Halifax One O One Update #1 Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Dear Halifax 101 Participant,
Triathlon One O One regretfully needs to inform you that this year’s Triathlon One O One Halifax event has been postponed until August 31st, 2008. The reason for the postponement is due to a recent resignation by our local race management company several days ago.
With less than three months to the venue date and after careful due diligence, the Triathlon One O One team has determined that there is not enough time to get the required steps completed in order to execute the event at the World-Class level the athletes and sponsors are accustom to with Triathlon One O One series. Triathlon One O One realizes that this is a major inconvenience to you and the plans you have made to get to the venue and train for the event, so we have put into place a resolution that we hope is acceptable to each of you.
Three Reimbursement Options of your Entry Fee: 1. Transfer your entry fee to the 2007 Woodlands, Texas 101 event, which also includes a $100.00 gift certificate to any 2008 Triathlon One-O-One event entry fee.
Transfer your entry fee to the 2008 Halifax, Nova Scotia 101 event or any other 2008 Triathlon One O One event, which also includes a $100.00 gift certificate to any 2008 Triathlon One O One event entry fee.
Refund your entry fee 100%, which also includes a $100.00 gift certificate to any 2007 or 2008 Triathlon One O One event entry fee.
*** IMPORTANT: Triathlon One O One would like to know what choice you would like before Friday June 22nd, 2007 as we would like to cut the required checks on that date and get them into the mail system.
Payment Notes: * Checks will be cut on this Friday, June 22nd, 2007 for those of you wishing to receive the refund of your entry fee. * Checks will be made payable to the person that paid the entry fee payment to Triathlon One O One at the address they provided. * Transfer fees will NOT be charged to any participant that wishes their entry fee be transferred to the 2008 Halifax event or the 2007 Woodlands, Texas event. * The $100.00 gift certificate is ONLY redeemable for future Triathlon One O One event entry fees and are NOT usable on Triathlon One O One merchandise or cash back.
NOTE: If you are receiving a refund via check, please make sure we have your proper address if you think we may not have that information currently.
We apologize for this postponement of the 2007 Halifax Triathlon One O One event and we are available to speak with you directly if there are any questions related to this email.
Pretty bummed about it as I had rearranged my schedule back in January to make this my A race. Now, I’m trying to move back to my original schedule to make a run at the provincial team.
However, after looking at the refund options, getting my money back and $100 towards next year’s race seems quite fair so despite the fact that I really wanted to do this race and am sorry to see it postponed, I am very pleased with how they are handling this issue.
I got that email this morning as well. To be honest, I took option 3 (give me my money back) as there are no guarantees that there will even be a race in 2008. I really hope that there will be, because for one, the race is on my doorstep, and 2, Halifax is a fantastic destination for a race.
I hope that this is not indicative of further problems with the Tri101 series.
Fired one RD after a series of course switches and snafus and had another one quit (was fired?) right before another race. And not that much interest (of a high enough level to sign up) in any of the races.
This does not bode well. I’m sure some of the old timers can chime in an school me on what a disaster all the races and series’ were in the early days of tri, but the field is pretty crowded right now. While there’s nothing else at that distance in NA (that I’m aware of) there’s the rest of the usual suspects which have built strong reputations. In a way, 101 should be hoping nobody heard of them this year so they can just swoop in next year as the next big thing with a year of “experience” under their belts without the negative connotations of postponed races and major course changes.
I wish them the best, but would bet on the worst at this point.
I’m very disappointed and asked for my money back. My wife and I were really looking forward to this race and the trip to Nova Scotia. I’m not very confident that this race series will exist which is really a shame because it seemed like a nice distance.
sounds like the end is near for the 101 series to this very uninformed casual observer. If they had 2000 people signed up I bet they would be able to figure it out. Low attendance at the races held and now this. Too bad as the distance seems like it would be great for me. It would be hard for me to commit to one of the races at this point.
I also think the tri market might be a bit saturated. There are really a lot of new long races in the last couple of years. Island Tri race in Turks and Caicos, Newfoundland 70.3, lots of other 70.3’s, lots of new 1/2 IM’s, Silverman, etc. How many long course triathletes are there that all of these races can survive? 101 sounded like such a great distance, but I guess people don’t want to bother going that long without saying they did an Ironman or another Ironman. Seems kind of sad because I would like there to be lots of race options available and I would like those races to give me an excuse to travel someplace I otherwise might not travel.
Rather than trying to create a brand out of thin air… Why not gather about four of the non IM standout races and create a brand around them much like “The Classics” or “The Grande Tours”. Roth/NZ is already doing this under the Quelle brand but another entrant along these lines might do well - the races would not all have to be IM distance either. 101 cant seem to get started.
Glad the rest of you are so understanding - me, I’m pretty pissed. I made the mistake of centering my whole season around this one race. Now I have no races planned for after July 22 and I’m stuck with non-refundable plane tickets.
If a 101 race happens to pop up within driving distance, I’ll consider it in the future. But I’ll learned my lesson to not make any of these events a “destination race.”
“In a way, 101 should be hoping nobody heard of them this year so they can just swoop in next year as the next big thing with a year of “experience” under their belts without the negative connotations of postponed races and major course changes.”
In a dream world that would be a nice option, unfortunately, cash is king, and when your burning through it like this entity is your chances of survival only get worse. Do you you really think the investors are going to sit around waiting for them to “swoop” in and make everything “all better?”
That would honestly suck and i’m sure you’re not the only person that it happened to as far as plane tickets and such. I don’t plan my season around one race because who knows what can happen. But canceling a race just because of a race management problem from this high class of an organization shows real structural problems.
The notification went out on the 20th and they want a response by the 22nd. Hell sometimes I don’t even check my personal email for weeks at a time. Seems like a little bit of a quick turnaround expected. IMO, the series should be responsible for all associated reimbursements associated with travel and lodging that you are not capable of recouping.
In a dream world that would be a nice option, unfortunately, cash is king, and when your burning through it like this entity is your chances of survival only get worse. Do you you really think the investors are going to sit around waiting for them to “swoop” in and make everything “all better?”
No. I don’t. I think they’re folding, and soon. But it’s only a matter of time before Dan swoops in to reiterate that the sponsors have deep pockets and are in it for the long haul and are somehow expanding across the pond in addition to tripling here. If that is true, a lack of exposure this year is better since fewer people will have heard of the problems and they can sort of hit the reset button. With word out that they came within a hair’s breadth of cancelling one race and had to postpone another, not many people are going to choose any of them as destination races. All I’m saying is that if they survive the year, they better hope nobody heard of them this year (which I actually think is possible and one of the reasons sign-up is so low).
Man, you’ve been registering for Tris lately??
Most races if not all, offer NO refund whatsoever if the race is cancelled.
Nothing, nada…
These guys offer full refund. I guess you always need a reason to whine…
Want me to send you my french passport for the whining?
Triathlon One O One regretfully needs to inform you that this year’s Triathlon One O One Halifax event has been postponed until August 31st, 2008. The reason for the postponement is due to a recent resignation by our local race management company several days ago.