After just two years, IRONMAN pulls plug on revived Timberman

The discontinuation announcement came as a surprise to many in the city and region, particularly because IRONMAN had so recently revived the event, bringing it back in 2021 after a years-long hiatus.

IRONMAN did not respond to requests for further explanation of the decision, though some local observers noted that a new 70.3-mile race in Springfield, Massachusetts, has been added to the corporation’s 2023 schedule, occupying the same mid-September weekend that the Timberman would have been held.

“It’s terrible whenever a company comes in, especially a large corporation, the area does so much to welcome the race, then they take it away because it isn’t profitable,” said Vince Vaccaro, owner and race director for Tri Tek Events, which operates several triathlons in central New Hampshire.

While IRONMAN didn’t elaborate on the move, City Manager Kirk Beattie said he had conversations with race officials who indicated low attendance was driving their decision.

“To them it boiled down to the number of participants,” Beattie said. “It just turned into a number, how many participants were here. That’s really the unfortunate piece of it.”

Mayor Andrew Hosmer agreed, particularly because the event was trending in a promising direction, he said. The 2021 event had 800 participants, then 1,400 for 2022.

Hosmer said he was “very disappointed they won’t be returning for a third year,” and said that IRONMAN wasn’t likely to find greener pastures in Springfield, which, he said, “pales in comparison to what we offer in the Lakes Region.”

The Timberman event had humble beginnings, started in 2001 as a passion project by local resident Keith Jordan, who based the triathlon at Ellacoya State Park in Gilford. Jordan grew the event into a regional highlight, which attracted elite athletes from around the world, while also inspiring locals to push themselves to swim, bike and run farther than they thought possible. IRONMAN purchased the race from Jordan, but shut it down, for the first time, after the 2016 event. When the event returned in 2021, this time with the transition area in Opechee Park, with the swim in Lake Opechee and the run finishing on Main Street, it was greeted with local enthusiasm.

Hosmer said the event was seen as a boon to the local community, even though the increase in visitation didn’t directly benefit City Hall.

“I believe the city should find ways to support all of our local businesses as much as we can. By bringing in 1,400 athletes, each athlete comes with between two and three guests, which is grand. Even leading up to the event, visitors are coming to visit the course, practice on the course, the business that brings to our hotels, restaurants, bike shops, benefit as well,” Hosmer said. “It also gives people who have never visited the Lakes Region [the opportunity] to visit it. We feel strongly that once you’ve been here to relax, you tend to come back.”

Laconia, home to many festivals and events, has made a calling card of such gatherings, Hosmer said, adding that the door would be open to IRONMAN if the winds changed direction again. He also said that there would be an open door to another organizer, someone like Jordan, impassioned to create an event of their own.

“I’ve had some initial discussions with people that are interested in having a 5k or 10k, we will continue to have conversations with them,” Hosmer said. “The city of Laconia is really good at hosting events like this.”

One Timberman doesn’t stop the show

Maureen Nix, of the Lakes Region Tri Club, said local interest in endurance sports was kindled by the 15 years of the Timberman’s original run, and that the club’s membership levels weren’t much affected by the Timberman’s short-lived return. As such, she doesn’t think that its sudden departure will diminish interest among locals who are bitten by the multi-sport bug.

“Our tri club will continue to train, and our members will continue to compete, whether locally or internationally. We’re just plugging along,” Nix said. The club offers regular group workouts, often led by a professional coach.

Still, she said the news about the Timberman was unwelcome.

“I was surprised myself, I’m sure there was a lot of effort behind the scenes to bring it back. For it to only run for two years before they made the decision to stop was surprising and disappointing,” Nix said. “It’s nice to be able to train on the course all the time. You feel you have a little bit of an advantage, and it’s always great to not have to travel to an event. I think everyone’s going to miss it, and I’m sure the businesses downtown will miss it.”

Interest in triathlons — there are also duathlon for those who don’t want to swim, or aquabike races for those who want to skip the run — tends to be lasting, though, she said, and she expects her club members to stay involved in the sport.

“Between the challenge, staying in shape, and the camaraderie, it’s a great group of people we’ve met in the triathlon community,” Nix said. “We all know what we’ve been through to get to that start line, and we all know the butterflies while we wait to jump in the water at the start of the race.”

Nix said that she, and many other club members, are already focused on July 29, 2023, the date of the Wolf Tri in Wolfeboro, one of the Tri Tek Events races, as something to train for now that the Timberman is gone.

“That’s a great race, I’ve got that on my schedule for next year already,” Nix said.