Am I right to feel cheated?

I wouldn't feel cheated. Its very very close. If you reallly want (and i would do this) ride back on the bike, just go the extra 2 miles, then do the run and you can say you did a 1/2 + 1.

There are a few 1/2 IM's around that are either a little long or a little short - not all courses can be worked out exactly. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

You will stil be out there somewhere between 4 and 7 hours, that makes it a half distance to me! The idea is that it is a lot longer than an Oly., right? Who really cares if it is not an exact 70.3? You still have to work just as hard to finish it.

Due to some traffic and road construction at Gulf Coast a couple of years ago the bike was 55 miles and they still called it a HIM. Look at it this way at 20mph its a 3 minute difference. No biggie right?

I don't think your being cheated. I personnally prefer a race course which doesn't force itself into exact distances. So many race add short loops and extra turns sometimes adding danger or confusions which lead to wrong turns, bike wrecks, etc. This race appears to meet the spirit of a half ironman.

I am thinking about the Square Lake "HIM" too and feel the same way. I was looking at their website and different distances are posted. Once place it says the bike is 54 miles and the run is 13.2 and another place it has it listed as 56 and 13.1. I tried to use the contact link to ask what the actual distances are but it wasn't working. If you are looking for a later alternative than the Liberty there is the Pigman Half Iron on August 20 near Cedar Rapids, IA.

As far as being cheated I guess it depends on how many HIMs you are going to do. If this is going to be one of many, I wouldn't sweat it. For me, one HIM is a goal and I don't know if I will be doing more. Yes, I know the distances are still in the spirit of Half Iron Man but in my mind I would always have that footnote.

PigMan is a much better race than Square Lake. I did Square Lake a few years back and it wasn't very well run. I've heard complaints from people doing it in later years as well. It might be worth the drive to Cedar Rapids to do PigMan.

I had only one minor complaint about PigMan (they should have weighted the swim buoys so they'd stand up and be easier to see), and I've organized a lot of competitions and tend to spot even little things that aren't quite right.

If you do square lake, be prepared to supply your own food and drink throughout just in case. One year in the short course, on of the run rest stops was literally a stack of cups and a cooler of water on a table with no volunteer there.