This has been debated many times, and is right now in the Quelle Roth Challenge thread.

Quality and value for money are not the absolute terms they would seem. $400 is a lot to someone earning $20k and chump change to someone earning $200k. (For me it's an expensive toy. I went to Roth last year and had a great time, but overall it cost me more money because I live in California.)

I don't believe the cost of an IM race has ever stopped anyone entering because they can't afford it. Virtually anyone can find ways to save/earn an extra $400 in a year. Of course they may not want to spend the effort.

The bottom line is that any race will charge whatever it can get for the minimum quality it must provide. Roth doesn't cost less than IM because they like us, they get as much as they can.

Some people post and justify the entry fees in terms of race expenses. This is nonsense. IMNA is making a lot of money, so is Roth.

This is not a complaint it's simply economics.

I just wrote an editorial on a related topic, please check it out: http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/editorials/0000037.shtml

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom,

As always, great editorial. Do you think there is a "generation gap" between the old guard and those within the sudden surge in IM races?

Also, do you think the non IM races capture the spirit of triathlon in the 80's that today's M dot races lost?

Wow, Two good questions. Yes, I do think there is a generation gap- Perhaps not of chronological age but of motivation to participate. I wonder what makes people want to do Ironman now. Is it status? I wanted to climb Mt. Everest three decades before "Into Thin Air". When the climb was sensationalized that focused people's attention on the accomplishment differently than before. I think that has happened with Ironman. It means something different now, at least a little. It isn't a soup-to-nuts change, but more a subtle shift in participant attitude. Some of it is good, such as Judy Molnar, who's participation at Ironman and the media she attraced is 100%+ merited and earned and noble and damn impressive. Judy Molnar is an athlete-hero who speaks to me. Some others seem "manufactured" or contrived. Like a wedding from "The Bachelor".

And I think you make a good observation: At the grass roots level, the little sprint races, those people are the heart of the sport. The new comers. That is where I like to be. I like to be around that feeling. I've done a lot of races: I think about 213 triathlons and more bike races. But I'm not a great athlete. I win my age category sometimes at smaller local races and am about top 1/3rd overall. Racing at the smaller events is a good feeling: Hey, it's easier to do better. People are less serious, its more fun. The big races are cool, super cool. but it seems like a different crowd.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Great article. I'm afraid the Marathon Des Sables in Morocco will go mainstream though. I just saw a 1 hour show on ESPN. Looks like it was produced by the same people who do IM Kona every year.

As I think most people have figured out, this development is virtually unavoidable. If something is cool people will like it, think about doing it, do it, tell their friends about it, and it grows, deflating the initial coolness. This goes for Ironman races, fashion, music, everything in life.

Sometimes this doesn't happen, as is the case with our local Paris-Roubaix Challenge "To Hell and Back". I did it twice, with about 50 others, told my friends about it, they thought about doing it but most flaked out (it's held at the end of the year when the weather is usually crappy), and now the race is no longer held since the organizer couldn't afford the insurance with so little money coming in.

So here I am, one of very few people to ever do this race, but instead of being proud of that I'm sad. I will no longer be able to do the race I cherished above all others, including Ironman. It has also taught me a valuable lesson; if I don't like the way Ironman events change due to their popularity, I have to support the small events that I cherish as much as I can. I paid my $25 entry fee (and that's Canadian dollars) for To Hell and Back, but now I realize I should have paid $500 and sponsored 20 friends to race it with me, whether they'd show up or not. And I've learned that if you don't like the commercial events, you need to make your own events happen. So this Winter I plan to go to France and ride the real Paris-Roubaix. I've got the course map, I don't think I need anything else to have a good time. And I'm pretty sure I won't be fighting for space at the finish with somebody pushing a stroller and towing his wife with five more kids around the Roubaix velodrome.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

Gerard,

I'd like to invite you to our own P-R. The Cone Azalia Classic will be in its 5th running next spring with all the rough roads and mud a die hard like yourself would enjoy. We've thrown in a prologue and a circut race to bookend the 3 stage event.

see you there!

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

Just let me know where and when.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

Another question: Is this "glut" in IM races good for the overall sport? In other words, in 10 years will survival of the fittest apply to races? I.E. Only the best races will prove the most profitable and stand the test of time and popularity.

May 30th and 31st, 2015
Milan, Michigan

Great venue for Open + Luteus2 race debut.


SD

Competition is always a good thing. WTC should not have the corner on the 70.3/140.6 market. Challenge/Rev are a formidable and affordable secondary option. IM has the most recognizable brand in the sport & that is worth its weight in gold. But the more you see viable & significant options, the more IM will have to compete for racers & their pocketbooks.

Where will we be in 10 years? Hopefully not in a position with only one long course option that charges over $1000 per race.

you do realize the irony in that you're responding to a post that's 12 years old?

After 12 years, 3 weeks is a bit short notice!! Maybe next year. But maybe I can invite you to one of the OFFRIDING events we're putting on this year? http://offriding.cc. AMS event just finished, new event being posted very soon. And thank goodness it's in line with what I posted in this thread 12 years ago.

Gerard
gerard@opencycle.com

Well, at least we know my prediction did not come true.

$10 Peter Reid wins it this year.