Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023

Apr 19, 23 16:28

Post #1 of 37 (3227 views)

Just received this email. Not surprised.

After thoughtful consideration and evaluation of our North American race calendar for 2024, we have made the decision to discontinue the IRONMAN Tulsa and IRONMAN 70.3 Tulsa triathlons following the 2023 edition of both races which is set for May 21.

A decision like this is never easy, and we understand the disappointment this may cause for our participants who have enjoyed this event. We are grateful to the Tulsa community for hosting us and would like to thank our sponsors and partners at Tulsa Regional Tourism along with the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for their support.

“Both our team at Tulsa Regional Tourism and our friends at IRONMAN agree that this is the best collective decision to make for next year,” said Renee McKenney, Senior Vice President of Tourism for the Tulsa Regional Chamber and President of Tulsa Regional Tourism. “Tulsa is on track to realize some major expansions of our trails and watersports landscape, and those final touches will be taking place in 2024. Meanwhile, we have worked very closely with the IRONMAN team to ensure 2023 is going to be the best year yet. We can’t wait to see everyone in May!”

Athletes looking for an early year IRONMAN in 2024 are encouraged to look into the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series. Priority registration for that event will go on sale April 24, 2023 at 12pm EST and you will receive an invitation to register coming directly from IRONMAN Texas on Monday. The registration link will only be available until 11:59pm ET on Sunday, April 30.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to providing our athletes with exceptional race experiences.

The IRONMAN Team

Last edited by: Bryan!: Apr 19, 23 16:32

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Bryan!] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 17:39

Post #2 of 37 (3149 views)

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [nanban_ronin] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 18:27

Post #3 of 37 (3097 views)

It seems like it's had really low numbers. I'm registered for this year and I guess it'll be fun to say I raced it while it was there, but I'm also not surprised it's ending.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [nanban_ronin] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 18:53

Post #4 of 37 (3068 views)

Low numbers and they combined it with the 70.3 to make it work this year. Had the trail construction been the real reason they would have designed a new road course and made the announcement following this years race.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Bryan!] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 19:11

Post #5 of 37 (3048 views)

They need to bring back Louisville.........

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [japarker24] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 19:16

Post #6 of 37 (3038 views)

It's getting harder to find an early season IM in North America. I like racing in the spring and fall, and the number of races is dwindling. I live in a snowy icy hellhole, and so going down under to race isn't an option, since I don't relish doing 2-3 hr runs on the treadmill. Done it, but don't want to do it in the kinds of volume I would need for say IM NZ for instance.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [eblackadder] [ In reply to ]

Apr 19, 23 19:49

Post #7 of 37 (3009 views)

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [eblackadder] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 3:24

Post #8 of 37 (2887 views)

Living in Florida and training year round outdoors Spring races are perfect with long sessions over the Winter months. Texas in April is the only full option now.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Waingro] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 7:52

Post #9 of 37 (2717 views)

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

IM has made some scheduling decisions that make me scratch my head. Look at the upper Midwest with four races in three weeks:

Sept 9/10: Madison 70.3/ IMWI
Sept 17: Michigan 70.3
Sept 30: Muncie 70.3

I guess the challenge here is that there are other options in summer: Des Moines 70.3 (June 11), Steelhead (June 25), and Ohio 70.3 (July 23). That leaves only the spring when the weather is very volatile. I can see why each location would prefer the fall, but I wish they were sufficiently spaced so that one could have a reasonable shot of doing two of the four.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [nanban_ronin] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 8:07

Post #10 of 37 (2697 views)

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

Last edited by: Tribike53: Apr 20, 23 8:15

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Tribike53] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 8:26

Post #11 of 37 (2679 views)

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

Declining numbers is across many races/regions, so this doesn't surprise me one bit
Doesn't bode well
I do believe it's holding up better in Europe vs N/South America

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Waingro] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 8:59

Post #12 of 37 (2635 views)

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman....

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Tribike53] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 9:01

Post #13 of 37 (2635 views)

When I registered for the full I think there were 100 Kona slots for this year and still didn't get any registrants. Only making the comment as another reason why I'm not surprised to see IM cut the race, couldn't get people to register even with a pretty big Kona carrot (not that it matters now).

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Waingro] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 9:19

Post #14 of 37 (2620 views)

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

I think their business model relies on concessions from host communities, which means they are often trying to put races in places where the host is willing to pay rather than the most attractive venues.

Dimond Bikes Superfan

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Tribike53] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 9:35

Post #15 of 37 (2595 views)

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

I am all for piling on WTC but come on.

The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [oktriguy] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 9:53

Post #16 of 37 (2571 views)

oktriguy wrote:

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman....

IM Tulsa didn't even exist the last time Redman happened in 2019. Tulsa been announced in 2019 as a 2020 race.

In fairness, Redman RIP'd itself. Nobody did the race. The half and full had 29 and 218 finishers respectively the last year the race was held (2019). Basically nobody did the full or half duathlon or aquabike. The sprint and oly races (and their respective duathlons and aquabikes) had less than 250 athletes combined. 2018 was even worse. 2017 only slightly better than 2019.

Let's not pretend that Redman was setting the world on fire. Lack of participants and COVID killed the race. Nothing to do with Ironman.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 10:02

Post #17 of 37 (2555 views)

ajthomas wrote:

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

I am all for piling on WTC but come on.

The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.

I wouldn’t say COVID killed it. If that were true it would have done so for all races. If they 2500 for the full the announcement would have been a contract extension.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [The GMAN] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 10:18

Post #18 of 37 (2531 views)

The GMAN wrote:

oktriguy wrote:

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman....

IM Tulsa didn't even exist the last time Redman happened in 2019. Tulsa been announced in 2019 as a 2020 race.

In fairness, Redman RIP'd itself. Nobody did the race. The half and full had 29 and 218 finishers respectively the last year the race was held (2019). Basically nobody did the full or half duathlon or aquabike. The sprint and oly races (and their respective duathlons and aquabikes) had less than 250 athletes combined. 2018 was even worse. 2017 only slightly better than 2019.

Let's not pretend that Redman was setting the world on fire. Lack of participants and COVID killed the race. Nothing to do with Ironman.

Let's also not pretend that Covid didn't have any impact on 2019 being Redman's last race. Also remember that these races don't have to pull a profit to continue.

You know "setting the world on fire" depends a lot of what you consider successful. Every person I talked to over the years said it was the favorite race they'd ever done. The independent races don't have stockholders or venture funds to answer to, they are ran by volunteer triathletes, for triathletes. And they didn't have to have thousands of participants to break even. The fact that "Ironman" is canceling a race that brings in a LOT more money than the independents do should tell you something about what their motivation is.

Of course I'm also someone who isn't impressed by how expensive a car you drive, how big of a house you live in, or if you have a corporate logo tattooed to your leg. I'm obviously a minority non-narcissistic triathlete I guess.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [Bryan!] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:15

Post #19 of 37 (2491 views)

Bryan! wrote:

ajthomas wrote:

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

I am all for piling on WTC but come on.

The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.

I wouldn’t say COVID killed it. If that were true it would have done so for all races. If they 2500 for the full the announcement would have been a contract extension.

I don’t understand what logic you are using.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [eblackadder] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:28

Post #20 of 37 (2470 views)

eblackadder wrote:

It's getting harder to find an early season IM in North America. I like racing in the spring and fall, and the number of races is dwindling. I live in a snowy icy hellhole, and so going down under to race isn't an option, since I don't relish doing 2-3 hr runs on the treadmill. Done it, but don't want to do it in the kinds of volume I would need for say IM NZ for instance.

IMTX does really well, im not sure why there aren't more early season choices. i agree with you totally. friend of mine did tulsa the first year, while it was nothing overly remarkable, i would have considered it alongside texas if i decided that was the time of year i wanted to do an IM.

the fall is so crowded with full IM races in the US, i wonder if they'd ever move either FL, Choo, or AZ to an april/may window. i know Choo does the 70.3 in may already. MD, WI, some of the other locales probably couldn't swing it in the spring due to weather, but those ones easily could. it would be great to have another early season option besides TX.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:32

Post #21 of 37 (2464 views)

ajthomas wrote:

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

I am all for piling on WTC but come on.

The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.

How so? I don't quite follow you when you say, 'the pandemic ended this race'. In 2021, we were emerging from the Omicron spike, but the pandemic was still very present in most people's lives. In 2022 and now 2023, that's much less the case. As the pandemic has receded, the Tulsa numbers have declined, so how did the pandemic kill it?

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [oktriguy] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:32

Post #22 of 37 (2463 views)

oktriguy wrote:

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman....

I mean the list here is long

Beach to battleship
Raleigh half ( which was held prior to the Raleigh 70.3)
5150 series
Memphis in May
and many, many more

It's almost like they killed off the independent races that helped feed their model. I also suspect the multisport world is fragmenting from people doing 6-8 tri's per year to 2-3 tri's, a gravel race or 2, maybe a marathon and a fondo type event to round out their season

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [oktriguy] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:50

Post #23 of 37 (2444 views)

oktriguy wrote:

The GMAN wrote:

oktriguy wrote:

Waingro wrote:

The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races

They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman....

IM Tulsa didn't even exist the last time Redman happened in 2019. Tulsa been announced in 2019 as a 2020 race.

In fairness, Redman RIP'd itself. Nobody did the race. The half and full had 29 and 218 finishers respectively the last year the race was held (2019). Basically nobody did the full or half duathlon or aquabike. The sprint and oly races (and their respective duathlons and aquabikes) had less than 250 athletes combined. 2018 was even worse. 2017 only slightly better than 2019.

Let's not pretend that Redman was setting the world on fire. Lack of participants and COVID killed the race. Nothing to do with Ironman.

Let's also not pretend that Covid didn't have any impact on 2019 being Redman's last race. Also remember that these races don't have to pull a profit to continue.

You know "setting the world on fire" depends a lot of what you consider successful. Every person I talked to over the years said it was the favorite race they'd ever done. The independent races don't have stockholders or venture funds to answer to, they are ran by volunteer triathletes, for triathletes. And they didn't have to have thousands of participants to break even. The fact that "Ironman" is canceling a race that brings in a LOT more money than the independents do should tell you something about what their motivation is.

Of course I'm also someone who isn't impressed by how expensive a car you drive, how big of a house you live in, or if you have a corporate logo tattooed to your leg. I'm obviously a minority non-narcissistic triathlete I guess.

That's why I said lack of participants and COVID killed the race. The Redman organizers even said as much.

Quote:

RM Athletes,
First, I’ll ask for forgiveness in taking sooooo long to release/post this note………..

Many of you have been asking about the Friends of Multisport event schedule. You’ve known from emails and social media that we cancelled the 2020 and ’21 events due in large part to COVID. And, when it comes to the consideration of moving forward, we do have concerns about how long these surges and variations are going to go on. It all fosters a climate of uncertainty.
But COVID isn’t the only factor at play here. Other forces have had an impact on our magical event. Chief among them, is a waning interest in triathlon. Friends of Multisport is not alone. As you can imagine, scale is what makes these events possible, when the events are as ambitious as RM, and the expectation of production value matches. In the absence of scale, our event suffered significant, insurmountable losses in the last several years of its production, and hence, our conclusion to stop.

IM Tulsa would have likely killed it had Redman continued but IM had nothing to do with Redman's death as a race as IM Tulsa didn't exist at the time.

I lived in Texas from 2004-2019 and everyone that had done Redman had nothing but good things to say about Redman. I'm not slamming its quality. That stated, even the best run event in the world isn't going to last long if nobody's is paying to do it.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [ajthomas] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 11:58

Post #24 of 37 (2420 views)

ajthomas wrote:

Bryan! wrote:

ajthomas wrote:

Tribike53 wrote:

nanban_ronin wrote:

My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?

Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.

That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full

2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23

Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out

I am all for piling on WTC but come on.

The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.

I wouldn’t say COVID killed it. If that were true it would have done so for all races. If they 2500 for the full the announcement would have been a contract extension.

I don’t understand what logic you are using.

And I don’t understand yours. You’re saying the pandemic killed this race. I’m saying that it didn’t. If the pandemic was responsible for killing this year it would have done so for every race. But it didn’t.

I’m saying that it was low numbers and Tulsa pulled from the same local folks that do Texas and the draft fest there on the Hardy Toll road won. So my belief is that a Spring race isn’t very popular and when it’s near Texas that probably killed it.

Re: Ironman Tulsa & Ironman Tulsa 70.3 Discontinued After 2023 [The GMAN] [ In reply to ]

Apr 20, 23 12:23

Post #25 of 37 (2398 views)

Quote:

IM Tulsa would have likely killed it had Redman continued but IM had nothing to do with Redman's death as a race as IM Tulsa didn't exist at the time.

I lived in Texas from 2004-2019 and everyone that had done Redman had nothing but good things to say about Redman. I'm not slamming its quality. That stated, even the best run event in the world isn't going to last long if nobody's is paying to do it.

I lived in Oklahoma City, volunteered for Redman, and raced it as well for many years. I know and am friends with the RD. I know what was said in the email discussing it's termination. I also know some of the behind the scenes things like IM trying for years to buy the race. Redman may have come back after Covid, but IM Tulsa was the nail in the coffin.

That said, participation in independent races has been declining, and a lot of that is due to the business practices of "Ironman". The rest I chalk up to either snobbishness or ignorance of the "I need a flat and fast course (IM AZ or IM FL) so I can brag and feel good about myself" crowd. That and the rampentness of amature doping (low T anyone???) makes me very sad and consider quitting triathlons every year.

The sport is headed in a bad direction, and there is no one else to blame than ourselves.

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