Well it's finally official even though the writing has been on the wall for a while. The Ironman 70.3 Newfoundland race is gone. Just recently Ironman.com had pulled the race off its listing page of Ironman 70.3 triathlon events and you knew the end was coming. This is the second Ironman 70.3 race to be dropped from the series. Last year the Ironman 70.3 Baja race was pulled from the schedule.
We predicted this twice back in July after the second running of the race.
"Turn out for the race in Pasadena was lite compared to other 70.3 races in the series. Only 250 participants took on the challenge along with 10 relay teams. Why such a low turn out? It's a bit difficult and time consuming to get to this remote location in the wilderness. You have to wonder if we will see this race on the schedule next year or not especially with the addition of the Ironman 70.3 Muskoka triathlon which was a sell out this year."
- Alexander Defends, Carfrae Wins Ironman 70.3 Newfoundland Titles
"This announcement comes on the heals of the completion of the Ironman 70.3 Newfoundland race which took place this past weekend and could signify the demise of this other 70.3 race in Canada. The event in Pasadena this past weekend only had 250 triathletes and 10 relay team and numbers like these aren't probably good enough to sustain a race of this caliber. We will have to see what happens in the near future to the Newfoundland event. In comparison last year's newly announced (link) Ironman 70.3 Muskoka race last year sold out in 2 months."
- New Ironman 70.3 Series Race Coming to Calgary
Wreckhouse Entertainment, a non-profit company that was in charge of staging the race pulled the plugged on the Ironman 70.3 Newfoundland triathlon after the second running of the race failed to attract enough athletes to show long term sustainability.
"According to director Steve May, when the numbers of registered athletes failed to improve on the 325 registered in the first year, the group had to seriously think about whether they had already reached the limit on their growth potential." quote from Ironman 70.3 shut down article in The Western Star
Greener pastures will prevail in Canada now that the dust has settled. This was the 1st Ironman 70.3 Race for Canada when it was announced. Since then the WTC has added Ironman 70.3 Muskoka in Huntsville, Ontario and just recently Ironman 70.3 Calgary in Calgary, Alberta.
It's unfortunate for the city and the local economy, especially since this is the second major triathlon event to disappear from the area. Several years ago the area lost a very successful ITU World Cup race that has lasted around 9 years. It's unfortunate for me as well as this was one of those destination races on my short term radar to register for in the near future, I guess not anymore, bummer!
Related Posts:
• Ironman 70.3 Singapore Moving to March in 2009
• New Ironman 70.3 Series Race Coming to Calgary
• New Start Time For Ironman 70.3 Boise, Starts at 2:00 PM
• Ironman 70.3 Series Expands into Georgia in 2009
• No Mas! for the Ironman 70.3 Baja Race
