2013 schedule shows no Branson, anybody knows if that is final, assume Branson no more?
Very sad if that is the case.
Was confirmed on the Poconos thread. No one wants to do hard courses. Pretty sad.
Thank you. Very sad. Yeah, I am with you on that, what this sport in US has come to. People shy away from hard work and prep. Yeah, most likely you would not race well with weak bike prep and 30mi/ week of running that most do. It takes way more than that.
Too bad. While challenging, that was a great course. I guess many people are only interested in a pr, and thats not gonna happen at branson.
I could never understand that PR stuff. I know majority are falling for that, but each course is different, even Branson 2010 to 2012 was all different, different bike course, different weather, this year nice and cool, first year blazing hot, those are all different courses, comparing it to a flat course and looking for fast time…I know, dead horse, not even worth discussing. St. George got similar destiny, from full to half now, see how long that last, another epic course.
Branson is creepy. It’s where entertainment goes to die (after a pit-stop in Vegas). Probably a good sign for triathlon that they pulled out of there.
You are trying to be funny, I agree, the strip was the least appealing for sure, should tear it down, however, the natural beauty of the area, bike course is epic, this race had just about everything it needed. I am not taking your comment seriously as I am sure you can see passed the strip.
I wouldn’t say no one wants to do hard course.
What I would say is that not enough people want to do hard courses to fit the WTC model.
I know plenty of independant event directors that would have no problem with the numbers some of the cancelled events got this year. Its just a different business model. (obviously ignoring the fact that most non WTC events would not draw as many due to the lemming effect)
Oh, the Ozarks are fantastic biking terrain. I love that area…you can really explode there. But distancing a product from Branson is not a bad thing. 
I had a feeling this was going to be the last year for this race. I’m glad I did it this year. The average finish time for this race is 40 minutes slower than Augusta. That scares a lot of people away. Too bad because that bike course was awesome!!
I did it the first year and yes it was hot but a great challenge. Plus we stayed at the host hotel which was really nice.
By the way TriBoilermaker are you the guy that I talked about Branson about 2 weekends ago when I was running with my son on campus?
I did it the first year and yes it was hot but a great challenge. Plus we stayed at the host hotel which was really nice.
By the way TriBoilermaker are you the guy that I talked about Branson about 2 weekends ago when I was running with my son on campus?
No I’m not. Haven’t been to West Lafayette this year. Boiler Up!!
It couldn’t be because of the RD because Tom and the Carnies do a great job of organizing, setup, and accommodation at all their races. Glad I did it all 3 years…
Rumor is that the Branson 70.3 race will no longer be a WTC event but will come back as an Ultramax Events race.
I did Branson in 2010 and 2011, love the bike course but hate the town of Branson.
It will be nice to see it run by a local Missouri company
That’d be cool. Ultramax puts on good races and they’ve tried really hard to find races and formats that will attract athletes. Sticking with my contrarian mood for the day, though, I think they need to end the “hillbilly” logos.
Go HOOSIERS! (sorry had to!)
I hope ultramax takes over and moves it to early summer. It would make a great training 1/2. Love the bike course.
Sad deal but the registration numbers just weren’t there. Had a blast out there this year with a PB on the swim and run. Climbing one of the many monster Ozark hills trying to hang with Potts for a bit (his 3rd/ my 2nd lap) will be one of those race moments I’ll never forget. I hope it doesn’t scare WTC from adding another midwestern 70.3 in the future.
That sucks, I was wanting to do this for my A race next year. I’m a pitiful climber so this was going to be a challenge and something I would really have to work hard at to have a good race. If someone else brings it up I’ll will do it in a heartbeat. I know there’s Savageman but I really wanted something I could drive to in order to keep travel cost in check.
Sad deal but the registration numbers just weren’t there. Had a blast out there this year with a PB on the swim and run. Climbing one of the many monster Ozark hills trying to hang with Potts for a bit (his 3rd/ my 2nd lap) will be one of those race moments I’ll never forget. I hope it doesn’t scare WTC from adding another midwestern 70.3 in the future.
I don’t think it will scare WTC from another mid-west race, but you can bet if they do add another one it won’t have a bike course like Branson. People see that bike profile and the average finish times and they are scared away. There has been some criticism of the town, but that isn’t why the numbers are low. The numbers are low because people were afraid of the bike course. They see an average bike split of close to 3:30 and they sign up for a different race. It’s too bad so many are interested in PR’s instead challenging themselves on a tougher course.