I think there is a general view from athletes that, on race day, Ironman do a decent job of putting on a race. I think recent comments from WTC also prove that they do not have the well being of the sport at heart. I used to really dislike them because of this, it still annoys me. But what annoys me more is that there is not much being done to change that.
I came to the conclusion that WTC are doing absolutely nothing wrong. They put on a decent race, they make an absolute fortune from us. Their goal is to make money, not further the sport and they do that well. It has got to the point where they are categorically honest about it. Their spokesperson openly asks why anyone would want to be a pro triathlete and despite competition being a great thing for the sport and us as athletes they try to run all competitors out of town. There is nothing wrong with that, they are a business and who are we to say what someone else’s goals should be? Who are we to tell a business show much to pay the pros and, if we keep buying into races that we perceive there is so much wrong with, then why would they change? I think it is clear that if WTC could sell us pencils and make more money they would drop every race tomorrow. A business will love money and not the sport. And, I guess, there is nothing wrong with that although it is a far cry from how a lot of us feel. Our triathlon cash flow goes, very much, the other way. Interviews and media features seem to revolve entirely around money, branding, sponsorship and how more races and more entrants are going to add to that. I went from dislike to impressed. WTC’s singularity of purpose is quite similar to those of us training for long course races and they achieve their goals exceptionally well.
Do Challenge want to make money? Absolutely. But i think they come at it from the fact that they will make money if they provide amazing customer care. But they are shackled.
As a marketing guy I know that the issue is the term ‘Ironman’. Who wants to do a marathon without being able to say they have done a marathon? With so many people doing this type of race as a bucket list, or first time, that term is important, and it is trademarked. It is fundamental to the success of other 140.6 distance races that the public start to separate that distance of race with the term Ironman. If the Ironman distance was called something else then I categorically believe that other companies, such as Challenge would be way more accepted by those bucket list or one time only or first timer athletes (who make up a massive percentage of the start line). They want the difficulty of the race to be recognised by their friends, daily and colleagues, which is fair. They want to say “I did an Ironman” and people know exactly what they are talking about in the same way someone say’s I did a Marathon.
In order for other companies to succeed the vernacular needs to be changed.
I know there is an Ultraman (albeit it a pretty tiny event). But, say there was a fundamental shift in what the races were called. It would take some marketing and it would take an agreement between all long course race organizers but there are not so many that it could not be done. If, as a whole, competing businesses such as Challenge started to use the term Ultra Triathlon (or similar) then public perception would shift to that being the ‘Title’ they earn. “I did an Ultra Triathlon” would then become the boast and this would open up people like Challenge or whoever to compete from a level playing field from public perception perspective. People are already switched on to the term Ultra. People get that it’s the ‘above and beyond the usual’ and it would effectively remove the stranglehold that WTC have. WTC, Challenge and other 140.6 races would become Ultra Triathlons and suddenly, like marathons, people would not care which brand put on the race as long as it was well organised. If Ultra Triathlon became that definition then suddenly people would not need to sign up for WTC races in order to have their achievement recognized without a verbal qualification.
It sounds like no small task, especially globally, but with so few organizers putting 140.6’s on (and Challenge leading the way) it really would not be as hard as people think.
The term Ironman is the key to WTC getting athletes. I don’t think any competing business is trying to attack that very key term. I see it as the foundation of why the influx of new blood athletes choose IM brand over others and by removing that huge advantage other organizers of 140.6 events can start to make greater headway. Ironman might seem like a really strong brand, but so would a company called Marathon if no-one else was allowed to be called that. Is Ironman a strong brand, or is WTC just lucky that they trademarked early? When it comes to marathons … no-one cares who the organiser is as long as they can sign up for a marathon, say they are training for a marathon, say they did a marathon, and then get a t-shirt and medal with the word marathon written on it.
I think WTC’s massive advantage (the advantage and not WTC themselves) is balanced precariously on a single foundation stone. The term Ironman. Remove that and watch change happen.
Just a thought I’ve had for a while that I finally got typed up and decided to throw into the lion’s den.