do a sprint at the desert tri on the same course at lake cahuilla than the 50 bucks HITS charges.

Totally getting what you pay for.




On a non pink note: never understood the hate HITS gets. Done their oly and sprint locally and they are as good, and usually better, than races that cost 3 times as much for literally the exact same course.

I did one HITS oly ... completely 'meh'. Lots of horror stories on ST threads about them. They don't even compete well with other indies in my area ... which is why there are now only 4 venues left. If they really were any good you would have seen year over year growth instead of decline.

You and 20 others can't be wrong! But I salute your ability to go out there for a full practically on your own...takes mental toughness. But for $150 and no competition, why not just do one from your house and save the money?

this ties into the current ST poll about field size. I think for local sprints and olympic distance a smaller field size is fine as the race is so short that things don't have time to thin out at all on the bike. For full and half distance, if the field starts out small then it ends up a ghost town on the bike. Obviously, the other end of that coin is the too large field size of the typical ironman where the bike course can end up being very packed (obviously bike course design impacts this)

I've never done a full on IM sanctioned event, but a lot of sprints/Olympics/Halfs, bunch of marathons and ultras as well; and for me they were as good as any other event. I did the 140.6 both times. There wasn't anything other than some not ideal parts of the course (gnarly hill, muddy run) that was dramatically "worse" than any other event. But again I'm not out there trying to drink the koolaid and get tattoo'd, so it worked out well for me. I won the Hudson valley race and got an Xterra wetsuit, seemed worth it to me...especially for the entrance price.

I never really understood the hate, nor the lack of field size, I'd do them again.

I actually did do my own at home, but went 3 hours slower. When you have timing, and mostly closed course, makes you go faster

That is truly BADASS! I wouldn't have any trouble with the swim and the bike, but slogging a marathon by myself afterwards would be impossible for me.

My wife also did a practice IM 2 weeks before challenge Roth, she can be seen doing it in the movie "we are triathletes"

Dan (and Fhirleighinn), I am not sure how to respond to these comments and not sure of your sources however, in this case, I have to admit they are accurate. You are also right, in that success has not come naturally in this chapter of my life however, it also came about because I had a business partner, Jason Vurma, who is a logistics savant and a team who understood it had to be...ALL ABOUT THE ATHLETE. That means being customer focused, ensuring a safe race and creating an environment that is fun, fair and attracts athletes from across the full spectrum of ability. You mention Lionel's run form and I am proud to say that both Lionel and Cody Beals and numerous other pro athletes cut their racing teeth in the MultiSport Canada series and all will tell you that the quality of our races and the field made a difference to their development.

As to calling me ornery.....well, ornery would be accurate....in some instances ornery may be kind. And headwinds, they simply mean putting your head down and driving forward with as much effort as possible. To this day I remember a ST post from about 12 years, maybe more, that was discussing one of our series races and a poster named GearGrinder. He posted comments about me that were extremely personal and condescending. He alluded to knowing me and disparaged the fact that I had told people I was working 16 hour days, 7 days a week to make the series a success. He also suggested that my telling people I was putting in those hours and effort was bragging and he ranted for several paragraphs. It was my first taste of plain mean spiritedness and I challenged him to identify himself so I could address him on the same personal level he chose to attack me. He did not have the intestinal fortitude to do so and his silence spoke volumes. We continued to put the necessary effort into trying to be the best and, as a side note, the series went on to become the largest in Canada and remains so. I guess thanks to him for helping sharpen my ornery teeth!

Triathlon is a very niche sport and the market is small compared to the mass participation sports or running and cycling. You have to do everything you can to differentiate the race product you produce. I don't usually accept compliments well however, in this case, I will take ornery and "more abrasive than elegant" as high compliments. Thank you for including me in your circle of orneriness. I am not sure I am as ornery as you Dan, but that simply means I have something to strive for. Is there a medal? :-)

---

John Salt, Founder - MultiSport Canada
Canada's Largest Triathlon Series and Barrelman Niagara Falls
http://www.multisportcanada.com / http://www.niagarafallstriathlon.com
"Discipline Is What You Do When No One Is Watching You"

I agree - all of the above.

The thinking in 2011-2013? was having multiple races for everyone to try the same day or day before - that it will bring more people into the sport. In the end it seems to just dilute everything and not let you have 1-2 really exceptional races on a weekend.

The people I personally knew who competed in HITS were excited about having an alternative to IM brand for 70.3 140.6 choices.

Possibly added too many locations to soon and didn't correct things soon enough?