Ahem.. that guy would be me (figuratively).

I ran a 34 min 5k in my 1st attempt. Ran a couple of sprints and one Oly before signing up for IMLP in 2005.

Ran my 1st 10k in Nov 2004
Ran my 1st 1/2 Mary in Feb 2005
Ran my 1st marathon in April 2005 (4:29)
Ran my 1st 1/2 IM - Eagleman 2005 (5:55)
Ran my 1st IM at Lake Placid (13:11:22)

I'm not in the 'competitive' category, so I'm not going to deny someone a Kona slot. However, without the looming deadline of an IM race to face up to, I would not be in the shape I am in today.

Personally I think that the sport should remain open to all comers, and continue to expand the number of races.

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gbassett.com

"So, he loves to beat me up since he says my californiaman 140.6 race I completed last year with 6.11 hours of training per week at 12:16 doesnt allow me to call myself and IM. :o) "

You aren't that special, he does it with everyone. :)

Though I must question anyone who actually goes around calling themselves an ironman, just seems odd to me. But then, not quite as strange as frequently quoting your training hours to the 1/100 of an hour and listing your finish time. But hey, whatever blows your skirt up.

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

Sorry, I dont go around calling myself an ironman to ANYONE. Nobody cares about the crazy stuff so few of us do. And personally, I really have no desire to do another, and may not. I much more enjoy the Oly distance where recovery time is much faster.

Training hours are for those folks who said it would be impossible for me to complete the distance with such "small" amount of training. :o)

Yep, I am proud of my finish time!!! Never going to get my into Hawaii, but, I am proud of it.



Dave

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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

Actually, it was John Collins issuing the challenge of the first "Ironman" competition that defined who could call themselves an Ironman.

Collins said, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Of the fifteen men to start off the in early morning on February 18th, 1978.

Note he says whoever finishes first! So unless you have won an Ironman, you are not an Ironman.

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Support Crew
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>>Reducing the 17 hour cutoff would just push some age groups out of the sport entirely. And that would be a real shame.<<

Oh, but the 30-34 and 35-39 men would be happy. Kick all the women out too! More slots!!

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

You got something against Australia? Australia is a beautiful place and I wouldn't mind living there. Great place to swim, surf, and train.


Now you are simply jumping to conclusions. You need to keep up on all the threads. Specifically this one, which if you wade about half way through it, you'll find some discussions on the Australian system and how it differs from U.S. practice. I think you will see that you would fit in quite comfortably. No judgement on either system or country, implied or otherwise.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...;;page=unread#unread

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Behold the turtle! He makes progess only when he sticks his neck out. (James Bryant Conant)
GET OFF THE F*%KING WALL!!!!!!! (Doug Stern)
Brevity is the soul of wit. (William Shakespeare)

Sue, interesting to know the facts. So, I guess we have LOTS of folks who are "lying". :o)



Dave

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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

Strange how the athletes themselves blur the lines between the two, while the RDs put up clear names of their individual races.

Athletes are funny that way, all lying and stuff.

Pardon the language, but Martin you have got to be shittin me. Are you serious? The term Ironman or Iron Man was around before someone threw a trademark on it.

It's the accepted and recognized term for any athlete that completes a 140/6mile race in under 17 hours.

So, the difference between someone that finishes an IM event versus someone that finishes a 140.6 non-MDot race is what? 200 bucks? That's the big hang-up with the descriptive term, one person was willing to pay 200 more dollars than the other?

That is just plain dumb.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Why should one organization impose restrictions on their registrations when they fill up quickly just so the "elitists" of the tri field can have a better chance to get into the IM event??

If you can't tell these threads aren't even close to being about "registration" ... as if a bunch of 11 and 12 hour finishers are being denied access because they have slow internet speeds (I must have missed those threads) or were too busy to log on.

These threads are about the lesser degree of impressed that non-triathlon people have of IM finishers, now that more people are doing it. I have no idea why people are so concerned with what non-tri people think about tri accomplishments.

People are less impressed that you did an IM when the soccer mom down the street did one too. The (real) problem in this regard is the general public doesn't care enough about IM races to know if a 12 hour finish is better than a 16 hour finish. They simply don't care because triathlon isn't that big of a deal to most people.

I really DO NOT enjoy commenting in these threads, but as a man, I am just hoping that people will start saying what they mean and just come out and say "I can't stand it that those 16 and 17 hour finishing slobs get to say they did the same thing as I did, when I finished 5 hours earlier". It would be refreshing just to see someone stand up and say what they mean instead of hiding it behind "registration issues" or "quality assurance".

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

How businesses use terms, and how they get used everyday in non-business settings are two different things. People call all tissues "kleenex", all soda "cokes", and well, all 140.6 races "ironmans".

Not because they want to fool people into thinking they spent $200 more on a race, but because everyone knows what "ironman" means in terms of triathlon distance.

I could check the actual dates, but Iron Man was first trademarked as a muscle building magazine by the wonderful Peary and Mabel Rader (in the 50s), it was later (and still is) a bodybuilding contest and rader's muscle mag has become Ironman. It's also trademarked by marvel Universe for a comic book character. It's also a term that was used to describe football players that played both offense and defense during the same game ("an ironman"). IMNA wasn't the FIRST to use the word, and they weren't even the FIRST to trademark it. Sometimes folks act as if IMNA invented the word and concept of "ironman". There's a reason why John Collins said the winner will be called "iron man" ... because that phrase already had a commonly accepted description of rugged endurance (from teh football usage).

The meaning of "ironman" in terms of superhuman and/or rugged endurance precede the actual trademark and well, triathlon.

People can trademark terms as names in the business world, but that doesn't affect how people use them in everyday life.

If there was an equally descriptive word for "one who completes an 140.6 race", peopple would use. I don't think folks are willingly trying to fool everyone into thinking they did an actual IMNA race rather than a non-MDOT.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Martin, you need to realize that there is a difference between using a word in a trademark sense (i.e., in commerce) and in a generic sense, although one can have a legal impact on the other, albeit only a legal impact on the trademark owner.

It's not lying to say you "did an Ironman" when you finished full Vineman. It may, strictly speaking, be inaccurate, but the fact is, many people use the term Ironman in a generic sense to refer to any iron distance race. I know people that still use the terms "Xerox" to refer to any photocopier. They aren't lying when they say they "xeroxed" something, but really used a Canon copier. I, myself, use the term "Kleenex" to refer to any facial tissue. I'm not lying when say I used a Kleenex, when I really used a Puff's brand tissue.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why this matters to you at all.

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Steve Perkins

"The only people that run a 31 min 5k are 1)really overweight or 2)sedentary couch potatoes. I doubt that anyone in those two categories would sign up for an IM... "



I'm not catching the sarcasm that must be there. If you're serious, you're way, way off base. Take that sh*t over to letsrun.

__________

AmyCO

No need to be profane.

You can't catch what's not there. 10 min/mile for 3 miles is something that anyone can do, and if you can't run that pace, then you have no business doing an IM. At that pace, you're better off joining Team in Training or your local running club for a few years before you enter an IM.

Unless you're geriatric (forgot to add that to the qualifier), then you have to seriously think about your training habits. If you suck at a 5k, you're going to suck at an IM. And sorry to be so un-pc, but if you can't run faster than 31 min, you suck. It makes no sense to say, "since I suck at one of the most basic, short, popular running distances, I'm going to go long" where you REALLY are going to suck.

It's like playing mini-golf, then deciding you're going to enter the US Open.

You're wasting your keystrokes on this guy. I can't figure it out either. I guess that we all pick our battles -- some just pick them much more wisely than others...

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http://achukumba.blogspot.com/

It seems nearly everyone I know says, "I did Vineman" last weekend.

And most people in your area probably understand what "Vineman" represents, right? Like I said, if there was a word that equally described non-MDOT race, people would use it. I'm surprised most non-MDoT races don't use the phrase "Johnny Jenkins, you are an IronAthlete". People could decipher what that represents and means.

I don't think people are intentionally lying to convey a message that they did a 140.6 IMNA race rather than a 140.6 non-IMNA race. I just don't think people are that petty.

I think most people will say in conversation, "I've done an ironman". "Which one?" "Redman" ("Duke" or "Grand Columbian"). I don't think people hide or lie about which 140.6 race they've done. People would be lying if they said they did a specific IM race, when they did not, in fact, do that race.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Martin, I think it's time you get an MDot tatoo! ;-)

Mark

Today my coworker sneezed. I said, "Here is a Kleenex."

He blew his nose, looked at it, and said, "This is a Puffs Facial Tissue, not a Kleenex!! You are such a liar...I bet you cheat in those races you do as well!"

I'll give you his email, sounds like you would be good friends.

All my brother-in-law's family have been talking about how their niece did an ironman a few weeks ago. I asked which one. "Somewhere in Maryland." (Chesapeakeman)

Go to your local 5K event, go to your local spint triathlon, go to most any local or major marathon, go to any 1/2 IM, full IM be it MDOT or Joe's Blows Iron Distance and at EVERY SINGLE EVENT and I mean EVERY SINGLE event and 95% of EVERY event is filled with your average everyday guy who just loves to get out there and push himself, and do so in the midst of a few Professionals. We actualy get to compete with the PROS!!! But the point is, this sport thrives on the average everyday Joe and is built around US, NOT the Pros. Without us, the entire sport gets tossed in the pile with Soccer and Beach Volleyball. So it appears quite simple why the sport doesn't try to raise the level of athlete, it just does not make sense.

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I must be right because everyone else is "On My Left"