Wow, two (full) IM North America races still open for registration at the same time? I thought for sure that IMAZ was gonna fill before I could get registered, but alas, I’m in!!
It got me thinking though, with how fast the races tend to fill, is there some sort of guideline as to which IM races fill the fastest, US or abroad? I’m curious which ones sell the quickest, versus which ones you generally have more time to register.
I’m not an expert on this subject but from what a notice, you can’t register on-line for Ironman Canada (On site registration only and of course qualifying races), in less then a few hours the races is sold out. Ironman Lake Placid is generally sold out with 24-36 hours this one you can register Online, I’m sure that in a few years no online registration will be available for this one also. For races that don’t need one year registration in advance there’s IM Brazil, IM Lanzarote, IM Korea and many others (look ironmanlive.com for a complete list of races). Some races offer a discount if registered before a certain date… 
Registration who sold-out first?
1- Ironman Canada
2- Ironman Lake Placid
3- …
IM Florida sold out last November (for this year’s race) in 9 hours.
Jeff
IM Wisc sold out in 13 hours. International is the way to go.
Ironman Western Australia. Never heard a bad word about their first year last year. Spots still open for November.
Looks like we have the following so far.
Hardest to easiest to register for:
Kona
Canada
Lake Placid
Florida
Wisconsin
CDA
AZ
Western Australia
Brazil, Lanzarote, Korea
IMH is obviously an exception as it is mostly a race for people that have qualified somehow. IMC’s popularity I think says a lot about the race itself. For years, people said that in someways it is/was a “better” race than IMH. IMNA has said that IMC and the way that race is run is really the template for all of their races. That’s understood - why mess with a successful formula. IMUSA in Lake Placid is steadily gaining on the popularity front as it’s becoming more and more established. For many it’s a less expensive option on the travel. Over 10 million people live within an easy days drive of Lake Placid. The other IMNA are too new to really develop a following and a reputation yet, but they are all well run.
I am with others who have said that if you want to get into an IM event and don’t want to deal with signing up a year in advance that you look to some of the International WTC events around the world.
Fleck
I think the European races generally sell out in late fall/ early winter. I just got back to the U.S. from IM Austria, and I highly recommend that race. It was sold out with about 2000 athletes at the start.
IM NZ filled by about December for the race in March.
clm
I’m curious which ones sell the quickest, versus which ones you generally have more time to register.
There a still 5 places for IM Switzerland in 10 days.
Felix
Cool, thanks for everyone’s input.
you could register for Nice on race week
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