White Lake Half (Page 4)

I think a mid/late september HIM would do even better.  Why have no HIM tuneup for B2B full within your own production company? WL in the fall would actually be quite a good primer for B2B with similar terrain.  Our fall HIM's consist of Augusta (expensive), FS (100 people), Outer Banks (100 people), and Williamsburg.

Plus, they seem to always do WL the same day as the Charleston HIM which is confusing since they both draw from the same athlete base.  Add Raleigh and that is a lot of HIM in a short period in the spring.

Not that I will ever be allowed to go back to White Lake (per Wife's orders), I am sure others would.

dp

White Lake is like taking a vacation in a 1950's trailer park. No offense to the folks that that live there (they are very nice) but the place aint exactly our type of place to take a long weekend and race (plus it isn't cheap). 

The "hotel" we stayed at for one WL HIM was literly a single wide converted into two "hotel" rooms for like $90/nt.  Three weekends out there over two years was more than enough.

My idea of an enjoyable race sites is along the lines of OBX (where I will be next next week doing the HIM), Savannah, Charleston, Chicago, San Fran, Portland, NYC, etc.  But different strokes for different folks!

For us, too many places in the world I haven't raced that have a lot more appeal, even if it costs a bit more.

I'll be honest, I was expecting an explanation involving the heat, bad roads and pig trucks!

I can deal with the other stuff if we have an ideal place to stay.  I spend a lot more time eating, drinking a few beers, sipping coffee, and relaxing at a race city that I do racing.  White Lake doesnt even have a place to get a beer OR coffee (or a decent restaurant)!

At the moment they have the White Lake International around the 10th of Sept, so that would have to be eliminated or moved.

What would be great is keep WL International as a tune up race for WL HIM in the fall.  Only problem "if" WL were moved to the fall, it could be a problem since Augusta 70.3 falls at the end of Sept.  That race "could" take away from a fall WL HIM.  Plus B2B HIM is pretty popular as well. It seems like there are so many races now it's hard for them not to fall so close together.

Another option would be to swap WL International dates with WL HIM.  That would actually make the most sense.  Athletes could use WL international and a nice early season tune up race for Raleigh 70.3.  Plus, the weather probably wouldn't be as much of an issue since it's a shorter race and you wouldn't be out on the course as long as the HIM.    

If they did that you could have an early fall HIM that wouldn't interfere much with the Augusta 70.3 or B2B.  Heck- some people might do multiple HIM's in the fall if they are spaced appropriately- you never know.

Hmmm...I think I might be onto something

Members of my trip club were discussing this at our last get together. Swapping the two races makes a lot of sense.

I like that idea.

I'm not going to make it to the banquet. Please make sure that someone keeps us updated here.

New date and Time, but is  there going to be an Olympic/International distance that 1st weekend of May??????????

White Lake Half will be April 6, 2013!!!!!

This will almost guarantee a wetsuit swim.

The bike course change is in place to take advantage of the newly paved Hwy 701.  The racers at the White Lake International last month got the benefit of this, like Dazed&Confused mentioned.  Rumor has it that Hwy 53 will be paved as well, but that remains to be seen.  The other road, Hwy 210, was in pretty good shape this year.

The run course will not change (as far as I know) but with the race being a month earlier, that should really help with the carnage that the heat usually causes.

The last piece of the puzzle is the start time.  Set Up is trying for a 10 am start time.  They want to allow more people to be able to drive in morning of the race and also make it so that the start temperatures are not so cold.

Also, if you are interested in the new Set Up Cup, White Lake Half is one of the qualifier races (along with Azalea Sprint and Pinehurst International in the NC Triathlon Series).

ETA:  The traditional White Lake weekend in early May will be kept with an olympic/international distance race on Saturday and sprint distance race on Sunday.

From the website:

The 2013 event date will be announced on November 1, 2012 along with the specific date and time for online registration.

Online registration for the 2013 event will open on November 12, 2012.

Another alternative might be the Belews Lake Olympic, which should be around 4 weeks prior to Raleigh.  That too will be announced on Nov. 1.

http://www.setupevents.com/?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2039

The Belews Lake International could be a good race for some as prep for IM 70.3 Raleigh, but it is too soon after White Lake Half.  I would imagine that many athletes are going to do this schedule:

April 6: White Lake Half

May 4: White Lake International

June 2: IM 70.3 Raleigh

Nice spacing with 4 weeks between each race.

Louis & Patrick,

I agree that a mid April international distance race at Belews Lake would be a perfect prep race for someone doing IM 70.3 Raleigh.

If the Set Up Events race schedule for 2013 had remained similar to this year, I'm sure lots of people would do those two races (and many still will do those two races).

But, Set Up really "rocked the boat" by introducing the Set Up Cup (and designating White Lake Half as one of the qualifier races) and by making the previously announced changes to White Lake Half.

I have finished White Lake Half 3x and I am signed up for IM 70.3 Raleigh.  Originally, I had no intention of doing White Lake Half in 2013, but now the opportunity is too enticing to pass up.  I think many people are going to want to do White Lake Half the first weekend in April to see what effect cooler temps will have on their finish times.  Plus, the course change is nice and I, for one, am looking forward to a race where I don't have to get up at 4:00 am for once.

Alan