Victoria 70.3 or Oliver Half?

I did the Oly in Victoria and Calgary half this year plus Lake Stevens last year and they were each a lot of fun. 

Elk lake was really cold this year.  I made the mistake of getting in the water too soon and my teeth were chattering by the time we started.  I used to live in Central Saanich so I was looking forward to the swim but after the swim I think my wetsuit smelled worse than after swimming in Tuc el Nuit Lake (Oliver).  The Calgary swim in a man made lake was pretty good.

I haven't done the Oliver half but I live in Penticton and love training on the Oliver routes.  Lake Stevens last year  was great fun but some tough hill climbing in the last 20 miles of the bike.  The Lake Sevens swim was great and sighting was easy.  I also train on the Challenge half route as well and I know the people that rode in Challenge this year had a great time.

For myself I'm planning to do the Vancouver half & Challenge half or full next year.  I don't think you can go wrong which ever way you choose to go.  All of these are pretty decent races.

I can't attest to Oliver getting run down but I just finished Cultus Lake on Sunday and it had some troubles but there were also some positive changes which I hope show that Joe has the worst behind him and he'll be getting things back to normal (atleast I'm willing to do a few more of his events before giving up on them).

At Challenge this year I was volunteering as a catcher at the finish line and Sister Madonna was there beside us handing out Finisher medals up to the last athlete.  It was fun to see people's faces light up when they realized who was giving them their medals. 

Let us know what you decide.

WTC was just taking over the Subaru series when We did the Victoria race so there was virtually no expo at the race.  I looked at the Vancouver site and so far it looks as though you are right about the Vancouver race.  I'm disappointed.  I'll have to reconsider my plans for next year (not that I need to make any decisions for a while).

At Challenge last month I talked briefly with Kevin Cutjar and he wasn't sure how long he'd leave the special rates on for.  At the time he was thinking the 1st 200/250 or so in each race but he also said if it was popular he might let it go on longer.  He told me I'd be able to sign up for the half but if I wanted to upgrade he'd let me move up for the difference at the special rate later.  Registrations for next year were fairly brisk (not like for Ironman in years past but respectable) especially for the half distance.

A fellow I swim with has already signed up for the half because he can postpone his race to 2016 if he has an injury or he can back out (up to a point) and only lose $75 so he figures its a reasonable risk.  I'm thinking seriously of signing up for the full course for next year but I am quite nervous of the leap.