Ironman Canada -> Muskoka's bid

WTC definitely doesn't have penticton next year, it will be Challenge Penticton.  There are a number of other places in Canada that my host Ironman Canada in the future.

http://www.challenge-penticton.com

?

Kamloops, Whistler, Victoria, Calgary, Muskoka all seem possible.

Man, I would want to see what they would do differently from the 70.3 ...  Love the event - done it but as a full that would be a wicked tough course and there are a few logistical issues that would need to be worked out for a full iron.

It is a beautiful area - lots of lodging - good history of supporting triathlons.

The main things is the location for the start/finish.  For the HIM it is currently at Deerhurst Resort which is lovely but a little secluded from the local community - i would want to see be it more accessible for the community. By the third year of the 70.3 most locals didn't even really know it was happening.

But I wish them luck! It would be awesome to have the IM be only a few hours away! I would definitely volunteer!

Hmmmm.....      Let me think about this a bit.

My first thought is, can they make the bike course so that it is a "perfect" 112 miles?  In the three of four year history of Muskoka 70.3, it's always been a couple of miles over -- presumably because they want to keep the loop pure and intact.  Unless they can get the bike to 112 dead-on, it may be a tough sell -- not because people don't want to do 116, but just because at that distance, exactitude would be nice. 

And, come to think of it, it is conceivable that those extra miles could be the difference between people making the 17-hour cutoff and missing it.  Anyone who is flirting with it, anyhow, is probably taking 5-6 minutes/mile on the bike, so there's 20-24 extra minutes, minimum.

My second thought is that Muskoka really is awfully close to Mount Tremblant....which is awfully close to Lake Placid.....and where would it schedule itself is LP is in July and MT is in August.  It's pretty cold waters in Muskoka in June and September, and while the old Muskoka was in June and the newer one is in September, they both required only 1.2 miles of borderline-chilly swimming.  I'm not saying that would be a concern, but I just have to wonder.

Mostly, it comes down to possibly too many M-dots too close to each other....maybe?  There seems to be a market for them now, but if it's true that WTC has or is close to "jumping the shark" (as a currently hot thread at Slowtwitch is debating), then it may not be tenable a few years down the road.

A third thought, getting back to when it would be, concerns the exorbitant cost of lodging were it to be in July or August -- and maybe even June.  I'm not even sure that the area could handle that many triathletes, assuming it would run to about 2200 or so, during peak tourist months.  Can you see that as a problem for the region, bering able to handle those numbers.  And getting back to the athletes --- what kind of price-gouging might be in place from the motels and lodges and all?  (Probably no worse than LP, but of course the gouging is pretty dreadful there -- but then again, it was wicked dreadful at and around Penticton.)

Finally, personally, I would just like to see WTC back off and try to manage fully and properly the races they have now.  There have been problems with numerous of their races over the past few years, and it seems that the more they try to expand, the more problems they encounter.  They may have perfect management in place at Muskoka, if the current team carried on with a reincarnated IMC there, but I still have to admit --- too much WTC is NOT good for triathlon-at-large.  They are dangerously close to setting a standard for overcrowding at races, and without a doubt they are behind the escalating cost of race fees across the board.  Most independent races are still , mercifully, reasonably-priced, but some have taken advanatge of WTC fee scales and raised their own prices so they are just a notch or two below WTC. 

But, for Muskoka to even be considered for a M-dot,well, maybe that could use some support.  I'm not ready to do it yet, and need more time to see who the players would be, and how the course would look, and whether the good folks of Huntsville are even behind it.  And, really, whether the world really needs another "branded" Ironman event!

I just googled it for myself, which I should have done earlier and found that the WTC has in fact conceeded Penticton.  There were some legal rumblings that Dan Empfield wrote about on ST even after Challenge announced the race and opened up registration.  Seems as though the WTC as backed off and will now pursue another location.  The WTC and Penticton had a contract until 2014, but Penticton got out of the contract through a "loophole".

I did Muskoka 70.3 this year. On the day before I volunteered. What was amazing was the emphasis that was put on making the athletes life easier.Dropping your bike off, even if you didn't stay at the resort was super simple. This is where I worked and people said "wow, that was easy"

Today I received a thank you from one of the organizers and he mentioned their bid for IMC.

There is some talk on ST on what the course would be. Sounds like adding some flatter terrain to the 70.3 course.

To the comment of the other poster, I know the tri community is pushing for it and I can tell you every restaurant and store I spoke to knew about Ironman  was thankful of what it brought to the community.

Muskoka is still 6 or 7 hours from IMMT and there is a huge population around Toronto and Buffalo.

Having volunteered for Muskoka and IMMT, I much prefer the atmosphere around Muskoka.

Marc -

You're probably right about drawing heavily on Toronto and Buffalo, and to that I might add Michigan.....and Ohio....and?  Muskoka and the "promise" of a wetsuit swim AND non-boiling temps would draw folks away from Louisville, I imagine, which might not sit well with WTC as that race suffers from less-than-enthusiastic responses anyhow.  I have no real doubts that Muskoka would do well in terms of participants (depending on time of year), but that's where I wonder if the average resident might not have problems with it.  This year, Muskoka 70.3 had 826 participants, whereas MT had 2200 and LP had 2300.  Is Huntsville fully ready 2200+ people descending on it?  (I'm just asking!)

At and around Lake Placid, there is a sizable number of residents who are fed up with the race and the chaos it causes, and Penticton has had its own history of ill-will between ironman and the residents.  Granted, the lodgings and restaurants do well, but that doesn't really trickle down to the average person trying to or needing to get from point A to point B.  I am about as avid a triathlete as possible, but I have to tell you that if I lived in Huntsville (and especially if I had no background or interest in endurance sports), I sure wouldn't want to have an ironman there, especially if it "promised" 2200 athletes.  (I'm just saying!)

Just to provide the alternative viewpoint, it would sure be nice if it didn't move to the east. I have nothing against Muskoka, and my wife and I have often talked about going there for a (proper) vacation some day. But as mentioned, with Tremblant and Lake Placid already in the region, why not leave it alone in the west? Don't those of us out here deserve to have a race we can get to without traveling across the country? IMCdA is the only event anywhere close, and thats a long way.

Why not just let it stay in the area and let us have a place to play too?

What about Tahoe?  I'm in SW ontario and I think it was easier to FLY to florida than it was to DRIVE to wisconsin.  Making a 10 hour drive two days post IM was not fun.  Flying 2 days post IM was much easier.

(Lake Placid is 8 hours and MT is 9 hours).

Don't get me wrong. I think it's a great race.  I just think the current set up just doesn't really allow community who just might want to see the race to do so.  I've been to the 70.3 every year except this year and have stayed at Deerhurst every time.  It's really great for the athletes and spectators staying at the resort.  But during the race if you're not already at the resort getting in and around is pretty tough.  

The first year it was all over the place in and around Huntsville and the other towns but the years after the excitement seemed to die down - maybe a perception?   In 2010 - some of our family stayed at one of the hotels at the north end of town and the staff did not even not know the race was on.    

Maybe I also use Penticton as a guide but when i went and spectated and volunteered it seemed like the whole town was out and involved - and the race actually finished in a public space in the town.  I just think of the food tent at IMC where I volunteered and the couple who managed had been doing it for some crazy long time - they definitely weren't triathletes but kept volunteering because it was something they wanted to do and the event was(is?) a community event.