Looks like they want to get this off the ground with a lot of slots at events (Half UK on Sept 11th this year will be the first qualifier and I’m going) for the Florida event and due to this being in November is it fair to assume that the 1/2 Worlds will be run alongside Florida’s full distance event ? Will they still get a decent pro field ?
It appears that these events will no longer be qualifiers for the Hawaii (full) Ironman championships. Does that mean that if you want to qualify for Hawaii, ya gotta do an IM? Bummer.
just wondering if they will still qualify for other IM races? Rather than signing up a year in advance
Did I just read that correctly that the Half World Champ will be in Florida? Isn’t it flat flat flat there? Why not mix it up with some challenging hills and make it a Champ. for an all around athlete, not jsut someone who can grind out on the flats…or are there some good hills in Florida?
M~
There are hills in Florida. More towards the interior of the state. Ask anyone who’s done the Great Floridian.
Bring on the flats baby!
There actually are hills in Florida, as Brian notes - mostly short, but very steep buggers located in Central Florida, and some in the Tallahassee area. These hills make the Clermont tris (Great Floridian, the 1/2 and olys course) very difficult. The Disney course also has some decent rollers. I thought the WTC was contemplating a 1/2 in Clearwater, and their announcement talks about a beach resort, so my guess is that Clearwater will be the target. That is also very close to their corporate HQ in Tarpon Springs, for whatever that is worth. Clearwater would in fact be dead-pan flat and fast. Weather would also be perfect in November. Hopefully they will not cancel, move or resceduled IMF. Panama City is a great venue and that time of the year is perfect for IM.
My guess is that WTC will eliminate the 1/2 as a qualifier for Kona. Smart business move, really, regardless of whether we like it. They force greater participation in qualifying IMs, and then create a new demand for the 1/2 IMs by setting up a “World Championship”. Will be interesting to see how this takes off. My hunch is that they will do quite well.
Presumably the qualifying slots from the 1/2 IM qualifiers will be re-distributed to the full IM events, no?
I am missing where WTC said that the 1/2 Ironman races will NOT qualify you for Kona in 2006? So, that means NO qualifying at Blackwater (BUMMER!), Buffalo Springs, 1/2 IM Florida, etc…?
Can someone clarify and is this rumor or fact? Thanks! I don’t want to do a FULL IM to qualify for Kona again.
I am missing where WTC said that the 1/2 Ironman races will NOT qualify you for Kona in 2006? So, that means NO qualifying at Blackwater (BUMMER!), Buffalo Springs, 1/2 IM Florida, etc…?
Can someone clarify and is this rumor or fact? Thanks! I don’t want to do a FULL IM to qualify for Kona again.
Just seems to make sense that if Eagleman is now a 70.3 (how stupid is that?!?) qualifier, then it won’t also be a 140.6 qualifier.
Thanks Ken.
I agree with you even though I hope that is not the truth!!! I guess only time will tell!
Is there a website for this 70.3?
COOL! I now have a 2006’ goal! 
The St. Pete’s/Tampa papers are making it sound like Clearwater is the confirmed site for the 1/2 WC. There have been a couple of posts with links to the story here in the past few days.
It seems that if you wish to qualify for IM World Champs in Kona, you will need to qualify at an IM. The following link should clarify things.
Article from SPTimes Clearwater pumped up to host Ironman race The event will be the world championship of the arduous, half-length Ironman race.By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published June 18, 2005
A scaled-down version of the Ironman, perhaps the world’s best known endurance competition, is coming to Clearwater next year.
The inaugural Clearwater Half Ironman World Championship would launch from Sand Key Park and circle mid Pinellas County.
Made up of a 1.2-mile ocean swim, a 56-mile bike race and a 13.1-mile run, the annual event would be half the distance of the traditional Ironman World Championship, which is televised from Hawaii each fall.
Executives with the World Triathlon Corporation in Tarpon Springs said they hope to build a similar following in Clearwater. They asked for and received support Thursday from the City Council and expect to make a formal announcement about the race next month.
The race could attract thousands of people during November, typically a slow tourist month.
Some 2,500 racers from around the world will spend a week or more in the area, race officials say. City officials already have determined they will need 10,000 hotel room nights for the event. Carole Ketterhagen, executive director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the area will be see millions of dollars in economic impact, though she could not provide a more precise figure.
Steve Meckfessel, an Ironman executive who formerly coordinated the St. Anthony’s Triathlon, said organizers are talking with television networks about broadcasting the event.
“You can’t put a price on what two hours of network exposure may be worth,” said Clearwater City Council member Hoyt Hamilton.
Race and city officials are still working out details of a contract, which city officials hope will keep the event in Clearwater through at least 2011. Meckfessel said Ironman hopes to extend the partnership beyond that, building a tradition similar to Ironman’s Hawaii race.
“We’re looking to establish that same economic return and visibility for Clearwater,” Meckfessel said.
A mix of swimming, cycling and running, Ironman is viewed as one of the world’s toughest physical tests.
Racers will qualify through events around the world for the Clearwater championship. The first qualifying race will take place in the United Kingdom in September, Meckfessel said.
The championship in Clearwater would follow in November 2006.
For the past 16 years, the Ironman trademark has been owned by local entrepreneur and ophthalmologist Dr. James P. Gills, founder of St. Luke’s Cataract & Laser Institute in Tarpon Springs and builder of the Trinity community in southwest Pasco County.
An accomplished athlete, Gills, 70, is the only man to have completed six double Ironman triathlons and five Hawaii Ironman triathlons.
His son, Pit Gills, approached Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard to gauge the city’s interest in holding an Ironman championship.
Race officials have said they chose Clearwater because of its proximity to the Ironman headquarters and the city’s big development plans. By then, the new Clearwater Memorial Causeway bridge should be open, work on the city’s $16.2-million Beach Walk restoration program would be ongoing and several new luxury Clearwater Beach hotels should be under construction.
“The world can see our progress,” Hibbard said.
Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Dunbar said as the event grows, he hopes to turn it into a weeklong celebration, with concerts and other parties.
The first race may cost the city as much as $84,000, but Hibbard and others think they’ll be able to find corporate sponsorships to offset the costs. The largest cost, about $52,500, is for police officers to close off the course on race day.
Dunbar said roads will be affected only on race day, a Saturday.
A race map is not yet available, but racers would start with the swim in the waters off Sand Key Park, then bike south along the barrier islands. Dunbar said. They would head east across the county toward the Courtney Campbell Parkway, then west toward Dunedin’s Edgewater Drive. The final 13.1-mile run would go through Clearwater, over the new bridge and back toward the park and the finish line.
“Can you imagine seeing all those athletes crossing that beautiful bridge?” Ketterhagen said. “It’s a great event for Clearwater. The size of it is incredible. The venue is absolutely perfect. We’re thrilled.”
Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 445-4160 or asharockman@sptimes.com
I think it sounds pretty cool. Coppenhagen or Monacco would be a cool destination 1/2. Plus I am way too slow to qualify for Hawaii at a full IM or be in the top 2 in my age group at Eagleman or a 1/2 IM with 30 Kona slots. However, a 1/2 IM with 100 slots, where a lot of people who qualify won’t take them - that’s a possibility and a realistic goal for 2006.
“Ironman 70.3”…what does this mean? Can you now hear, “Congratulations, you’re an Ironman 70.3” when you cross the finish line?
Why not rebadge Olympic distance “Ironman 32” while they’re at it 
I think it will augment the confusion of triathletes and others about what an Ironman triathlon really is…
For 2006 you will see some of the Half - Ironman races will still have slots to Kona … beyond that right now it is speculation. You can speculate and start rumors past 2006 all you want … but for the 2006 season there will still be some Kona spots available.
Yep lets go, go, GO !!!
Let’s say all the slots were taken… I doubt they would.
But at 12 races, that’s 1200 slots!
A 1200 person field at a Half Ironman (screw thier 70.3 moniker)!!! You thought your WTC IM event was crowded…