Of course not because the 2 states that most deserve/need an IM don’t friggen have one.
First post but I enjoy the site and visit often thus the subject line…here goes.
I realize this has come up but I’ve never heard a reasonable answer as to why there is no IM in Texas or California. Either location would sell out in no time and I’m sure the pro field at either venue would be deep.The argument for Califorinia is obvious. To make matters worse, they took away the one that was there. When they couldn’t come to an agreement with Camp Pendleton, why wasn’t the event moved somewhere else in the state that the sport was born in. Instead it was moved to Utah which, as I recall, didn’t seem to work out too well.
Also, I truly believed in 1999 when they added the 3 US venues that Texas would just be a matter of time based on geography if nothing else. Coming on 10 years later, the 2 states that have arguably accounted for the most participants over the past 10 years don’t have an IM in their own “back yard”. For the majorty of the state of Tx. driving is really not an option to any event which makes the sport even more cost prohibitive than it already is. The shortest drive from a major Tx. City to an IM event is Houston to Panama City which would take 10-12 hours. If you live in South/central tx. you could add anywhere from 3 to 10 hours just to get out of the state in any direction other than mexico. I’m sure I’ll get called out on my numbers but the majority of Tx. participants come out of Austin, Houston, the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area and San Antonio. If there was an Im anywhere near one of those cities I’d be willing to bet it would be at half capacity in no time with people from Tx. alone.
Yes I live in Texas and yes I’m whining but I really would like to hear from somebody within the organization past or present (I don’t even know who it is anymore) or somebody close to the decision makers to give me a decent explanation why neither of state has an IM of their own.
Not sure about the first part, but I agree, the Alamo would suck as T1 after a swim in the river walk.
What about california? any wisdom you’d like to give me on that state?
I really was just wanting to hear from a logistics standpoint why neither state has an IM. Wasn’t a Texas pride message or anything, just seems to me that it would make sense.
haha, it was a joke, I like texans(as long as they stay in TX). I agree, it is stupid that there are races like IM LOU and IMAZ when there is none in CAli, plus, in TX, it would make sense since there is so much open space and water.
There was a post a while back on beginnertriathlete,. Graham Fraser (I think) or someone from NAS went to a Tri Club San Diego meeting, and explained why you won’t see an MDot in California, too much cooperation required from communities that aren’t all that thrilled to lose road access for 17 hours.
That said, I was thinking about IM Palos Verdes on my ride last weekend. Swim from Malaga Cove, up the hill, 3 loops of Palos Verdes Peninsula and then the PV marathon in reverse. If you know the area, you know it would be frickin hard. And you’d also know PV residents would never go for it (Trump has a golf course there, yeah right)
Finding a proper IM venue is a bit more challenging than people think - and here I am talking about an WTC IM, with 2000 plus entries, not an independent IM that has far less.
Think about what you need:
Predictable water for the swim with easy shore line access for 2000 people
Low traffic roads for the bike some of which you’ll need to close off completely to traffic
Ditto for the run
Total cooperation from the municipality to accomplish the two previous points( that’s often a deal-breaker right there)
A large Transition area adjacent to the water that can accomodate 2000+ bikes and associated change and transition facilities
Hotel capacity that can handle the 2000 athletes, and their friends and family members - I have heard you need to have 5,000+ beds within a certain radious of the race site
a community that can scare up about 3000 volunteers - and keep them coming back year after year!
Banquet facilities to seat about 2000 people - preferably indoors
Reasonably accessable by road and air
Historically the IM races have worked best in towns like Penticton, BC, and even NAS CEO Graham Fraser will tell you, that IMC is the best template their is. It meets all of the above points easily. Without anyone of the above points, your job as an RD increaseses substantially.
You can have an IM race anywhere you want, but you better make sure that you have all of the above in place.
Does Texas not have an ironman event, or does texas not have an IRONMAN™(R)(C) event?
We have a sweet half iron event in Conroe. It wouldn’t be hard to lengthen to an Ironman.
There is a IRONMAN™(R)(C) 70.3 in Austin, could that be doubled? Austin would be a great locale.
Of course not because the 2 states that most deserve/need an IM don’t friggen have one.
First post but I enjoy the site and visit often thus the subject line…here goes.
I realize this has come up but I’ve never heard a reasonable answer as to why there is no IM in Texas or California. Either location would sell out in no time and I’m sure the pro field at either venue would be deep.The argument for Califorinia is obvious. To make matters worse, they took away the one that was there. When they couldn’t come to an agreement with Camp Pendleton, why wasn’t the event moved somewhere else in the state that the sport was born in. Instead it was moved to Utah which, as I recall, didn’t seem to work out too well.
Also, I truly believed in 1999 when they added the 3 US venues that Texas would just be a matter of time based on geography if nothing else. Coming on 10 years later, the 2 states that have arguably accounted for the most participants over the past 10 years don’t have an IM in their own “back yard”. For the majorty of the state of Tx. driving is really not an option to any event which makes the sport even more cost prohibitive than it already is. The shortest drive from a major Tx. City to an IM event is Houston to Panama City which would take 10-12 hours. If you live in South/central tx. you could add anywhere from 3 to 10 hours just to get out of the state in any direction other than mexico. I’m sure I’ll get called out on my numbers but the majority of Tx. participants come out of Austin, Houston, the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area and San Antonio. If there was an Im anywhere near one of those cities I’d be willing to bet it would be at half capacity in no time with people from Tx. alone.
Yes I live in Texas and yes I’m whining but I really would like to hear from somebody within the organization past or present (I don’t even know who it is anymore) or somebody close to the decision makers to give me a decent explanation why neither of state has an IM of their own.
Austin would be great…but I am sure it has been looked into already and for some reason or another isn’t going to happen.
My ideal Ironman Austin would include:
Same transition area as CapTex (south side of Town Lake, just across from Downtown)
Swim in Town Lake (1 or 2 loops…I’m not sure how far it goes)
Bike - 1 or 2 loops, heading either south, west, or east out of town. East would get you to the Longhorn course. West would get you to absolutely beautiful scenery, with a bit more hills (ok HUGE hills coming from this flatlander). South wouldn’t be too bad either, but west would be the prettiest.
Run - do 2 loops of the current half course at the marathon. Great course, challenging hills, runs through great parts of austin, and have Ironman finish on Congress, right in the middle of downtown, or even on south 1st…I’d take either.
I don’t think I’d enjoy doubling either of those courses…
Neither are super spectator friendly either. I’ve been to CDA, FL, and AZ, and they all have things to do (restaurants, shops, bars, etc) within walking distance of transition for spectators that spend 12-17 hours there during the day. I haven’t been to Buffalo Springs, but I just can’t imagine there being much to do there, and Decker Lake (longhorn) can only keep you entertained for so long.
Austin would be great…but I am sure it has been looked into already and for some reason or another isn’t going to happen.
My ideal Ironman Austin would include:
Same transition area as CapTex (south side of Town Lake, just across from Downtown)
Swim in Town Lake (1 or 2 loops…I’m not sure how far it goes)
Bike - 1 or 2 loops, heading either south, west, or east out of town. East would get you to the Longhorn course. West would get you to absolutely beautiful scenery, with a bit more hills (ok HUGE hills coming from this flatlander). South wouldn’t be too bad either, but west would be the prettiest.
Run - do 2 loops of the current half course at the marathon. Great course, challenging hills, runs through great parts of austin, and have Ironman finish on Congress, right in the middle of downtown, or even on south 1st…I’d take either.
In “theory” that sounds great but the logistics of the bike course make that near impossible. There’s no way you can shut down or have a bike course open for that long going through downtown Austin. It would be cool but it’s not going to happen.
they shutdown parts of houston, new york, and boston for marathons…
Austin would be great…but I am sure it has been looked into already and for some reason or another isn’t going to happen.
My ideal Ironman Austin would include:
Same transition area as CapTex (south side of Town Lake, just across from Downtown)
Swim in Town Lake (1 or 2 loops…I’m not sure how far it goes)
Bike - 1 or 2 loops, heading either south, west, or east out of town. East would get you to the Longhorn course. West would get you to absolutely beautiful scenery, with a bit more hills (ok HUGE hills coming from this flatlander). South wouldn’t be too bad either, but west would be the prettiest.
Run - do 2 loops of the current half course at the marathon. Great course, challenging hills, runs through great parts of austin, and have Ironman finish on Congress, right in the middle of downtown, or even on south 1st…I’d take either.
In “theory” that sounds great but the logistics of the bike course make that near impossible. There’s no way you can shut down or have a bike course open for that long going through downtown Austin. It would be cool but it’s not going to happen.
