I just wanted to clear up potential confusion for people who were thinking of signing up for the Lake Zurich tri - the race referenced above is NOT the race that has been the Lake Zurich triathlon in the past. Running Away (which also owns/runs the Big Foot triathlon up in WI, as well as a bunch of other local races) had been working to get the Lake Zurich tri put on this year as usual, but the lake zurich homeowners association wanted way too much money for use of their lake.....which is why the old LZ tri is now the Bangs Lake Triathlon (http://www.bangslaketriathlon.com/), held in Wauconda. Now it's pretty clear that the reason the LZ lake people were so difficult is because they wanted to try to put on their own race and pass it off as the "old" LZ tri, which it's not. It's a new race put on by people who refer to us as "tri-athletes." Which somehow doesn't give me much confidence - I wouldn't touch that race with a 10-foot pole, since these are people who've never put on a tri before, but (it seems to me) thought it would be easy money.
Interesting note - the folks running the Lake County triathlon are "Articulate Promotions Inc." - from their website: "Articulate Promotions was founded on the concept of being the very best in marketing and promotions. Since relocation from Colorado Springs to the Chicagoland area, Articulate Promotion's event planning and promotional capabilities have grown at an explosive rate. From “Fight Nights” at Joe’s Bar on Weed Street, Hot Import Nights at the McCormick place to hosting Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton at Crobar Nightclub, Articulate Promotions’ goal is to further the success of every group and venue we work with."
So they seem to be a bit more about promoting and marketing events rather than the logistics of putting them on, but hey, they've also run a local Cornhole Competition (seriously), so I guess they know what they're doing. The Barns Lake tri is being run by JMC Partners - here's an article about them: http://www.chicagoaa.com/features/corriganApr04.html
The worst thing about the Lake County Tri people is that they're trying to confuse people and pass themselves off as the real LZ tri - AND are telling people who signed up for the "other" one that they should ask for a refund. That to me is just plain wrong. If they just wanted to promote their event, fine, go ahead. But to deliberately tell people who've already signed up for another race held the same day that they should cancel?? How unsportsmanlike.....and probably illegal.
Full disclosure - I am NOT affiliated with either organization or triathlon in any way. Running Away IS a sponsor of our local (Chicago) tri club, and they've always put on great races in the past, which is why we try to support them in turn. They do a lot for the local triathlon community in general, which is why it pisses me off to see these interlopers come along and try to make a quick buck on the goodwill that the real Lake Zurich tri people have built up based on their past success with this race.



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