What is 3 Disciplines and what are your goals?  

We are a true, full-service event management company that has produced and provided consultation on nearly 1,000 events across the country. With 16 years under our belt, we have managed everything from 5k, 10k, half- and full-distance marathons, triathlons, duathlons, adventure races, bike races, open water swim events and more. We can design, produce, manage and host an event anywhere in the lower 48 states, completely in house from start to finish.

We want to continue to provide the safest, first class events at a reasonable entry fee. We are currently working on developing the new Powerman North American Duathlon Series coast to coast with partnership from Powerman International in 16 countries.

Event growth: good or bad? 

The issue is there are far too many events and so few are professionally produced in safe, first class manners. We produce close to 40 events a year. Multi-sport has plateaued, at least in the most areas, and running events continue to grow. A company with our experience, safety record, equipment and expertise can provide that ideal event.

What factors make a destination desirable?

We want to host events at venues that want to welcome athletes and put out that red carpet for them so they keep coming back. Athletes have evolved throughout the years, especially in the multi-sport world. Today’s athletes have specific wants and needs, so a great relationship and partnership is one in which we all work together to bring in an event that the athletes and community can embrace and look forward to year after year. We know cities want “heads in beds” and that cannot happen unless we give the athletes a reason to return.

What is your favorite event?

I think we host one of the best triathlon festivals in the country with a half iron, Olympic and sprint triathlon with our 3 Disciplines Festival of Races in East Tawas, Michigan in September. Athletes have traveled from almost every state and say it is the best event they have done.

Our Motor City Triathlon in June in downtown Detroit at the new state park, Belle Isle, an island between Canada and Detroit, is arguably the fastest course in the U.S. A flat, closed, six-mile loop the creates a unique tail wind down the island’s corridor with bike speeds upwards of 30 mph. Hundreds of athletes report personal records every year.

What has been your greatest obstacle?

Weather—when we host two, three and sometimes four events every weekend in the summer, bad weather is inevitable. We have dealt with just about everything: a tornado the night before an event; dust devils during an event; snow; ice; lightning; fire; torrential down pour; 10-foot waves; the list goes on and on. We have been through and dealt with it all at this point.

The most important thing I tell our staff is that these athletes have spent months training for this event and they paid for it, so we will do everything in our power to host a safe event. We only delayed 35 minutes from the tornado that literally made the entire footprint of the event disappear. It was over at 2:15 a.m., then the staff came from the hotel and we cleaned up. We reset a half iron, Olympic and sprint distance triathlon for 400 athletes from 20 states. My crew was pulling trees off the bike course with chains and trucks. We completely designed a new course as the old one had more than a dozen hazards. Athletes had to get their half in for Ironman qualification to complete a half distance. They could not believe we pulled that off (many of them showed up just to see the damage). It helps to have enough equipment to host three triathlons in three locations on the same day. There was more than $10,000 in damaged equipment; six tents were gone; every buoy in Lake Erie was gone—but we pulled it off. What a great challenge that was.

For more information, contact Kenny Krell at kenny@3disciplines.com, 231-546-2229, or visit www.3disciplines.com.