Origins

MetroTri was created by Rich Barkan, a Long Island triathlete whose strongest single sport is swimming. 

Metrotri began as an e-mail newsletter in 1997 for the now-defunct LIAC (Long Island Aquatics Club) Masters team that practiced year-round at the outdoor pool at Christopher Morley Park (Yes, an outdoor pool, year-round, on Long Island... Brrrr).   Initially it was just practice info and upcoming meets and road races.  It has grown quite a bit since then and led to the creation of this website that same year.

These days the newsletter is published nearly every week and the website updated frequently during prime triathlon season (May - September).  Rich (the "WebMeister")'s guiding motivation is to try to include everything he would have wanted to know about in the prime of his workout years (mid 1992, when youth and vitality were on his side and he was working out three times a day thanks to a severance package courtesy of  a major international bank).

On occasion, we update the MetroTri BLOG with late-breaking news items that may be too time senstive to wait for the next newsletter.

The costs of bringing you the newsletter and website are somewhat offset thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, some of which you can see listed on the left as well as on the sponsors page. Their modest contiributions have helped pay for some of the stuff we've been able to bring you over the years.

Please support the MetroTri sponsors, and be sure to mention this website if you chat with them!

E-mail us if you are interested in being a MetroTri sponsor.

Distribution
The newsletter is sent out with an anonymous (bcc'd) distribution list to just about 1,900 area athletes (as of January, 2006).  The readership extends throughout the NY  Metropolitan region, including Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut. Lately, that area has expanded into Western New York, The Hudson Valley, Pennsylvania and New England and now quite a few folks across the country as well.

On top of all that, Rich's Mom is also on the list, so you know it's got to be darned-near perfect every week and no funny business.

The newsletter outlines new stuff on the website and other local events. The newsletter tends to  lean towards the swimming in the winter, triathlon events throughout the summer,  and running events the year round. 

Any and all related news, race results and race announcements are welcome, though a reciprocal link or mention is requested.

National Coverage
Since 2000, MetroTri has been able to provide coverage for major events, including as several Ironman triathlons (providing images and content contributions for ironmanlive.com race coverage), the US Pro Cycling Championship, the NYC and Boston Marathons and many, many additional events including the prestigous Manhattan Island Marathon Swim.

Reciprocal Links
A link to MetroTri costs you nothing, so be a sport and add it to your related website. Those local events, companies or organizations that have the abilty to reciprocate and choose not to are likely to be given much less attention at the Webmeister's whim.

If you know if a  website related to triathlon and the component sports or otherwise of interest, please bring it to ourention (even the occasional goofy stuff, like this).  There are a lot of a great resources out there on the web.   Please help us share them with everyone.

The quality of the newsletter depends on feedback and contributions from the readers (that's the only cost for making it happen - we want the occasional news flash or race  announcement or article that we missed so everyone can see it).

Every new reader is an additional source for events and things to write about.  Also, unless you request otherwise, anything interesting you send me can end up in the newsletter / website, although we would probably ask your permission if, in our opinion, it might be sensitive  stuff.

Shhhhh...
The newsletter e-mail recipient list is anonymous. No one but you needs to know your e-mail address.  We hate spam as much  as you do and will never willingly give out anyone's address but our own. See the MetroTri Privacy Policy for more on this.

To stop receiving the newsletter e-mail, just follow the instructions at the bottom of every newsletter. No details are  necessary; We understand that some people may not want to be bothered or your e-mail is at work and they don't want you using it for personal stuff or you just get too much e-mail and the last thing you need is this weekly crap from  us.  Hey, it happens.  We're not offended.  If you change your e-mail address, let us know.  If we keep getting back messages saying that the e-mail couldn't be delivered, we'll remove you.

ARTICLES AND IMAGES WANTED!
If you have any ideas, questions, announcements, races or results you would like to share, just e-mail us and we'll throw it in (website and/or e-mail).  Images can be scanned in by the MetroTri staff pretty easily (when we do finally get to it).  We always need content for the website, and we'd especially welcome any race or finish-line photos of  you or other area athletes in action to brighten up our site, as long as there's a few words to go with them. Even better, a nice story..

Please drop us a line with any comments or questions.