WIN Multisport Events acquired by Final Stretch Inc.

Yes, its true. WIN Multisports (Bill Nevala) and the events run by them have been acquired by Final Stretch Inc (Mark Bongers). Most of the races I do are run by these two companies so I am glad some events are not going away.

In my opinion, both companies had different excellent qualities. WIN events were pretty much all USAT sanctioned. With that comes a high standard/high quality event partially due to the criteria that must be met in order to be "USAT" (timing, results, consistent AG's, rules, etc.). Not only that, Bill put on excellent events and spared no expense. He went way 'above and beyond' what USAT required. The athletes were all treated like pro's and you received lots of extra's; the venues were perfect, and Bill and his volunteers never sacrificed quality despite race-day set backs (I am mainly talking about weather---i.e. 40 degrees and raining at the WinterBeGone Du).

The great thing about Mark Bongers' events is that its sometimes nice for an event to have that 'home-town' atmosphere going on. Some were even manually timed which gave them a grass-roots feel. Mark is a very easy going guy and is cares a lot about what people think after the race.

Now, will all the events still on for 2010 and under the same banner, we'll likely get the best qualities of both race management companies. Below is how the information was released to the Rochester triathlon community, via Tri-Rochester:

[Hello Friends,

I would like to formally announce that WIN Multisport Events, LLC and all of its events and assets have been acquired by Final Stretch, Inc on Dec. 4th. The Hy-Vee Rochesterfest Triathlon, Waseca Triathlon and the Treadman Duathlon are being directed by Mark Bongers for 2010 and beyond. These events are now currently taking registrations. The WINMultisports website is up to date and will remain active for several months as the Final Stretch website is being redesigned. Mark and I have a strong business relationship and this move is a WIN-WIN for us. This was not an easy decision for me. I love directing races and meeting all of the people. I will have a reduced role at these events, but I will be part of the staff at each. I plan to be a participant of several races in 2010 in an effort to improve Bill the triathlete. It has been my great pleasure to create these great events in the area with many of you helping us. I am extremely proud of what we have created and I know Mark and Final Stretch will continue to produce a great set of events. Thank You very much for your support!Lets have some fun in 2010.

Bill Nevala]

Here are the websites:

http://www.winmultisports.com/

http://www.finalstretch.com/