After yesterday’s post, some good news came out about the state of TriColumbia. To basically summarize, it sounds like they had some bad bookkeeping going on, but they’re going to continue with this season’s schedule and hope to be around for years to come.
I will admit, this makes me hesitant about registering with them for too much next year, but I’m excited to get a chance to tackle Iron Girl Columbia again and I’m looking forward to volunteering at the Columbia Tri early in the season.
It made me realize just how much we rely on these organizations to plan races. And how scary it is when you realize your race entry fee might just disappear. I know this has been an issue with races put on by the Reinke group, but that whole thing just starts to sound like a scam after a while.
On one hand, it makes the power of the big race groups like runDisney and Competitor that much more attractive. Those are big businesses that aren’t going anywhere. But on the other hand, smaller races have a lot more charm.
I’m not sure that this means I will be avoiding any particular race group, though I will try to plan next year’s tri season with a number of different race organizers. It’s always good to branch out and try new things. And maybe finally tackle the oly distance that scares me so much.
Competitor may not be going anywhere and they may not cause you to be out entry fees, but they’ve canceled several half marathons well after many people would have made travels plans. A different sort of risk, especially for their newer races.