Per various IM Facebook pages. There’s a teaser post from IM about a new race announcement. The teaser obscures most of the race logo/banner but it obviously has “Lou†in it.
Louisiana?
Louisiana?
Nobody is clamoring for that race to return.
A good chunk of my tri team is down there. August is the rumored time.
Gonna be a hot race!
Screenshot attached
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A good chunk of my tri team is down there. August is the rumored time.
Gonna be a hot race!
The original IM Lou was in August if memory serves. Always a scorcher.
Louisiana In August? um, no.
*edited for clarity
The wording of the teaser post also makes it obvious it’s Louisville
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Louisville in August, after Ohio in late July, and before Madison, Michigan, and Muncie in September. That’s quite a few options for someone in the Midwest.
A good chunk of my tri team is down there. August is the rumored time.
Gonna be a hot race!
The original IM Lou was in August if memory serves. Always a scorcher.
You are correct. I did IM Louisville in August 2011 & 2012. We got lucky with the weather in 2011 but 2012 was one of the notorious miserable days. The trend was for the even years to be the worst. There are horror stories from 08, 10, 12 & 14 (even from the pros).
Ironman can’t contain themselves when they see a potential downriver race site
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Looks like a press conference is set for 2pm to announce this race. Interestingly, the discontinued full IM race had the fleur de lis as its symbol…the new 70.3 will have a horse & rider instead.
I was there in 2014 - such a miserable day, but would do anything for them to bring back the IM in August. It was a war of attrition.
A good chunk of my tri team is down there. August is the rumored time.
Gonna be a hot race!
The original IM Lou was in August if memory serves. Always a scorcher.
I never got to do the full IM. But would seriously consider doing a 70.3 in Sept or October. Louisville sounds like a fun city to visit.
I was there in 2014 - such a miserable day, but would do anything for them to bring back the IM in August. It was a war of attrition.
My first of three IMLOUs was '14. I remember how much it stormed the day and night before the race. The river was running fast and furious making it really tough on the upstream segment and super fast on the downstream. I didn’t think the heat of the day was too bad until I made the turn for the second half of the run. I went through an intersection around mile 14 and the heat felt just like an oven with it coming off the blacktop. That was the end of any running and the start of the IM shuffle/walk/puke and repeat. I finished the race but was in the medical tent for several hours getting rehydrated. The October versions were much cooler 
That said, I think I could race half of that - a 70.3 even if it is in August.
I never got to do the full IM. But would seriously consider doing a 70.3 in Sept or October. Louisville sounds like a fun city to visit.
Because what we need is another fall race in the mid-west/northern south when weather has chance to be hot, nice, cold, raining, sunny or all of the above at the same time. At least in the summer it’ll be hot and you’ll know it’ll be hot and it’s a 70.3 so you’re not still out there at 5pm in the worst heat of the day. Stick it in the summer where there’re many fewer long races to choose from rather than clogging up the fall some more. Steelhead is gone, clearing the way for a June replacement or August, where there’s a single IM branded race (IM Ca).
IM Fall races relevant to North Americans
Wisco Full - Sept
Wisco 70.3 - Sept
Chatt Full - Sept
Michigan 70.3 - Sept
Augusta 70.3 - Sept
New York 70.3 - Sept
IM 70.3 Worlds - Sept/Oct
IM Worlds - Sept/Dec
Muncie 70.3 - Sept/Oct
Memphis 70.3 - Oct
Waco 70.3 - Oct
NC 70.3 - Oct
IM Cal - Oct
IM Arizona - Nov
IM Florida - Nov
I did all three of my full Ironman races in Louisville in August (2008, 2009, 2010). The heat was AWFUL. I got off the bike on two of the events and it was 93 and 94 degrees (2008, 2010). Even training all summer in nearby Lexington didn’t fully prep me for that heat. It felt like running through a wool blanket. The middle even, 2009, I got off the bike in 73 degrees, and since the first few blocks are shaded by the taller buildings, it felt great. Predictably, I overcooked the first few miles.
I imagine that the far reaches of the bike course, out in Shelby County, were harder to manage and support. A shorter bike route could alleviate lots of those issues. The old run course was a 2-loop course, so if they chop one loop, the course stays the same.
I did all three of my full Ironman races in Louisville in August (2008, 2009, 2010). The heat was AWFUL. I got off the bike on two of the events and it was 93 and 94 degrees (2008, 2010). Even training all summer in nearby Lexington didn’t fully prep me for that heat. It felt like running through a wool blanket. The middle even, 2009, I got off the bike in 73 degrees, and since the first few blocks are shaded by the taller buildings, it felt great. Predictably, I overcooked the first few miles.
I imagine that the far reaches of the bike course, out in Shelby County, were harder to manage and support. A shorter bike route could alleviate lots of those issues. The old run course was a 2-loop course, so if they chop one loop, the course stays the same.
I’ll be interested to see the new course maps. If I’m not mistaken, the last few years of the full iron distance race, the run did not go out around Churchill Downs like you & I are used to. I believe the run mostly utilized a trail system that ran along the river.
Loures? Lououm? Loudi? Louga?
https://www.ironman.com/im703-louisville
Aug 18 in Louisville
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