I think it would be tragic if any race company with a bunch of races were to be gone tomorrow. None of that would be good for sport.

---

---

---

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

I'm one of the people in that vote category. In the near term it would be bad because people would speculate on the health of the multi sport market in general, but after some initial shock things would be better. The sport is ill-served that so many people unfamiliar with it commingle triathlon with ironman and the latter is a trademark aggressively defended by a corporation. Local smaller events would be better off not having Ironman siphon off so much money and resource into marque events. More races that cost under $200 to do are better for the sport than fewer races costing nearly a grand for entry alone. I realize that for some people the Ironman event suits them well and it is a great accomplishment. I just don't care for how it overshadows the rest of the sport and I would love to see multisport fans take back their sport.

It really depends on what you mean by good or bad.
Some people would prefer diversity and less focus on long distance iconic races. On the other hand Ironman is the easily recognised face of triathlon for the uninitiated and no doubt contributes considerably to bringing newcomers to the sport.
I would prefer to see less IM dominance but not to the point I'd like to see IM vanish.
I didn't respond to the poll simply because none of the options really reflects my feelings on the question.

I read the title of this thread as, If Ironman were gene pool. Oh dear, I thought, this is going to be interesting.

---

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

"Like"

I like Ironman races. I like independent races. I like local races, all distances.

But, I don't race a ton. I don't need a race tee or medal for me to know what I just did. What this means in terms of this thread is that I wouldn't change much. I'd still s/b/r to benefit from the multisport angle. I get plenty of competition in our weekly group rides, the occasional masters swim, and the less often club runs. Yes, I'd show up for a race every now and then, of whatever brand, when the circumstances and $ allow.

Too many perks to this type of training, big picture stuff, to consider bolting just b/c some big brand outpriced itself from my consideration.

---

"Outwork your talent." Kevin McHale

NOTE: I am speaking about what I believe the impact would be in North America only. I have no idea how this would impact the sport in countries outside NA.


I said Bad, but survivable. Think about it, none of your local sprint & olympic races are IM branded or run by WTC, so there would be little/no impact on a local level. IM is scooping up successful independent races like B2B, because they have been so successful on their own. Some areas are exploding with really good new races like Chattanooga. And other areas have had successful races for so long that it is almost an annual event that the community would not want to see go away.

If WTC went tits up tomorrow, it would be bad because the entire series would be in jeopardy, but what you would see is the survival of the fittest & more established. You would see the most popular IM & IM 70.3 races survive independently. You would see Rev3 or Challenge become a bigger player & scoop up some that didn't have the ability to survive on their own. You may even see a new company created to band the former IM races together.

Yes, you would see some of the races disappear, and that would suck. But the entire sport would not go away.

To put it another way. What if the NFL folded tomorrow? Would pee wee, high school, and college football cease to be played? How long do you think we would go in this country without a professional football league before someone stepped in to fill that void?

I largely agree.
Also, if the Ironman brand were no more, the name Ironman would still be known to the public. With no-one then claiming rights to the name would it become possible for anyone running a 140.6 distance event to call it an "Ironman" or "Ironman distance race" without having to worry about rights.
This would make the term Ironman similar to the term Marathon - simply the name for a standard universally understood race distance as many people already think it is. This would allow the public idea of the sport to remain unharmed while reducing the unbalanced dominance of a single brand.
IMO this would be a good thing for the sport in the medium and long term.

Short term, it would be very, very bad for long course racing. But the ITU and the national federations would no doubt step up quickly and you would see a rush of people aiming for LC Worlds and such. (Bring back the Nice Distance!)

It might be good for short course, which has perhaps been overshadowed by long course racing. Once people realize you can go and race five short courses for the price of one IM, it might encourage greater participation.

---

***

You need look no further than the front page to see that local races would probably see a boon in participation:

Does IM Depress Local Racing?

I think it would be really bad too. The lure of doing a full is huge for 50%+ of the people that participate in triathlons.

The full IMer crowd is a really big part of the sport. Most of them only do the shorter local races to fine tune things. Take away the full IM, then I think the local races lose a bunch of participants.

In my smallish group I'm around, it's full IM or nothing. They do 2x more IM branded races than local races every year.

50% for the full? Where did you get those numbers. No way.

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I would say there's an equal, if not greater amount of people who will do shorter races and never touch an Ironman that might not be affected at all. Also, if there is a market for it, someone would provide the avenue. So I think if Ironman the brand were gone, it wouldn't make a huge difference (there would obviously be an affect on available quality long distance races for a while). But it wouldn't bury the sport.

My head. I do think the majority get into triathlons to ultimately do a full.

Maybe it's just my market (Texas). Every single local race is down year after year after year. The participation numbers don't lie and the trends are not good.

If Ironman were to just disappear one day (for some odd reason) and the lure of a full "IM branded" race was gone forever, I think the impact would shut down the local fringe races that barely survive today. Participation as a whole would nose dive.

As for LC Worlds (ITU/Challenge), outside of a few of us, it's no replacement in the eyes of the majority of people I am around. It's IM branded full or it's not a real triathlon.

To give you a bit of info, I have only done 1 IM 70.3 race in almost two years. I mostly do short local stuff, Nats, did LC Qualifier. Just happen to be around those that live and die IMs.

This is terrible to say and feel free to disagree, but the very large MOP/BOP crowd are pure IM loyalists and their participation is very dependent on achieving something that is deemed by themselves and others as notable and significant. A Challenge branded "full triathlon" does not fill that void if IM branded races disappeared.

Not in my Club.
Many people do a full once and then go back to Sprints and Olympics. Even more never do long distance and never intend to.
In a club of about 120 people I think there are probably about 30-35 who've done one or more full IM distance events and half of those have probably NOT done Ironman branded races. Most people in the club have done loads of Sprint and Olympic races and maybe some double Olympic or 70.3 but have no aspirations to IM distance and certainly don't put great value in the Ironman brand. This is not a reflection of their ability or dedication - a big proportion of these people are much better athletes than me.
I do think there are a contingent who come to triathlon specifically with an IM race in mind and little interest in anything else. It's probably a significant number but I don't think it's the majority.

FYI, I'm in Ireland not the US. Maybe the trends are very different.

Would be just like any other business I think. There would be void in this market and some business group would probably step In pretty quickly to fill a need in the and try to squeeze out a profit.

In 20 years, about 180 races. Done 2 IM races. A few halfs. 90% of everything else has been Olympic distance, which I try to make them all USAT for the last 10 years.

Yea, there are a few IM or nothing folks I know. But most do not seem to race very long, let alone, very old. :)

I have nothing but respect for the folks who can do long stuff, let alone long stuff well. But to always talk down to us folks who know what fits in best with our life as if
we are second class folks, well, ...

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Depends. If IM disappeared and Challenge secured the rights to Kona, I'd bet that Challenge would fill that niche.

---

---

---

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

I've never done a full and probably never will. I've done one 70.3 and will do a last one this year. Out of my close friends that are into racing, none have done a full or HIM. Or have any interest in it. I only know one or two people who have done a full. Most people I speak with are only into short course.

---

"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... "

The thought I had when answering the poll question was: how many people never attempt a tri of any distance because they know they have the full IM seared into their mind when thinking about a tri? There are many people who's only contact with tri is the Wide World of Sports' agony of defeat image and that of NBC's coverage of the WC in it's all day torture fest. If Ironman went away, would people be more willing to attempt shorter distance races and not feel the pressure to complete long course races? Would the sport be better off if the Ironman had never been created and just independent races existed?

---

Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite (yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away) -Stephen Roche's reply when asked whether he was okay after collapsing at the finish in the La Plagne stage of the 1987 Tour

Didn't think he was talking down to you at all.

---

"one eye doubles my eyesight, so things don't look half bad" John Hiatt

Was not directed at him, but some LC racers, as can been seen all the time by comments on ST. :)

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep