as all of you who care to know the truth already know, my interest in the series is personal (i think it’s best for triathlon to have more robust trade names; more distance options between sprint and IM; and fewer athletes at the some of the overpacked bike courses). it is also mildy financial (we host the series’ reader forum, and we do the live coverage). i have no ownership in the series, i don’t get a spiff, i do not make any money or lose any money regardless of how many of you sign up or don’t, or whether companies sponsor the series or don’t. my full disclosure obligations satisfied…
as for halifax, i have been aware for some short period of time prior to this announcement that the race was in jeopardy. this had nothing to do with money. it had everything to do with the ability to get the course that the organizers thought they would get. one can debate whether they should’ve done the same thing wtih bradenton, and pulled the plug when they did not get the course they hoped to get in that town. me, i would’ve. they chose to stick it out in bradenton. as for halifax, it was my explicit counsel to cancel this event, based on the course questions still unresolved this close to the event. my counsel was to stop farting around with a race that is not coming together easily, and throw all the efforts behind making woodlands the race of races.
the hesitance on behalf of the 101 people to cancel this thing was strictly a case of the solidarity they felt with those who’d already entered the race. for that reason they spent more time trying to make that course work than i think they should have. the reason i gauge with certitude their motives leading up to this is because i had several conversations with the 101 folks and i therefore knew what troubled them about the impending decision to cancel or not cancel.
what does all this mean?
first, this series exhibits a behavior it cannot continue to exhibit: they need to make sure their courses are absolutely set before they announce, or they need to have a better instinct as to whether they’re going to have course problems down the line before they announce. i was always a stickler about my traffic plans for a new race. you get a sense for what the PD or the fire dept and emergency response is going to have a problem with. you have to think about the businesses and the churches, and about not splitting a town right down the middle, without the ability to get from one side to the other. time will tell if this group shores up what up till now has not been its strong suit.
second, it means (to me) that when this series cancels a race, it is for the right reason and not the wrong reason. back in the old days we’d have big-time RDs who’d announce on a race, with big prize money, etc., and they’d cancel the race for low numbers or for the lack of the ability to get a sponsor to fund the purse. these guys canceled the race because they couldn’t get the course they needed. yes, it’s bad to cancel a race. but i’d be much more worried if they were the sorts of folks who canceled for one of the other reasons.
of course, the pressure is on to put on a fabulous race at the woodlands. i have my concerns about this race as well, but they’re the opposite concerns. they have three events going off on the same day. now my concern is not that they’ll only have 150 people, but that they might have 1500 people. while that’s good on the one hand, it’s also worrisome, because they have not as of yet produced simultaneous events. until they do it, i don’t know what to expect.
from my perspective, that’s the good and the bad. i’m frankly relieved the decided to pull the plug on halifax. it has given them the opportunity to focus on the race that must go off without a hitch. when you consider the age-group timing snafu at Hy-Vee, that’s the sort of thing that can’t occur at the woodlands.
