What's the best HIM in Texas

I'm probably the only person who thinks this and will get blasted for it, but I really enjoyed the Austin 70.3.

Granted I only have one data point to give you an opinion from.  I'll hit up a few more in 2012 and can compare better then.

That's almost like asking what bike is best......the answer depends on what you're looking for. Does time of year matter? What kind of challenges do you want to see on the course (hills, heat, wind, or none of the above). Does the number of participants matter? WTC or independent? Time of year?

It really depends what you want and time of year you want to race:

Tall Texan Half: San Antonio in March - very very challenging; not a lot of support; limited participants (90 last year) - if you do this one you can do any one.

Galveston 70.3: April 1st; Good oragnized race - flat; windy; looping run

Buffalo Springs 70.3: Lubbock in June(?) - Hot and very challenging with a lot of big competition from what I hear

Prairieman Half: Sept. Dallas area - don't know much about it. 

Ausitn 70.3: Oct - hills - good organized race

Houston/Conroe: Nov. - Oilman - good local race; moderate bike hills, flat 3-loop run

I think all are good races - you just gotta figure out what works best in your schedule and location and do you want an IM 70.3 race.  Good luck!

Add Kerrville Half.  New race in 2011.  Well run by High five events.  In early October.

There is also a new one for April 2012 in Marble Falls from HITS.  New company/series, new race.  I think Marble Falls is a good place to race (done a long sprint/short Oly there).

I have done Ironstar (now Oilman) in Conroe (2010) and Kerrville (2011).  I have volunteered at Austin 70.3 and have done short races at Decker Lake.

From my experience, all seem well-run.  Last year the Conroe race was cold (38 in the morning) so I have decided that October is my cutoff for racing.  Plus going into November just makes it a really long season for me.

All have 2-4 loops of the run depending on the year.  Also depending on the year, there are some unpaved portions.  Personal opinion, none had very nice run courses in terms of scenery.  That wouldn't be a deciding factor for me, but I wouldn't be excited to run any of those courses regularly.

While I ride out at Decker and don't find the roads all that terrible, my opinion is that I just don't want to spend 6 or 7 hours out there.

Two more in Corpus Christi (HITS and High Five) in April, I think.

By the time you get way south, you could probably do New Orleans 70.3.

BSLT 70.3 !!! Heat, Hills, and Wind. 

The race director calls it a "old school" triathon, not a "starbuck's WTC lovefest". 

Prairieman is in the DFW area.

It is a very well run race.  I've done it a couple of times.

If you don't mind a little driving, Lonestar and Ironstar are good races as well.

He has no problems licensing his race to WTC.  He also has no problems being one of the very few 70.3 races that still offers qualifying slots to WTC's premier event (Kona).  That races affiliation with WTC is the only reason anyone knows about it.  Not like people are clamoring to go to Lubbock.

Just sayin'.

x2

I LOVED Redman and will be back next year for sure!

Haha starbucks....AWSOME RESPONSE! BSLT 70.3 is truly old school. I always tell people if you're in it for the fluff then it's not your race. It's tough as nails and when you're done all that you care about is that you conquered that course!

Galveston is windy, loopy, but still fast. It's a PR course for sure. Austin is challenging and really well run but a lot of people get a little burned out late in the season. My opinion, BSLT is where it's at. Marty knows what she's doing, great RD.

When are you setting up a HIM?

I've been asking Aaron that question for two years now.  It's probably inevitable that OUM puts one on eventually but I think part of the challenge is finding a good date.

Nobody is going to want to do a HIM in the Houston area from June to September.  Nobody will want to do a HIM from mid-November to February.  That pretty much leaves:

March - The weather can still be too cold and sketchy.  Very early in the season so getting people to sign up might be a huge obstacle to overcome.  Too late in the month and your butting up against Texas 70.3.

April - No way they want to compete with Texas 70.3 plus Kemah is that month.

May - No way they want to compete with IMTX.

October - Would be the only really viable option, IMO.  Would also compete with Austin 70.3.

Early November - Oilman is already an established race in the area.

GMan -

The easy answer would be to do it as part of Kemah.  If they did two days like last year they could do the boat thing Sat for the Oly and Sun for the HIM.

Still awfully close to the Galveston and IMTX.

You might get away with early June, or late November.  Yes late November would be cold.... but if Aaron put it on we would show up.  Don't deny it.

He would probably have heaters in the water, and ice baths at the end.

Look at you guys trying to talk me into putting on a HIM. Very clever. We certainly appreciate all the confidence and love for our races.

OK guys so here's the deal.... I would LOVE to put on a HIM. The problem is the work involved. Right now it takes about 3-5 days depending on the event, to setup. That would be relatively close to being the same as it is now even if we changed to a HIM, so not a big deal.

The course signage and cones would double or in some cases triple. I am not one to throw people out on open roads that are unconed and unprotected and let them fend for themselves. So there's the first major issue, as we buy all our gear and rarely rent.

Second is the amount of volunteers needed. To properly do it we'd need upwards of 1,500 volunteers, most of which would have to be adults or kids on shifts. That's going to be a tough sell, but still doable.

The deal breaker is location. The best location is Galveston, which is already taken. Houston is not an option. Kemah would work if they weren't so strict with the road closures and backups. That leaves Katy, Fulshear, or Conroe basically. There aren't bodies of water in Fulshear or Katy that are big enough to handle it. Conroe already has Oilman.

Also, remember that to get the volunteers needed and the participants to register it has to be in a populated area OR a great vacation destination. Unfortunately we're past the days of putting on 400-600 person events. First year we'd need 800-1,000 people in a HIM to make it worth while with the huge budgets we have. That's tough. I have no doubt our loyal athletes would help us make those numbers.

I'm not saying it's out of the range of possibilities but probably wouldn't happen until 2013 or even 2014. Right now our focus is to sellout and keep improving our 4 major events, Kemah Tri, Bridgeland Tri, Houston Tri, and the Monster Mash Run. In 2012 we will also introduce the Ramp Run 5k, Houston Time Trials, a 5k swim (to be named), and really work on getting the San Antonio Triathlon up and running for 2013. San Antonio could be a possibility for a half. We'll have to wait and see. We also have a AWESOME running series in the mix that will be unveiled later next year. You guys will LOVE it!

Again thanks guys for your confidence and kind words. I always like to keep you all in the loop on what we're doing. If you have any suggestions on anything like locations and dates to consider for the 5k Open Water Swim or the San Antonio Tri please feel free to share.

Where are you looking to do the swim at in SA?  The only options that I can think of would be Boerne Lake or possible on the Guadalupe in New Braunfels.  There really aren't any other bodies of water that are open to swimming in SA that I know of.

It's not quite the suggestion that you asked for, but have you ever considered the Coldspring / Lake Livingston / Hunstville area for a race? A lot better water than most Houston area lakes, and the roads & riding around there are fantastic. Good surfaces, little traffic and a few hills to keep things interesting. It's a ways out of town, but not too much further than Galveston for most Houston area people. Traffic's so light you could off-set the distance from town by starting a little later in the day to let people drive out that morning. I'd guess that finding a venue with adequate parking could be the biggest problem? It's tougher logistics, but point to point could be an option out there, with a swim at one of the Lake Livingston parks and the run at Sam Houston State. It'd be worth a drive up there to check out if you're not familiar with the area. Personally, I think the Conroe course for OilMan is MUCH better than either the Galveston or Austin courses, and this area has potential to be either as good or better than Conroe.

Houston. Swim in Clear Lake. Head south on 146 to pick up a few miles and then north on either redbluff or 146 to Lawndale right into downtown. Run a couple of loops on the bayou paths. A downtown half. For the extra head ache of the bike, you would have very few for the run.  Road closures for any one area would be lessened as they close late (downtown) or Open early (kemah). USTS pulled it off in 1989, no reason we couldn't have an urban race now when the sport is much more popular. Come on Aaron, you know you want to put on a half for us. An urban half would be epic!

Tj is even willing to do a swim clinic for it!

TJ, TJ, TJ,

I'll make you a deal. You get me access to Lake Woodlands to do as many practice swims and camps for my athletes as I want and I'll go to the necessary meetings to see if I can make this "urban tri." work. Deal : )

crickets, crickets....

That's one tall order right there