The man who has helped organized the Desert Half Ironman in Osoyoos for the past nine years has cancelled this year’s event just over one week before the event was set to take place this coming weekend.

Joe Dixon, the owner of Outback Events, announced on the Desert Half Ironman website late last week the 2014 event has been cancelled.

“I regret to announce that the Desert Half Ironman Triathlon scheduled for Sunday, July 7 has been cancelled due to insufficient registration,” wrote Dixon. “As the organizer of this event for the past nine years, it is an extremely difficult decision to announce this cancellation.”

The Desert Half Ironman stared in 2004 in Osoyoos and the event has also acted as the Canadian Long Course Championships as well as the B.C. Long Course Championships in the past.

“Many athletes used this race as a tuneup for the Subaru Penticton Ironman in the past or as a test of fitness,” wrote Dixon. “Outback Events is very proud to have provided this opportunity to them. Known for hosting one of the most challenging bike courses in the country, past winners of the event include Lucy Smith, Heather Wurtele, Matt Seeley and Tom Evans.

“As an event organizer, the last thing you want to have to do is cancel an event that you have produced with such history.”

With the number of registrations down more than 60 per cent, it simply did not make sense to move forward with the 2014 race, said Dixon.

“It is a very difficult decision to make, but one that is necessary,” he said. “It would have been a risk to anticipate that a sufficient number of athletes would register leading up to race week to bring the event to a break even point.

“I would like to apologize for this late notice. I have been putting off this decision as I was hoping that registration numbers would improve and make it viable to host the race.”

Dixon said many athletes have expressed to him how much they love the Desert Half Ironman race.

“The challenge is with this being such a difficult course, the date change for Ironman Canada (from Penticton to Whistler last year) and the addition of so many other events on the multi-sport calendar, it was not a race the people would do every year.”

An added issue that changed the viability of the event was the Town of Osoyoos building the Osoyoos Splash Park in Jack Shaw Gardens, which was the transition area for the Desert Half Ironman competitors since the event started, said Dixon.

“Outback Events would like to thank the Town of Osoyoos, our athletes and volunteers that have supported this race in the past and I look forward to working with many of them in Oliver in 2015,” said Dixon. “We are looking forward to producing great events and continue working with supportive communities that appreciate both our athletes and the events that we are producing and see our series move forward with growth.”

Gerald Davis, the director of community services for the Town of Osoyoos, said Dixon had not returned several emails he sent regarding the race over the past few weeks and he’s not overly surprised the event has been cancelled.

“I wanted answers and he hadn’t booked anything, so I wondered what was going on,” he said. “Because I hadn’t heard from him for so long, I didn’t know if the event was a go or not.

“It’s really too bad, because it was a great event that attracted some of the best triathletes in the country. We are disappointed for sure.”

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times