What oly is charging $700?

Demand for the top tier events is driven by the bucket list folks. It's a lot different if you are flying to SF for a week's vacation w/family and to do Alcatraz (as a once-in-a-lifetime event) than if you race a dozen times a year.

Look at Santa Cruz 70.3 (formerly Big Kahuna). They put an IM label on it, jacked up the entry fee by 50% and got double the number of racers.

The irony is that smaller, local events seem to be struggling. My local Tri4Fun has probably ~2/3s the entrants they did 5yrs. ago. There's a thread here about how the Surf City HIM (same course as IM Santa Cruz, just 2mos. later) has less than 140 entrants and might not happen.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Escape from Alcatraz.

I think a lot of it is that the companies know who their racers are demographically. As a group we tend to be college educated professionals with better paying jobs and/or more disposable income than the average folks.

The other part, as others have pointed out, is demand and production costs. The local sprint where I used to live was $65, and that included an event T-Shirt. But there were no road closures, the swim was done in waves in the local pool, the run done in nearby trails, and nary an aid station to be found. Low cost, low overhead, and low demand.

You're going to let me jump off a ferry next to Alcatraz and spend a week or so in SF? Here's my money.

For all of us we make decisions about where spend our money. I gave up my cell phone because I hated the monthly fee, but I happily pay a woman twice what the phone cost me to tell me to go exercise.

I agree that many of the people in The Tri community are college educated, richer folk, and though i am well on my way to being that, i am still in the college part, so I am pretty broke. That being said, the local sprint tri is 30$. I am gonna do pilgramman in MA this weekend, the Olympic is 90. I did 100 for a multi sport race across RI (race the state RI, look it up if you haven't heard of it, it was a blast, harder than a half by a long shot for me). Yeah, Mdot races are expensive, so i only do one or two, the rest are not and are just as good training wise, and almost as fun, (if not more fun because i have an extra 400$ to play with). Yes, most stuff is way way over priced, but, if you look you can find stuff that is relatively cheap!

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Insta: Trihennessy - Out Rival Racing Elite Team
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The more the race cost the less likely I am to win.
Kona (0.0000001 chance of winning) - 1500 (Kona + qualifier)
Alcatraz (0.0000002 chance of winning)- $750
70.3 Calgary (0.0000004 chance of winning) - $375
State level tri (0.1 chance of winning)- $175
City level tri. (0.3 chance of winning)- $85
Super local race (.5 chance if winning) - $40
Interval workout (1 chance of winning)- 0

It is as if I am paying to get beaten. The more thorough the beating the more I pay.

And they say pros are irrelevant.

My dad ran into a nice couple the other day at the pool who were training for IM Chattanooga. They told him they paid $1,000 apiece to enter. My dad replied "you're paying $1,000 to kick your own ass? What a business."

All the North American IM races for next summer are still open for general registration. Some of them have been traditionally slow to sell out like Canada and Coeur d'Alene but LP and MT are usually pretty quick to sell out and they are still open. WTC may have reached a saturation point with the number of races on the calendar.

YGTBSM!!

I think we are really getting there. Back in the early 00's I did 10+ races a year. The last couple years there have been quite a few races that I have planned to do but as they get closer my desire to do them goes away and the week befoer the race I become glad I didn't already register and can just sleep in then go out for a hard workout for free. As the price of a sprint approaches $100 I start looking at the things I could do with that $100. If the price is going to be $100+ for a sprint or olympic it better have something going for it other than just a generic race.

Alcatraz has something completely unique and it is easy to see why it could cost more. But $700, eesh. Part of how IM still doesn't feel quite as bad is the amount you spend on everything else around the race and travel as well as the amount of time spent in specific preparation. A local sprint has none of these things, no travel investment, no specific training for just that event, no hoopla, no vacation around it, no family coming along, no special scenery ...

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Here is the midwest we have the same thing. Smaller races are actually disappearing. Very sad as they are 1/4 of the cost and usually require little travel, hotels, etc. Often times you can be home by lunch.

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support your local grass roots races... start your own as well. screw t-shirts and medals, wet suit strippers (you cant take it off yourself!?)

It's actually $750, so you can shit even more.

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[ The sign of intelligence is you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life. - Vasudev ]

Sorry, but WTC races are just gonna go UP, from now. They got bought out and the buyers will want to recoup their expenses ASAP. No way prices are going down any time soon for WTC events, and if WTC can outmuscle all the small local races for permits and hotels, etc., the squeeze will just continue.

Ditto for here in the southwest. It's too bad. Some of the local sprints are still only $50, and the olys are less than $100, but participant numbers are only 50-70% of what they were five years ago.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

It was $325 in 2007.

Ya, i caught onto this awhile back, which is why i never race outside of an 8-hr drive from my house. If i ever get to where i am winning all of these races overall, then i'd focus on races further away:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Hello surfNJmatt and All,

When will home grown races get more popular?

http://fortune.com/...hlon-private-equity/

Excerpts:

“This year alone, Ironman has added 24 new events, bringing its roster of events to 38 full-distance Ironman races, and more than 70 half-distance competitions known as Ironman 70.3’s (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, 13.1-mile run). Some 200,000 athletes are set to cross an Ironman finish line this year, compared to about 60,000 people five years ago.

Ironman has one big advantage any corporation would dream of having while it ramps up: its ownership of the “Ironman” name, the result of years of defending its intellectual property. While anyone can put on a triathlon of the same distance, no one else can bestow on finishers the status of “Ironman,” a near mythical status for triathletes.”

“People can start their own races, people can start their own series. Whether athletes will sign up for them is a very different story. And so far the answer has been, they don’t,” said Messick. [emphasis added]

.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

As long as there is a feeding frenzy to do the branded M-dot races this is going to continue, and the independent races are going to get squeezed to the point that they can't sustain, especially at the long course distances.

I don't think I'm really speaking out of turn here but at the TBI conference last year Slowman and I were seated at lunch and Andrew Messick joined us - fresh from the purchase of the Big Kahuna as the SC 70.3. When I told him that I had a race on a similar course in Santa Cruz he said that wherever they go they tend to drive up the attendance at other local races. He also told us that they were going to go slow on the SC race and stick to the Big Kahuna permit permits and keep it around 1100 max. The city shut them down at 2100 athletes! The real irony is that they had to adopt my bike course because when we tried it for the first time last year the city thought it worked better in terms of neighborhood impact and made them do the same thing! When I told him my race was two months after theirs he just said something to the effect of - oh that's too bad.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not sour grapes because of the impact to Surf City. It's just the reality of event production, it's just a bigger scale than with the smaller races. I'm very, very concerned about what is going on with our sport when I read a thread like this. I posted in my blog last January that my biggest fear is that when there are only the big branded races that it will not be good for triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon or any other multisport event because there won't be any choices for athletes.

Prices are bound to go up for races because permit and insurance fees, shirts, etc. have all gone up over the years. We have raised prices on our sprint race $15 - $20 over the past ten years and about the same for our olympic race. It was just a reality to cover costs. But still...when I see things like Ironman charging twice what I charge for the same disance I know I can't do that because nobody has that marketing muscle. Then this year we started absorbing the active.com fees so the price you see is the price you pay (remember that discussion on the forum?). Then this month active raises their fees! It's just a constant reality in race production.

My point of this is that fees are always going to go up. They will go up proportionally less for the smaller local and independent races. The big races will charge as much as the market will bear and evidently it's quite a lot - up to a point as we see with some of the events not filling. But 1500 people at $700 or $800 is a lot of money to have to work with and the margins are way better than the small company has by charging $200 - $250 for an independent race and having to pay pretty much the same fees (I don't think they can really charge much more without the big brand). So they are still not sold out and will try and cram that extra 500-600 people on course. I won't even go to the point that I think that this creates overcrowding on some course and is a serious safety impact. That's a whole other topic.

I've done lots of M-dot events so don't get me wrong, I like the excitement and the vibe as much as the next person. I will say though that I liked it a lot better when NA Sports was doing the races because they weren't all cookie cuttered with a different color embroidery on the shirt. Those of you who've been around awhile know what I'm talking about because we all have some pretty cool old finisher merchandise and medals that just don't exist anymore.

But you know who has control of the future of local racing? We do, as athletes. We vote with our wallets. If you want the independent races of all distances to stick around you have to sign up and support them. If your first race is a 70.3 or a 140.6 you're missing out on a lot of great racing and training opportunities. They're fun, local, have a great vibe, they don't cost as much and are awesome places to meet people you can probably train with close to home. Great opportunities to interact with the local communities and be ambassadors for the sport. So if you only embrace the M-dots and the high priced races pretty soon your choices will be narrowed. We're seeing it happen all over the country now as evidenced by this thread.

Okay...off my soapbox for the night.

There is not yet one in sight. As the affluent become more so and as they continue to search for novel activities, tris will sell….at any price.

It is sad that the steep prices prohibit (I believe) many long term, regular mop/bop triathletes from participating and, concurrently, draw those who just want to check a tri off of their lists, get the shirt and get on to the next trendy thing. The pool of involved participants (those who care about and contribute to the sport beyond simply racing) dwindles for this demographic.

+1

And in addition to the highlighted section, I wonder what impact it will have on the capturing of up-and-coming talent?
Yes, many top triathletes come up through the ITU, which is separate from this discussion. But what if the next Kienle doesn't have wealthy parents?

I didn't grow up in an affluent area, and nobody I knew (and I mean nobody) participated in triathlon. I would wager that a contributing factor to that was the high costs of entry to the sport. i.e. equipment etc, as well as race entry.
I found the sport whilst at university, but how many talented youngsters will never make effective contact with triathlon for economic reasons?

yep; i'd love for an economist to pick apart the sport a bit.

the same thing's been done in some other segments - a good one is coffee. starbucks broke the mold by taking something that used to cost 0.99, and charging $4.50 for it. now, people are suddenly unwilling to pay less, and the mom-and-pop coffee shops are out of business and a 5-dollar coffee is the new normal.

-mike

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

captain-tri wrote:

I think a lot of it is that the companies know who their racers are demographically. As a group we tend to be college educated professionals with better paying jobs and/or more disposable income than the average folks.

For sure that is true.

But I just want to add something - the situation is more extreme than that. I suspect the crowd you are talking about largely in the top 20% in income and perhaps even the top 10%.


Median per capita income in the US is $27K/year - that is half the people earn less than that.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

Somebody posted the USAT annual report yesterday, it may have even been further up in this thread.
IIRC, the average reported earnings of those asked was $122k(!)

EDIT:
I partly wonder if the reason that this figure is so high is because the bottom end are continually priced out, skewing the average upwards.
I work in a pretty fairly level white collar role in the UK, and I sometimes find myself questioning if tri is worth the costs.

I find the opposite is true near me in running races. The local 5k/10k/half marathon that has a few hundred entrants and costs very little to enter are the ones they have the fastest runners in them.

In the bigger events there are the guys brought in who can win them but no sub elite runners. The 'big' half marathon in my town has almost no one running between 1:15 and 1:25, whereas there are plenty who are capable but not paying the 60€ entry fees.

I think the same would be true for long distance triathlons too, except that the FOP want to KQ. The same won't be true for Olympics and Sprints though imo.

We have decent team presence here in the south that push do to x amount of local races a year and compete with points. One way to help with local races. Through this they are able to do some races series where you pay $150 for 3 pool swim sprint tris. I hate pool swims but I will support local businesses and use them as speed workouts. Rarely down here do we have an olympic over $120 with most being under $90.

You cannot consider Alcatraz an "olympic" since it is an iconic niche race, they will charge what they can get and seeing as there is a huge waiting list every year I would keep my prices up if I were them.

I think both M dot and the local races have their place, like you said.

We have a lot of local races here in the Rochester/Buffalo area, maybe because our race season is so short. Most have a series based competition that really makes the races fun. You sign up for a bunch and race familiar faces for podium spots every couple of weeks.

IM is sort of like the luxury vacation. You don't have to take one in order to travel. However, like you pointed out, our local races won't just hang out and wait for our business with a handful of participants each year. We need to keep them alive, connect with the local tri scene, and enjoy a little variety in iur racing.

So....do that M dot. But don't turn your back on the local stuff. Even if you don't want to race, then show up, volunteer, get involved.

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Chris Harris

You have hit all of the proverbial nails on the head. I couldn't agree more with everything you said. Especially your point that athletes have control of the future of local grass roots racing.

The phenomena we are seeing is athletes choosing to train on the weekend rather than using a local race to both train and gain valuable race experience. There are more athletes who are reluctant to give up the big block of weekend training (Sat. long bike/Sun. long run OR Brick weekend) rather than incorporate a local race in their training to gain race experience. I have discussed this with most of the local coaches and they agree that they get pushback from athletes when they suggest the athlete race, rather than do that long run or bike. An extension of this is something you touched on. Not only do we see more athletes training rather than race but there seem to be more who never race locally, or at best very infrequently, and go straight to the big brand races. As you said "if your first race is a 70.3 or 140.6 you're missing out on a lot of great racing and training opportunities".

This year, In an attempt to attract some of those athletes, we gave athletes an option to compete in "supported training days" this year. We removed some of the benefits (no timing, no t-shirt, no post race food) and reduced the entry fees accordingly. The athletes then raced/trained in a wave with all of the other athletes in their age group and all of the typical support of a race i.e. aid stations, marked course etc. I had hoped that a fee reduction and the opportunity to "train" while racing might be attractive. So far it looks like I am completely wrong. That might be in part to us not doing a good enough job promoting that option. We shall see if that changes in 2016.

The other concern in Ontario (the largest triathlon market in Canada) is a reduction in participation at the entry level to the support. The races we call Give-It-A-Tri and others refer to as Try A Tri. While our overall participation in 2015 is the same as 2014 and 2013, the number of participants at that distance has decreased. In the long run that is concerning as it suggests there are less new people entering the sport. We are also seeing that 75% of athletes only race once a year. That raises the question, If someone races once a year, are they invested in the sport as a triathlete? Not sure if you are interested but I recently discussed this with Bob Babbitt http://www.babbittville.com/...lle-radio/john-salt/

We have helped to promote other local independent races, worked with coaches and Tri clubs to promote growth but the battle is getting harder. I would love to discuss this with you and see where the parallels are and what is working for you. I will send you a PM.

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John Salt, Founder - MultiSport Canada
Canada's Largest Triathlon Series and Barrelman Niagara Falls
http://www.multisportcanada.com / http://www.niagarafallstriathlon.com
"Discipline Is What You Do When No One Is Watching You"

My usual cutoff point is $60 for a race. So I tend to race Sprints, maybe an Oly, some Dus and runnign events. I like to race and race a lot. So if the cost is over $100 per event, I can't do many. I can certainly understand paying a little extra occasionally for a experience event and paid something like $100 to race the Iceland Half marathon (well I was going to race the full but got injured) but I won't be going back year after year.

I have a certain amount of money and loads of things to do in life. If the cost of racing gets too high, i will do fewer races overall and then when the price get absurd, I will take up trail running and hiking. I'll still be spending money on items, but not events.

I suspect the number of 1 offs will decrease in traditional tris though as the "fun" style races pop up more and more. Spartan, Mud runs, Zombie runs, colour runs, bubble runs. These sell out fast now as they offer a fun experience and a chance for small groups and communities to get together. The days of 1 off Ironmen style endurance events can't last forever. I see my running group and they all love to attend events as a team and go out afterwards. They are happy to live through the small few of us that take on the bigger endurance sports.

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Ian

......and the mud run phenomenon has siphoned off a lot of "doing it for fun and Facebook pictures" group....

locally we have 72 multi sport events in the state of Minnesota.....and I was seeing many mountain/hybrid bikes in the transition area 3 and 4 years ago...it seems that group has moved away from "triathalon" and purchased "tickets" to the next warrior dash to leap over fire and impress their Facebook friends with how extreme they are.....

participation at local Sprint/Oly was down big time this year....10-20% and I suspect we are going to lose many local events over the next 2 years....we started losing them this year. The Oly distance is specifically dying with very few participants....

ha!...same thoughts at the same time from different places.....

That comes off as really judgmental and elitist, that attitude may also be driving newcomers away from the sport. I know it happened to a large extent in road cycling in the mid to late 80s.

Maybe a lot of people do warrior dash because they are great fun. I've done them twice and never once posted a picture on Facebook about it.

John,
It's always good to hear from someone so invested in *my* local tri community. You mention the numbers in the give-it-a-try races being down. I wonder if you can share any trends in the kids races, since I see that as an equally if not more important pipeline of new athletes?

Aside... My family were at Lakeside last weekend and our two kids raced. They look forward to that race all summer. My 9 year old son has done it for three years and my 6 year old daughter for 2. My son attempted a flying dismount from the bike but was moving too fast and bit it. He's scraped up and angry that there's no redemption race for him. I had no idea he was going for it, but we've been watching ITU all summer (he idolizes Gwen Jorgensen) so I guess he thought it looked easy.

See you at Barrelman!

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Munq

John,
You and Penni have some very good points. Local sprint and oly races are struggling for participants while Ironman chugs along at an amazing pace with the 70.3 and 140.6 races. I wonder how long that keeps up. Sprint and oly races were the gateway to 70.3 and IM but there seems to be a lot of newcomers that jump straight to the big IM races now.

I'm as guilty as anyone of not supporting local races. I live in the Houston, TX area where there's a local race every 1-2 weeks during the summer. I've done exactly one local race since 2011 because I have been in near constant training for a 70.3 or 140.6... because "racing small" would interfere with a training weekend.

I'll give you points for thinking out of the box with the "supported training day race" but when I originally read that I thought that was a huge miscalculation on your part. People either pay to race or they train for free. People aren't paying to train. Promotion is not the problem. Trust me. I'd scrap that idea going forward.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Your kid sounds awesome!

Every time I see those average income numbers I call b.s.

You factor in the sub 25 crowd, etc and it just doesn't seem possible.


I know i am bringing down that average, as are most of my circle of friends.


I mean when you have people doing gofundme's for their kona trip, things may not be adding up

Edit: posted from my phone, cleaned up from my computer

I'm inclined to agree.

When I look around me at races etc, I certainly don't see a bunch of doctors and lawyers (although I'm sure that they are over represented compared with the gen. pop.).

If I take my tri club as an example, I would certainly say that the average earnings are higher than in the general area. But it's not as if the car park is full of Jaguars.

Appearances are a poor way to judge someones income. You can look like a millionaire but not own a thing except a ton of debt, conversely you can look poorer but own everything you have and prioritize other things. My truck is 12 years old, has no A/C but works fine - doesn't look fancy. What you don't see are the classic car and wakeboard boat I would rather spend my money on.

In regard to the cost of entry fees that is why I haven't done IMTX yet. For the same amount I can compete at 7 or 8 local events through the year. I am seeing the cost of the kids events rise too which is a worry as my 2 kids love to do these, but at $60 each for an event that takes 20 minutes for them to complete when compared to the cost of an IM event as a $/hr the IM events begin to look cheap.

That might be the funniest thing I've ever read on this board. Two thumbs up.

Wait... You don't spend all your money on tri gear??
I'm afraid I don't understand.

You do have a good point regarding judging income based on what bike/car/etc somebody has though.

Great read. Do you mind if I post this on my facebook page triathlonjoe? I'm always trying to get people out to the local races because this is the lifeblood of the sport. I don't believe it's not the M dot series that fuels this sport.

In case my wife see's this - no I don't spend all our money on tri gear.

I was supporting a gofundme athlete and then they posted a photo of their living arrangements in a 5 million dollar home...some people just don't know how to budget. On the other hand, maybe folks with a higher income are more willing to divulge/humble brag on an income survey.

I this this is symptomatic of a maturing sport and the general race preferences of Americans. When I started running most everything was still measured in standard distances and races were 3, 5, 10, 1/2m, 15, 20, and marathon. 5 and 10 milers were common place. The occasional 20 miler was out there. Things went metric and the 15 and 20 milers mostly disappeared. A few 30Ks came in, but the 5/10 milers died and were replaced with 5K/10K double headers (and a few 8Ks). Then slowly the 10Ks started dying off. Now they are rare and the US running scene is principally characterized by the 5K, 1/2M, and Marathon. 8K/10K/15K races are the exception. Triathlon is heading the same place with most race distances being Sprint, HIM, IM. There will still be an Olympic here and there, but most people are either trained only for the sprint or they are all in and going long.

serious question: Why did you fund their race?

I think this has been discussed in some other threads. Here is an opinion again from one of those that "tried a tri" last year and this year. I grew up in team sports and do endurance sports now because that is all that is left at my age. Back in the day, I usually was in about 3 different basketball leagues each week with a softball league as well. A very full weekly slate. I do a lot of different things now. Running events up to marathon distance, organized bike rides up to century distance, mud run type of events, you name it. If it is out there I have probably tried it. First off, my opinion of the tri. I did an Oly duo last year. (It was going to be the tri but the wife wanted to do it and couldn't swim so we did the duo instead) Bear in mind, that my opinions have nothing to do with the physical difficulty of the event. Tris are very good vehicles for getting in shape but that is about it for me. As I was attempting the duo all I could think was this is it? This is supposed to be exciting? This is just about the most boring and least interesting sport I have ever tried. Tri only asks one thing of you, that you go the distance. That's it and you can plan for every part of the event. There is no other requirement other than you get to the finish line. There are some time cutoffs, but as long as you stay within them you can do whatever you want. No opponents or other things to deter you from finishing. Not much of a mental grind compared to other sports. There are 3 "different disciplines," but you do the same in all three. Set it on cruise control till the transition, change shoes, hat and vehicle(bike) then set it on cruise again. Change shoes, hat and vehicle again then set the cruise until the finish. That's it. It was not enjoyable.

At the start of this summer I was in between events and looking for something to do on a certain weekend. There was a very popular local sprint tri that was close on that weekend. I thought maybe I would give tri a second chance. This one had a OWS, and maybe I would have a better experience. The day came and it was SSDD. I did have a flat as I pulled my bike out of the car so there was some adversity/excitement. The pilgrimage down to the water and start was kind of exciting. The bike course had some up and down so there was some back and forth with other riders but that was about it. I still finished with that big feeling of Blah! I was looking for a test of overall athleticism and that was not it.

It is not important to this discussion that it wasn't for me. What is important is if I had enjoyed it and wanted to do it again.

I was sitting with others eating afterwards and they wanted my thoughts. I was nice and did not express my true thoughts. Instead, I asked what if I wanted to do it again next weekend? The advise I got was not to do any of these any more. I was told that I needed to start the journey towards an Ironman. Pick one on the schedule next year and beginning training for it. Get a coach, a training plan and a tri bike and all of the gear.. Then train your a** off and do your Ironman. I stated that I had no interest in one of those. What I just did was cheap, easy to get to , and I could be home mowing my lawn in the afternoon. They told me that until I completed some type of Ironman that I was not a true triathlete. I finished my meal, got up and left thinking this is not for me. If they want to make it their life that is their option.

The point of this long winded response is that the prevailing culture in tri is not good for the health of the sport. From what I can see if that culture continues the sport will die a slow death. "All in" is not good for the sport. Tri needs to push the attitude of "show up, do it, have a good time, then do the same thing again the next weekend." Some weeks you win and some weeks you lose. Now it is all about results. The experience has taken a back seat. It's all about your finishing time. Sacrifice your life, your money, whatever it takes to reach that goal. In the end the only one that cares about it is you.

That is why people are flocking to the Mud runs, Spartans, etc. They are fun and they don't take over your life.

Mean or median?

Cmore, thanks for sharing your opinions.

I do have a few comments/questions on what you said:

Firstly, you talk about just being in "cruise control" and that tri wasn't the test of your athleticism that you hoped for. This may sound like a dumb question, but were you trying hard enough?

Secondly, the people that you spoke to after your Oly event that gave you the talk about having to do an IM to be a "True triathlete" are idiots and should be ignored. Iron distance is certainly a badge of honour for many, but it's by no means the be all and end all.

Thirdly, If you quickly fell out of love with Tri, how come you still use Slowtwitch? This is a genuine question, and not for a minute am I suggesting that I don't think you're welcome here. It just strikes me as odd that you like to come here and chat tri if you don't enjoy the sport.

Liam

It said average, so it would be the mean.
I don't have access to anything more detailed than that.

You do pose a good explanation for the high average figure though.

For people who were smart enough to make the money, sure makes us look stupid the way we spend it.

Be careful of what you say - the event management business for all endurance sports events( running, cycling & triathlon) is like many businesses, a very thin margin business. The quick math (entry fee x number of entrants), yields some impressive numbers for some of the bigger events in particular, that gives the illusion that these events are big money makers. I've even heard the term "cash cow" tossed around here. I can assure you that, this is NOT the case.

The hard costs to put these events on, are BIG, and keep going up all the time. It's a constant battle on the part of many events to keep race entry fees at a reasonable level, provide a quality event, and keep people coming back.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

My usual cutoff point is $60 for a race.

If I had that as a cutoff, I'd never have a race. I try and do all of my races local, except for 1 race a year at most. I like our local scene and there is a log of great competition out here. The least expensive sprint distance tri available within a 2 hour radius is $75

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Seems like he fell out of love quickly with tri or duo (sic) then signed up for ST in Aug of this year.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

Not everyone is going to enjoy tri's. My brother-in-law tried them and since he doesn't enjoy the swim isn't that into it. He loved the bike though and so it has been a gateway for him into bike racing, which he has jumped into with a passion. As to why you didn't enjoy the events, how do you approach your marathons, centuries, mud runs? If you crave the adrenaline rush of competition with a mental aspect as well maybe give it one more go - but race the event, don't cruise. With the other type of events you do you are already doing 2/3rds of the training for a tri and swimming is good for aerobic non load bearing recovery - especially as we all get older. This was how I fell into tri's, doing a variety of exercise to stay healthy and then finding events to keep me motivated. You certainly don't need to do an IM to be a "true" triathlete - you just need to be a masochist

$60 for a tri. Never seen anything so cheap in the NY metro area

The people that play and live in areas surrounding NYC, SF, etc.

Each investment banker, lawyer, executive offsets a lot of college kids. Add in a few people like Jimmy Johnson ($7 million last year just from winnings) and 100k is very easy to get to (could also be low)

Your post actually made me think a little about my experience. I raced this last weekend for the first time since '07, and I did enjoy myself, even though I wasn't in any kind of shape for the bike or run. But why did I enjoy myself? My performance was downright mediocre compared to what I used to be able to do. For that, a bit of context is necessary.

In my younger days, I was an OK triathlete, pretty decent cyclist, and a good swimmer, and fairly active on the tri scene back in the motherland. Then I moved to Nova Scotia in '05, and tried to continue with tri's and cycling (I hadn't swum since university, so that wasn't even on the radar). I gave that a half assed effort for a couple of years, then did my last race in '07. I did run through '08, but stopped after that season.

Fast forward to last year, I joined a masters swim team, developed some pretty good friendships with some of the members there. One of my lanemates is a triathlete, she competes in a bunch of races. So a few weeks ago I decided to sign up for the Sprint distance race on a whim. No big deal, cost me $100 including a one day license and a donation to charity. Race fee was $55, I think.

The difference between 2005-07 and 2015 is that I show up to the race, and there are faces I know. I can talk to them, share stories, and will actually see those people again. When I first moved here, I knew almost no-one. Just my ex-wife and her family, and none of them did any kind of sports at all, let alone triathlons. Now, I know people, it is a social event as much as anything, and that might keep me with my toe in the triathlon waters.

The reason I enjoyed running in '08 was because I had an awesome training partner. We didn't run together every day, but often enough. Then we both moved jobs, and it was hard to get together with her to run, so I kinda got bored and lost interest.

If I was just swimming on my own every day, not knowing anyone, just doing my laps, pretty sure I'd be bored and quit swimming too. I do swim on my own, but I swim with the club 4-5 times per week, and go to club social events, and at meets there is a ton of time to chat with friends between races.

It isn't the racing and training itself that is appealing to me. The racing and training are just excuses to have social gatherings, and the fact that I get a bit of exercise is an added bonus.

All that said, don't misunderstand me. I'm competitive as fuck, and hate to lose. Hate it hate it hate it. (in endurance sports, I think everyone needs to define for themselves what "losing" is, but that's another matter) So I'm not on the race course just lollygagging along, or slacking off in swim practice. But I keep returning to it because of the friendships.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Exactly the process that happens with me. At $100+ I just lose the value proposition as much as I am excited about a race up until it's time to pay for it. I've found myself migrating to TTs, 5K or 10K races, or open water swims instead. All are much cheaper and give me my sport fix. I still do a couple of local tris a year more out of a desire to support them than what I feel ithey are objectively worth.

To do the tris I'd like to locally in a season would cost as much as a family weekend getaway. Maybe tris demographics are more mature with more conflicts? I started when I was single with money to burn. Now I am paying for braces, summer camps, etc.

I said overall athleticism. Cruise control means pace. No surges, no forced changes to get me out of a good or bad routine. Everyone puts it on cruise control. Their pace will be faster or slower than the next person, but they have a pace they are trying to hit that gets them through the leg in the most efficient time possible. Paper competition meaning that I cannot deter/alter my opponents placing in any way and visa versa. I actually think forced stops in endurance events are grinding on the mental attitude. Instead of be able to relieve yourself on the bike, force the riders to stop at designated stops for 2 or 3 minutes. It can be hard to get going again. Something thrown it there that I could not plan for and have to overcome. Maybe a timed 40yd sprint going into the run. Maybe a wall to have to jump up and climb over. Stairs to climb. Monkey bars on the run. If the RD said right before the start, "It's going to be hot today. So we are going to switch the run and the swim. The swim is going last. Go get your running gear on so we can start." Something to give it some variance athletically, instead of just droning on from start to finish at basically the same exercise output. There is nothing else there for you to overcome except the distance. I want "if you don't get past this you can't go any farther. And it doesn't matter how much you cry like a little baby, you must overcome it somehow." It just means tri wasn't for me. I thought my opinion might be useful to the content of the thread.

I think the events I'm looking for the racers would not know what is ahead of them on the course. The course would get more difficult as it goes along. More attrition based than timed based. You either make it to the end or you take the ride of shame back in the broom wagon. Only a certain amount of energy supplements allowed. You either make it to the end or bonk.

As for still being on the forum, it has some interesting threads on running, biking, injuries, etc. that are relative outside of tri.

I am already out. Rarely race any longer. Love the training but the racing is mostly a no go due to the race fees.

Threads like this one in particular are very important outside of tri. You get some insight into the logistics/business side of putting on sporting events. You've got some RDs and other important people responding to them. Those people are giving some important information out about the sport that people need to take to think about for the future. Just because it is not my thing doesn't mean I don't want it to flourish.

Well obviously it depends where you live. $60 is a higher priced race for the time being. Hell I bought entrance into a local running series for $50 for the year, 5 races. That includes 5, 10, 15k and half marathons with support.

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Ian

Local races will start to disappear completely (without the registration numbers to fund them) and the prices for Ironman brand races will continue to go up. Sometimes it's simply consumer choices, other times it's through WTC's actions (how they started the 5150 series then killed off lots of classic olympic distance races).

No shortage of examples of this happening in other businesses.

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___________________
Twitter | Kancman | Blog

Blame the FED....everyone else does.

Demand for Ironman races has gone down, look at Ironman Lake Placid, just saw today that General Entry is still open? That must be a record.

They posted the photo in a status report some time afterwards, sorry that wasn't clear.

I wouldn't say demand went down.


Demand probably has gone up.

But so has supply...

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___________________
Twitter | Kancman | Blog

In the Northeast, for 140.6? Nah...with what IMMT?

Hello Cmore and All,

Your pulse and blood pressure are too low: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...post=5698119#5698119

"One theory is that men with slower hearts have lower levels of physiological arousal, which they try to boost by doing things that are dangerous or illegal. The other leading theory is that those with slower hearts have a muted response to risky or stressful situations, so they don’t feel the fear that others would. "

The fact that men with slower hearts were more likely to get hurt in an accident or in a fight lends support to both theories, according to an editorial that accompanied the study.”

“Persons relatively lacking in fear may be more likely to place themselves in risky situations that place them in harm’s way,” wrote Adrian Raine of the University of Pennsylvania, who studies the neurobiological roots of antisocial behavior. “Individuals who impulsively seek stimulation may similarly seek out high-stakes social contexts and make reckless decisions, placing them at risk of being assaulted.”

You need to consider rock climbing, base jumping, and crime.

Just kidding ...... ;)

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

The Triathlon bubble will burst soon.....

It's probably safe to assume folks doing LP from 3-5+ years ago weren't exclusively from the NE.

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Twitter | Kancman | Blog

Mt. Tremblant, Muskoka, Chattanooga and Maryland didn't exist 5 years ago.

You may be right but I'll say I've been in the sports since the late 90s and people have been saying that ever since.

When people like you stop paying I guess. If you're willing to buy at that price why should they lower it?

In USD!!!! That is $1,000 CDN. Glad I don't do triathlons anymore.

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________________
Adrian in Vancouver

I would bet that the Mud Run and Spartan Race bubble will burst sooner than the
triathlon bubble.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

IMMT yes but Muskoka is a 70.3, people doing lake placid ain't going to do Chatt, Maryland maybe.

Muskoka has both.

Personally, I think you get more value out of paying a lot for a big event. What are you even paying for at a small local event where the roads aren't even closed and you're practically by yourself out there on the roads? What's the point? I can do that for free.

Out of pure boredom, I did some analysis of year-to-year race counts from 2008 to 2015 on TriFind.com:

https://docs.google.com/...ypU/edit?usp=sharing


Hopefully, folks can get to that link. Some caveats/disclaimers:


1. The first chart is all races of all types, state-by-state and then added up. So, this includes mud runs, trail runs, etc. - anything that is listed on TriFind.com. Because this is state-by-state, it does not include international events.
2. The last chart is the sum of the Sprint, Oly, Half, and Full numbers. These charts include international events.
3. This obviously not hugely scientific - I don't know what factors influence what races get included on TriFind.com. Perhaps they charge to list events and that cost has increased?
4. This also doesn't have anything to do with race costs, but just number of available races, for what it's worth.
5. The data is on the second tab, if you want to see the state numbers.




Looking at the number of all kinds of racing, it seems that endurance events have declined since 2013, and fairly significantly. Looking at the triathlons, specifically, the number of available events peaked in 2011, particularly with sprint and Olympic distances. Sprints have dropped off to before the 2008 levels, and Olys have dropped off to the 2009 level. Half-Iron and Full-Iron races had a bit different trend, mostly growing until 2014.


Like I said, I don't know how much of this is actual race numbers or numbers of races being added to TriFind.com, but found it interesting.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Averages can be deceptive. 2 lawyers at $250k/yr and 8 supermarket cashiers @$25/yr will bring the average up to $90k/yr.

A median would have been a better metric if the incomes are skewed towards the extremes which they are in the western world circa 2015.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

You mean 70k is the average salary of those 10 people, if cashiers make 25k a year.

Yep, and in 2008!! thats an even steeper price rise than Ironman.

Yes, a math fail here. But it is still illustrative, hopefully.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I actually spoke with Slowman and then Andrew Messick last spring and suggested that the Ironman and 70.3 well could potentially dry up if grass roots racing continued to decline. My thoughts were the stakeholders, including the WTC, in various geographic areas and markets should actually collaborate to help grow the Tri market. I maintain that is still an option that should be explored because there are no losers in doing that. The grass roots grows, some of the new triathletes will aspire to 140.6 or 70.3, retailers sell bikes, running shoes etc. We have been facilitating those talks locally with our governing body, coaches, clubs and retailers.

I hear you but, just to be clear, there were three reasons we added the "supported training days".

1) In response to some suggesting race fees were too high

2) To offer an opportunity to people who were considering a triathlon but did not want the anxiety that some get over the notion they HAD to compete.

3) To offer an opportunity to train for a longer race, like we did in the old days. We used to "race small" and immediately after finishing add a long run or ride to the day. That way we had more race experience, yet didn't give up a big training day.

I hear what you are saying about how popular, or not, this option will be but, will probably keep the train day option as it gives our athlete/customers another option without adding additional costs for us.

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John Salt, Founder - MultiSport Canada
Canada's Largest Triathlon Series and Barrelman Niagara Falls
http://www.multisportcanada.com / http://www.niagarafallstriathlon.com
"Discipline Is What You Do When No One Is Watching You"

We helped Bard and Tara when they launched Tri Kids and that series has grown and become national in scope. They continue to see growth in kids racing. The disconnect comes when the kids become adolescent and young adults. So, while they see growth in that market, it does not translate to the kids become "triathletes". We are actually sitting down to discuss this in October and brainstorm ways in which we can make adult racing attractive.

As I mentioned in the reply to Gman above, we continue to try and be a catalyst and facilitator for growth in our market. Our sport is very niche and collaboration to help growth is nothing but a win/win. As naive as it may sound this can also happen between two competing race series or even a juggernaut such as the WTC and grass roots regional races.

I am off to now to the race site and will see you, along with 700 other registered athletes at Barrelman.

If anyone wants to follow along we will have live race day coverage at http://niagarafallstriathlon.com/...elman-race-coverage/

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John Salt, Founder - MultiSport Canada
Canada's Largest Triathlon Series and Barrelman Niagara Falls
http://www.multisportcanada.com / http://www.niagarafallstriathlon.com
"Discipline Is What You Do When No One Is Watching You"

We have the Toughkids series here in the US and it does well. The problem I see with the disconnect is a few things:

1) High school sports - Way to many "better" triathlon kids "focus" on just one sport when they hit high school. Its either swim all year or run all year. Very few do XC, swim, track. ITs either club swim, swim team, club swim or XC, Indoor track, outdoor track. You also lose a lot of kids that "play everything" in elementary school and middle school and then focus on just high school sports. (i.e. football, lacrosse etc.)

2) There are not a lot of "teen" races. We have the Toughteen and Westchester Super Sprint in our area, but other than that its kids races directly to sprints.

3) Its not a team sport in school, so the kids would rather do a sport with their friends than train by themselves or with their parents.

The way to bridge the gap from kids to adults is to have high school teams.

1,000,000% agree with this. WTC needs the local races to be popular and do well because that's where the vast majority of triathletes get their start, and eventually they might move up to the 70.3 and IM distance... where WTC is the thoroughly dominant industry leader. It's still a bit of a Catch-22 for WTC. You don't want too much competition from a business perspective but you need the "competition" at the local sprint and oly level. Not sure how they can help foster that growth at the local level. I think they attempted to do that with the 5150 series (despite everyone's doom and gloom thoughts on that) but it just went totally sideways on them. I can see them not wanting the competition at the 70.3 or 140.6 distance though.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

...I think I know what race you're talking about in NJ!

Truth is, the pricing system was WAY in the athletes favor when registration opened last November. That $145 race was $55 on opening day. Some 300+ took advantage of it. Steadily though the year we build in price increases as a way to get the athlete to click the "submit" button. But, that race, Tri the Wildwoods, is an animal unto it's own. Do you know how many people signed up just two weeks prior to the race, at the full price of $145?....over 300. That's insane. As a RD, I want my athletes early, not late. I want to know how many are coming so I can be better prepared as well as have a longer dialogue through the summer ie training opportunities, information regarding the race, and to allow them to get to know who they are entrusting with their investment.

There are a whole host of other reasons why a sprint race would cost that much. The Wildwood event takes place in August along the southern Jersey shore. For that event to be great we CLOSE the roads so cyclists are guaranteed safety. We're talking 30 intersections all staffed to the nines. We have a professional traffic company come in to do the road closures that extends to the causeway which connects the mainland to the island..that costs big bucks. Why can't we do it ourselves? #1 the city used to do it, but now, in our litigious society they do not want the liability AND we are not licensed and insured to close roads or cone off streets ourselves. Seriously. In order to do so in North Wildwood you must follow MUTCD standards and we do not have the qualifications to do this. When I started the race in 2004...I didn't even have a permit!

I have been doing this for only 12 years, and I have found that if you are going to produce a race at the highest level possible, you are going to spend a lot of money in doing so. For example, I shut down major highways, causeways, and rent huge ferry's not to mention produce these events in heavily populated areas during peak tourism season...not your run of the mill $65 entry fee type of stuff.

One more thing, when I started doing this in 2004 there were 2-4 races per month in Southern New Jersey. Now, there are 2-4 races per weekend. That left me 2 choices: join the herd and just produce a local race...totally cool, nothing wrong with it. Or, decide to try and make a mark in the tri world, try to produce an event(s) that gave our tri community something to be proud of. I chose to take a shot at going big or going home. So far, it has worked, but I am absolutely aware of the limits placed on athletes and their wallets and from what I can sense from them they are very appreciative of the attention to detail, the paramount attention we give to their safety, and the overall experience of being a part of a great event.

But, I can't lie. I did my first race in 2 years this summer...and it was free. Manland Tri, Stone Harbor, NJ. 55 people off the back deck of Buzz's house...and it was amazing.

Interesting thread.


There are all sorts of economic principles and factors at play in this situation. I'll mention a two just for interest's sake.

1. Ironman/WTC have put themselves in a position where they have a product that can't be substituted. They run the 'world championships', and like another poster mentioned they've got the 'You are an Ironman' tag that others simply do not. They took a big part of what attracts people to triathlon (recognised accomplishment, i.e. 'I'm an Ironman' or 'I competed in a World Championships') and branded it.

2. People putting together new races face large barriers to entry. If demand for triathlon races is high enough, you'd expect new races to appear. But it's hard to put together a new race - you have to find a course, get approvals, insurance, volunteers, market to athletes, etc. etc. etc. and from the sounds of things there's not a lot of money to be made anyway.

So the basic situation is that whatever you're looking for (local race or the whole Ironman/WTC experience), supply is limited, so when demand increases, prices will just go up.

Other relevant concepts include things like economies of scale, regulatory burden, seasonal demand, network externalities. A whole bunch of behavioural economics concepts could be used to explain the increase in demand for these races.

I would say that if you wanted to get the prices for races down, you shouldn't look to Ironman/WTC, but lobby your local governments to create laws that facilitate endurance sports events (cite health benefits for general population, $ benefit of people coming to the area etc.) and lobby your local triathlon federation to begin assisting event organisers to create new events (particularly with the legal/liability side of things).

This year the RD for Challenge AC held two training days with led and supported bike previews for both the half and the full. Afterward I bet most of us spent $$ eating at the local establishment that let us use their parking lot. It was so much fun talking with others training for that race, talking about what other events we'd done, finding out who we knew in common. I can't imagine the RD made money, since there was no charge and we got a free beer if we stayed to eat. But a wonderful sence of community was fostered that day. I'd pay to do that again. But that was for a 70 or so mi preview of a 112 couse. I wouldn't pay to bike less than 50 miles if it weren't a race. Similarly, I don't tend to pay to run a 5k or 10k because I can too easily run that without the crowds, the t shirt or the finishers medal that has no meaning to me.

So I guess my suggestion would be to run training bricks if the distance is overall shorter. There are few places for public open water swimming where I am, so I think pairing swimming with biking would work in NJ/South East PA. Maybe that's not the case in Ontario...

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

I agree that most races are priced better when they first open and I tend to procrastinate on signing up.

I am also aware that it takes a lot of effort to put the races on and I can't thank all RD for doing so!

I just think it's starting to price a lot of people out of the sport. It is already geared towards the upper income bracket. A

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Yellowfin Endurance Coaching and Bike Fits
USAT Level 1, USAC Level 3

Dollars are relative, but yes I find racing to be expensive. With three in college, it really puts the pinch on me and I really enjoy local sprint races that I can do for $50-$60. There aren't many "small" races that do Oly's and above unfortunately. Numbers for these races are on the decline for sure and I'm not sure about Ironman branded races since I've never done one, nor have I been to one. To me it would seem given these low cost races are falling apart with dwindling numbers says it isn't solely a $$ issue. I really enjoy triathlons but I've considered jumping into other sports because like swimming, biking and running by themselves because the race costs are much less... as some of my roadie friends point out I'd probably make money at cycling events. :)

If you are en executive making 200,000+ per year. $1000 for a race really is not that bad.

If you are an executive making 500,000+ per year. $1000 and $10,000 for a new bike every year is not bad

If you are an executive making $3,000,000 cash plus options - hell you could buy a new P5 for every race and not feel it.

What has happened in Houston is pretty interesting. There has been a large increase in the number of races. but the tipping point was met because two of the longest tenured races are gone (sugar land try and Tejas - actually I heard Tejas is gone, is it for certain?).

i think in a few years we are going to be left less local races, but the quality is going to be much higher. Obviously I have a bias but the onurmark races and the TROIKA races are really well run. I personally like the low frills approach - I've done an Andy Stewart every year - but I understand that the mass appeal for that kind of race is low.

In the end what I think the data supports is that people want an event, not just a race. And an event costs more money to put on and, well, more money to enter...

+1
IMO, for most people, a necessary part of what classifies a race as an "event" is for it to be instantly recognisable to their colleagues at work. They want to be able to say the name of the race and that be all the explanation required.
That means a brand name, and "Ironman" is the sole player in the tri world with a big enough brand to have permeated the layman's vocabulary (perhaps Challenge to a lesser degree).

I believe it's why Tough Mudder etc have become popular, the name itself explains the challenge due to the level of branding.

This also explains why local races can often never compete, no matter how much of an "event" they put on. These races just don't carry the casual kudos.

My understanding for Tejas is that the water treatment plan for the lake is changing and the lake will no longer be safe/acceptable for swimming. I believe Out-Loud would have continued putting on the event but unfortunately lost the swim venue. Hopefully they come up with an alternative - maybe moving the swim down to Sugar Land Memorial Park.

Onurmark seem to hit a sweet spot between the big event feel and production values providing the right balance between competitive races and great support for first timers. They appear to go from strength to strength - and having branched out into putting on a running race series now have an avenue to maybe encourage straight runners to try a triathlon - a smart marketing strategy. They are not the cheapest in the area but are well worth the cost.

I think Andy Stewart's events cater to a different crowd - he definitely markets his events as beginner friendly and the smaller scale does make them very welcoming. They are well put on and serve as a great entry to the sport - 23 years and going strong so he must be doing something right.

I believe there is room and a need for all these different types of events because they serve different needs. As in everything in life you pays your money and make your choice. I'd like a Porsche but I drive a 12 year old Ford. I'd like to enter IM events but I enter local events.
Life is not fair I guess #firstworldproblems

I agree that Andy does things right. But, Andy lost memorial hermann for his sponsorship for his summer race so that race is no more. And his numbers for TriAndy's are only okay. SOOOO: sign up! I'll be there!

Sorry to hear about the summer race going away - with the pool swim that seemed a great event for first timers.
Already signed up for the 18th - I'm cheap, so I usually sign up for races a year in advance to get the cheapest entry!
Plus this is my local race - 1.5 miles from my door, so I can ride down to the venue in the morning.
See you there.

I think using Trifind as your data base isn't going to give an accurate representation. Seems like the WTC races used to be on there, and are not anymore. The big tri series in the Austin area is not on there. I don't know if they charge or if race organizations just feel like they don't need to put their races on there. Which is too bad, since I use it a lot to look for out of state races.

That is my concern with the quality of the data, as well. I personally use TriFind as a "go to" for finding races, but I don't know why it appears to be drying up there. It seems like maybe they hiked their listing fees up in 2013 or something. That leads to the question as to where the best place to find races is, which is a discussion for another thread.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

And you put together a hell of a race. I did ETC last year, wanted to do it again this year and then saw a 24% increase. Costs are up 24% in 1 year? Last year's Ironman Princeton 70.3 was only $20 more. I understand you can get away with it (last year it sold out in 36 hours and I'm sure this will sellout in a week or 2) but come on. Does the cost increase have anything to do with the ETL cancellation?

I touched on a similar issue re: a complete race listing in a different thread about a month ago.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=5698659;search_string=;#5698659


I think that this is something that we as a ST community can do a good job of actually.
Between us, I'd be willing to bet that we're aware of the vast majority of races across our geographical footprint (which is pretty big!)

Last year opened at $169 and closed at $229.
This year opened at $189 and currently sits at $209.
This is an 11% increase.

If you compare this race to similar races (in size and scope) Escape the Cape is the clear value leader.

The cancellation of EFL has zero to do with our increase. The increase is due to our consistent investment in what we do in terms of hiring the best staff and investing consistent upgrades to our equipment. What I will tell you is...this event will be set at this price for quite some time. I'd be more than happy to explain the minutia of what goes into an event like this and why things are...the way they are. You know me, you know I won't BS my athletes. Hit me up any time.

This is one of the things we do, that no one else really does...we try to connect with our athletes prior to the race...without charging them. In my mind, you've paid for the race, but you're not only paying for the race, you're paying for any organized rides or swims we'll do leading up to the event...this is included in your reg fee. In my mind, it's the right thing to do. Why? Because I want you to have a great race.

Here are a few examples:

In 2014, leading up to Escape the Cape Triathlon, we held three swim clinics for newbies and experienced athletes alike. These swims also included lunch and free beer at the local brewery.

In 2015, we did 2 free preview rides for Challenge AC. These rides were fully supported and included a free beer at the local pub (with a lunch special). We also did free open water swims every Tuesday night in Wildwood Crest, NJ. These swims were staffed with lifeguards and gave athletes an opportunity to get in open water without fear..and for free.

In 2016, we've got a ton of stuff planned, and of course, this is included in the cost of our events...which are not cheap, but we believe in the "long" play with our athlete. It's not just about race day, it's about the lifestyle.

Here in the southeast it is not so bad for reasonable race fees, even for the big events like IMFL where the price is less than most of the other IM races. We just had a 70.3 local race last weekend with less than 300 total athletes that cost $100 for early registration. Early registration for the Olympic races is $35 to $55 and there are multiple events throughout the spring and summer to choose from.

The biggest problem we have is the summers are simply too hot to have any other than a suffer-fest race, I did a local Oly race last July and the temps were in the 90s before I got off the bike. Makes for some slow times which does not appeal to many people. That forces races into the spring and fall, and there is a lot of competition for weekends with races like IM Augusta, IM Chattanooga, IM Louisville, IM Florida all in a row. The race I did last weekend, the Goosepond Half Distance triathlon (I competed in the Olympic race this year), has had to move multiple times as IM Chattanooga and other IM races came on the scene. Add IM Louisville moving to the fall and the schedule gets even more crowded, especially since Challenge AC and IM Maryland are not too far away for competitors in the southeast.

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I like your races. I've done AC (3x's) ESC(thought the wine was a great touch), Challenge AC, would've done AC again this past year but you moved it up and it conflicted.
ESC - for a sprint over $200 after you add in tax, active fee and stuff is a bit much. I get all that you do to make your races great and there's extra cost built in with the ferry. I would've passed this year but I had already talked a couple people into it. From your emails it's almost full and I hope it fills up for you every year. But everyone I knew there last year bailed this year due to the price increase and said they doubt they'd go back. Another 2 friends said no when they saw the fee.

Your other races are a little expensive but worth it. Well as long as they aren't going up again?

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I totally understand, no offense taken. We know what our costs are and what we need to do to make this event ultra safe and fun. Right now, the other events are under a $100 respectively, and as you know, we go the extra mile. With that said, here are my favorite grassroots races 'down the Shore:

1. Stone Harbor Triathlon, Stone Harbor, NJ: Great sprint race, only 300 people, buffet breakfast, beautiful community and is usually around $65.
2. Avalon Islandman, Avalon, NJ: another great event, all proceeds benefit Tim Kerr Charities. Incredible competition and always a load of swag for the athletes. Again, somewhere between $75-$85.
3. Jersey Genesis Triathlon, Port Republic, NJ: One of the originals around these parts. Lake swim, great cycling, and a single loop run around the lake on pavement. You can always count on seeing the loyal crew at this event, and is about $75 as well.
4. Brigantine Triathlon, Brigantine, NJ: This is the oldest triathlon along the Jersey Shore, I think 28 years running. It's a classic with a back bay swim (that can really rip), and an always HOT hot. The Brig Fire Department is always liberal to spray down the athletes at the turnaround...which is nice.
5. Tri the Wildwood, North Wildwood, NJ: call me a homer, but this race started out with 250 athletes 13 years ago and has grown into a 1500 person event. Yet, there is a real hometown feel to it and it's STILL prices under $90...now, if you wait until the week before...you'll pay much more.

I don't see Challenge AC on your website right now. Last year I believe it was ? Is there going to be a race this year and are you going to be affiliated with it ?

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "