At some point, maybe, but only if the pros are willing to eschew the idea of Kona. If they complain about the prize money, WTC may just tell them to go somewhere else, as the lower end pros will be glad to be rid of the top tier pros as a shot at the big time.

It would have to involve some sort of union of the professionals, which eventually is not that far fetched.

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You don't have to like what I say but you should respect my right to say them and I'll do the same to you.

Yeah,everyone is very quick to give WTC the credit for expanding the sport when in fact Graham deserves almost all of the credit for the healthy position the Ironman series in the US is in right now.

The new owners of WTC are just reaping the rewards of the work North America Sports and Graham in particular have done since 1994.

WTC sucks dogs balls!!

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^^^^^^
True Dat!

I understand he/they were told to either sell their races or the licence for the Ironman branding would not be renewed!

I miss Graham Fraser and the previous NA Sports world of Ironman racing!!! He used to come down and mingle personally with us athletes at 7am at waterfront while we practiced on OW... Showed up in IMLP registration lines one year to thanks all the volunteers at 6am... Great man!

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"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."

Third Ironman = Ironman Florida in 2010

These look so cool at business meetings.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

Amen to that. Most confuse that the WTC is now owned by the WEH, basically a bunch of hedge funders

I am actually disappointed. The WEH are a bunch of softies if you ask me... They really should have gone for the Killshot with their Access Program by this one little benefit...

Exclusive "Access Only Toilets" - To better serve our VIPs who have stepped up to the plate, and forked over the bucks, we are converting 90% of the toilets in the transition areas to "Access-Only" toilets. This will provide exclusive access and shorter lines to our VIP members. We still will have one or two regular toilets for Non-Access athletes.

Also... Toilets on the course will now be "Pay" toilets. It is the responsibility of athletes to bring quarters with them to use these facilities, and remember that urinating on the course will result in a DQ. For our Access members we will have staff outside the Porta Potties to verify your Access membership and they will provide quarters for you to use these facilities.

Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles, brag for the rest of your life about how much money you spent!

Graham did the race series in Ontario Canada years ago. LePages, Presidents Choice (that's when I did it) and Subaru. Not sure what it is now. I think his brother might run that series now.

Fantastic series, and great that he moved on/up to IM/WTC. He puts on fantastic events. I suspect it's not him driving the curent money grab. Back in the day, he was very competitor focussed. He is one of the good guys in our sport.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Oh yeah... And I forgot a couple of the other benefits...

Priority Wave start on the Swim... Yes.. You guessed it... Access members get to start right after the Pros while the rest of the cattle, I mean athletes go to the back.

Priority Transition spots... Access members will get larger and primo transition spots, while standard athletes gets tucked in the back.

And lastly... For those resisters who don't want to become Access members... WTC will be adding a $200 processing fee to all WTC events. This processing fee is waived for Access members.

That is ALMOST funny

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Not new: Competitor offers that at their R'n'R Walkathons.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

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I have a lot of time for Graham as a businessman and what he did back in the day for the development of Ironman in Nth America.He has always been good to me even though I was a freeloading pain in the ass a most of the time.

.

.

The Ironman Facebook comments are running about the same as here.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

Yes.... It's his brother, Mitch, and his awesome wife, Janet.
They are just as nice and I am very loyal to their well run series, The Subaru Triathlon Series.

Graham Fraser has NOTHING to do with this! He still runs Ironman Canada but that is all. He was forced to "sell" his races or not has the Ironman logo attached to it anymore. He was basically between a rock and a hard place. Now he is seeing what is crumbling around years of his dedication.

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"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."

Third Ironman = Ironman Florida in 2010

From one of the posts a while back:

"If I were IM, I would look at the percentage of the "Annual IM Price-Tag" which I am collecting. Right now, I bet that is around 10%, maybe 20%. Travel, lodging, training food, bikes, equipment, clothes, etc. IM is just trying to push the envelope to see if it can capture a larger percentage. "

This is very observant. I wonder why they don't sell an all inclusive package, at least for race day, that includes airfare, bike transport or bike rental from a fleet of bikes, hotel, some meals. They could negotiate the whole thing and buy in bulk from the hotels and airlines at discount, and sell at premium.

Surprised that since there is an ironman massage table, inversion thing, mattress, sauna, and apparently flash drives, that they don't make an ironman bike....do they?

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Get Set Go Sports
Get Set Go Sports Website, Facebook Page, Blog

Mr. Fraser has done a great job in all the years I raced IMC. 2003 the year of the big fires, he and his crew busted ass to pull off a great race. New swim course, new run course all on about a days notice. Firemen who did swim safety pulling all nighters fighting fires and being on the swim course. This is the kind of thing that makes IMC more than just the usual race. WTC is slowly wiping the "personality" of the races away.

Well done to Mitch.

Well done to Graham for building the IM sport and Brand. Bummer to hear he only has IMC left.

A great guy like him won't be held down for long. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with next.

(The presidents choice series had the BEST post race food. I will never forget the famed "burger toss" at the awards at Guelph Lake one year. Me and my kids managed to snag an entire summer's worth of the Presidents Choice, memories of Kobe, frozen burger patties! LOL I still have 2 of the PC tee shirts in my drawer that I only bring out on special ocassions, ie posing at IMNZ :-))

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Yeah,everyone is very quick to give WTC the credit for expanding the sport when in fact Graham deserves almost all of the credit for the healthy position the Ironman series in the US is in right now.

The new owners of WTC are just reaping the rewards of the work North America Sports and Graham in particular have done since 1994.

Nick,

All true!

I have to laugh. It was not too long ago that right here this forum that Graham was routinely getting called out for being, . . .wait for it . . "Too corporate"!

Well, now folks are starting to learn the good and no so good of what being Corporate really is for Ironman!! :-)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

This is their most recent endeavor: http://www.centurioncycling.com/

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"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."

Third Ironman = Ironman Florida in 2010

$1000.00. Wow. Speechless.......

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Use my name, randydial, in the promo/VIP code for 40% off @ http://www.e-rudy.com

A family friend used to consult with companies during an acquisition/merger. He would look at the intagible aspects of the company that was being acquired.
He would interview customers to get a "feel" for how the company was perceived in the market place.
He would walk around the offices to see the attitudes of the employees.
Of course the acquiring company would comb over the financials to make sure everything was in order.
The famliy friend would write a very detailed analysis (he had done this for years and had a formula for successful companies based on observed metrics). His reports were the final straw of due dilligence and many acquisitions did not happen because of his findings.
I wonder if Providence has thought about this aspect of their business.

They will probably sell out, but $1000 for a gimmick seems a bit steep. If we all had that kind of business model, we would milk it too... Good luck to them!

hehehe.

I used to do the old Collingwood Half Ironman back in the day, in the same area as the Centurion ride. Back then I used to think the hills were huge and the road was rough. Too rough for tris that was for sure.

Now I live in NZ and would love to ride a course that easy! Funny how times change. Like people used to give Graham a hard time for being Mr Corporate WTC. Now he smells like roses!

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Are you kidding or is this info legit? I would hope your making this up, but nothing surprises me anymore with these guys. Its getting ridiculous. A $200 processing fee is coming? I can't imagine these races selling out, if they jump up to this kind of expense. IF they do, it will certainly be a much different demographic of people making up the field, than it has been. Its almost sickening to see what they are trying to do with the sport. It used to be about the achievement, and the event, but with this 'special treatment' for a big $, it takes away from that (IMO). As a business, I know it seems great for them, but as sport to be proud of participating in, I don't think it helps at all.

Actually, there's a bit of truth in here. I'm surprised at how little they do in both the overall packaging, as well as itemization front. There are so many things they could offer as add-ons that many reasonable folks might actually pay for. Little things, like fully integrated bike shipping - or shuttles from the airport (to save on car rental), or all the other items you mentioned.

In the airline industry 'debundling' - or basically offering everything alacart is the rage these days...and for good reason - it makes a crapload of money.

There's a lot of things WTC could do to provide value to it's athletes (as well as making a profit). I'd love to see something akin to the Pro Registration program for AG'ers, not on the 140.6 side, but on the 70.3 side. A flat-rate fee to enter as many races as you can eat.

Of course, I think the escalating competition between WTC and Rev3 will only drive some of this.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

Funny, I was trying to figure out if he was joking as well. The sad part is that there is really no telling with these folks. Regarding the demographic, I think that ship sailed a long time ago.

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Jonathan
USA Triathlon Coach/Adventure Extraordinaire