A question came up the other day from a friend of mine that I had no clue how to answer.
How many people have finished, US or Worldwide a 140.6 Ironman? I thought about pulling race results, but then there is bound to be a ton of duplicates. Any ideas?
I remember this question being asked here before. I did a quick forum search but couldn’t find anything. Maybe others will chime in?
A question came up the other day from a friend of mine that I had no clue how to answer.
How many people have finished, US or Worldwide a 140.6 Ironman? I thought about pulling race results, but then there is bound to be a ton of duplicates. Any ideas?
without undergoing the time consuming task of counting all finishers, you can make a rough approximation, albeit subject to a degree of error. there were 20 M-dot branded 140.6 Ironman races last year (excluding Kona, because, except for the lottery and maybe 1 or two past champions or top 10 from the previous year, all athletes were duplicates). most M-dot races are about 2000 -2200people, some a couple hundred more, some a couple or few hundred less. 20 X 2000 to 2200 = 40,000 - 44,000 participants per year. that number doesn’t include non-M-dot races, non-finishers–more than 90 something% finish anyway–, and duplicates as you mention. and it goes without saying, that not every race had exactly 2000 participants. you can multiply that number for however years you are trying to go back, but also account for the fact that not all these races have been around for more than a couple or a few years. e.g., imky. years past may have also included much fewer than 2000 participants.
At Placid it was somewhat like half ironvirgins so by the math:
20 races x 1000 ironvirgins x 25 years = 500,000 maximum unique finishers
Note: The number is much less as most races are not that old and have grown.
Find the years old each event is multiply by the number of finishers and divide by 2 should give you the answer.
IMLP at the 9th anniversary would suggest 9,000 unique finishers – 9 years * 2,000 / 2
IMC at the 25th would suggest 25,000 unique finishers – 25 years * 2,000 / 2
etc.
Which races have been around for more than 10 years except for Kona and IMC?
200,000 maximum unique finishers seem more “reasonable”.
In NA (not including Kona and IMC):
Mdot:
LP: 9 years
FL: 9 years
Moo: 6 years
CdA: 5 years
AZ: 3 years
KY: 1 year
UTAH: 2 years
Bunch of indi races: GF, Blue Devil (smth like that), Montreal, Ottawa, Silverman, Great Columbian (smth like that) and more. However on average you beteen 150/300 people @ those races
Fred.
Man, you think only 200,000 people have finished Ironman? I would figure closer to 500,000.
Here is a “statistic” (guesstistic?) I am reasonably certain of:
In 1986 when I did my first Ironman there were fewer than 20 Ironman finishers in the State of Michigan.
As of 2007 when I finished my most recent Ironman there are at least 20 people *in Dearborn, *Michigan who have completed Ironman, most multiple times. Dearborn has a population of about 110,000 and is a pretty major suburban area of Detroit. Unless this is some kind of “hotbed” for Ironman finishers there are a lot of towns our size and larger that have tons of IM veterans living in them.
A lot of folks have crossed the M Dot matt and had the medal hung around their neck. Ironman is the new golf.
Fred:
I think you are mistaken. There are more than 100,000 Ironman finishers between the races in Gemany,France,Austria,UK,Switzerland and Netherlands only.
I agree with Tom.
There are at least 500,000 finishers in the world or even more and by no means it is an exclusive club. It just became a commercialized endevour with the 17 hour time cut-off.
A lot of folks have crossed the M Dot matt and had the medal hung around their neck. Ironman is the new golf.
That got me thinking, if Ironman is the new golf then:
Slowman invented metal woods and carbon shafts,
Monty likes the old days when you played through thunderstorms,
and Dr. Coggan could explain why Frank’s Whippy Flexible training club does not work!
exactly.
Who is the new Tiger Woods tough?
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Can they really call themself an Ironman if it was not in Hawaii or are they just Ironman Race Finishers
Sorry - couldn’t resist.
Here’s an even better one “how many M-dot tattoos are out there versus how many are legitimate”.
Charlie Yu, is that you?
Ironman is the new golf.
Let me know which Ironman’s allow you to drink beer while racing… 
Which races have been around for more than 10 years except for Kona and IMC?
++++++++++++
Well Australia NZ and Japan have all been around since 85 so thats at least 1000+ plus for each of them per year , how many are unique finishers would be hard to tell though . I’m thinking the total number of worldwide IM finishers would be around 200K
Ironman is the new golf.
Let me know which Ironman’s allow you to drink beer while racing…
ROTH!!! 
I drank a few at LP in 2005…I thought hell I am injured and walking might as well have a couple from the mirror lake pub.
Well Australia NZ and Japan have all been around since 85 so thats at least 1000+ plus for each of them per year ,<<
Those races haven’t had 1,000 participants per year for all of those years. In 1985 there were only 142 entrants and 1986 only 194. In 2001, IM NZ had less than 1000 859 entrants/809 finisher. Not many more in 2002–just over 1,000 entrants. You can look up on their website the number of finishers, per how many times one has finished, but even then, it’s a little off since DNFs (and at least my DNS) are listed in the numbers. Just a quick check shows 7,082 people who have paid an entry fee one time; 1,469 who have done it twice; 543 with three and it drops off further from there, so call unique IM NZ finishers at about 10,000 total.
I’d say the number for AUS would be higher and Japan lower.
clm
I think they all let you. The intellegence of the move is another matter…
Ironman is the new golf.
Let me know which Ironman’s allow you to drink beer while racing…
some cute vanderbuilt frat boys were pumping kegs and handing out beers during IMLou!
Let me know which Ironman’s allow you to drink beer while racing…
Great Floridian. I don’t think it is officially approved, but I know it is served at least on of the aid stations. Wasn’t Bud Light a title sponsor of IM Hawaii years ago? I know, I know, it wasn’t served on the course.
A question came up the other day from a friend of mine that I had no clue how to answer.
How many people have finished, US or Worldwide a 140.6 Ironman? I thought about pulling race results, but then there is bound to be a ton of duplicates. Any ideas?
i have. so I know it’s at least one.