I just noticed that the WTC, the folks that run the Ironman, has purchased the rights to the DC Triathlon? I know that I'm behind the times but ... WOW. Will people be walking around with an i-dot tattoo (look at their logo)? I hoped that they continue to give out nice swags like the DC Triathlon gave out this year instead of that wash cloth that came with the $550 registration fee that they gave out at IMFL last year.

I know that the folks that run the DC Triathlon have given our DCTri Club more than any "regular" members of our club realizes. They are also quite active and supportive in the DC community. I know that as an organizer of the farce known as PeasantMan that they have given PeasantMan a boat load of stuff for free ... well beyond my wildest expectations. I sure hope that the new sheriff in town doesn't ruin that.

http://www.5150.com/

2011 5150 Series (United States)
March 13 Miami International Triathlon (Miami, Fla.)
May 1 St. Anthony’s Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
May 15 5150 New Orleans (New Orleans, La.)
May 22 Memphis in May Triathlon (Tunica, Miss.)
June 19 Washington D.C. Triathlon (Washington, D.C.)
June 25 5150 Provo (Provo, Utah)
July 10 Boulder Peak Triathlon (Boulder, Colo.)
August 7 Nautica New York City Triathlon (New York, N.Y.)
September 4 Hy-Vee Triathlon/5150 U.S. Championship (Des Moines, Iowa)
September 11 5150 Lake Lanier (Gainesville, Ga.)
October 2 5150 Lake Las Vegas (Henderson, Nev.)
October 23 5150 Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
November 12 5150 Clearwater/5150 Series Finale (Clearwater, Fla.)

Tuan

I have to give a shout out for the Iowa race, my home state....Sept. 4th Hy-Vee Tri/5150 U.S. Championship! So, is this like the 'Clearwater' of the Olympic distance series? I see they are going to post qualifying criteria in the next few weeks. I think everyone should venture to Iowa! I've been wanting to do this race for the last few years but it has always fallen on the same weekend as Eagleman or something else going on. I've heard nothing but great things. It would be so awesome to see a bunch of DC Tri folks in Des Moines! :)

Courtney

Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

What about Nations? Aren't those two races run by the same group?

The DC Tri is already $190 for the olympic, so it's not like the price can go up much more.

Maybe the extra WTC clout can get a better course? The DC Tri course was really lacking compared to Nations if you ask me.

Indeed, those twisty turnies between miles 4 and 6.2 were incredibly painful on the DC Tri course. :)

This is a very interesting development! I had been "seriously considering" the DC Tri for my schedule next year. I think this just tipped me over. I want to see how it goes.

At the very least, it means that we could see more pro racers at WDC next year. Some of the elite American triathletes that participate in the ITU series have said that they wanted more opportunities to race Olympic-distance tris in the U.S. Well, now they have a boatload of options.

I thought WDC and Nation's Tri had better post-race food options than the more expensive Eagleman Ironman 70.3 did. (No regular food at all after Eagleman, as far as I could tell. Just Powerade and water.)

Odd that they chose "5150" for the name. All Van Halen fans know that 5150 is the code in California for an involuntary psychiatric hold, for involuntary confinement for someone with a mental disorder who is deemed to be a danger to himself and/or to others, or who is extremely disabled. Could they be making a self-deprecating comment about triathletes in general?

;)

1. Eagleman had plenty of food and drinks. There was a big tent there with 2 kinds of pasta, corn on the cob, salad, cookies, bananas, sodas, and other stuff. You missed out on a lot of food ... can't say that they were tasty in that heat though :)

2. 5150 refers to the oly s/b/r total distance in kilometers (i.e., 51.50 km)

Yeah, I know that about the distance. But the Van Halen album came first. All the rock fans and 80s fans are going to think of the VH album and the "involuntary psychiatric hold" code for quite a while when they hear 5150.

As a former guitar player, I don't think I'll ever get those other two meanings out of my head. I'll probably be chuckling about it in the middle of next year's WDC Tri.

They had all that food at Eagleman? Wow, how did I miss all that? Bummer.

Wait, is Eddie Van Halen competing in the 2011 Washington, DC Tri? I'm definitely in. Oh so definitely super in.

I still think 1984 was a better album than 5150.

David Lee Roth forever!

Unfortunately, Eddie will probably be sitting at home smoking more cigarettes even though he had surgery for tongue cancer a few years ago.

I agree that 1984 was better. So maybe we should start up a petition and have the WTC change the name to the 1984 Triathlon Series. Of course, no one is going to have any idea why they came up with that name, but who cares? It would just add to the mystery and mystique of triathlon.

Then again, people might think it's related to the novel "1984" and get scared off, as if the WTC was on a quest for total world domination. Wait a minute, actually, they might be.

Is great that WTC or the new investement bank that bought them put an olympic series or bought existing big city races and put them under 1 serires. Is great that DC is included. About having the chance of seeing USA pro athelte increase participiation don't know about that. First the the series will be none drafting for pros. 2nd the ITU racing season is in full force form April through September and Olympic qualifications points for each country will be in full force with the olympics coming in 2012. I dont see the top USA olympic hopefuls giving up the ITU circuit for this series.
Personally is a way of WTC to expand their Brand and earn money. And is also Great for us to have 2 races in our backyard.

So let have soem fun

Some of the Ironman athletes like Andy Potts have raced in some of the ITU races in the past but without doing the entire series (I think). I could see someone like him doing more Olympic-distance races in the U.S. if there is a bigger prize pool.

I dont Know about those big names like Potts and the top guns, Ironman boys doing the serries due to the new qualification process for Kona. 1 Ironman and 3 70.3 plus the 5150 series is a lot. But if they decide to come that would be great

I'm not saying the pros would do the entire 5150 series, just that they might consider adding a couple of those races now that there will be prize money (or more prize money).

I thought the food at both DC Tri and Nations was poor. Only breakfast burritos and bananas/oranges? I would really like to see a wider choice of options, especially for those of us with certain food allergies.

As for the 5150 series, I wonder if the Hy-Vee sponsorship means that Hy-Vee won't be holding a ITU race in June, or if they are going to do both. That's a lot of prize money they are putting up.

If they move the start time back from 5:30am I might be interested in doing the DC Tri again. But getting up at 3am to drive to a parking lot to catch a bus to make the transition cutoff time is not something I'm planning to do again.

They bought the Hy_Vee race so no more ITU race at Iowa they move the race to September so they don't have to deal any more with flooding. They bought to put the rights on some major city races like
March 13 Miami International Triathlon (Miami, Fla.)
May 1 St. Anthony’s Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
May 22 Memphis in May Triathlon (Tunica, Miss.)
June 19 Washington D.C. Triathlon (Washington, D.C.)
August 7 Nautica New York City Triathlon (New York, N.Y.)
September 4 Hy-Vee Triathlon/5150 U.S. Championship (Des Moines, Iowa)
October 23 5150 Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
November 12 5150 Clearwater/5150 Series Finale (Clearwater, Fla.)
most of this races have going for more than 5 years and they add clearwater to the mix so they probably will either move the 70.3 championship to another city and date or jsut combine both races to have a draft fest down there that weekend. Oh wait never mine this is a none drafting series.

Van Halen with David Lee Roth (and Michael Anthony) is the *real* Van Halen.

The MIGHTY Van Halen.

</opinion>

-- TJ

Hi everyone,

If you don't know, I've been known to hang around the Nation's/WDC Tri office and one of the things I do for them is act as a liaison between the race and DC Tri Club.

I wouldn't worry about the quality of the race or it's relationship with DC Tri Club suffering because of joining the 5150 series. The same folks that have been producing the race for the last several years will continue to do so and the treatment and benefits that we offer to DC Tri Club athletes will only continue to improve. And the schwag will continue to be awesome.... no worries on that front.

My personal opinion is that this partnership with WTC only improves the race because it helps establish a national identity to the race whereas Nation's Tri has already established itself nationally. It also will likely help bring more big sponsors to the race which only help to improve the schwag options. Also, I think the idea of a competitive Oly series is great and I love the opportunity to race with and support the sport's top athletes (disclaimer: These are my personal views and not from the race organizers. I haven't talked about this with them much at this point)

If you have questions, feel free to email me and I'll be happy to find you an answer (volunteer@wseminc.com) if I don't know it. And if you have comments, criticisms or suggestions regarding anything (including food), let us know. The staff works very hard to make improvements every year and your tips and comments are all taken into consideration.

As far as whether or not David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar are going to use this race as an opportunity to finally reunite in the long-awaited triathlon head-to-head match, I will neither comfirm nor deny...