Thanks for taking the lead, Bret.

I totally agree with the idea of:
- having races in the fall semester
- having races through out the NE
- having races organized by professionals (not by students for now)

There are some races in NY in the fall semester. For example:
http://www.fingerlakestriathlon.com/
http://www.skanraces.com/index.html

I don't think it's a good idea to have the series during the summer
break. Most of us wont' be able make it. We know we don't have too many
warm and sunny weekends during the fall semester, too, so we might want
to select races carefully. I think the races ideally:

- host both olympic and sprint
- spread in Sep. to Oct., having 1-2 weeks in between
- spread in the region
- well-organized and timing-chipped

6 weekends might be an overkill, I personally think three race weekends
would be good for now (with at least one of them hosting a sprint.)
Given we don't have too many school in our list, we don't want to spread
out the turn-out.

Thanks,

- K
Syracuse Univ.



Bret Fortenberry wrote:
>
>
> This past weekend I talked to Bill Fiske, the director for FIRM,
> about running a collegiate series. He has it already set up to score
> competitions with club triathlon teams. We have the option to choose
> a subset of the FIRM races for collegiate triathlons.
>
> Pros:
> It is already set up and we can get started next year.
> We don't have to worry about organizing our own races.
> It is the cheapest triathlons and ideal for poor college students.
> Everything is chip timed and precise.
> The results are already set up and will appear on their website
> shortly after the race.
>
> Cons:
> All the races are during the summer.
> They are still expensive.
> The races are only in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
> The scoring is subject to how FIRM has already set it up (I might be
> able to set up a different scoring system).
>
> For more information on FIRM go to:
> http://www.firm-racing.com/ <http://www.firm-racing.com/>
>
> My opinions on this:
> 1. Having school run triathlons will be difficult and dangerous.
> Dangerous because of safety issues. If there is one serious incident
> (drowning, heart palpitations, etc), this could end collegiate racing
> in the Northeast. Difficult because triathlons are one of the
> hardest events to run. I think school run triathlons should be
> limited to one or two the first year.
> 2. I would prefer to have the season to occur during either the fall
> or spring semester. I suggest fall because cycling, track, and
> swimming are spring events and those are the individuals that are
> most likely to get involved. The issue is that we only have two
> months to run triathlons because of the weather. Even at that we
> might have issues that have happened in Reno for last years
> nationals. So my proposal is to have the northeast championship
> during September or October, while the core of the season being over
> the summer. This might limit the number of people that can compete
> during the season, but everybody will have the opportunity to race at
> Regionals.
> 3. I would like to have races throughout the northeast. If anybody
> has suggestions of other companies that put on races with more
> distributed locations let me know.
> 4. I think we should have 6 races. 3 sprints and 3 olympic
> distances. The sprints to bring in new athletes and as warm ups, the
> olympics as a standard collegiate distance.
>
> I would like as much feedback on people's opinion as possible. So
> far I have not heard of any responses back from the other suggestions
> I sent out. I want to set something up this winter so we can
> actually compete next summer. If possible I want it to be democracy
> where everybody has their say in how races are set up. Ideally we
> should discuss this, create more options then vote on this in
> November. In November/December we should initiate any action we
> decide on.
>
> Thank you,
> Bret Fortenberry
>
>