I guess I agree that the pro purse is lame in Ironmans, BUT there are more Ironmans around now than there were 10 years ago, so second tier pros can supplement their teaching-coaching-personal training income with a few modest pay days.

Personally, I see no issue with Race Directors making money. If they make money, then we have good quality races. If they lose money, they skimp on essentials and the quality goes down, or they shut down totally.

Dev

On a related note . . . I can't believe that people volunteer to work at these things while the race is a (very succesful) for profit venture. Maybe I'm mistaken and the volunteers aren't really pure volunteers.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

that's another thing...

A non-profit organization puts on a race, say a local tri club - the money goes to pay for pool time, coaches, etc...

IMNA uses 1000's of people to make Millions...without volunteers, I guess there just wouldn't be any ironman races. I like watching the age groupers race, don't get me wrong, love the heart and soul of everyone out there...but it's nice to watch the world class racers as well...I truly respect what they are doing and just wish they were getting their fair shake.

Interesting...

Maybe they won't pay pros because they are reeling in disbelief that these volunteers are making them rich and think the bottom will fall out one day. I doubt it...

Bottom line, they can afford to pay the pros a lot more than they do, and I personally would be embarassed at how poorly the pros are regarded by IMNA as depicted by their prize money.

Spoken like someone who has never volunteered. No volunteers=No races. Imagine the cost of paying volunteers even minimum wage for an average of 8 hours on race day. The volunteer coordinators/captains should be paid in my opinion to ensure you get a professional who can dedicate appropriate time and affort to the job.

Unfortunately, triathlon and Ironman is not about the pros. No one outside this sport freaking cares about professional triathletes.

As someone said in another post. If you said the name Bjorn to 90 percent of the age groupers and 99.9999% of the population, they would think you are talking about the tennis star from the 1980's.

There's no comparable money in this spin-off from track and field of a sport. There never wiill be. Don't get me wrong, I love triathlon as many on this forum do, but the high dollar sports have a fan base (Nascar, Golf, Tennis, Football, Baseball, etc.) This sport just doesn't have the capability to generate that fan base. The only money to be made is from the participants and those numbers are limited.

Maybe they are using the money for more gatorade at the bike aid stops:) I understand that pros are great athletes that are good at what they do and deserve rewards for their efforts. But how about the normal average Joe who works full time (I know pro's work too) and gets up at insane hours of the morning to train for an ironman that they paid right out of pocket....they wont be seeing $400, just because they arn't the best, but train just as hard?? Don't get me wrong, I love the sport and wouldn't be hooked without the pros, but I wouldn't be getting angry about not getting paid enough. I am a graduate student and skimped and saved to get into my first ironman this year. I do it for the love of the sport and in my opinion, that's what I think every athlete should be doing it for. If your good at it, great!! motivate the rest of us, but most of us arn't in it for the money.

You don't have any idea about the costs involved with a race do you?

I overheard a cop standing by camp Randall stadium at IMWI that he was working noon till midnight. That isn't cheap folks.



A while back, somebody mentioned that at the Chicago marathon entry fees covered less then half the expenses of the race, and they have 40,000 people entering.

Well that's certainly true. I don't give my time away so that someone else can get rich. And yes, if they are making $1mil or more per race, they could pay people to do the race.

If I was making a race I would find organizations that could provide volunteers and give respectable donations to those organizations in exchange. If they are doing that, then great. If they aren't, then I sure hope the volunteers are enjoying themselves.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I'm not sure why you posted this reply to me, I was saying that it would cost to much to pay the volunteers.

I know the volunteers are huge. I have volunteered at many races by the way, and have been involved with organizing and directing events.

The catch is that each Ironman race nets the company about $1,000,000 profit. Everyone pays $600 odd to get in to the race, you don't need paying spectators to make money with this sport.

So, where's the love of the sport from that end? I love age-groupers, and the pros...it's IMNA I think is kinda sheisty.

Just replying because it was at the bottom of the page, it wasn't in reply to you directly.

How do you figure a Million in profit?



Entry fees barely amount to a million in income

Ok, sorry.

just replied to you because you were also at the bottom of the page when I did.

I do know how much it costs. But you tell me that you bring an event to a town, and 30,000 people along with it and fill everyone of their hotel rooms (ever try to get a hotel room in penticton 3 months before the race? forget it, they laugh at you)...spending 3-6 days in their town, eating at their restaurants, shopping in their stores...

Dude, you don't think the town gets something from that and comps police and such? Think about it for a minute.

They pay for some stuff, but they don't pay for that much from the city.

They only close 1 road really in Penticton for the day, the highway remains open to public. Marathons, ya, I can see that costing money, as you have to close the entire course fully. I also believe that at Marathons, they pay a lot more in prize money.



Anyhow, it's just imna not being fair to the pros.

I think the costs are about $400, not sure of current costs. I haven't done one this year.

But, I do know that the core volunteers are paid. Not personally, but their organization is paid. I believe they use The Boys Club or 4H or some equivalent at the IMFL event. The race director pays that organization to provide volunteers.

But again, these events are about age-group amateurs, not professional athletes. The only money to be made at all is from the participants. There is no fan base to generate ticket or merchandise sales. Timex keeps learning the the hardway with their brand of Ironman watch that does sell worth poop. Don't believe me, go to Campmore and get one for $15 bucks.

I didn't. It was a random, and probably poorly thought out, estimate I saw somewhere else on this list. I have no idea how much they make, but I know they make money, are for-profit, and rely on unpaid labor to be succesful.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

2700 imc at $600/person, not including the charity spots which go for atleast $1000 a spot

=$1,620,000

Anyhow, Moot point. Let the thread die.

I still think the pros aren't getting their fair shake.

"Pros pay their entry as well"

Really? I know a pro that has done his last 3 Ironmans for free (complimentary by IMNA liason) and I gurantee you have never even heard of him. So I doubt the big names are paying, or any of the smart no names.

I few comments:

1. The way races are structured or should be structured is that the entry fees should cover all the hard costs associated with the running of the event. The prize money typically comes from the totle sponsor. In the case of IMC that's Subaru Canada. Money that is "left over" is typically donated toa charity.

2. Should the pro prize purse be bigger? Yes that would be great, but if you follow the structure in #1, them you will need to find a title sponsor or sponsors that will kick in more cash and this is very hard to do. Many sponsors only put in services or goods in kind.

3. It has amazed me that the pro athletes as a whole are not more organized on this front. As a group they shoulve lobbying RD's and sponsors together as a team to get more money. But in the short history of this sport, I have rarely seen this happen. Most pro triathletes do there own thing and rarely get together to discuss how they could all work together to better their situation.

4. For a long time in this sport the money has been very top heavy - a few at the very top make a very good living . A few more a bit down in the rankings are OK, but the majority of pros are barely making ends meet and covering costs. There is some help from RD and races with homestays and that sort of thing to defray costs, but indeed, what would be nice is more money in the prize pool.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Love of the sport is to do the darn thing:) and the $600 is for the gatorade and in the unfortunate circumstance that the ambulance has to haul my ass away:) Actually, when you think of how much an ambulance ride costs, medical help etc... that adds to a fair amount of expenditures.

Oh, and I give kudos to every volunteer out there, without you, the race could not go on. Thanks!

"No one outside this sport freaking cares about professional triathletes."

There was a write up in or local newspaper about my girlfriend on how she did at Ironman Canada. People all up and down are street stopped by the house to congratulate here.

Simon Whitfield, when he goes on his trips to schools to talks to kids about gettiong into sport and being fit is mobbed by kids of all ages.

I guess no one cares about professional triathletes!

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Nicely stated.



Kyle Marcotte - 7th place IMC 2005, paid his entry. He also won the canadian duathlon champs elite in 2004, which evidently along with $2 will get you a subway token.

I remember Peter Reid mentioning in an interview that it sucked that he even had to pay his entry at IMH a few years ago, after he had won the damn thing.

A fair shake of what? As an age grouper, I would prefer 100% of my entry directed towards putting an a top notch event like the 8 IM Canada's that I've toed the line at. And if the organization putting on that event makes a living from doing that, even better. I appreciate what they give me for my dollar. Why should a portion of my entry fund some prize pool I'm not eligible to win? Would it be great if there were more sponsorship dollars to help increase the prize pool? You bet. But correlating that to the number of age groupers isn't right. It's basically saying we should be paying to watch the pros go first. No thanks.

Sticking to your original post, I agree with you. Since IM is a for-profit business, it behooves them foster the sport in many ways. Treating pros well and encouraging them to really race for good money only helps the sport in my opinion. In a similar way, I was amazed how IMCanada had a really neat program in place to thank and support the volunteers. Obviously, the "suits" realize there is no profit if they have to pay everyone. That same thinking should go into the pro field. Many people would not be drawn into a sport where there are a ton of "weekend warriors" doing battle. I too love to be out on the race course with pros and wonder how do they do it. That aspect feeds my desire to keep trying year after year to improve. IMNA should really have more of a carrot for the pros to keep inspiring others.