Ironman race entry

**g_samsa** · September 12th, 2006, 12:08 PM

Ironman Wisconsin was two days ago, and durring the race I checked the website for info on next year's race entry. They said that registration would open online the day after the race. What do I do? I wake up at 9am and get online to register the day after the race. The friggin thing was Full already! So, my question is the obvious. How the hell is a guy suppose to get a spot at one of these events? And, who are all these thousands of people who think they are fit enough to complete one of these suckers in any reasonable amount of time who are taking spots from people who could actually make a RACE out of it?

I'm kinda just ranting about it now. But, really. How am I suppose to get a spot? Anybody know of a loophole or something?

ubute · September 12th, 2006, 08:22 PM

Hi there
I am in Australia and have completed two IM's.

Over here you generally have to qualify for a spot in the IM by completing a half in a decent time. Is it not the same over there?

Good luck and enjoy it if you get in.

**g_samsa** · September 12th, 2006, 08:49 PM

yeah, I thought that's how it was suppose to be here also. That's why I was suprised to see that they had open entry. I guess I'd better check to see if I can do a qualifying half or something. I've met some of these people that competed in the Wisconsin IronMan, and some of them look like they are 40 lbs overweight and don't ever workout. I don't see how they can complete the thing let alone qualify. Thanks for the reply.

daniella · September 19th, 2006, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g_samsa

yeah, I thought that's how it was suppose to be here also. That's why I was suprised to see that they had open entry. I guess I'd better check to see if I can do a qualifying half or something. I've met some of these people that competed in the Wisconsin IronMan, and some of them look like they are 40 lbs overweight and don't ever workout. I don't see how they can complete the thing let alone qualify. Thanks for the reply.

I'm feeling your pain. I did the same thing as you last Tuesday morning -- i.e., 24 hours after "open entry" I logged on to find that the spots were long gone. In fact, every IM race in North America in 2007 is already full, except for Florida, which won't open until the day after the race in November of this year.

Wisconsin is one of the more popular races, according to the IM website. I have 4 friends who did the race this month and they all got in by registering in person in 2005. So, basically, you have to take a day off work to be there and register a year in advance. BTW, charity spots are still available for most of the races around the country next year. In addition to the $400.00 entry fee, you commit to raise $500.00+ in pledges for the Janus charity challenge.

About the weight of the competitors, I, too, am surprised when I see triathletes carrying an extra 20 to 40 lbs of "non-muscle". Yet, many of them are fit to race. The top female amateur in Minnesota for almost 15 years was about 20 pounds "too heavy" by outward appearances. You don't have to be lean to swim and bike. The run is where the extra pounds usually hurt, but some of those Clydesdales and Athenas can run, too. I was doing a half marathon a couple of years ago and I passed a friend from my club in mile 2 who is 4 inches shorter and 25 pounds heavier than I. At the pace I was on, I figured I would finish a good 5 to 10 minutes ahead. Imagine my surprise when my friend passed me in mile 12. I had a great race, but finished 10 seconds behind my friend. I've learned not to estimate finish times on the basis of appearance.

daniella

**FitnessPhotos** · September 19th, 2006, 10:07 PM

My wife thinks it went active at 12:01am and within the 9 hours it probably sold out. For my wife's first, I just paid the $1000 for a community fund slot; then she got smart and registered at 12:02am.

**Dial_tone** · October 23rd, 2006, 01:02 PM

Kona holds open a few slots for lottery. I wish they would all do that. I want to do Arizona in 2008.

ubute · October 24th, 2006, 08:41 PM

Wow!!!! I still can not believe how popular IM is in the US. I don't know what you think about Australia but I know that you would be guaranteed a place in the West Aust IM in Dec this year up to the cut off date of 26 Oct.
Its a quick course and flat as!! Something to think about at least.
Enjoy your long rides.

daniella · October 25th, 2006, 11:38 AM

Because of huge demand, the IronMan brand just added another race in North America. It's August 26, 2007 in Louisville, KY. There are still spots available. I finally got in to an IronMan event!

daniella

daniella · October 31st, 2006, 06:29 PM

IronMan Louisville is full now.

daniella

**Doughboy** · November 5th, 2006, 10:10 PM

Anyone from here in it?

**haphakhung** · November 6th, 2006, 04:23 PM

Sorry Guys, I'm not responding, I just trying to bump your post up top to take out the MR. Noodle Crap posts

However, If anybody can offer suggestions to trace the idiot to get rid of him, please conatact a mod.

We don't need fools like him here.

**timzombie** · November 7th, 2006, 07:40 AM

bump die noodle bump

**gYmgIrL** · November 7th, 2006, 10:09 PM

*cough* bump

gg3 · November 9th, 2006, 12:57 PM

Too much weight not affecting you on the bike? You can't be serious!!

Strength to weight ratio is what cycling is all about ESPECIALLY endurance cycling. There have been so many studies about this. If you have 10 "extra" pounds then you will get up a 2 mile a full minute slower than if you didn't and excerted the same wattage/power output.

If it's dead flat there still is an advantage to not having that weight on you. The "fastest men/women in the world" can't afford to have that. So if you want to actually "compete" get rid of it. The only reason why the do OK is beacuse it's flat.

G if you want to eliminate the weekend warriors taking up your spots buy a USCF license and progess throught the Categories in road racing. Here it's organized. Slow people or beginners are in there own category and are usually capped at 100 for most events. You should be able to get in.

But here's why people don't like bike racing over tri's. In a tri you just finish. I got my best time yay!! In cycling you have to endure the shame of getting dropped. It's right there for everyone to see how many times the fat people get lapped. Or how quickly people get dropped on the hills. It's not fun when it happens but it makes you stronger.

I love traithalons and would love to do more. But their structure and qualifications are all screwed up.

daniella · November 9th, 2006, 06:42 PM

gg3, your point is well taken. However, no one in this thread said, "Too much weight doesn't affect you on the bike." I said, "You don't have to be lean to swim and bike," and I think that is a fair statement. Professional bikers tend to be lean. The same can be said of professional runners and swimmers. My comments were made in the context of g samsa's frustration with not being able to get into a certain triathlon and wondering how people who appeared to be 40 lbs overweight could compete and finish. My point was that it's difficult to determine racing fitness on the basis of appearance alone. Is 40 lbs too much extra weight for serious competitors? Absolutely. But among amateur athletes, size and shape is not a foolproof indicator of fitness to perform.

I think the point is worth making on this web site, because of the popularity of the Fitness Babes section. I often read comments about how "fit" the Fitness Babes are, which I take to mean "fit to be a fitness model". But it begs the question, are they fit to bike 120 miles per day at race pace? Are they fit to swim, bike and run an Olympic distance or IronMan triathlon? Are they fit to play 60 minutes of soccer, box for 3 rounds, or run a marathon? If they're not, I will appreciate them no less for their remarkable achievements. But I will also appreciate the achievements of the overweight triathletes who kick the butt of us "fit" people.

daniella

gg3 · November 10th, 2006, 11:17 AM

I see what you mean. I encourage everyone to get out there and participate no matter what.

But I can empathize with G that because of the Ironmans lack of structure he can't compete. I know that is frustrating. I've had to buy an entry ticket on ebay for way too much. I'm not frustrated with overwieght people getting in the way just Ironman's slapped together approach to putting on events. It has potentail to grow but at some point someone has to say "I'm sorry you class is full we need to make sure that each category gets a fair chance to enroll."

They should have a waitlist then if there isn't 50 pro's or whatever number that sign up then those spots go to the waitlisted individuals. First come first serve will always cause issues. But then again each promoter has to agree on the process. Some of these promoters make a lot of money for these events. Use volunteers to control traffic, handle sign in and staging but forget the "customers" experience. I know because on a former team we promoted several races a year and the revenue helped the team quite a bit.

**g_samsa** · November 20th, 2006, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gg3

I see what you mean. I encourage everyone to get out there and participate no matter what.

But I can empathize with G that because of the Ironmans lack of structure he can't compete. I know that is frustrating. I've had to buy an entry ticket on ebay for way too much. I'm not frustrated with overwieght people getting in the way just Ironman's slapped together approach to putting on events. It has potentail to grow but at some point someone has to say "I'm sorry you class is full we need to make sure that each category gets a fair chance to enroll."

They should have a waitlist then if there isn't 50 pro's or whatever number that sign up then those spots go to the waitlisted individuals. First come first serve will always cause issues. But then again each promoter has to agree on the process. Some of these promoters make a lot of money for these events. Use volunteers to control traffic, handle sign in and staging but forget the "customers" experience. I know because on a former team we promoted several races a year and the revenue helped the team quite a bit.

I agree with this totally. I was very disapointed and kinda angry when I found out how hard it was to register. My first reaction was to lash out at all the wannabes. However, I realize that really isn't fair because people do it for different reasons and everyone needs a fair shake. But, organization of these things is a real must. I recently ran the chicago marathon which had 40,000 entrants and was superbly organized. I've been to boston and Los angeles and they are equally well organized. I like the different approaches that marathons take. New York has open entry and a Lotery, Chicago is open, but has a 40k limit. Boston is by time. It gives people an oportunity to run a marathon somewhere durring the year if they miss out, for whatever reason, on their first choice. IronMan is just full no matter what. Seems they could change their approach at a couple of the races just to see what happens. Or they could have a well organized "qualifying series" that would be a guaranteed pass to the bigger events. I like that Idea best.

CarbonK · June 12th, 2007, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g_samsa

IHow am I suppose to get a spot? Anybody know of a loophole or something?

I think a lot of people sign up during on-site registration for the following year after their done with the race. Unfortunately, there are so few in this country that there aren't enough spots to go around. You have to qualify for IM Hawaii, but that's it in the US - all of the US races are put on by NA Sports.

If you're really interested in doing a great race next year, look up IM Arizona on Ironmanlive.com. I just checked and the resigistration is still open and it's a fantastic event. I couldn't have had a better experience at my first IM.

RoJoGo · July 22nd, 2008, 02:26 PM

Actually NAS and WTC put on IM events.

This new IM entry system sucks! It is not entirely fair... in my opinion. I tried to sign up for IM LP on Monday (21JUL08) and it was already sold out before the entries even got on-line! Now it is getting to a point where you need to be at the race venue just to purchase an entry for next year's event!

I think many more "smaller" (non-Kona qualifer) IMs will get more attention... besides they are usually about $100-$200 less expensive!

CarbonK, glad to hear you had a great experience @ IM AZ. When did you do it?.... April'08 for me, sucked! It was so frickin' hot that my tubulars were losing glue around the rims! It was like breathing in hot oven air which only "burned" my lungs. I was taking short breaths and squriting water up my nose to help hydrate (nose bleeding from extreme heat) I got so sunburned, my hands were swollen and red for 3 days! (yes, I used lots of sunblock!) I had a miserable experience and it was my slowest performance ever.