Wildflower Is Back But Can It Survive?

The Wildflower Triathlon made a triumphant return to Lake San Antonio earlier this month after a seven year hiatus. Now dubbed “The Wildflower Experience,” the weekend-long multi-sport festival is under the stewardship of Colleen Bousman, daughter of the original founder Terry Davis. Colleen reacquired the race from Motiv Sports in 2024 and now, thanks to the help of her husband, daughter and father, it seems that she’s more determined than ever to see the “Woodstock of Triathlons” carry on for another 35 years.

Having raced this event several times in my former life as a professional triathlete, when I heard the news last year that Wildflower was making a comeback, my wife (Carrie Lester, also a former professional triathlete), and I decided immediately that we would 100% support the event by attending the race expo with the brands we now distribute for…

If you are reading this on Slowtwitch, you are most likely well aware of the long history of the Wildflower race. For those of you unfamiliar with how special Wildflower was, and still could be … In short, it was one of the originals. It was once a Kona qalifier and nearly every pro on the circuit would turn up each and every year. It had the biggest expo/industry show on the mainland USA. It was THE place where contracts were signed, and the tri world got their first glimpse of who’s hot and who’s not as Wildflower marked the start towards the Kona build every year.

In my opinion, Wildflower is the closest thing we had (and could potentially once again have) in the U.S. that resembles anything like Challenge Roth.

My years racing Wildflower as a pro were during the Jesse Thomas era (the first face of ROKA). Our generation of pros raced during a time in which the professional side of the sport felt like we were more of a thorn in the side of race organizers rather than people who complemented or added value to a race. That wasn’t the case at Wildflower, though. Terry always put up a handsome prize purse. Each and every pro was fed and given a bed to sleep in, whether at a local homestay, a camping spot, or cabin on site. Every single male and female champion’s name is still chiseled into the stairs out of T1.

When you headed to Wildflower every May, it wasn’t about earning a pay check, points, or qualifying for a World Championship. We were in for the adventure, to test ourselves on a throwback, tough as nails, course, and to spend a weekend hanging with friends off the grid for a few days. Probably all things that got us into the sport to begin with.

Ironically there was no pro field at Wildflower this year. This was not surprising given the current landscape with several professional circuits competing against each other. It would have been hard to attract a decent field. I do think Wildflower needs a professional field to legitimize its comeback, as well as attract a larger triathlon media presence. In an ideal world I would love to see  T100 and Ironman work with Wildflower to include it in their points chase, but I don’t see that happening, and to dive into that subject even further would take another longer article…But I’m a dreamer so you never know.

Back to the weekend at hand. Upon arriving on site, the RV we rented from Pismo RV Rentals was there waiting for us. The process to book our RV was seamless and the prices were reasonable considering they took care of all the hard work.  

This was our very first family camping trip with our little man Charlie (18 months old) in tow. Colleen kindly gave us a free campsite as part of our expo agreement. We were positioned up above the staging area in the Lynch campsite. It was the perfect location for us as it was and easy walking distance to the expo and nice and quiet at night. 

As a vendor who has attended close to 100 events over the past few years, it doesn’t get much better than the set up at Wildflower. Every booth had a view of Lake San Antonio right next to the finish chute. We typically don’t open on race days unless we are right next to the finish area like we were. An expo open on race day adds to the overall value of an event, especially for participants’ supporters as it gives them something to do while their racers are out on the course. 

The expo was fairly well attended with the likes of ROKA, Rudy Project, Race Day Wheels, Base Performance, Fractel, Hyperice, Factor and our brands of OTSO Sport, Precision Fuel & Hydration and Ekoi. (There may have been a few others that I am forgetting, but in general it felt like a decent sized expo for its first year back.) The general consensus of the vendors was that we weren’t there to make money, it was more of a work/vacation and, more importantly, we were there to support Colleen in her attempt to get Wildflower back to its glory days. 

In terms of race experience, even though I didn’t personally race, I did have a few athletes I coach who did. They were super pumped to be back and fully embraced the wind, the hills, the beat up roads (at times) and the pit. They also thoroughly enjoyed not having to get up at bull-sh#t o’clock in the morning, since Wildflower enjoys a casual 8:30 am start. 

In terms of numbers, I think they had around 1,500 total athletes across four different events, not including the open water swims and fun runs. Our booths were busy, there seemed to be people walking around all weekend, so it was a nice bonus as we really didn’t know what to expect coming to the event. 

In general it felt like this was a rust buster year. It’s as if Colleen thought, “let’s get the band back together and see if we can still make music.” I’d give them nine out of 10 stars. Everything seemed to run smoothly and the transition area and signage looked great. The DJ was rockin’ all weekend, I don’t think I heard the same song twice. There were ample food trucks, and my only gripe of the weekend would be the $10 cans of beer. I paid $40 for four beers for the boys post race … ouch! The word from some of the athletes was that the roads on the first half of the bike course are still in need of repair, but other than that, most really enjoyed their day out. 

One missing piece was the lack of college students that traditionally made Wildflower so special. Don’t get me wrong, Cal Poly turned out a great crew, but hopefully a renewed partnership with USAT could bring the Collegiate Championships back in the near future.

At the end of the weekend, it felt so good to be back at Wildflower – we were sad to leave.  After a few tough years it seems our sport is starting to once again trend up. Next year, without IRONMAN 70.3 St. George the weekend after, it feels like this might be the right time for the great Wildflower comeback. Clearly I’m biased, but I really think our sport needs an event like Wildflower to rise from the ashes. It’s such a unique location that offers tough, fair racing, a weekend full of activities for friends and family to enjoy, with so many possibilities to add other events like gravel racing and ultra running. Can you imagine a 12 hour mountain bike race?

Additionally, The Paso Robles wine region is quickly becoming one of the most visited places in the state, easily within driving distance of from anywhere on the West Coast. Or, you can simply fly into San Jose or LAX and take the short drive in.

I am sure the Wildflower team is combing through the numbers as I write. The clock is now ticking to make a decision if Wildflower 2026 is a go. I can say this for certain, if it does return, #theexpogypsies will be there ready for more smiles and laughter.  As M.C. Whitt Raymond simply stated: “If everyone here just brings one more person next year, Wildflower will be back in full force.”

– Scott Defilippis

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