Not sure it was a scam or just a poorly publicised and not well attended event. I am sure there are a bunch of hopeful IM Hawaii qualifiers kicking themselves. G
What “scam” are you referring to?
I don’t see any scam here. This race has been poorly attended for years. Everyone had an equal chance to sign up.
This is a good explanation of what happened.
Not sure if it’s a scam, but it sure is interesting:
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With the outrageous success of the IM races in North America and elsewhere it is often hard to comprehend that in other parts of the world they are not as “successful”. That people are not lining up a year in advance to get in the race. That the starting line is not jammed with 2000 people.
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35 entries. In away that’s cool. Harkens back to the early days of the sport when only a few, people showed up for race circa 1983. It amazes me when I talk to people who have only taken up the sport in the last few years. They may not have been to even a local triathlon that has less then 1,000 entries. Time was you used to show up on the morning of the race pay your 20 bucks, lay your bike down on the grass by the side of the lake and then swim/bike/run. First one back to the finishline wins.
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Good on the people that went to IM Maylasia did the race and got a spot in Hawaii. People like to dump on the WTC, but I am sure that they will come up with some reasonable plan for the extra 8 spots. I doubt they will disappear.
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For the real keeners out there, that absolutly want/need to get into Kona, let this be a lesson. If you keep trying to qualify at IMC or the other big IM races, perhaps you need to expand your horizons a bit and get in a great vacation in a part of this wonderful planet that you may not otherwise visit.
Fleck
I guess I don’t look at things that way. If the slots had not been handed out last week, you would have not had a problem with the situation. The fact that the slots were handed out does not injure you in any way.
Sure, you were not one of the ones to get a nearly free pass to the big dance, but why envy those that were so fortunate?
I can understand describing the situation as silly, stupid or ridiculous, but not as a scam. No one was hurt including you.
I don’t think it was a scam. WTC revoked the license… IM Malaysia challenged in court and won. WTC decided to play hardball, and refused to publicize that the race was on, and IM Malaysia pulled off the race anyway.
Might I suggest that if you are going to be pissed -off by anything , it should be the increasingly arrogant manner with which the WTC (and its associated companies) conducts itself. It appears that they have forced the race organisers to conduct this race on 2 weeks notice, in an environment in which the race would probably normally have been cancelled anyway (~6 weeks after the devastating tsunami) to avoid having their contract cancelled again. Did WTC even put out a retraction of their original release ? NO.
From that xtri-com article, what does this passage mean???:
Through other channels, xtri.com has been told that the situation arose from an insurance claim made by a competitor in the 2004 race against the WTC themselves. The competitor was allegedly knocked from their bike by a race official, although details on this incident are hard to come by. WTC reportedly felt strongly enough about this to unilaterally cancel the Malaysian’s contract, which still had several years to run.
Any opinions why Chris getting hit and filing a claim with USAT for some stuff caused WTC to cancel a sanctioned race? I’m not sure I get this. And how are details hard to come by - it was on freaking NBC! 
So does ANYONE know whether IM Malaysia will still be on for 2006? The license is supposed to run till 2006…so my guess is it will be held next year??
If you are going to say the only reason you didn’t do this race is because you thought there were no IMH slots I won’t call you a liar (b/c I can’t say it to your face) but I will say I don’t believe you. No scam here. Get over it.
I can understand why he might be tempted to think that way, but I just disagree with that way of looking at things. He could more easily be ticked off by lottery winners or auction winners or sponsor slots or PR slots.
WTC is on the hook for a contract they want to get out of. They are just doing what they perceive to be in their simple business interests, and the Malaysia organizers are doing the same. No one else is being hurt along the way.
He still has the same opportunity as everyone else.
I did the fall 82 Ironman and it had over 1,000 starters. I think the 1980 edition was the last of the “smaller” fields. But what is a year or two between triathletes?. G
I don’t understand your complaint. Is it WTC’s job to advertise the race for the IM Malaysia group? Sure it would have been nice to have a link on Ironmanlive.com, but ultimately it’s the IM Malaysia groups fault that they didn’t get the word out enough.
Personally, I think its awsome for the 35 people who showed up. They didn’t do anything wrong.
I could be wrong but the way I read some of the posts hint at a bit of eliteism regarding qualifying for Hawaii. I think the lottery is awsome and “normal” people racing at Hawaii is a cool thing. What other sport can someone play/race alongside pros? Not one of us “i’m assuming” could go out and play the Masters tournament or even the course for that matter
As far as advertising on IM Live site? They said no race, not listed in the drop down as a qualifyer nor anywhere else that is very visable. The timing presented a problem. I don’t think the Malaysian race director would be aware of the power of posting something on slowtwitch or advertising in Triathlon Magazine.–But again with a couple weeks, what were they to do?
Would any of us have gone there with 2 weeks notice? doubtfull…
Good for IM Maylasia and I hope they continue to have the race. I’m all for races in exotic places around the world
Even if I’m trying to qualify for Hawaii for years and I didn’t make… What happend in IM Malaysia doesn’t really matters me, I’m not mad neither jealous for those who were lucky enough to qualify for Kona. I would add this “good for them”… I’m not sure that I would love to race an IM with only 35 or 38 competitors. It must have felt prety lonely even on a multi laps course.
Hey don’t you all forget… those who did the race had to train for months. They cover the distance and from what I read race condition were really hot!!!
Well, I live in the Malaysia region (Brunei) and know someone who was entered, but then told it was cancelled. I had thought of trying for it myself.
With only two weeks, you’d need to have known someone at the event really to know that it was on. If I’d known the field was that small, I’d have been tempted to attempt the race, even though I’m far from ready for it.
I think it was being told it was cancelled, and then not being told it was on again that pissed most people off.
J.
Basically the WTC has a monopoly on things and is gouging the public. The public seems to think it’s important to do these races so it’s sort of ok the WTC plays dirty.
You want to do the sport a favor? Boycott all WTC events and only do non-dot events. Soon the prices will go down and the locations will be chosen based on good vacation spots.