M-Dot in Charlotte?

No,

But I'll certainly keep the radar up, I'd love to have an M-Dot right down the road in Charlotte - would actually give me something to train for and motivate me again.

I hear Lake Norman has several excellent swim venues, there are numerous Sprint Tri's held in the area...

I haven't heard anything but that would be awesome.  They do have Augusta 70.3 which is only 2 1/2 hours away.  It would make sense given the fact that the most popular HIMs in NC (White Lake on 2 weekends and B2B) all sell out pretty quickly so I'm sure an Ironman branded race would as well depending on the time of year.

Thats the rumor going around today...

Would be pretty sweet as far as travel goes.  Not sure when they would plan it though with White Lake in May, Augusta in Sept, and B2B in November.  As we learned this year, June can be brutal hot.  October?

I am thinking WTC does not give a hoot about White Lake or B2B and would/could schedule something at the same time as those events. with the pull of M-dot they would not have any concern about those 2 races lowering thier numbers. The only conflict they would avoid is with Augusta because that is theirs.
Hell Augusta is one of the reasons that Duke HIM is no longer.

Yeah, I would much rather do a half here at home than traveling to White Lake or Wilmington.  No travel, my family could come, so much easier logistically.

Hope they go Fall.  Too many hours on my trainer this year for White Lake!   Late October would be sweet.

Oh Cool!  I wonder how soon this would transpire, if indeed it is true.

I think an M-dot 70.3 in Charlotte would be an AWESOME idea. The only thing they would have to worry about is timing; not in regards to other races but weather considerations. I think something in the late September - early October range would be PERFECT!!!

awww, they don't care about weather, think about IM China or Texas

I don't think that they worry too much about the weather... I think it's more about what unique/ challenging attributes make the venue and race.

Look at IM Championships: "The original Ironman is held in conditions which are uniquely punishing for endurance racing: the Hawaii water is warm enough that buoyant wetsuits are not allowed; the cycling course is normally crossed by strong and gusting winds; and the marathon leg of the race is usually extremely hot. Other races under the WTC aegis have their own difficulties, characteristic of their setting and season. " wikipedia

Agree grkid.  The popularity of White Lake and B2B along with all of the other well attended events here would actually be an attraction for WTC.  They would want to be in this market chasing customers at $500-$600 each.

Greg?????????????

This user's post has been ignored.

Exactly.  WTC did that with the Augusta 70.3- scheduled it the same weekend as Setup's SC HIM. This year setup changed the date of the SC HIM which had been set in stone for years.   The Augusta 70.3 drew a lot of the participants away from the SC HIM which was a pretty popular independent race prior to the Augusta 70.3 since it was fairly close to Augusta.

If you are looking for a good 70.3 in SC, then look no further than Setup's Charleston race in May.  I did it this past May and it was one of the best races I have ever done.  The entire race course is top notch (with a short little exception of bumpy road on the bike).  The run course was great because it was on paved running paths and anytime that traffic might have been an issue at an intersection, there were uniformed police officers stopping traffic for the athletes.  I look forward to running it again next year.   

double post  

Edited by Wojo14 2010-08-14 9:34 PM

It is going to happen and will be an MDot event. I think they are shooting for August which is going to be brutally hot.

What/who is your source?

Ugh- seriously?  That stinks.  I was hoping it would be in the fall or spring when temps are cooler.

There is 0.0% chance I would do an 70.3 in Charlotte in August.  White Lake was hot enough and there was little/no humidity at that time of year.  I can't get in a 5 mile run @ 10am without wanting to kill myself.  13 miles starting at 10am would be unbearable.   Just yesterday at 11am, the dew point was 76*.  Your body can't cool at that temp.   

Right now, the water temp in LKN is 88.5 degrees.  Who the hell wants to swim 1.2m in that?  

I think an August 70.3 in Charlotte would be a disaster waiting to happen.  If it would be a summer like this year, people would be littered all over the side of the road.  Stupid stupid idea, IMHO...but then again, they didn't ask me.  

If they can get enough people to do this...god bless em.

X2 to all of that....except I MIGHT still do it.  You know, just because it's HERE.  But geez, why can't they just push it back about 30-45 days.  It would make sooooo much difference.  You are right about the run, it would be brutal.

Greg

I say bring the heat!  We'll know all summer what we are in for and we can adjust our training.  Heat is easy, its the humdity that beats you down.  Obviously there will be many more unprepared people there and that is going to be a challenge for the race operators.  Personnally it would just be another challenge to get ready for.  The Y has lanes that are over 80.  Training runs would be done at lunch. And I would break out the long sleeve black jersey for long rides.  The rest is about Hydration.  And there are so many options to use there.  And like all other challenges I would end saying that I did it, I did it slow, but I did it.  Actually I'm biased because after my pre dawn training I spend 9 to 10 hours working outside everyday and my worst day training is always better than my best day working. The race is just a target on the calender.  Or maybe I should keep my mouth shut until I complete my first HIM, (washington or B2B if I can get in registration reopen 9/1).  Either way the training is on and it hasn't been cool.

Go read the race reports for this years White Lake HIM (either weekend) and see how the heat effected us.  It was brutal hot (90*) and that was with low humidty.   It sucked the life out of you on the run.   I can't imagine doing the same distance with humidty in the "oppressive" range.

It is one thing to train in the heat, another to be going in zone 4 for 5+ hours. 

Hydration is important but when the dew point is 75*, your body doesn't evaporate sweat and your skin can't cool.  You then push more blood to the skin in order to cool it and then less goes to your legs.  I have had two bouts of heat exhaustion on runs of 17 and 19 miles this summer and I was plenty hydrated with gatorade and Nuun (had 8oz every 2 miles). 


?
Not too many people that just want to suffer through 70.3 for the sake of suffering.  Sure there are some, but you aren't going to get your average joe that is going to want to pay $250 for the chance of a sufferfest.?

I did Eagleman this year where it was 97 degrees (106 with the humidity).  While I would love a 70.3 in Charlotte if it is anything like Eagleman weather-wise there is no way I would do it.  The run portion was so brutal. I could see people doing it out of convenience but otherwise there are much more enjoyable 70.3 races (B2B, Augusta, Patriots).