For the last one they said it is 99% certain that there won’t be any more.
I have an article about this going up tomorrow.
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its sounds like vegas jen is wants a “HITS” or “alpha win” type race, which they had a lake havasu. but because it didnt have the brand name, it died out
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Not sure how I feel about your cartoon there. I have done some AlphaWin events as well as BBSC stuff. They do several distances at once. I don’t feel like I need to do something specifically Ironman branded. Having done these other events, it was apparent to me that Ironman could do similar with Tempe. Granted, the 1/3 and 2/3 distances are kind of an odd ball, but it would be so easy to set up from the existing course. Again, I think they might draw people who want to have the Ironman experience but aren’t quite ready for a half or a full.
The problem is that just as you highlighted there are a lot of Ironman racers like yourself that would gladly step down for the shorter distance. Ironman distance racing is already cannibalizing itself with 70.3. It will happen even more so with 46.8 racing.
Probably a better option for the racer who doesn’t want to imagine signing up for a 16 hour ordeal again is make a multistage relay out of AZ. Swim one length of the swim. Exit, swap chip, buddy swims next length. Then bike one lap, swap chip and so on. The AZ course could facilitate this, but it’s a lot of logistics.
Personally, what IM needs to do in my view is integrated the buddy system into it’s racing. I’ve raced an Ironman with a friend before and we swam side by side, biked together (doing our best to be non draft legal) and ran side by side. It was amazing. I think if IM could figure out a way to have a team race that was actually raced together in a group it would be a lot of fun and instantly builds a referral system into their registrations as everyone is looking for a partner.
I see your point, and I’m not arguing it. However, one thing I will say is that, as it stands now, I don’t see any more Ironman branded events in my future. I’ve done my 70.3 and I’ve done my 140.6. Not like I can be a “double Ironman”, so doing another full distance at this point would be nothing more than attempting to improve on a back of the pack finish as it is.
But it was fun and interesting to be part of the atmosphere, and I would do that again if it were a smaller race. I don’t see Ironman getting in to sprints and olys, but I definitely see the potential and opportunity to run one or two shorter distances concurrently.
But hey, I’ve always been an odd duck so what I think would work probably wouldn’t be appealing to others. I suppose that if it was a good idea, Ironman would already be on it.
Ironman has an Olympic Tri series, it is called 5150 and there are 21 of them, Clearly they don’t think that distance is worth investing in.
5150 Triathlon Series
They do however,own and run the two largest Triathlon festivals in the Southern Hemishpere…
Garmin Noosa Triathlon: The Place To Be
Tri The Beach - Mooloolaba Triathlon
The lesson here I think is…Americans do not want to do Olympic Tri’s as they are not “cool” enough
The schedule from Eventpower just came out and sadly it looks like this year will only be Sprint and Olympic. Not suprising given the Half distance only had ~30 racers last year and its the weekend after IM 70.3 NY
Sadly? This is the problem in triathlon that is killing itself. As a long slow distance advocate you should support the feeder races, olympic and under
i do support it, im doing the olympic there, and several other sprint distances run by EventPower. I’m simply saying I’m bummed to see them drop the longer distance as part of their “Triathlon Festival”
Jeremy said it isn’t worth it for him to break even. 3200 IMAZ entrants would line up to get to do a pre swim. With 1800…. He had 100 registered.
Blockquote[quote=“ThailandUltras, post:28, topic:1283492”]
Ironman has an Olympic Tri series, it is called 5150 and there are 21 of them, Clearly they don’t think that distance is worth investing in.
5150 Triathlon Series
[/quote]
And not one of them in the US and iirc none of them have a pro field anymore. I think only 2-3 had prize money. It’s IM’s bastard child.
Yet Noosa and Mooloolaba show it can be done.
I’d agree that the US is 70.3 and IM centric. My friend owns a race production company and is putting on 1/2 of the tri’s he used to. his fastest growing tri segment is sprints with pool swims. (maybe a good feeder). The longer the event the lower the race participant numbers.
Honestly most long course athletes would be well served racing more sprints and olys in their build up.
EDIT: I do think there is a market for an early season and late season race in AZ in the PHX metro area. The problem is where?
There are mid season races in Show Low and outside of Flagstaff but IDK how much growth, if any, they’ve had in recent years.
And not one of them in the US and iirc none of them have a pro field anymore. I think only 2-3 had prize money. It’s IM’s bastard child.
Yet Noosa and Mooloolaba show it can be done.
Honestly most long course athletes would be well served racing more sprints and olys in their build up.
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Yep, totally agree. I know Fleck has been saying that for years here on ST. Race lots of short stuff as it will only help the long stuff. Sprints and Oly’s are still very popular down here in Oz.
We lost Tri-Family racing, they used to put on a ton of pool sprints. Course were actually some of the better ones I’ve done. The PHX Market is so odd, you have some HUGE races. Like Mesa Tri as an example 6-700 people across all their events that day for a pool sprint. Then we have others with like 50 people.
Blockquote[quote=“ThailandUltras, post:34, topic:1283492”]
Race lots of short stuff as it will only help the long stuff. Sprints and Oly’s are still very popular down here in Oz.
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I’m always impressed by the number of short course racing opportunities that my Aussie athletes have and have always had over the decades.
Absolutely agree with this. I am the perfect example. I started off 3.5 years ago with a sprint just so I could say I had completed a triathlon. Well, the sprint turned into an oly, which turned into more sprints and olys, followed by longer distances (SB45 and a 70.3) and now I’ve finally done a 140.6.
I don’t see myself doing another 140.6 just because I’m older and it’s just beating up on my old bones at this point. But I might be talked into doing a few more 70.3 events. Of course, I already intend to keep on doing sprints and olys with maybe some aquabike here and there for the next few years at least.
The local tri ecosystem in AZ (especially Phoenix and Tucson) puzzles me a bit…
For background, I’ve been doing multisport events based in Seattle for more than a decade. The race environment in WA State & PacNW is pretty robust. From May thru September (the decent weather months), you could do a race within reasonable driving distance almost every weekend. Plus, there are now 5 IM 70.3 races within reasonable travel distance - Victoria, BC, Salem, OR, CdA, ID, Boise, ID, and Tri Cities, WA.
A few years ago, we started spending half our year in Central AZ. Given the population base in the state, and the favorable weather, I assumed it would be a great place to race a lot. Wrong assumption…
Bellingham, WA, is a small city. And, yet, it has 2 non-pool swim local triathlons. Which is exactly 1 less than the Phoenix area has (3 - Iceman, CactusMan, and Castle Creek). And, to my amazement, Tucson doesn’t have any. Why so few there? Even Flagstaff has 2, Show Lo has 1, and Lake Havasu has 1.
I still don’t understand why the tri ecosystem is so much weaker in AZ than in WA (given that weather up there limits the season to only 6 months).
tuscon has very good bike scene though!
Blockquote[quote=“Mongo, post:38, topic:1283492”]
Tucson doesn’t have any. Why so few there?
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There are no bodies of open water where swimming is allowed in Tucson. Back in the day Tucson used to have 4 pool swim tris. 9/11 killed off the one on DM air Force base, and the street car and RD killed off the Tucson Tri series, which was 3 races, March, July 4th weekend and Oct. Now there is a pool tri in Oro Valley (NW Tucson). In the March Tucson tri you used to get A LOT of pros racing that way in the past. I once outran the guy who was 2nd at IM Hawaii the year before by :15 over the 5k. Too bad I was 2min behind him at the line though.
PHX used to have one of the most competitive and largest duathlons in the country up at McDowell Mtn Park. THe PHX tri club BOD kinda fell apart and then so did the race. It paid 5 or 7 deep and you had people such as an Olympic Gold medalist in triathlon show up as well as Euro’s, IMH winners, other draft legal and IM triathletes who were household names decades ago.
The other big difference between TUS and PHX is there are a ton of tri clubs in PHX. TUS is where tri clubs go to die. The only tri club that has been successful is Tucson Tri Girls, going on at least 20yr I think.
The weather here limits the season as well. Summers are just too hot, a lot of triathletes flee to other states, rides start at 4:30 or 5am and if you’re not done by 9 or 10 you’re getting cooked. If you want to do 2 solid workouts outside in the summer it’s tough.
Definitely! Had a great time down there last weekend doing the ETdT Century ride again.
Looking forward to getting back down that way again soon for my first climbs up Mts Lemmon and Graham…