The rumors are true. We will announce the event officially on or about Oct. 1st. This is the date that the first national ads will run in some of the national tri pubs, and also the date that the event website will be activated.
The inaugural “Beach2Battleship” will take place on Saturday, November 1, 2008 in Wilmington, NC. Registration for the event will begin on January 2nd. We will offer a “full” and a “half”. The race will start at Wrightsville Beach (one of Wilmington’s beach suburbs) and finish at the USS North Carolina (battleship memorial).
We’re very realistic with our goals for this event. We’re painfully aware of the current climate with iron distance racing. WTC and NA Sports do a great job with “Ironmans”. We can’t compete with them and aren’t foolish enough to think that we’ll have those kinds of numbers. We do feel, however, that we can compete with any other non-Ironman branded race anywhere, and that’s our goal; to be the best of the rest.
We have a lot of things going for us;
We (Setup Events) have a tremendous amount of experience in the sport, and enjoy a solid reputation.
We have experience in producing an iron distance race. We produced the Duke Blue Devil for four years (2001-2005). We learned a lot.
We have a perfect venue to stage the race. Wilmington is a tourist destination. It sits on the Atlantic Ocean in southeastern North Carolina, and has some of the most beautiful beaches on the east coast. Being a top tourist destination, Wilmington has an airport, and lots of hotels and restaurants. So the infrastructure is in place for an event of this size.
We have the complete support of local government and civic groups. We presented the idea a coupe of months ago at one meeting that included; the Mayor of Wilmington, the Chairman of New Hanover County Commission, Mayor of Wrightsville Beach, Executive Director of the Chamber, Executive Director of the Visitors & Convention Bureau, head of the Parks & Recreation Dept. This group unanimously and enthusiastically supports the event. This level of support is priceless.
The weather in Wilmington in Oct. /Nov. is absolutely perfect for an iron distance race. The daytime highs are usually in the 70s - lows in the 50s/60s. It’s our driest period of the year, so skis are usually brilliantly sunny. Even though we sit on the ocean, the swim will not be an ocean swim. The swim will take place in salt water, but in a network of channels that comprise part of the intracoastal waterway. Water temperature at that time of the year is usually still around 70 degrees.
All in all, we’re very excited about this challenge. We’ve formed an event committee of about 25 folks and already well into our planning.
Thanks for your interest in the event. We pledge to deliver a memorable and “first-class” experience.
Bill S.
Bill Scott
Setup Events
PO Box 15144
Wilmington, NC 28408
910-458-0299
910-458-0299 (Fax)
From what I remember of Wilmington this is an excellent race venue for anyone who has kids. Especially boys since they have the battleship there for the kids to explore. Plus a boatload of other things to do. Can’t wait to hear what the actual race course will look like.
M~
It’s the salt water that does me in. It makes me nauseous after only 200 meters of swimming. Perhaps, I just have to do more of it to be able to handle it, but I just wimp out and stick to fresh water. It’s too bad because I’d love to do one of their events. I always had my eye on Duke Blue Devil full until they cancelled the full iron race.
I’m excited because Blue Devil was a race I wanted to do and it was cancelled before I got a chance. I was thinking of doing a 100m Ultra next year but may have to change my plans for this.
It all sounds good - except for the date. They will be competing against the Great Floridian, Silverman, and IMFL for people. If they could move this race to June they may have a better chance at attracting people as there will be less competition. Since many people want to do an IM race - Florida sells out almost instantly, and GFT and Silverman are established indie races, trying to hold another race in that time frame could prove to be very difficult.
A full Iron distance and half Iron distance (140.6 and 70.3).
I agree that it is a tough time of the year to have it. I suspect that most of these races are choosing this time as it is at the end of the tourist season and it is a lot easier for these communities to get behind a race like this. It extends the tourist season a little without too much effort on their part.
This is fantastic news!!! Wilmington is a great place to visit, especially in early November when the weather will be perfect. Myself and several other from the Charlotte,NC area were just talking about how we neeed some motivation for the fall, and this will be it.
SetUp already does a great job, so I am sure it is well thought out. The Duke Blue Devil was just a few years too early. Many more people doing tri’s now.
The draw from the Mid-Atlantic states should be good. Pananma City or Wilmington…I’d choose Wilmington.
I love the date, and the location. It might be added to my list for 2009 if I survive the 2008IM I’m entered in and enjoy it enough to do another. I don’t care for mdot or not, however, I would be happier to have about 500 people out there , rather than under 200, as so many non mdot races only seem to get.
