Wildflower was last weekend, Califoania Ironman 70.3 was six weeks ago...which makes Vineman Ironman 70.3 the next big half ironman distance race in the state of California! We're getting ready for 2200+ age groupers and a great pro field to compete for $50,000 in prize money and 50 Ironman 70.3 World Championship slots. We hope you will join us either as an athlete, a volunteer or a spectator. It will be a great day on July 17th!

Three Months & Counting

Thirty members of the Vineman Race Committee met over the weekend for an update on the 2011 Vineman events. The Vineman Race Committee is made up of the area coordinators of the various functional parts of the events and other key volunteers. This diverse group of people leads and directs of efforts of more than 1000 volunteers on race day for both of the Vineman event weekends. If you are interested in becoming a race committee member or volunteering for the upcoming Vineman events additional information is available in the volunteer section of www.vineman.com or by contacting the Vineman Volunteer Coordinator at 707-477-5813. Race day for the Avia Vineman Ironman 70.3 Triathlon is only three months away! We'd like to invite you to join us in producing our 2011 events.

900 Full Vineman Entrants

We now have 900 entrants for the 2011 Full Vineman and will cap the field at 1100 entrants. If you are serious about racing the 2011 Vineman and you haven't entered, you probably should sign up sooner, rather than later because it looks like the event will sell out for the first time in its 22 year history! On July 30th there will be a steady stream of Full Vineman finishers from 3:00 PM until the course closes at 11:00 PM.

Spring in Sonoma County

Spring weather has finally arrived in Sonoma County. After an extermely wet month of March, the rains have subsided and our typically "perfect" weather has returned! The grape vines are beginning to bud and soon the vineyards will look like they will when you arrive for the race this summer. We were beginning to wonder if would ever stop raining. It has, and we are looking forward to our spring...and summer!

Improved Bike Racks

We are pleased to announce that we are in the process of retrofitting our inventory of bike racks! We've hired a semi-retired machinist to drill eight holes in each of our 625 bike racks, which will enable us to use a new type of a leg system. Over the years as our events have grown, we've gradually added more bike racks as we've need them...and the legs were made by a number of different people in a number of different ways. They were the kind where the poles were bent and fit inside the end of the crossbar pole...then we duct taped the heck out of them to keep them from falling apart/over. In 1990 they were state of the art. In 2011 they are kind of sketchy.

The machinist, who reminds me of the mad-scientist character who built the time-travel machine in the movie "Back To the Future," is doing a great job of drilling the holes while one of our guys cuts the leg poles and crimps them so that they won't slide through the holes. Most triathletes don't spend a lot of time thinking about bike racks while they are at the race (or any other time). As a race director, you can bet I'll spend more than a few minutes staring at them in amazement. They will all be the same height, they will line up better, and best of all they won't fall over. Everyone's race day will be a little bit better because of them.

Volunteer Shirt

Our volunteers for the Avia Vineman Ironman 70.3 Triathlon will stand out in their bright orange micro-fiber t's. There is nothing like riding along at 25 mph and wondering which way to turn as you approach an intersection. To keep it simple, just look for the person in the orange race shirt and pay attention to their directions. It is not a bad looking shirt either...if you have friends or family members who will be at the race and are interested in doing something besides sitting and waiting for you to finish, we'd love to put them to work! They'll get a complimentary volunteer shirt and an invitation to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner which will be held on the Monday after the Full Vineman. To volunteer they can sign up through the Volunteer section of vineman.com or by e-mailing our volunteer coordinator, Shelly Lydon --shelly@vineman.com.

Women's 70.3 Competitor Shirt

Yes, we will have a women's specific shirt for all of our 2011 events. This is the women's shirt for Avia Vineman Ironman 70.3. It will feature the same cool graphics as the men's version, but will be on a light blue shirt with purple accents on the sleeve.