Dave House of H3 Publications announced today that there soon would be a third triathlon print magazine. Simply called TRI, it will join Triathlete Magazine and Inside Triathlon as an option for triathletes to subscribe to or purchase at a news stand. H3 also owns ROAD and DECLINE, two magazines respectively dedicated to road cycling and mountain biking.
The new editor for TRI will be Jay Prasuhn who has been back working at Triathlete Magazine for the last 10 years, but for a brief stint at slowtwitch in early 2008. Prasuhn will start his new job with H3 Publications on January 12th, but he will be working from his home office in Encinitas, CA and will not move to the home office in Valencia, CA.
"I'm hoping to strike a unique balance between what each of those two titles represent, but it will certainly be more of a graphically-driven title. Out the gate, H3 titles offer a big, beautiful canvas to work with," said Prasuhn when asked by slowtwitch how TRI will be different from the existing competition. "Gear will show off well, and meaty features wrapped around compelling art will be attractive as well. It'll be something worthy of merit on the coffee table - which might be a nice change, since people usually associate my name with their time on the toilet."
Considering the current economy and the troubling time for some print magazines, it is quite surprising to see a new tri magazine seemingly wanting to step up to the plate. "We gave a lot of thought and did a lot of research and no matter who we talked to it seemed everyone was about to sign up for a triathlon," said House to slowtwitch, and added. "Having Jay Prasuhn on our team will allow us to start the magazine right. We are in a much better position now than we were 6 years ago when we launched ROAD."
Prasuhn will be joined at TRI by John Segesta, a photographer who has worked for Triathlete Magazine since 1999, but more recently only worked there part time. Segesta couldn’t be reached for a comment, as he is currently on his way to Argentina for an assignment for the sister publication ROAD, but House confirmed that Segesta is now a full-time employee of H3 Publications.
"We have one of the finest shooters in Triathlon in John Segesta, and his work with H3 Publications is already well known, as he's been senior photographer for Road magazine for the last few years," said Prasuhn. "It'll be plug-and-play for him. I'll also be working with Road editor Tim Schamber, who's long been a guy I've had a mutual respect for."
With the recent departures of Sean Watkins and John Duke, that now makes Segesta and Prasuhn the third and fourth person to have left Triathlete magazine recently. That now gives newly appointed Competitor Group publisher and Senior Vice President Andrew Hersam somewhat of a blank canvas to start with.
