After This Is Over, Where Will You Go First?
Let's engage in a little wishful dreaming. What destination race are you most excited for when you can go to destination races again?
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With the major caveat that, of course, no one knows when things will get back to normal and the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 global pandemic are likely to be with us for awhile, it’s still nice to dream. And so we wanted to imagine what destination races we’ll do when destination races return safely. And we decided to ask you.
https://twitter.com/TriathleteMag/status/1262796433360650242
Here are some of your answers and some answers from the pros, industry people, and ourselves—as we all imagine where we’ll go first and what races we’re most excited about in the future.
“I’m eager to swim in the ocean—I’ve been missing swimming in a major way since everything shut down—so for me it’ll be a trip to SoCal to get in some ocean swims with the Tower 26 crew, as well as some long rides in the Santa Monica Mountains.”
– Emma-Kate Lidbury, managing editor
“My husband and I have always dreamed of camping as a family at the Wildflower Triathlon Festival. Even when everything opens up, it’s hard to know if the race will come back. But we can dream!”
– Liz Hichens, senior digital editor
“The one thing I randomly started craving during shelter-at-home was poke—real Hawaiian poke, not the bland California style. Once things are settled and it’s OK to travel to the islands, my friends and I want to do a girl’s trip.”
– Kelly O’Mara, editor-in-chief
“Realistically, WTS Hamburg or the World Championship Duathlon in Almere, the Netherlands.”
– Richard Murray & Rachel Klamer, Olympians and ITU athletes
“First destination: Club La Santa Sport on Lanzarote. First destination race: Ironman Hawaii.”
– Michelle Vesterby, top ten at Ironman World Championships
“When things are back to normal, I would love to be able to get back to Scotland to see my family. However, for a destination race it just depends on when things open back up. I had wanted to race Ironman St. George, which is now rescheduled for September, so if that is a possibility then that would be awesome. If I have to aim for something closer to home then probably Ironman Nice.”
– David McNamee, two-time Kona podium-finisher
“Right now I am missing the Big Island of Hawaii and the race I can’t wait to get back to is Lava Man. Love that place and love that race!”
– Bob Babbitt, host of Babbittville Radio
“One thing my wife and I are looking forward to is to travel to the U.S. again (for our “regular” vacation) .. looks like that’ll have to wait until next summer! From a triathlon viewpoint, I look forward to get back to spectate at races. Not sure which can be the first one: Hamburg (in early September) might be a bit too early, then maybe Almere. But it’s not just races re-opening again, I would also have to feel safe traveling there and being with thousands of my best (unknown) friends or, in the case of vacation, feeling as if I were able to relax wherever we travel.”
– Thorsten Radde, creator of Trirating.com
We also asked for your answers on Facebook and Twitter—with a lot of you saying Roth, Hawaii, and Australia. Here were some of our favorite responses:
❓QUESTION ❓When everything is totally back to normal and international travel is safe and permitted, where is the…
Posted by Triathlete Magazine on Wednesday, May 13, 2020
I’ve been wanting to do that Miami race where the boat takes you to an island in the causeway and you have to swim back.
— Bob Germanovich (@BobGermanovich) May 19, 2020
