St George is a bit non-descript (and slightly weird), but the scenery in the surrounding area is stunning. Zion National Park is amazing. I did the IM there in 2011 and I’d definitely consider a return visit.
It’s less than 2 hours drive from Las Vegas, so no problem getting there either.
Yes, I think you could tie a visit in there with Grand Canyon, LV etc
Personally I want the bar to be high enough to mean something, but not so high that qualifying is truly impossible.
Eg. In the only 70.3 I did I came something very average like 19th in AG but slots rolled down all that way, so I could have gone to Clearwater or wherever. But it wouldnt really have meant anything so I didn’t go.
I get the impression that qualifying for Kona is a different kettle of fish, even with roll downs it’s basically nails?
ITU age group worlds seem somewhere in the middle, I have tried 3 times and actually managed it once, and so it felt like a meaningful thing although I didn’t particularly enjoy lugging a bike all the way to Budapest.
Strange sport we do sometimes
I was under the impression that qualifying for Team GB in middle & long distance was easier than either IM Worlds ie I’m pretty sure I’d be a shoe-in for GB every year.
For sure. If its local, the standard and sprint distance teams can be harder and there are some really good athletes winning AGs, but longer course is much easier. As you say, you’d get in to the ETU Middle off a Cotswold 113 time every year if you wanted.
I value having got into 70.3 worlds way ahead of having raced ITU standard in Rotterdam and ETU Middle in Ibiza. But that’s because it’s Nice. As I’ve said before, SA was a lot easier last year because of the location.
Middle/long ITU is indeed pretty easy to Q for - I think it was finishing within 15% of time if your AG winner at pretty much any race then submitting details.
The sprint/olympic distance was much harder, think there are 3/4 nominated qualifier events per year that you have Q places for and the field gets quite stacked as a result, although it can roll.
I’ve never been interested in pursuing a GB Tri suit.
Does it end-up costing pretty much the same as an Mdot, but without the same razzmatazz, logistics & support?!
No. London didn’t.
I’d never been interested, but LONDON 2013 and the promise of a landmark course swung it.
It ended up being awful.
Qualifying was brilliant fun!
Nottingham National Champs was a blast. Got drowned in the swim, then took it easy. No spot.
Bristol was an awful course, but I beat JB Williams to the last spot by a few seconds. Great racing by me!
GB trisuit by Adidas is god awful and £100.
Race was about £185
Affiliation was about £35
Train was about £60, as I booked super early.
Hotel was about £60 for one night.
I’d say about £600 all in, including the qualifying races and fuel.
The experience left a lot to be desired and I didn’t feel like part of a team representing a nation. More like an individual left to my own devices.
I’d not recommend doing it, nor would I do it again.
For LD sometimes it’s not even a separate race. Couple of mates are doing European LD Champs and it’s just Challenge Almere except some of the field will be doing it in their National Federation’s Tri suits.
So you didn’t like it then? 
For a Sprint Tri? 
Reflects my impression of it. Not to say it might not still be fun, I wouldn’t know, but seems too big and unsupported to be a real team thing.
Think the standard was £205.
Did that come with a personal letter from Brownlees and Co for funding their Olympics campaigns?
Then I’d argue you are doing it wrong. If you are going to fly in one day and out the next, then obviously you are not going to feel part of the event. Just do a local sprint tri, it is the same race without all the travel hassle.
World/Euro Champs, ironman events, all cost a premium. They justify it by saying it’s more than just a race, but a weekend of events. If you are not going embrace the whole event then why pay the premium? Choose a low key local event and save the cash.
TBH I think that’s probably a function of racing at “home”. My only experience of racing GB AG was long distance at Almere in 2008. I think pretty much everyone was staying at Center Parcs and there was a load of cabins block booked for GB athletes, so you did get a bit of the team feeling. The team organised transfers for the briefing etc and we had team photos. The best bit was having Chrissy Wellington greeting all the GB finishers after she smashed the womens’ elite race 
.
You obviously pay for all of that, but I guess at a UK location everyone sorts out their own accommodation and the locals stay at home and the “team” only comes together on race day.
Good observation.
Is the ETU race just a subset of the main Challenge race? When the ITU long course was at Almere it was a separate O3-distance race on the day after the open race. I was surprised at how few other countries were actually wearing their national kit. I think the only requirement was for people to have their nationality marked on their kit, so lots of people just had the 3 letters printed on a plain tri suit.
Often when I’ve browsed results from ETU/ITU Champs, it actually reads like a Host Nation & GB Championships.
They tend to actually be not very cosmopolitan.
Was reading on ST that the 2020 ITU LD event at Almere next year is not going to be O3-esque. Disappointing. That was my motivation for potentially submitting an entry. I’m intrigued by the distance (and the fact that the bike loses 1/3 of the distance whilst the others only lose roughly 1/4, plays to my strengths).
But if it’s just a standard long course event, I wont bother.
ITU/ETU AG sprint and standard distance racing is just a waste of money for me. I was thrilled when I qualified for Rotterdam, and I’m glad I did it, but I won’t be trying again. The entry fees are absurd, and I’d rather do a 70.3 or Challenge Half for basically the same amount.
ETU MD and IT LD aren’t too bad. They’re often cheaper, or on a par with a Mdot or challenge event. Plus, the fact their both “multisport festivals” adds an extra dynamic. I really enjoyed doing the aquathlon in Ibiza a few days before last October. And you do get multi-event discounts depending on how many you enter (more than the 3% Poet was talking about for the UK IM series!)