NYC Triathlon cancelled (1)

Triathlon Forum
21

you obviously are somehow affiliated with the nyc tri so why don’t you just say it? the race was not “extremely well run” in the early years as many people almost died in the first year when the swim was held far out in an enormous current so many people were unable to make it over to the exit ramp and had to be plucked by the NYPD in boats before they reached the Statue of Liberty. the run course constantly changes to the point that it feels like every year the run course is different. entrant numbers dwindled to i think below 1,000 total and the race almost went under. it has been sold multiple times (nautica had it at one point too) and now is known more as a bucket list race for people who want to say they did a race in nyc. it also should be noted that it not only historically gives no support to pros (in terms of transportation or accommodations) but it also usually does not even announce who the pros are so the public has no idea who is racing. it’s hard to attract good pros if any prize money they earn will just be offset by the costs of doing the race.

i want the race to make it because it’s great having a race in nyc but it has hardly been the gem you want others to believe it is.

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22

I’m not affiliated with them in any way, other than I have raced a dozen times. I just asked a friend and he helped me remember – John Korff started it and ran it for many years. Nautica was just a sponsor. But John was great, you could always get him on the phone, he would help athletes personally with various issues, etc… He really cultivated the event. He also organized the one and only NYC Ironman race, which I also raced and thought was great. But it was a huge challenge to put that race on, and Ironman never ran it again for financial reasons. Also too bad.

That was my only point, I just think they could have made more an effort to keep this race on the calendar because its great having a tri in nyc. One guy can make it happen, now it just seems corporate took over and they dont care about NY.

23

Yea, that is total conjecture, and not in any way true.
NYC Triathlon has been held for over 22 years now, and last year attracted over 2k racers. Many pro athletes race it, including Tim O’Donnell last year. It is iconic because you get to swim in the Hudson, ride your bike along the West Side highway, then run in Central Park.
In past years the demand so high they had to institute a lottery to get in. It is definitely a challenging race to put on in NYC, but it was extremely well run for many years — they’ve just had a string of hot weather in the past few years. They could still find a weekend for the race, this is just a new organization that doesnt care to put in a little effort. I’m sorry, it’s just a lame excuse.

Anyone find it interesting that SuperLeague err SuperTri has bought a bunch of “iconic” races and are running into issues with many of them. Sucks that a company that is a triathlon company that wants to grow the sport vs gym memberships is just hitting a bunch of walls. Also, if they asked me I would have told them to avoid NYC…

24

Yea, that is total conjecture, and not in any way true.
NYC Triathlon has been held for over 22 years now, and last year attracted over 2k racers. Many pro athletes race it, including Tim O’Donnell last year. It is iconic because you get to swim in the Hudson, ride your bike along the West Side highway, then run in Central Park.
In past years the demand so high they had to institute a lottery to get in. It is definitely a challenging race to put on in NYC, but it was extremely well run for many years — they’ve just had a string of hot weather in the past few years. They could still find a weekend for the race, this is just a new organization that doesnt care to put in a little effort. I’m sorry, it’s just a lame excuse.

What, you don’t think the city of NY is having budget problems?

Contrary to what you probably hear in the rest of the country, no, NY is not having any more or less budget problems than they’ve always had.

It’s become insidious how everything these day devolves into a political debate. I’m discussing a triathlon race, why do you feel the need to slam NYC.

I’m literally lol’ing at your second paragraph. I merely made a factual statement that NYC is having budget shortfalls, with the implication that it’s a possibility that they would cut back on services provided to the race promoters as a contributing factor in the decision to cancel the race, and YOU decide that it was a political statement and/or intended to slam NYC. Like you said, lots of cities are having problems, so you should appreciate that it wasn’t a knock on NYC, just a statement of fact.

The insidious devolution into politics started with you.

No, read the article I posted, the organizers said they were working with the city, trying to find a date. Nothing to do with the city or budgets. If anything SuperTri would probably lose money on a smaller turnout so they cancelled the race. This race was extremely well run before Lifetime took it over, this is just total mismanagement, with no real communications from SuperTri. I’ve reached out to them but have heard nothing.

That’s fine and dandy, but… you hadn’t posted the link when I made my first comment AND my most recent comment had f’ all of nothing to do with the race itself, but rather I was laughing at you complaining about this somehow devolving into a political debate. Up until you made that comment, there was nothing political about the various posts. You started the very thing you were complaining about.

25

Actually I raced in that first NYC tri totally in Central Park, a sprint with the swim in the pool.//

The first NY city triathlon was held in 1983 I believe, it was called the Crystal Lite Triathlon. It was a huge pro race with about $50k in prize money, and had network TV coverage. We swam from the Liberty statue, and then rode on a closed 3 lane fwy out and back, then ran in Central Park. For me and all the other pros, it was an iconic course, when the hell other time would you ever get to do that stuff on that course? I think Sally Edwards was hired as the RD, not sure who the owners were.

But there were issues, we all had to get 3 different shots with proof. before we could race. Typhoid, Tetanus, and Gamagloblin I think they were. That water back then was pretty nasty, but mostly we paid no mind to that kind of stuff as long as we got paid. I guess that is why no swims were ever cancelled back then, you just swam in whatever water they gave you on the day, and it just wasn’t even a thought not to swim…

And as I recall, didnt Bill Burke have something to do with future NY triathlons? Maybe someone else from the area remembers. I think in the long run, it is just too costly to put on a race there and too many hoops one has to jump through, although a guy like Bill probably slides through those hoops pretty easily…

Edit to add: First big pro race, for sure there were small local triathlons in NY before this…Not sure if there were any in or around this venue though.

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26

I raced the NYC tri in 1979 maybe 1980, I have the results flyer somewhere in my garage.

It took place in Brooklyn, the swim was in the ocean (a dozen school busses took us to the start), the bike was an up and back on Coney Island Ave? and the run was on the Coney Island Board Walk. If you want a great surface to run on try running on a board walk.

I did a few more NYC tri’s later on when it moved to Manhattan, running through Manhattan in your Speedo was neat.

Ron

27

This first triathlon in Central Park was in 1988, NY Times covered it:

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/22/sports/on-your-own-a-triathlon-for-novices-and-experts.html

In Central Park this Saturday, the first-ever Central Park Triathlon will provide distances short enough for the first-time triathlete yet taxing enough for the experienced competitor looking for a workout.
‘‘To compete in a triathlon, you don’t have to be a top superstar, buy a $1,200 bicycle and get divorced in order to train,’’ said Daniel Honig, president of the Big Apple Triathlon Club, which is organizing the event with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The Central Park competition, which begins at 7:30 A.M. at the Lasker Pool near 110th St., will consist of a 1/4-mile swim, a 12-mile bicycle race and a 5-mile run, distances that are shorter than the average triathlon.
The entrants in the Central Park Triathlon will swim six lengths of the pool, cycle two complete loops of the park on the outer roadway, and run again around the outer roadway before returning to the finish line at the pool via the 72d St. transverse. The winner is expected to complete the triathlon in one hour."

28

Alpha Win seems to have added an NYC triathlon to the USAT calendar for Oct 10-11, 2025. But I don’t see it anywhere else, including on their own website.

https://member.usatriathlon.org/events/33341
“Alpha Win - Big Apple Triathlon”

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