Forget USA. Do Whistler or Mont Tremblant.

I've never done St.George 70.3 but I've seen pictures and IMO it looks pretty scenic to me.

St. George was a great place for a full, but it was windy one year so they cut it in half.

If you're all about location, try an Odyssey SwimRun instead of an Ironman.

Have you seen the 4 finalists for the new race next year?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I do agree with this. I've done Lake Placid in the US because it is a 2.5 hr drive. It's a pretty area but I don't find it that exciting. My other two Ironmans were IMMT in Canada which is fantastic and IM Copenhagen which was also a great venue. My bucket list IMs are Wales, Lanzorate and a few others not in the US. Nothing really stands out as an exciting place to travel within the US for a full Ironman. I'm signed up for IM Canada in Whistler this July and that will be beautiful and a new place for us.

IM Boulder probably has some nice scenery but for us we don't live or train at elevation so we'd be at a disadvantage. IM Tahoe was canceled and that is a very scenic area. Santa Rosa might be nice too but it's very early season for people in a harsh cold climate.....Louisville, MD, FL, TX, AZ don't really inspire me as a destination....even if they are great races. But who knows, maybe we'll do one of those someday since it's a lot harder traveling to Europe with longer flights, layovers and a tough time change/jet lag. It's a trade-off.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Ironman Santa Rosa is actually a pretty cool venue. Wine Vineyard after wine vineyard and overall a pretty nice landscape to look at on the bike. Also fairly close to San Francisco, which is a city some people like to see for touristy reasons. Tons of stuff to see in Nor/Central Cal if you were coming from way out of town and were staying for a few weeks. Yosemite, Redwoods, Monterey just to name a few.

You probably would have liked Couer D’Alene, but, alas, it is now just a half. Gorgeous crystal clear lake, alpine like views into the rolling hills some elevation.

IM Whistler is definitely the most scenic IM I have done to date. The view of Whistler/Blackcomb and the surrounding mountains is really amazing from the lake and bike course. I think you do lose a little of the view now that you don't ride toward Pemberton but you may have views going more toward Squamish now, I don't really remember. I've done Maryland, Florida and Tremblant as well and while they each have their own uniqueness, Whistler definitely takes the cake when it comes to views. I was supposed to do Tahoe but I was there the year it was cancelled. That race might have topped Whistler for scenic views but it didn't happen.

Money. Someone has to come up with A LOT of it to "host" an M dot branded race in their city/region. If you think about very scenic places in the US that already have a lot of visitors coming in, they may not be willing to pony up more money to close roads, pay police, pay Ironman licensing fee, pull permits, inconvenience residents and tourists that are already coming. In some cases, the dollars just don't add up, and either the event doesn't happen in that location, or it goes away after a few years of net losses.

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Karen ST Concierge

Just come to Canada.

Whistler or Tremblent as others have suggested.

Whistler is the best western Ironman in North America.

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2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

just qualify for kona /pink

I'm positive this will be (or already has been) echoed by others, but some answers are:
> Beautiful = hard, if not due to mountains, then due to winds or unpredictable swims.
> The bulk of US participants shy away from hard courses.
> IM will only hold events in areas where they can sell >2000 entries, which is against odds with point 2.

I think the common ST poster would like the US courses you seek, alas we are not the demographic to which that race provider caters.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I loved Couer d'Alene when I did it back in 2004, hadn't been to that part of the country before. Very scenic and great venue for an IM.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

"IRONMAN, a Wanda Sports Holdings company, announced Thursday that Des Moines, Fayetteville, AR, Memphis, TN and Tulsa, OK have been named finalists as potential hosts for a new IRONMAN® triathlon in 2020.
Officials said the new event, expected to take place in late-Spring/early-Summer of 2020, will be the first brand-new full-distance IRONMAN triathlon introduced in the United States since 2014, expanding the series in the Central United States. "



Hopefully I don't insult anyone but those four locations are not destination races. My husband used to travel to Des Moines once in a while for work. It's a nice city but flat and not a place we'd ever want to visit for a vacation. Plus he remembers a tornado warning while visiting one of the corporate offices there.

Although with a new Ironman being in a non-exciting location, maybe it will be easier to get to Kona (pink)

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Fayeteville does have Bentonville nearby, which is a surprisingly nice place and has world class mountain bike trails, among other outdoorsy type stuff. I don't think it compares to IM France in terms of scenery, but it's at least nice rural scenery.

I don’t think your post is insulting, but short sighted. Des Moines is flat and that appeals to the masses. As well, just because your husband was there and there was a tornado watch doesn’t mean squat. I live in Kentucky and we have them constantly. Every thunderstorm warning is associated with a possibility of tornados. It seems like every race I’ve done has been impacted by inclement weather. It’s part of it. In terms of Des Moines not being a tourist destination, have you ever been to Muncie, Indiana? Des Moines is a midsize city that might prove to want a race versus biggger cities that see it as an inconvenience. It’s supposed to be growing too. I thought it was a good candidate in a part of the country that doesn’t have many IM races.

Boulder?

Santa Rosa?

Seems like a lot of races that got cut to 70.3 were in more scenic areas. Tahoe, oceanside, etc

I like the Idea of Powell. I also think the Eastern Sierra is ripe for a full. Oregon has some great scenery.

It would be scenic and challenging. The bike elevation would surely be 2,500+. I think that would keep a lot of folks from signing up. Most want an easy fast race. Also, they used to have Branson 70.3 nearby that failed. Tulsa would have strong winds and early spring heat. Memphis would have early
season heat, but a flat bike. I think Des Moines might be the best option for long term support and sustainability.

Yes, tornado warnings are common in Iowa. My husband said his co-workers didn't even flinch and are used to them. We had a tornado warning in Texas the day before we did IMTX 70.3.

I think an Ironman in any those locations would be an easy and economical flight if you live in the US. And the accommodation costs would be less too compared to a resort area. I'm sure an IM in one of those areas will attract many people, especially locals or athletes in neighboring states where they can easily drive. But in regards to the original comment, they are not exciting destination races at least in my opinion. I would not go to any of the new venues listed (again no offense). Life is short and I want to combine my racing and traveling adventures :-)

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Coming from the northwest, none of those are easy places to get to, inexpensive flights, or truly worth the trip to get there.

I sure everything that's stated is sadly true of the American public, flat and fast is best. Anyone can show up and finish and the true "challenge" is minimized. I would love to see more aggressive race like CdA, Whistler, etc. I race around Bend, OR (think Pacific Crest Tri) I think would a good m dot race, but it would likely be too aggressive. Same goes for Levenworth, WA, Hood River, OR, even something in southern Oregon in Gold Beach or K-Falls would be awesome, challenging, and have fantastic scenery.

I guess the answer is if you want a good venue for a Tri in the US, I would be looking for independent events, but in that case you usually use the huge crowd that M-Dot brings in.

There were several tornados in Texas just last week; I certainly hope for your own safety that you don’t race in Texas. And Hawaii, forget about it; I don’t do volcanoes either.

Agree with you, when I saw the teaser from IM yesterday ended with the spot light around Rainer I thought "IM Cascadia!" Or at least a replacement to Lake Stevens 70.3. I am signed up for AZ in NOV and would have been excited to switch to a race in Washington or Oregon in 2020. I guess We are too much in the middle between Whistler and Santa Rosa for there to be a need for PNW race.

I could not agree more. Not one is worth wasting vacation time on. For those who want to race, only race, and are looking for a nearby location, then have at it. But my excitement meter did not even register at that announcement.

FWIW, I predict they will select Tulsa, Oklahoma in an attempt to kill off the Redman full.

I would love for Ironman to put on a full event in the Pacific Northwest! I'd sign up for one in 2020! I'm still considering options for 2020 (stay local(ish) in Lake Placid or go big and fly to Wales). IMLP and IMMT are not too far apart so a race in the PNW is not a crazy idea. So beautiful in that part of the country.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.