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Challenge USA-June 2014...ok where?

John BayoneJohn Bayone
in Races & Places 🏁⛺

So the rumor mill has been talking about a new Long Course event in the Mid Atlantic area, and now they are talking about late June 2014...but still no location.  Guess we will have to wait another couple of weeks to find out a location. 

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Chal..._3869.html

Comments

  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Yeah, what kind of announcement is it to announce that there will be an announcement in a couple more weeks?!! I'm tied up in June 2014, but still very interested to see Challenge come to the U.S.
  • John BayoneJohn Bayone
    I totally agree.
    Strange for them to announce something like that less than 12 Months out. The new WTC events in Tahoe, Boulder, and Chattanooga all seemed to have been announced 14 to 15 months before hand.
  • Robert SaboRobert Sabo
    Also, doess long course mean a half or a full? or could be either?
  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030
    Here's my rub with Challenge so far. They need to think American (or North American) if they want a legit shot at WTC. This announcement that there will be another announcement is just plain stupid. They got completely overshadowed by WTC once again in that they do this stupid non-announcement and get completely upstaged by WTC's IM-Chattanooga frenzy. They've come off like amateurs. Maybe this is how it's done in Europe. They came out guns a blazing by stealing Penticton only to have what 600 people show up to individually race. WTC moves IMC to a better location, sells it out, and then steals one of Challenge's races in Australia and another one or two in Europe.

    If I were WTC I'd announce a new race in the mid-Atlantic region before Challenge actually really announces their race.
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    @ Robert - per XTRI it will be a full iron distance.

    @ Bob - yep, as much as I want to see them succeed, I flat don't understand their strategy. I wonder who is running their marketing department and what the heck they are thinking.
  • rboglerbogle

    My guess is they calculated this pre-annoucement to pick up some of the disappointed IMCHOO hopefuls, they probably were not planning to announce anything till later. 

    The thing is nobody will ever have the cache that WTC does with the Ironman TM and the Kona Worlds. How can you compete against that? Even if they are beautifully run and supported, most people wanting to claim the title of Ironman are going to pay for the 'real' name brand deal not a 'generic' until they've made it past the magic 3 mark, and they're in it for more than cache. Regardless, if your serious about KQ, you likely wouldn't waste time and $ on an IM that isn't going to get you to Kona. 

  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030
    We'd also be remiss in not mentioning the Kona Legacy Program. That changed my thoughts on doing a non-IM full iron race.
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    Posted By Bob McCallum on 06 Sep 2013 03:18 PM

    We'd also be remiss in not mentioning the Kona Legacy Program. That changed my thoughts on doing a non-IM full iron race.
    Six down, Cozumel up to bat, then 5 more to go!  I just gotta get there before I am too old to survive it!


  • Robert SaboRobert Sabo
    chasing WTC branded stuff has really taken some fun out of tri. Thankfully there are still races like Wildflower and GFT to give some balance. Rev3 quassy has been a nice well run race and i am eager to someday try a challenge race. Long distance worlds are also a fun experience. I'm probably doing two or three WTC races next year but if the schedule and availabity were there I would do Rev3 or a Challenge.
  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030
    Robert, I hear you. Challenge Roth is one of those must do races for me but now all I think of is that doing Roth may set me back a year or more from eventually doing Kona. Which is an absurd thought given that I'm "only" going on IM #5 at IMFL in a few weeks. I don't normally consider myself too much of a lemming but...
  • Paul HoughPaul Hough
    At Bob ... Challenge Roth is on the list AFTER I am done with WTC. And if I am too old, maybe I will just go watch.

    AT Robert ... Gotta say I love the WTC races, especially foreign venues. Tons of fun. GFT ... meh! I have raced the full aquabike twice and the intermediate once during the race. Compared to an Ironman there is virtually zero mojo. In fact, it's not much different than just doing it on your own. To survive, fred Sommers is running the GFT, the swim only, the aquabike, the run only, a sprint tri, and an intermediate tri ... all the same day. but those folks are gone when the handful left doing the full are running on their own with hardly anyone around. I go because the course is hard, it is marked, and it is a great training venue. Wildflower has mojo, but the frau and I don't camp. I am all for independents, but if they don't have critical mass (Wildflower does, GFT does not) then it is hard to get excited about them.
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