Quakerman is a well-run local race, but nothing like a WTC race. Depends what you're drawn to. Me, driving down and back in the same day and my car parked about 100 meters from transition trumps the expo, announcer, loud music, etc.

Brian

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

53 minutes into open registration and they are already up to the third tier of pricing. My bet ihis thing sells out in 2 days.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

Sure didn't help that the first tier and a half were full when registration opened, thanks to triclub preregs.

Guess we all know what the M-dot brings to the game. Registration numbers have already exceeded the total 2015 CAC half and full numbers. And we are only 3 hours into the registration window.

Where can you see the registration numbers?

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

You can't. I am inferring based on the fact that they are already into the third tier of registration, which indicates they have at least 1000 registrations already. CAC 2015 total had like 1200. It is reasonable to assume they have crossed that 1200 mark already.

I signed up when it opened and it was already in the third tier - the 1st two were already sold out (Ironman website had 2nd tier open) Active was already at third.

I'm in!!

I'm in for the bike leg of a relay

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

Gosh, how surprising. I would expect nothing less from IM and Active. Actually, I would have thought they'd have "sold out" the next tier in pre sale too. But, I guess they decided closing off the 3rd tier that quickly was just a little too egregious even for them.

Yup. Same thing happened to me. I was ready at noon and got locked out until third tier opened. I sent Delmo a message asking WTF. But No reply. He's a stand up guy so I'm sure it is completely out of his control. Oh well, race on.

They offered many of the large tri clubs in the region pre-reg spots for their members. Im sure thats where a lot of the tier 1 spots went

Almost bit the bullet to get into third tier pricing. Even input everything into Active. Got to the total, saw $361, thought about the RD (who has done not a thing to impress me) and the ironman scene(lots of people so excited to be called an ironman for doing half of one), and hit cancel. I am entering Toughman.

If I recal correctly they don't call you an Ironman for doing a 70.3...

A lot of money for a half. Toughman is a great race, same distance and proven track record. The way it is being marketed through a local race director on Face Book does not really seem like Ironman style. In all the years, I have never seen that before. Also never seen Ironman even allow someone to promote other events at the same time that are not Ironman events. Is this the new way for the new Ironman?

I don't really get that comment. RD puts on great races that athletes pretty much universally love, and the rest of them are priced normally. Today's registration debacle is the only thing I've ever had to complain about with Delmo, and it wasn't even his fault.

Great for Delmo sports , AC etc and in year 3 with more volunteers it will be even better but I am finding it quite hysterical that you just change the logo in front of the race and it nearly sells out in 1 day.... same course , venue, etc....not a knock to the race; been very good for 2 years but the craziness now pretty much reconfirm the Chesapeakeman effect....race on!

Btw...for those complaining about the price. You could have done the same race with Challenge for a cheaper price tag

One of the great mysteries of the world is how people continue to be surprised that the IM brand is a winner that people pay for. You can hate it. You can say these people are dumb. But you can't deny the power of IM.

I was actually about to post a thread asking whether Ironman races are really that much better.

I am a member of one of those clubs that was allowed to pre-register for the race. This year there was Challenge AC and a fair number of people raced but it was not a big deal. Now with Ironman AC announced, there are all of these "This is exciting" Facebook comments and well over 100 people pre-registering for the race. Given that it is the same race except that the full ironman distance has been removed, this all seemed very odd to me. My focus has been on USAT National races and smaller local races so I have never raced in an Ironman branded event.

As an aside, there has been a mix of positive and negative posts regarding the race director in our club Facebook group.

I think that's part of Challenge's problem. I knew all about the Challenge Full Distance race coming to the area, I even stopped by their booth at an expo. Not once did someone mention that they were also doing a half.

I agree with the criticism is probably only 1 percent or so. He engages the triathlete doing his races more than anyone else that I have seen and I think those couple people use it as an opportunity to publicly complain (last year's CAC transfer issue) also any criticism of CAC 2015 will be resolved with higher volunteerism since it is now IM and we know people will flock to it regardless.

less than 750 slots remain and registration isn't even a day old. Amazing to see how Ironman branding changed the tone here. I for one am happy to see the excitement around this race.. I think it will make for a great race environment.

I'd planned to do AC this year as Challenge anyway so I can't say I was swayed by WTC... however I'll admit I'm now looking at this more like an "event" than just a race.

Okay..so here is the basis. When CAC was announced I asked him about how he was going to control crowds on the boardwalk. All I got was his usual "we are going to put on a world class event" shtick. To be fair, I have never done one of his races, but I have never seen anything objective to suggest his races are worth the risk. I read plenty of objective complaints about CAC (I need to review them...they are on ST and can be easily found), and aside from conclusory subjective statements about how great Delmo is, I have never seen anything to suggest the praise is justified. To me, he is all hat and no cattle. But this is only my opinion. Since it is my opinion, I am voting the only way that matters to me and going elsewhere. I doubt Delmo will miss me.

Watching the effects of the race switching to WTC control has been kind of eye-opening. I've done a bunch of Delmo's races and was one of the ~150 who did the full distance at CAC this year, but I figured the the declining popularity of the race was a combination of too many competing races, the economy, etc. Along comes Ironman and BOOM, the CAC Facebook page explodes with new members, there's a signup frenzy when registration opens (including people bitching about Active's processing fees, which is bizarre - as someone pointed out above those people could have signed up for Challenge for less money, but they apparently wanted IM branding - without IM pricing).

As far as criticism of Delmo (I assume that's who you're referring to, and not Viggo), I've done at least a couple of his races per year for the last few years and have always had a good experience overall. Yes, there were some minor issues (to me, anyway - some type-A's seem to flip their shit over even the smallest things) but he has always sought out feedback - both good and bad - and listened to his customers, then done what he can to improve and make things right. A couple of weeks and a month or so out from the race, he drove around the CAC bike course acting as a support vehicle handing out drinks and gels etc. I haven't heard of another RD doing that, or even organising a preview ride like that.

Have you been to AC lately? Boardwalk control in the middle of the summer isn't really an issue - let alone in Late September.