It's supposed to apply to amateurs as well at IM races. At local races I can't imagine anyone giving you a hard time, especially if you're not fighting for the podium.

I thought Ironman was following the World Athletics rules, which state that the shoe restrictions are only for pros (or more specifically, those chasing World Ranking points). Or do they adopt a blanket policy?

They are following WT rules that apply to all pros and AG alike.

I could absolutely be wrong, but that is what was explained to me in some other thread on here a few months back. Someone with more expertise will probably chime in with a definitive answer.

I've heard Ironman officials were checking each athlete at Cozumel 70.3 a week ago for illegal shoes. That didn't happen in Augusta 70.3 which was on the same day. I can see they might enforce the rule more and more in the future to be fair and square. Waco 70.3 race director is aware of it and I'm not sure if she will enforce it or not.

From the Ironman competition rules Section 6.02 Illegal Equipment, part (e):

A list of pre-approved running shoes can be found here. Generally, IRONMAN adheres to World Athletics' Shoe Regulations applicable to road events for all IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 Events, including the IRONMAN World Championship and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. For the avoidance of doubt: Running shoes with a stack height sole thickness (as defined in World Athletics: Athletic Shoe Regulations 10.3-10.5) of greater than 40mm are prohibited and will result in disqualification. Shoes containing more than one plate rigid structure (as defined in World Athletics; Athletic Shoe regulation 10.6) are prohibited and will result in disqualification. Customized shoes, as defined in the World Athletics' Shoe Regulations, are permitted to be worn in competitions following approval from the World Triathlon Technical Committee. Development shoes, as defined in the World Athletics' Shoe Regulations, can be used in all Events (including World Championships) with the conditions that:

(i) the specific shoe is already on the list of Shoes Approved by World Athletics as a development shoe;

(ii) the Event where the shoes to be used is held within the approved dates as indicated on the list of Shoes Approved by World Athletics; and

(iii) the shoe manufacturer or the athlete must submit the request to the World Triathlon Technical Committee to be able to use the development shoes.

Athletes are subject to random shoe control before, during, or after any Race. For any shoe that cannot be identified, each piece of information (and maybe the shoe itself) will be required to be sent to the World Triathlon headquarters for verification within 7 days after the Race it was worn. In the official results, the athletes under shoe review will have the note ‘Result Under Review’ added to the results footer notes. If the shoe is confirmed as legal, the note will be removed. In any different case, the athlete will be disqualified.


Source: Ironman 2023 Competition Rules
Current List of Prohibited Running Shoes

Edit to add:
On the USAT website for Multisport Rules is the following note:

As of March 2023, USA Triathlon will align with World Athletics on legal running shoe specifications:

• The sole must be no thicker than 40mm.
• The shoe must not contain more than one rigid embedded plate or blade (of any material) that runs either the full length or only part of the length of the shoe. The plate may be in more than one part, but those parts must be located sequentially in one plane (not stacked or in parallel) and must not overlap.

Well, I'm doing waco 70.3 and thanks to this post I realized that as September 21, 2023 my ASICS Superblast is an "illegal shoe". I definitely won't have bought the shoe if I knew that 🙄. So now I have ro buy another shoe 😎

Just wondering, what are your options if they tell you your shoes are"illegal" before the race starts? Run to the village and buy some hokas?

Superblast is the fantastic training shoes. Those are only shoes you will never see in used shoe market. You know people sell shoes if they don’t work well but everyone is keeping Superblast. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Superblast.

You will have to wear whatever you wear to the transition. Most people have their race shoes in their transition bags. If you wear flip flops to the transition, you are out of luck.

I usually walk barefoot, LOL. So much for nothing new before race day. I'll have to get a pair of noosa or magic speed 3 and get a run in before race day. Oh well...

I asked Ironman Waco 70.3, their response was that the prohibited shoes apply to all athletes.

My favorite legal supershoe is the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3. Comfortable, light and peppy. It will also last you longer than any of the Nike supershoes.

---

------------------
http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com