And there we go...WTC breaks into the Olympic Distance scene

US schedule:

March 13	Miami International Triathlon (Miami, Fla.)
May 1	St. Anthony’s Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
May 15	5150 New Orleans (New Orleans, La.)
May 22	Memphis in May Triathlon (Tunica, Miss.)
June 19	Washington D.C. Triathlon (Washington, D.C.)
June 25	5150 Provo (Provo, Utah)
July 10	Boulder Peak Triathlon (Boulder, Colo.)
August 7	Nautica New York City Triathlon (New York, N.Y.)
September 4	Hy-Vee Triathlon/5150 U.S. Championship (Des Moines, Iowa)
September 11	5150 Lake Lanier (Gainesville, Ga.)
October 2	5150 Lake Las Vegas (Henderson, Nev.)
October 23	5150 Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
November 12	5150 Clearwater/5150 Series Finale (Clearwater, Fla.)

No race in Socal? Seriously.....bummer.

Wow. I am *really* ambivalent about WTC and I don't think this helps.

Yep, just read that article this evening.

Bet the Lifetime Fitness folks who hold the US Open Triathlon here in Dallas aren't so happy about another Olympic-distance championship, seeming that they dub their race the "Ultimate Tri Championship." I'm assuming the branding of the event will end up pulling pro's out of that race circuit due to sponsorship agreements.

(Posted my not so positive and -too lengthy to include without fear of hijacking this thread- thoughts about it here)

There's a few races, race series, and RDs already who aren't so happy.

5150? That's my favorite Van Halen album!

I won't say that this necessarily a bad thing, but WTC is starting to have a Wal-Mart/Starbucks-esque type feel to them. Big corporate company coming in to take over the local mom and pop shop.

Interesting about the Clearwater date - historically the weekend of the 70.3 Championship. I wonder if this signals that they are definitely moving the 70.3 race to a new venue/city since their commitment to Clearwater ends this year.

Edited by Barkeep 2010-10-05 11:09 PM

You know, I really like you. You're a positive thinker. Do take care of yourself and your ankle!

In some of the circles I run around in (not the athletes one--although sometimes) 5150 is NOT a good thing.

5150 I believe is a police radio code number. Crazy person I think? I forget...

Isn't it an involuntary commitment?  72 hour hold or something?  House last night.

Yep, that would be it

I frankly think this is hilarious, but I suppose not that many people would get it.

Then again ...

Interesting....

Also interesting that they got the NYC tri.  That used to be a part of the Life Time Fitness tri series.

WTC ran the Boulder Triathlon Series this year. Sprint, oly, HIM. It seems like since their massive expansion into HIMs went so well it's only natural they would keep expanding into other distances. People continue to vote with their dollars to support these races and it's not at all surprising to see what they're doing.

If people would like to have other choices they need to support the other races.

Wow, so Hy-Vee is moving from June to September and, I guess, dropping it's affiliation with ITU?  I personally enjoyed the ITU racing and I think they will lose out on spectators as a result of an all non-draft legal Tri. 

I guess they could still do the non draft race in the AM and the ITU in the afternoon, but it doesn't seem likely. 

Entry fees were $125 last year.  $250 this year?

Not necessarily a bad thing. I've done >10 WTC races and they do them well. I've done a few races put on by other race directors also done well. And I've been at a couple ran by Larry, Mo, and Curly.

Well, kids, every time there's a thread here about doing an M-Dot iron distance race vs. an independent one, there's always what strikes me as an irrational pro-WTC sentiment running through them.  This is where all the Kool-Aid slurping leads:  The WalMart-ization of triathlon.  If the WTC events are worth spending the extra money on at the IM and 70.3 distance, surely people will be equally happy to spend some extra coin for the M-Dot brand on a bunch of Olys (not even an "M-Dot," though...just an "I-Dot," it seems...as in "5i50^TM"...how cute).

I spent about the same to do the independent Full Vineman (with the 3-for-2 promotion they run every year) as I did the Vineman "Ironman 70.3"...despite pretty much the same event production for both.  Maybe we won't see the same price inflation with these "5i50^TM" races...anyone want to put down a little wager on that prospect?

I don't get it...shouldn't it be called 51.5, or 51,500?

1.5+40+10 <> 5150....and 1,500+40,000+10,000 <> 5150

Now if they're going to make the race a 150m swim, 4000m bike, and 1000m run...I get it.  Or if they make it a 150k swim, 5000k bike, and a 1000k run...but that would take forever to finish.

It's in decameters...

From Urban Dictionary.....

5150? Is Eddie Van Halen competing?

I wonder what this will do to the price of these Olys... well, I'm certain they'll increase, but by how much ?

But if you were on a music forum, wouldn't you be inclined to discuss the reasons you don't like their music, and, conversely, the reasons you would buy and recommend the music of other groups?

My primary goals for directing the race I just did were to provide a good value for the participants and raise a little money for charity. I really don't think either of these would be found among the WTC's primary goals.