Wisconsin, Maryland, and Chattanooga won’t exist past next year. They added Ottawa but we shall see how that shakes out. Will probably do well the first year then start falling off a cliff.
Ottawa is already 85% sold out (as of last month - 14 months before the race itself). Hopefully the enthusiasm can continue beyond the first year - but the “do well in the first year” is already assured.
IM needs to pivot away from the 140.6 distance being their marquee event distance.
You might be right, but the way they built the Pro Series indicate they haven’t come to grips with that .
Wisconsin, Maryland, and Chattanooga won’t exist past next year. They added Ottawa but we shall see how that shakes out. Will probably do well the first year then start falling off a cliff.
Ottawa is already 85% sold out (as of last month - 14 months before the race itself). Hopefully the enthusiasm can continue beyond the first year - but the “do well in the first year” is already assured.
I received an email the other day that Chat only had 100 spots left for the full in September. I find it hard to believe it will disappear. Regarding Penticton, I always wanted to do it but the logistics to get there coupled with the price gouging has kept me away. That’s a big reason why I believe MOO and CHOO will survive. Very affordable venues for midwesterners like myself.
100 spots left in Tier 2. The Tier system is laughable.
You blame Penticton, but it was Ironman taking over from Graham Fraser and the rise of Andrew Messick.
Messick took over Ironman in 2011 and brought all the races into the fold.
It was when Messick took over that I felt that the Ironman lost it’s way, even though it grew substantially.
Messick tenure at Ironman was profitable but turned the brand toxic… and he even managed to kill Hawaii!
Good riddance with his departure.
Chatt had like 40% less people last year than pre-pandemic 2019.
Wisconsin lost 50%.
They both had like 1200-something starters last year. That’s why they both won’t be around. This is barring some major turn around this year. Which I don’t see happening.
100 spots left in Tier 2. The Tier system is laughable.
100 in General Registration is what I got
Looks like now no one cares even if it does start with Ironman.
Sad, my first Ironman was in 2004 and the way the atmosphere and festival like nature of that race was awesome - the only thing comparable to it that I’ve experienced since is Kona. It’s depressing having witnessed Ironman Canada devolve from a world class 3000 person race to an afterthought and cancellation.
I’m assuming the 70.3 is going away as well? The email wasn’t quite as clear.
Here is my historical view. Intial Penticton killed the goose that laid the golden egg by going to Challenge in 2013. Penticton did not like Ironman’s demands and they thought they could have at it with Challenge, so they did and Ironman set up 5 hrs away in Whistler close to Vancouver (I had done IMC Penticton 6 times before that). Numbers were steady in Whistler and down at Challenge Penticon. Then they did the ITU worlds (I believe 2017) in Penticton.
By this point it has been an entire Olympic cycle since anyone did an Ironman in Penticton so you don’t have people doing the race and coming home and telling their friends to go. Eventually Ironman comes back to Penticton, and we get pandemic and forest fires and you still don’t have enough people doing the race and coming back and telling friends it is a “must do event”.
IMC Penticton general entry and 70.3 Penticton are still open 6 weeks out from race day in 2024. 15 years ago, that would never happen. (for context my last IMC Penticton was 2008 and had the full on Kona atmosphere).
In parallel the sport got older and a lot of people stopped doing Ironman (we see them dying all over the place to GMAN’s points).
So here we are in 2024. An older sport, less interest in Ironman and for the last 12 years not much of a legacy from races in Penticton to create pull and buzz from pass participants. So you have those of us from 15-30 years ago passionate about the race, but our time is long expired in terms of carrying that momentum back to Penticton.
As for the new Ironman Canada in Ottawa, as I live here, I worry that after the first year we keep the buzz going. The good news is that I did 70.3 Muskoka last weekend and the 25-44 age groups were the largest. First time I have seen that is age. There were countless people I met at Muskoka who are signed up for Ottawa next year. Let’s see. Between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto + Southern Ontario + Southern Quebec, there are plenty of athletes to pull from.
Let’s not forget that when Penticton went back to the IM brand, they brought it back with a more difficult bike course. I’ve seen a lot of races go over the years and the ones that stick around tend to have flat easy courses.
Not to mention, they were now competing with what people remembered of Whistler. For ease of accomodations, stuff to do for family, etc… you can’t beat Whistler Village. It’s a shame the Pemberton complaints tanked the original bike course.
Looks like now no one cares even if it does start with Ironman.
Sad, my first Ironman was in 2004 and the way the atmosphere and festival like nature of that race was awesome - the only thing comparable to it that I’ve experienced since is Kona. It’s depressing having witnessed Ironman Canada devolve from a world class 3000 person race to an afterthought and cancellation.
I’m assuming the 70.3 is going away as well? The email wasn’t quite as clear.
Here is my historical view. Intial Penticton killed the goose that laid the golden egg by going to Challenge in 2013. Penticton did not like Ironman’s demands and they thought they could have at it with Challenge, so they did and Ironman set up 5 hrs away in Whistler close to Vancouver (I had done IMC Penticton 6 times before that). Numbers were steady in Whistler and down at Challenge Penticon. Then they did the ITU worlds (I believe 2017) in Penticton.
By this point it has been an entire Olympic cycle since anyone did an Ironman in Penticton so you don’t have people doing the race and coming home and telling their friends to go. Eventually Ironman comes back to Penticton, and we get pandemic and forest fires and you still don’t have enough people doing the race and coming back and telling friends it is a “must do event”.
IMC Penticton general entry and 70.3 Penticton are still open 6 weeks out from race day in 2024. 15 years ago, that would never happen. (for context my last IMC Penticton was 2008 and had the full on Kona atmosphere).
In parallel the sport got older and a lot of people stopped doing Ironman (we see them dying all over the place to GMAN’s points).
So here we are in 2024. An older sport, less interest in Ironman and for the last 12 years not much of a legacy from races in Penticton to create pull and buzz from pass participants. So you have those of us from 15-30 years ago passionate about the race, but our time is long expired in terms of carrying that momentum back to Penticton.
As for the new Ironman Canada in Ottawa, as I live here, I worry that after the first year we keep the buzz going. The good news is that I did 70.3 Muskoka last weekend and the 25-44 age groups were the largest. First time I have seen that is age. There were countless people I met at Muskoka who are signed up for Ottawa next year. Let’s see. Between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto + Southern Ontario + Southern Quebec, there are plenty of athletes to pull from.
Let’s not forget that when Penticton went back to the IM brand, they brought it back with a more difficult bike course. I’ve seen a lot of races go over the years and the ones that stick around tend to have flat easy courses.
Not to mention, they were now competing with what people remembered of Whistler. For ease of accomodations, stuff to do for family, etc… you can’t beat Whistler Village. It’s a shame the Pemberton complaints tanked the original bike course.
Thought I read somewhere that the Penticton bike course is the second hardest in the world eclipsed only by Lanzorate.
Wisconsin, Maryland, and Chattanooga won’t exist past next year. They added Ottawa but we shall see how that shakes out. Will probably do well the first year then start falling off a cliff.
Ottawa is already 85% sold out (as of last month - 14 months before the race itself). Hopefully the enthusiasm can continue beyond the first year - but the “do well in the first year” is already assured.
I received an email the other day that Chat only had 100 spots left for the full in September. I find it hard to believe it will disappear. Regarding Penticton, I always wanted to do it but the logistics to get there coupled with the price gouging has kept me away. That’s a big reason why I believe MOO and CHOO will survive. Very affordable venues for midwesterners like myself.
With the strong U.S. Dollar, the entry at least was a bargain at only $633.
Thought I read somewhere that the Penticton bike course is the second hardest in the world eclipsed only by Lanzorate.
North America off the top of my head. Bike course difficulty is pretty obvious.
(gone)
Whistler
Penticton
Mont Tremblant
Coeur d’Alene
NYC (1 and done)
St. George
Lake Tahoe
Los Cabos
(still going)
Ottawa (new)
Maryland
Wisconsin
Lake Placid
Texas
Arizona
Florida
California (Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Vineman, etc)
Cozumel
Kona
You can add IM Muskoka, also one and done.
which was a very challenging bike course 
.
You can add IM Muskoka, also one and done.
The unintended consequence of the full IM disappearing in Muskoka after such a short stint is that they moved the 70.3 from September to July to accommodate the full, and then never moved it back. There’s lots of 70.3s in close proximity in the late spring/early summer, but next to nothing late summer / early fall.
I forgot several more. Full list of discontinued races is here:
Chatt had like 40% less people last year than pre-pandemic 2019.
Wisconsin lost 50%.
They both had like 1200-something starters last year. That’s why they both won’t be around. This is barring some major turn around this year. Which I don’t see happening.
I recently received a note saying IMWI is less than 50 spots from being sold out. The 70.3 that same weekend is already sold out.
Yet Lanzarote…
Chatt had like 40% less people last year than pre-pandemic 2019.
Wisconsin lost 50%.
They both had like 1200-something starters last year. That’s why they both won’t be around. This is barring some major turn around this year. Which I don’t see happening.
I recently received a note saying IMWI is less than 50 spots from being sold out. The 70.3 that same weekend is already sold out.
I’d be willing to bet the goal posts have been moved. What amounted to a sell out in 2018 or 2019 is not the same number as today.
I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see a race in a sport decreasing in popularity going from 1300 in 2023 to 2500+ in 2024.
Thought I read somewhere that the Penticton bike course is the second hardest in the world eclipsed only by Lanzorate.
North America off the top of my head. Bike course difficulty is pretty obvious.
(gone)
Whistler
Penticton
Mont Tremblant
Coeur d’Alene
NYC (1 and done)
St. George
Lake Tahoe
Los Cabos
(still going)
Ottawa (new)
Maryland
Wisconsin
Lake Placid
Texas
Arizona
Florida
California (Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Vineman, etc)
Cozumel
Kona
In terms of the races that are gone (in bold in your post that I highlighted) almost all of them had 1800-2300m of vertical. I did Lake Tahoe, Whistler, Tremblant. I think Tahoe and Whistler I did when I FTP was around 4W per kilo and frankly even with that, I found them on the border of “too hard” (but had the ablity to enjoy them). My thought is half IM’s with 1000m vertical per 90km most participants can endure and enjoy, but when you have that much vertical per 90km (meaning 2000m over the full), it starts getting tough (good on Lake Placid that is close to that to endure 25 years).
I really enjoy 800m-1100m vertical per 90km half Ironmans. But not at Ironman length.
I think Ottawa has legs because it is an easy enough bike course and the run course only has some undulations and grinds. Nothing steep. With a city center race, lots of hotels, no need to rent a car, I think it takes on the format of some of the European city based full Ironmans that stand the test of time.
Yet Lanzarote…
Europeans aren’t soft like North Americans. They’re ok with climbing and most of them have skills at bike handling.