Status: Pending (per Team USA)

https://www.teamusa.org/...Waco-703-24443695147

That could be a great race course. Not sure if the town could handle that many people descending upon at once, though.

I live in Austin and heard this rumor just recently. I know the organizers of the current 70.3 race but I have know idea about the validity of the rumor. Having raced both in Austin on the current 70.3 course and in Waco numerous times I have a few observations.

But first, I'll make an assumption, absent any facts at the moment, that the hypothetical new race would utilize the blueprint of the current very popular Olympic/sprint race held mid-summer in Waco.

1. The organizers/directors of the two races (current Austin 70.3 and current Waco races) are two different entities. But, both have great people and great track records for putting on numerous Texas events.

2. The courses - quite different. Austin swim is a lake. Waco is the Brazos River, relatively narrow a la Tempe Town Lake. The bike courses would be very different. Austin is rolling with a few good, relatively short climbs. Waco is pancake flat. The run in Austin is mildly rolling. The run in Waco is around the river area and near the Waco Zoo - mostly it is pancake flat but there is one monster, killer hill. The race venue in Waco is quite nice but it will get crowded. I would imagine they might use shuttle busses to get people in and out. FWIW - if you are into mountain biking the riding around Waco is some of the best in central Texas. There is a popular Xterra race there at the same venue that I did this summer and my mountain biking expert friends tell me it is wicked hard.

3. The towns - a lot of people come to Austin because it is, well, Austin. It is also easy to get to by plane. Waco has an airport but really, if you travel there from outside of Texas/OK/LA you are going to fly to DFW or Austin and drive two hours. Waco has Baylor University. And an Applebees. Sort of kidding but it is not a destination by any stretch.

As another poster mentioned, the hotel space would be one limiter. In fact, if it was the same weekend as a Baylor home football game there is no way it could work. But if they schedule around that it could work and could be a fast, fun race.

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It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

You mean 0-8 Baylor football? I doubt the 3 fans that are still going to the games by then will get in the way.

My disdain for the Austin 70.3 is well known so I say good riddance to that race if this rumor is true... and the rumor is that it's replacing Austin.

Registration dips have been obvious the last couple of years. There were only 1500 finishers this year compared to 1900 last year, and 2000 the year before that. The 1500 number includes a fair number of people that did the race at the last minute due to the NOLA 70.3 cancellation, I think registration numbers were 400 less before the influx of NOLA 70.3 refugees. I looked at the participation list a couple of weeks before the race and it was around 1600, and jumped up to 2000 by race day, so I'm just making an assumption it was people taking the $50 entry from NOLA. So barring the NOLA registrations you'd be looking at finisher numbers closer to 1100 or 1200.

I know a lot of the lower registration numbers are due to overall lower triathlon participation in general but maybe after almost a decade people have finally realized how much this race sucked.

Let's call it like it is. The race wasn't really in Austin, and did nothing to showcase Austin. It was a mild logistical nightmare with zero hotels nearby and split transition areas. It's a crying shame they could never work it out so they could actually do the race over on the Lake Travis side of town. That would have been an awesome race.

R.I.P. M'fer... hopefully. :-)

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Not that it means anything since WTC has a bunch of domains but not sure what reason they would have ironmanwaco.com unless they were actually going to have a race there since Waco isn't on anyone's radar.

Showing results for: IRONMANWACO.COMOriginal Query: ironmanwaco.com
Contact Information
Registrant Contact
Name: DOMAIN ADMINISTRATOR
Organization:WORLDTRIATHLONCORPORATION
Mailing Address: 3407 W. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BLVD, TAMPA FL 33607 US
Phone: +1.8138685940
Ext:
Fax:
Fax Ext:
Email:DOMAINS@IRONMAN.COM
Admin Contact
Name: DOMAIN ADMINISTRATOR
Organization:WORLDTRIATHLONCORPORATION
Mailing Address: 3407 W. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BLVD, TAMPA FL 33607 US
Phone: +1.8138685940
Ext:
Fax:
Fax Ext:
Email:DOMAINS@IRONMAN.COM
Tech Contact
Name: DOMAIN ADMINISTRATOR
Organization:WORLDTRIATHLONCORPORATION
Mailing Address: 3407 W. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BLVD, TAMPA FL 33607 US
Phone: +1.8138685940
Ext:
Fax:
Fax Ext:
Email:DOMAINS@IRONMAN.COM

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I too heard today that Austin 70.3 is dead, and Waco has risen in its place. Just what I have heard, don't plan a race around this info, just what I have heard.

I have to agree.... the Austin 70.3 was never ever an Austin race. It was out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around it. Boring, bland, split transitions, etc, etc..... nothing attractive at all (other than to those of us who are semi-local and want to do it just to do it).

My hope is that Waco 70.3 is true and brings about a huge change in the Texas 70.3 race venues. And yes, I have done Lubbock 70.3...... Ho-humm..... not that great either. Same issues as Austin, out in the middle of nowhere, nothing around, not spectator friendly, dry, dusty, dirty, etc, etc., 9 hour drive from Houston...ugh!

I would love to see WTC bring a 70.3 to Dallas or San Antonio or true Austin. But, I will take Waco, if that's the best they can figure for now.

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

I raced Austin 70.3 this past weekend for the first time. I was a NOLA refugee, one of 115 per staff at check in late Friday afternoon. My bib number was 1974 and there were 2005 athletes. I couldn’t believe how few NOLA athletes came to Austin, but it would be hard for many to travel like that back to back weekends.

The swim was nice. It was a clean and scenic lake. Very cold start with 39F air and 68F water. There was some fog, but overall it was nice.

The bike was deceptively tough. The elevation profile on the athlete guide was like 1,500 feet. My Garmin said 1,850. It’s not that big of a difference but it’s enough coupled with cold muscles out of the swim to be difficult.

The run was boring. It was a triple loop that went by the lake. The flat parts were on gravel roads by the lake. Pretty ho hum. The finish in the rodeo arena was nice, but seemed subdued.

Overall, the race had some good qualities but it doesn’t stand out. I may be a race killer. Kansas, Racine, New Orleans and Austin. The last three were in 2017!

There were well over 400 DNS athletes though. Only 1500 people finished the race.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Didn't mind most of the race. But if Austin used to have significantly more people, that run must have been crowded. At least in the one section that a single lane of the road was split for runners in opposing directions. That was already tight.

I also found the roads to not be as big a deal as advertised, EXCEPT on a few downhill sections where I was flying, then came upon some sketchy areas where I got nervous. The bike was also more difficult than advertised. Heard it several times and agree. My garmin had around 2100' elevation.

did see a good bit of empty rack spots

I am so excited for this! I helped design the original Tri Waco Olympic course (which has since been changed a bit) and founded the Baylor Triathlon Club. Hotel space w/in 5 minutes of the start might be limited, but the areas just 10 minutes north and 10 minutes south of Waco should have plenty of space, not to mention that air b'n'b is getting way more popular in the area. The river isn't super wide can but certainly handle a wave start race. The bike course, should the waves be separated in a way that puts faster athletes at the back has wide roads for most of it and low traffic for all of it so passing won't be hard. The run course is stunningly beautiful, especially when compared to most of Texas and the Austin course.

I think most were DNFs from the cold, which caught many people out. I didn't like the bike course nor the location, but won't even consider racing in Waco. They shot themselves in the foot with this change.

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
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Is this Nancy? It's Matt from Baylor, do you know if there is a pro field? I'm so excited for this

So it’s official? By that I mean that,
1. Austin 70.3 is dead and
2. Waco is taking its place?

Is this a High Five or TriWaco management team? When do you expect to show up on the IM website?

Best of luck with this endeavor!

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It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

Yes it's official and it's an Ironman managed event so they will bring in their own people for management. My role - I am on the Waco Sports Commission and will serve as volunteer coordinator. We certainly hope it will grow Tri Waco and other local events, but they own and manage the 70.3. I am good with that as this is much bigger than anything we have done. We want everything done right and professionally. I have been behind the scenes at their events and am completely confident this will be top notch.

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Trisquirrel

Dammit yes, there goes my super secret cover:) It's Nancy and hell yes, I am excited too. Worked my a** off for many years to make this type of event happen here. It's about time!

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Trisquirrel

Oops and no I do not have any knowledge of pro status at this time. Again, I am just the local worker bee and happy to remain as such.

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Trisquirrel

I understand some Waco residents have worked hard to get this race, and that’s great they have the opportunity I guess

But Waco, Texas is not the kind of end destination I would drive two hours from the airport to race in. You make that kind of drive for a place like St. George, but not for Waco. I don’t know why WTC can’t figure out the venue in San Antonio, which has an airport. That would be the best place for it in terms of infrastructure.

Wow, this is pretty exciting. I've done Austin 70.3 seven times, only b/c I live in Austin. Would not travel to do this race, and have wondered throughout the years how long it would last. I will say that the atx race director and staff did a pretty good job year after year from lessons learned w/ the logistics of the point to point. There were hiccups in past years (ie. shortage of volunteers at checkin, parking the morning of, long lines for the buses). This year all seemed to flow fairly nicely......at least from my experience. But very excited for Waco.......I've done the Olympic there 3 times. Very well organized, great course, and best swag bag in any race I've done in my 10 years of racing. Congrats Waco......I will be there next year for sure.

+1

yah, I race in San Antonio would be hella appealing specially since i'm moving to SA in December lol

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

Not every race has to be at a destination location. There are a lot of triathletes in Texas and Waco is pretty central to all of them. That is their target audience, not people flying in.

Wow! I can't believe another race that I just completed bit the dust (literally in this case :)) Just call me the Grave Digger! That will likely be 3 this year (Racine-confirmed, Austin, and New Orleans).

Buffalo Springs has been around for 20 years, has had numerous pro fields and some of the biggest names in Triathlon raced there. It is in Lubbock, Texas.