The race has only 20 people. Question answered.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

What is HITS?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

The short answer is that triathletes in Nth America are brand whores and if it doesn't have an M-Dot attached it apparently isn't worth the effort.That is why Challenge failed in Nth America.

If all you are trying to do is find an Iron distance to use as a qualifier (Ultraman qualifier?) then try this one closer to home near Forest Grove,Oregon.The USA UltraTri folks put on an Iron distance in conjunction with their Double Anvil in June at Hagg Lake. Great people,awesome venue,cheap and fun. A word to the wise though,the course is not easy.

https://usaultratri.com/races-oregon/

I did the Hits Olympic 2018, and had a blast camping and racing with friends, but I would never consider the half or full distance. There was just not enough support (workers or volunteers) to make it a good race. So for one thing I just think the bike and run courses will be under supported. We tried our best to drunkenly cheer on finishers as the night progressed, but for god sakes these people were crossing the finish line to a ghost town.

I did a hits race several years ago in Hunter Mountain, NY. It was my second ever Olympic distance race, I think. There were 40 people in it. The full that weekend had 11. I was in second place halfway through the bike and they had not set up the turnaround yet. After we were clearly way past the halfway point, the lead Moto just flipped around and told us to follow him back. The guy in front of me rode at least a minute further out than me.

I ended up winning the race by a good margin. The announcer and officials did not arrive at the finish line until after I finished. Despite it being a two loop run course and it taking you in a loop around the finish area for like .25 miles before you cross the line no one noticed I was coming in. It was not the kind of experience you'd want to travel or pay money for.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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Thank you. I have never come across this. June may be a bit too soon for me, but I appreciate this!

My wife raced HITS 70.3 Palm Springs in October 2019 and had a great experience. IM is IM and has its benefits for sure but many smaller organizations can put on a great race. The swim was adequate, the bike and run were both two out and backs which is tough on the brain but the scenery was beautiful weather was perfect, and the people were great. I raced HITS Grand Junction 70.3 several years ago and had the same experience (except the weather, it was cold cold cold).

Anyways, don't hesitate racing a HITS race or any other smaller race. Sure you may need to be a bit more self-sufficient, prepared to fuel yourself, etc but its also half as much money. Just my $0.02. Happy hunting for your race!

I've done two HITS Full lengths.....for the price of 1 MDot race.

I enjoyed the whole grassroots vibe, smaller yes, but without a bunch of Tri-Hardo's there.

If your goal is to race and finish a 140.3, but not immediately go out to get a calf tattoo, I see no reason why you wouldn't do one of these.

Did HITS PS 70.3 a few years ago.
1. 54* water. Won't ever do that again. First race I thought I might DNS.
2. Horrible bike course up a huge canyon and back down. No porta potties at the top where the aid station was, as they said there would be. Instead it was at the bottom of the return, so had to slow from 30mph to get off and pee.
3. Horrid run course through a horse...stadium? I don't know what you call it but it was anything but scenic with every aid station literally covered in flies.
4. I experienced bad traffic control on the bike course. Others experience horrible traffic control putting them in danger.

I'm no primadonna and have never done and Mdot race, but I could have directed a better race than that.

I believe they have changed the bike and run courses since I did it.

HITS had its chance to put on quality events and failed. You can search on the forum and will see numerous complaints and safety issues that they never addressed. That's why the series has only a few surviving races. It soon become clear that the only advantage of doing a HITS long course was the near certainty that you could brag about being on the podium since most of their full distance races seemed to average around 20 finishers -- that does call to some people. For others, it comes down to you get what you pay for. And with HITS, you got so little you might as well have simply done a self supported 140.6 and saved the money altogether. Frankly, I am amazed that HITS is still around at all.

Full disclosure - I have completed one HITS olympic distance race at a venue that no longer exists. I got what I paid for.

It’s the numerous complaints about safety issues that really makes me not want to do HITS. And if there are like 20 people for the full I’m likely going to be out there alone. Might as well do my own race at home

Not necessarily. I don't care much about the brand. I just want races that are safe and with good crowd and Ironman provides those so I participate. I would love to do a Challenge race sometime and am thinking about doing Challenge Daytona for this year. I support local organizations, so I've been doing their races every year as well. Most of them are safe, fun and cheap.

I have only raced one of their events, a 70.3 and it was that race's innagural. There were a bunch of issues that I thought could have been handled better but again it was the first year for that venue. The only thing I felt was inexcusable was the bike course putting cyclists in direct proximity of highway traffic with almost no signage or visual cues for on-comming cars. At one point the course crossed an on ramp with cars merging to the highway, as the number of participants wasn't overwhelming a lone cyclist in a tuck crossing an unmanned on- ramp is pretty crazy.

Here you go:

HITS Palm Springs

I wouldn't go back. I love the transition boxes and cheap prices, but I'll spend the extra money for a better experience. Plus I don't think of Palm Springs as a "cool place". It's more of a place to sit back, relax and do nothing in decent weather during the winter. Or play golf...

This year 1 month early so warmer water temps. Never ran thru horse stadium, I remember loops into residential area.

I did the inaugural NAPA HITS , HIM a bunch of years back. It was a totally fine experience for me.

I think the HITS NAPA race actually sells out the sprint-oly-HIM distances by race day now, but I'm not sure (it def did a few years when I looked.)

I did feel bad for the IMers though as there were so few of them, probably got lonely out on the course. Otherwise though it was a totally fine race that had a small-race vibe. I hope they survive, I enjoyed the race.

you got off your bike to pee?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

what can I say, I haven't mastered the art, much as I've tried... :(

I've done HITS Palm Springs every year except I think this past year (2019). I've done every distance there EXCEPT the full. The location is nice, La Quinta is a nice place and logistics will be easy. Until this last year the race was always in December and like many have commented, the water could be very cold. It's in a man-made reservoir that is pretty shallow so the water temp can change pretty quickly. I feel like in October it could be very hot (water and air temps). I don't like hot races so I would never race in Palm Springs/Palm Desert in October.

Like many have said, the race quality has degraded over the years. The full will have 20 or less probably. There will probably be no support or volunteers. The last time I raced there (2018) there really wasn't any on-course support for even the sprint & oly so I'm guessing you'd need to plan on being self-sufficient. It will be quiet and lonely. It could be EXTREMELY windy. Like 50+ MPH gusts. One year I was running back to the lake/finish when the wind was so strong, it blew the buoy's off the lake, over the fences and off into the desert right in front of me. There also could be no wind at all.

The bike and run will be flat. They did that one canyon route once and changed it back to the flat route I think. The roads will not be closed. There *should* be police at all intersections but I don't know about the full distance? It's pretty quiet out there but you still will have cars and trucks on the road with you. I was even there that year they ran around the horse stables.

I had high hopes for this series the first couple of years but when they lost their original race director, things went downhill fast. I continued to support them and did the sprint, oly and half over the years. Shorter races were pretty good, a good turnout and basically like a local race. If you signed up VERY early it was cheap.

But for the full, it will be like an unsupported, very long, very lonely, training day out in the desert.

This is going to sound like a lot of the other replies. I did a HITS HIM a few years back; jury is out on whether I'd do another. For the low-numbers full fields, prepare yourself for a lonely day - think less "race" and more "lightly-supported training day with timing."

Because my experiences are well-covered by other posts, I'll instead offer a meta-comment of sorts: "grassroots" and "high-quality" need not be mutually exclusive.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Horse Shows In The Sun, and that’s most of the problem. A rich man, Tom Struzzieri, thought he would turn his triathlon hobby into a business. Even though HITS has been successful in the horse show world, triathlon has not turned out so well.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

Your forgetting HITS Napa Valley, which is my all time favorite race. People complain that Ironman costs too much, than go and do a more home grown "local" race, and complain that there arent 100 people handing out gatorade at each aid station. Cant have both. I have LOVED every Hits race I have ever done, and will continue to go to them.

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I did a 140.6 in Naples, FL back in early 2013. Long time ago, but basic thoughts:
+ Basic race - not much fanfare (but I personally don't need it)
+ Small field. 60 racers. I dont mind racing alone, others might.
+ Informal atmosphere. Definitely no festival atmosphere with live music , or DJ or announcers
+ No safety issues

I had a really enjoyable race; no complaints.

Hope this help