yeah, that's the ancillary side of the 70.3 model. remember, there's only 40. so, hard to sleep in your bed the night before. if you live in LA there's oceanside, indian wells. got to stay overnight. esp if there's some sort of mandatory day before packet pickup, pre race meeting. i don't know.

i think it's mostly just a proximity thing. malibu, wildflower, wherever i'd go i'd still need to hotel it.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I would disagree somewhat here. I don't know about where you're at in the foothills. But Arizona has 1 indy half. At 225 for the latest registration, it was still cheaper than T1 pricing for Traverse City. For the most part I think a lot of IM Races have also become destination races or are in destinations where people want to vacation for a time. Mountain Man has been around since the late 80s and you still have under 100 putting in for the 70.4.

So what makes Ironman races different, people talk about the levels of support etc. Traverse City will be my first time with a bike aid station because it's my first 70.3. But there has to be something more that is making people buy the brand then the brand. How well are indy races put together. People talked about Rev3 selling events because Rev3 provided a great experience. But I think, en masse, there is no other similar race experience.

Even when I look at locally promoted Olympic race vs. Lifetime. Cactus Man is basically the same race. But there is a significant difference with what Lifetime is able to do because of scale.

I think something that may cut into Cactus Man this year, which I'm doing, is that it's the same weekend as St George. Last year it was the weekend before and lot of locals used it as race simulation. Sebi was there and man was he fast.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Maine sold out at 1850 where the old transition area was. That’s why transition is now down the street where you used to have auxiliary parking.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Here's some points I haven't seen yet.
1. To Ai_1, I get what you say about your friend losing flexibility once coached. But I think people who seek coaches want to prove they are coachable. My proof I'm coachable entails doing what's written w/o everytime asking why a workout is written like this, and can I do that instead. I would be afraid of being annoying if I asked questions all the time, or coming over like I didn't trust their approach, and/or afraid I was trying to get more out of my coaching than is offered at the price point I was paying. ie frequency of communication / degree of customization.

2. To Slowman, et al. When I want to throw in a local indy race during some longer build, my schedule will often times have an extra session on the bike as a second workout. My coach is neither suggesting nor steering me away from racing more. When THE RACE I hired him for was done, I was unsure what now - do I drop coaching and pick it up again in the future, or... What I actually said was that "I wasn't sure what to do with myself going forward" and his suggestion was a local indy race. In other words, this coach makes suggestions when asked, but doesn't critique the schedule of events I put together w/o being asked.

3. In general I don't race more b/c a) I find the logistics a pain - e.g. requirement for advanced packet pickup and bike drop-off, either spending a night in a hotel or getting up at 0'dark-thirty to drive morning of, and b) I'm 47 and catching on that if I care about my A race I need to spend my energy wisely; my legs aren't recovering with only 3 weeks between some events.

4. FWIW, as to which events are chosen, I wonder if anyone has considered demographic in this light: People want to be recognized by others for their efforts. If I'm an over weight and meek person who doesn't look athletic, and I wish to undertake a triathlon, I might aim for an event with a high degree of recognition to validate that yes, *I* really did *that*. Not some event you never heard of, or was probably easier than a real triathlon; I did THAT. So which events offer that recognition? In the US, you already know the answer.

ETA. My poll response. I took the poll to specically refer to an event of traditional SBR order and nearly half iron in length, so answered IM. But I don't feel this response correctly describes my season, that aside from the one IM event consists of: standard Du (Nat's), ultra Du, local sprint, oly (Nat's), SoS = 5 non IM events to 1 IM.

ETA2. Had I not gotten in to SoS I was going to go back to Savageman, which would have changed my poll answer.

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

He has one thing wrong- it’s not his friends coach or friend that isn’t flexible in that situation. It’s him. The person telling a friend who has a coach “screw it let’s go do something else” and if that becomes a regular routine is the one that is going to be the issue. So I can see why he hated training with his friend who followed his coaches workout, he’s the one not realizing he has the be the one that flexible in that new dynamic not the coach or the friend.

And no I’m not saying be 100% robotic and can’t think for yourself and have to do everything to letter of plan. I’m talking about complaining about losing a workout friend probaly has more to do with you not being flexible to the new dynamic.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

OOB was also an Oly + Half. The registration number you share was for both events, I imagine?

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

Yep. But, as the current arrangement shows, if you only offer one distance, you're going to get plenty of people who decide to race it anyways. FWIW, I also don't think you can really say "well, now of course it sells out because it's Ironman" for this particular race, considering that it's the former Ironman event (Timberman) that went away out of the deal. Less options on the same weekend = more people at the one event offered.

This is obviously a unique case -- e.g., Chattanooga 70.3 killed Knoxville. But Quassy also led to the demise of Mooseman.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Well I read the question as an 'Indy" meaning Indianapolis Half vs. the IM 70.3 Muncie due to my proximity to the area. I did not even think of the question as 'Independent' racing but I answered with the IM race and now that I understand the question I am still the same - an IM event is more professionally run, in my experience, than an Independent Half or Full. It's a matter of resources and IM has them to spend.
I do smaller local sprints and I get what I expect but the experience of a longer IM event is way better than the local Halfs I have raced.
John

You're 100% correct. The polls should read: 70% "IM Half", 20% "Indy Half", 10% "I haven't done one yet, BUT when I do it will be an IM Half". The rest is triathletes lying to themselves.

Too many indy race directors in my area are following the same patterns as M-dot with regards to ridiculous race fee increases months out before a race.

Fees are also often too high for the experience/venue provided when compared to a destination 70.3 race.

It's up to indy races to differentiate themselves from Ironman and innovate when it comes to long distance racing ( eg. Canada Man / Woman ). Pick up on trends and be bold in creating new events ( Super League, SwimRun ).

Forget about cheaply made medals and t-shirts and give me a course and experience I'll never forget.