To follow up on a post from a bit ago, did anyone out there participate in either (a) the Bud Light Series races in Detroit in the 1980s or (b) the race in 1995(?) in which single-handedly created a wetsuit black market in Detroit?
If so, I’d love it if people provide any anecdotes or comments about the races, course descriptions, field size, sponsors, race management etc.
I was the co-chairman of registration for the event and participated also.
I did the '95 race, and my wetsuit was one of the ones that ended up on the black market 
I remember the swim was pretty short, the roads in the city, once you were off the Mcarthur Bridge, were pretty bad, but the run around the island was okay. Lew Kidder knew the RD (I forget his name). I don’t think he’s in the race business anymore.
Tony
I did the 1985 USTS Detroit race at Pontiac Lake (won the masters, too - those were the days). The race director of that and the next year’s race on Belle Isle was Charlie Blanchard, who owned the running store on Northwestern Hwy and 12-Mile and won the masters at IM (the real - and only - IM back then) in October of 1982. Charlie later sold the store, moved to New Mexico (near El Paso), and became a college instructor, if I remember correctly. His son Todd took up the sport for a year or two in the early 1990’s, won a number of the local races, and competed in one of the first age group nationals at Leon’s (finishing a well-beaten 25th in 25-29).
Jeff Cunningham was the race director for the 1995 race on Belle Isle. Jeff was from the Grand Rapids area and had produced the Georgetown Township Triathlon for a few years in the early 1990’s. Jeff may have had his strengths, but race directing was not among them. The Georgetown Township race was always a study in disorganization - and when it came to Detroit '95, nothing much changed. Both races - and Jeff - quickly disappeared from the sport.