Ironman Races Supply vs. Demand - Triathlon Week

estrategy · 07-29-2005, 02:39 PM

Below is an email I sent to Ironman North America. In quotes is the response I received from Ironman that angers me.

"We realize that 10% of our athletes will not be satisfied with the way our races are conducted and that is why you have the option to choose other IM races if you are not satisfied with our organization." - IM

Ironman knows they have a "virtual monopoly" on Ironman distance races and know athletes don't have any other alternatives. I would like to see some changes in the next few years and would appreciate any of your help to encourage them to change. Most companies good companies ask their customers how they can improve. IM doesn't ask because they don't have to and b/c of their arrogence. We need to tell them how we feel if you agree! [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Dear Ironman North America [Only registered and activated users can see links. ],

Has it ever occurred to you that if you sell out all of your races 24hrs you probably have more demand than you have supply? I have never seen a company react so slowly to meet the rising demand for a product as yours. How hard is it to set-up more races in new areas around the U.S. especially California? It is absolutely ridiculous that you do not have an IM race in California especially So. Cal. the birthplace of IM. You probably have 30,000+ IM racing candidates from Northern & Southern California who aren't willing to spending $3000, travel 1000 miles & weeks vacation just for an IM race. We all like training as a lifestyle and would like a simple IM race within a 3 hr. drive to participate once a year. You need to realize we don't want to spend 5 nights in a hotel just to do a race. The following cities would be ideal candidates Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach (Central Coast), San Diego or Santa Cruz. Please get your act together and find a way to make California work for an Ironman race ASAP!

Also, not everyone cares about qualifying for Hawaii anymore because it has become out of reach for most people who have a full time job or family. Most people who are qualifying for Hawaii do not have full time job. Maybe you should think about developing a fully employed division and create a separate IM qualification race. The CEO competition is a good start on this idea and should be expanded to include fully employed people.

My suggestion is as follows:

1) Set-up more races in the U.S. in the West / Southwest.
2) Consolidate the race activities into 3 days Fri, Sat, Sun

BONUS IDEAS
1) Set-up a 2nd qualifier race in a exotic location for fully employed racers
2) Set-up another an division "fully employed"

Sincerely,
Jeff [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - 2 time Ironman and still 20 minutes from qualifying.

tri4hale · 07-29-2005, 06:58 PM

part of how Ironman works is to prove to the communites that they goto that there is a major finicial benifet to hosting the event. the only way they can do this is to require 4-5 night stays, exclusive airlines, and sell outs. because they pick relitively small communites they can assure most hotels fill. car rentals, (surcharges for full hotels). in getting these promices they effectively get the community to front a large part of the cost, be it in permits, volenteers or site preperation.
so yes, it is expensive to race ironman. i have done 8. yes there should be another in CA other than Vineman. yes i know of highly qualified people that have put proprosals to INA to stage races in santa cruz and pismo, (the proposals had mesured bike and run corses). yet in these communites Ironman cant make the same promises. santa cruz draws a good tourist trade, and so does pismo.
do i have solutions, no. do i share your opion, yes. so i will most likely be doing Silverman as it is the closest Iron to me (even if not INA) (i have done Vineman)

sfricks · 07-30-2005, 05:52 AM

Don't forget USAT Iron Distance Races. Just because the venue doesn't carry the "Ironman" name, doesn't make the finishers anything less than Ironmen and Ironwomen. Check out the Great Floridian @ [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

larrtur · 08-01-2005, 04:14 PM

Here' an idea for you. Why don't you aggressively try to organize the event that you want, where you want it? Perhaps then you would have more respect and an appreciation for the people who spend countless hours, and resources organizing these huge events. Your attitude seems to be " I want an ironman that is convenient for me, but all I want to do is pay, and have someone else do the hard work". To quote a famous line with a small twist, "if you want something done the way you want it, do it yourself".

estrategy · 08-01-2005, 04:35 PM

This is not an appreciation issue Mr. Beginner who lives in Chicago. Speak to me after you have done 2 IM. I have no doubt that setting up an Ironman is very hard in LA vs. Madison Wisconsin. However, I would expect the 1/2 of the total Ironman population lives and trains in California. I only ask the if Iroman wants to maintain its brand and monopoly it better start listening to what it's customers want. WE WANT TO RACE IN CALIFORNIA.

For many, IM athletes the "honeymoon" first race is over. We just want to do another race close to home.

$100,000 from entry fees and a few $100,000 from sponsors is a nice budget to work with. Raise the friggin entry fee if thats what it takes to do it in California. Plus they have hundreds of volunteers.

I would gladly sponsor any organization who wants to set up an IM race in So. Cal.

tri4hale · 08-01-2005, 08:04 PM

i have volenteered at some races, mostly i race. i see the coin from both sides. race directors are heros in my book. i keep my 20-40 triathlons a year to within 3hr dirving distance. My 1 iron race a year i do have to travel to, unless i do the CAman in davis, CA, and typicaly will have to spend more money on hotel than entry fee. and that same money could be spent supporting another 5-10 races (even at current prices). i don't mind that an Ironman or iron-distance race costs4x that of an international, it is 4 times as long. i do mind being required to turn a race into a full blown vacation. i race because i love to race. my cause is Triathlon.

i know from my abilities that no matter how many triathlons i have competed in, (and the number is not trival) that i don't have the nessary skills to be a race director. the point estrategy appears to be making is to request INC bring an iron back to CA. the last INA iron in CA had over 40k spectators, and more than 4k volenteers, but politics from the community, venue or internal forced it to move. Utah was a community with support, but the venue was uncooperative (lake utah is a memory i will never forget). and CDA is amazing in all respects, i hope they keep it.

yet many venues that they select i have no desire to visit for a day, let alone the required 5. and i believe that in those cases INA is not seeking my $ to support that event. even WTC has venues that are completely unattractive to me. the seperation from WTC by the Quelle Roth Challange does not deter me from returning to that venue(put this corse on your must to list like alcatraz, wildflower, and kona, and remember must do does not me must do every year)
i know CAman is a quality event that rivals INA and in many respects is better. i have a feeling that the Silverman will upstage all but Kona and Quelle, as only Vegas can. as for southern californa getting a major irondistance race, i recommend if you live in that area you either go north to Davis for a very fast course or east to Vegas for a hilly one. the next best bet would be to consult the local triathlon directors, or intice the big boys into comming back.
Good luck, i did both California Ironmans and gained more respect for our marines than i can put into words.

estrategy · 08-02-2005, 09:02 AM

Ironman USA Excuses

I don't want to race in the desert heat of Arizona or Idaho. We (30,000+ California IM athletes and growing) want to race in California! The entire Iroman USA organization has been brainwashed to think that setting up a race in California is too hard. I really don't care how hard it is for you to set up a race in California. No one who races in Ironman gives excuses of how hard it is. There are a dozen marathons that shut down the cities here. No one ever said racing or setting up an Ironman was easy to do. Start thinking like an athlete and look at this as a challenge. Just get it done!

Well, if you haven't guessed we are mad at Ironman. Here is my constructive criticism . . . When is the last time IM surveyed you athletes to ask them how to improve? I think never! We (athletes) are the lifeblood of IM for survival. Ironman needs to get off its "high horse" and start asking us how it can improve. Send your past athletes a survey! Your organization is run like the Russian Ministry (from the top). Weak weak weak.

No excuses Ironman. Stopping feeding me your excuses. I am tired of them.

Jeff

sfricks · 08-02-2005, 02:30 PM

WOW! You're really passionate about this. Forgive me, but why are you making your wishes someone elses problem? You want it that bad? You don't need their, my or anyone elses approval. Iron distance is iron distance so it doesn't need to be an "Ironman". Buy some beer, gather your buddies, have a meeting and do it yourself.

julian · 08-02-2005, 02:48 PM

Go for it, I agree with sfricks if you have the resources try and organise an iornman yourself. I do not know how it works over in the USA but in England we have different people hosting triathlons but they are all affiliated to the british triathlon assoc maybe you can do it I don't know.
Good luck with it all
Cheers
Julian.

estrategy · 08-02-2005, 02:53 PM

No this is not just my wish. I am speaking on behalf of the 30,000 other Ironman athletes that live in California. I am passionate about this issue because IM holds the keys to the race.

They backed out of doing a full Ironman in Oceanside after 2 succesful years because the IM race directors are cowards and refuse to deal with the Oceanside city and military and negotiate a new race weekend calendar from 5 days to 2 or 3 days of race prep. Don't give me the we are at war excuse. The last full Ironman I did in Oceanside / Camp Pendleton in 2002 I only spent 1 night in hotel. It was awesome and a great course. I would do the race every year if they kept it. The current half IM sucks!

I want to race in the atmosphere that IM creates but happy to do a new race someone in So. Cal. if a race director can come up with one. Filling the race with 2000 people would not be a problem.

tri4hale · 08-03-2005, 07:37 AM

actualy if you did do Oceanside you would have gotten a servey on your email from INA, i remember getting a servey from all my Ironman races except Vineman, and that may have changed sence the time i did it. as for 30,000 ironman athletes in CA, this is steatching the numbers. we had 40,000 spectators in Oceanside. i suspect that there are close to 15,000 active triathletes in CA, not just southern CA. To get an accurate number you would need to cunsult USAT and maybe some of the race directors. Globaly there are around 17-20 WTC/INA qualifiers and at least 20 other irondistance races that i could name. The qualifiers have field limits around 2k for the most part. By the math that means around 40,000 ironman athletes in WTC/INA events and another 13-15,000 in the indepentes (Clarmont, Vineman, Silverman, Great Floridian, Nice, Quelle Challange, etc)
True the surveys show that CA athletes are the largest represented but we do not take up 80% of the field at any iron distance race outside California that i have seen. Closer to 30% in fact. And yes that translates to numbers closer to 12-15,000 Califironia athletes that do iron distance races. This should open there eyes, but you can only lead them to water, you can't make them drink. Seek the races closest to you. And CaliMan is not in the desert. Neither is Vineman (it is in the vineyards of Napa).
I support your quest for INA to return to the roots of triathlon.

estrategy · 08-03-2005, 08:15 AM

Here are the only excuses I getting from IM regarding setting up a race in So. Cal. . . .

1) Cities are not cooperating with the race directors on the bike course (too much time to close roads)
2) We have talked with "every" possible city venue in Southern California and can't find a city that works.

These objections are very weak excuses and I think there are solutions to these problems if they simply listen to the needs of the local community. It is one issue to run a good race (which IM does a great job). It is another issue to present, sell and manage public relations with the city and surrounding community. I suspect the people selling and managing an IM race to the cities in California do have the corporate sales background and sophistication to recognize they don't have the skills to sell this properly to the cities. I don't have any hard evidence but based on what I am hearing this is exactly the case. You cannot just bulldoze your way into a California city and expect officials to lay down for all of your requests. Selling and managing relationships with city officials and the surrounding community requires corporate sales and public relations skills. I do this for a living and know that there is always a solution to the problem. I would suggest IM work smarter not harder on finding a solution to the problem.

duggar1 · 11-30-2005, 08:03 PM

Jeff,

I agree with you completely regarding the lack of IM races in CA. The huge and growing population of triathletes in CA represents a positive opportunity for Ironman North America. We Californians may well be the center of the universe for triathlon. You would think they would see that and go the distance to make IM events in CA a reality. I expect it will happen sooner or later. Unfortunately it may take some mayor or city council member who competes in tri's to approach them to get them to focus on us. Sad.

Doug