Preliminary race calendar for 2007

First of all, a happy New Year for all of you!
A few weeks ago I have started my training for the new season. The following is my preliminary race calendar:

April 15 Ironman Arizona (Ironman)
June 10 Triathlon 101, Clearlake, California (3/4 triathlon)
Juli 15 World Championship ITU LD, Lorient, France (1/2 triathlon)
August 5 Marc Herremans Classic, Antwerp (1/2 Ironman)
September 4 Zwintriatlon Knokke, Belgium (1/4 triathlon)
October 13 Ironman Hawaii ( Ironman)
November 11 Triathlon 101 championship, Woodlands, Texas (3/4 triathlon)
December 1 The Island Eighty, Turks&Caicos Islands (+ 1/2 triathlon)

As you can see, I plan to participate in two new series in the US. For 2007, Triathlon 101 consists of 3 races and a championship race, all of them in the US. In 2008 the organizers are planning an expansion into the rest of the world. 101 stands for a total distance of 101 miles (1.86mi (3km) swim, followed by a 80.6mi (130km) bike and finishing with a 18.6mi (30km) run). The races are quite similar to the old Long Distance of the ITU ( called the Nice distance). The Island Eighty is an 80 mile race (1 mile of swimming, 66 miles of biking and 13 miles of running). The distances are similar to an Half Ironman or '70.3 Ironman' but the swim is a little shorter and the bike leg a little longer. The Island Eighty organizers are also planning an expansion into a series for the next few years. For us, triathletes, it is good that new organizations are emerging. This brings a little more competition between the organizers, which hopefully will lead to bigger price purses. Of course, the World Chapionship Ironman in Hawaii remains the most important race of the year for me.