Hi all.

I'm hoping to get answers on a question I have regarding name change on a entry to Haugesund Ironman 70.3

A colleague of mine have a entry to this race, but hurt his knee during running and are not able to participate in the race, I want to take over his entry and change it to my name. It says on Ironman's web page that name change on entry is not possible, is there anyway around this?

Show some respect for the RD/race organization and the athletes registered for the race, if the race doesn't allow transfers, then follow the rules.

*ding* *ding* *ding*

This is a big part of the answer (hopefully), and is what keeps me from wondering why transfers aren't allowed. In theory, it is to our benefit.
Add in the factor with the potential safety/liability issues.
Add in the factor of having to deal with shifting paperwork/rearranging waves/switching packing lists for swim caps, etc. Even if the cutoff is far in advance, what a headache it would be for RDs.

But, it leads me to think about the selling of races. Nothing worse than having a concert announced, signing up for the pre-sale, spending an hour at work hitting refresh over and over trying to get in at exactly 9:00 AM when tickets go on sale. And finding them sold out. Of course, you can get them from StubHub immediately for an inflated price.

Fair enough, those willing to pay can get tickets. But, the scalpers and StubHub make that extra money, not the artist, venue and producer. That's what bothers me.

I think for the popular races, instead of offering an early bird discount, they should come out on day one and offer slots at say $3000. That way, anyone willing to pay...can pay. That'll keep the scalpers away. Then maybe week 2, it drops to $2500. Again, the scalpers stay away and anyone willing to buy can buy. Then maybe it drops to $2000. And so on. All of that premium spent by consumers goes to the race producer, not a scalper. Sure, as the deadline nears they're maybe almost giving them away at cost. But that point, they've already made a little more than they would have. If there's a scramble at that point and you lost out...so be it. If the scalpers get into the mix at that point, they're going to have a tough time selling for a higher value as people who were willing to pay more already would have done so.

Just a thought. I haven't thought it through. We should run this past Levitt and Dubner.

No offense taken. I'm chock full of horrible ideas. It only works for a race that's pretty much guaranteed to sell out...and, of course, transfers were permissible..

Then you get to determine how much it's worth to you to insure a spot and the race gets the extra money, not the scalper and StubHub.You can, of course, wait and hope for a spot at a lower price but there's no guarantees.
I thought of the idea after reading an economist talking about a theoretical line at a drinking fountain...about the same time I missed out on Mumford and Sons tickets.
http://www.slate.com/...l_later_be_last.html

It's not my first potentially horrendous idea...nor will it be my last.

definitely makes sense economically and logically in a scenario such as the one you stated. Smart way to increase profits on events that are known to sell out fast.