It occurred to me that Lake Placid and Florida sell out in a matter of hours and yet Couer D’alene and Arizona are still open. Not that I don’t have any doubt they will sell out eventually, do you think that perhaps they should concentrate more races on the East Coast since that is where the races seem to sell out the fastest. I would think from a business stand point, you should go where the population and the interest is being shown the most?
IMC is in a pretty remote place and seems to be the toughest to get into. Although I love the area I’m bummed that I’ll have to take a vacation to register. No doubt alot has to do with the race being easy to get to bu I think alot also has to do with the course, how well the race is organized and the enthusiasm of the volunteers.
It’s not location alone. It is a combination of course, location and time of the year the race is held. Florida sells out and has such large entry numbers because A) its at the end of the year so folks can train during the long days of summer, B) both the run and bike courses are flat (bike has some rollers) and is an excellent first time IM for most people, C) its on the beach and even though it is PCB, it is within driving distance for large amounts of people.
IMO, Arizona will fill up once the they have the course they originally intended. The venue is fantastic (I did it this year) and great for families. I rode the original bike course during a training camp and it is beautiful (too bad we didn’t get to ride it during the actual race). However, it is an early spring IM and training for it over the winter can be challenging, depending on where you live.
I am not so sure it is all about location, but training and race dates. CDA and AZ are two of the earliest races in the season and for most of the US that means long workouts in the winter / late spring months. I am doing AZ in April and I struggled with the decision because racing later in the year means more summer training but preping for AZ means cold, indoor, and dark. Just a thought.
Agree wholeheartedly with the timing issue of Arizona. April is early for most folks…as for CDA, can’t really speculate there as to why it’s still open. From what I’ve heard, it’s a spectacular venue…wondering if there are some CDA “vets” that could shine some light on some of the “maybes” as to why this race doesn’t fill up instantly.
Why is IM CdA still open?
Here’s some thoughts from an '05 competitor-
As it’s been said, relatively early season race so lots of training in the dark and rain if you are north of Central California, not to mention cold if you are from anywhere East.
Far from many major population centers except maybe SeaTac and Vancouver. For all the Californians, who dominate the entries, it’s a committment to get there with bike and gear in hand as well as spend the money for accomodations. So, fewer locals to just roll out of bed and hit the startline than say either of the East Coast IMs.
Newer race so it doesn’t have the cachet. People say “Oh you did the race in Hawaii?” and you go, “No, in Idaho at a town called Cur-daleen.” They go, “Where? Idaho? Is that in Canada?”
Had that early hot edition that had many DNFs. Has to get rid of that rep. Plus, while not as hilly as LP, it has some hills.
Looped bike and run unlike IM Canada which is point to point.
It’s in Idaho. Not everyone’s cup of tea, especially not the Blue Staters. Hard to live down the Hayden Lake, Aryan Brotherhood, Survivalist, Unabomber reputation. They are trying and succeeding however.
Gourmet coffee and first class restaurants? Getting there but it’s no San Francisco or Seattle.
IMHO it is a super site for IM and me and the family had a blast. It was everything I wanted ('cept it rained steadily for two days after the race; end of June, go figure). I’m glad it doesn’t sell out in hours because it is one of the best kept IM secrets still left out there.
Yea…how about IM Newark or maybe Passaic? DC perhaps or what about Philly (if you survive you are a true Ironman!).
CDA is a great location. Other than the second half part of the bike course I thought it was awesome.
Mike
5280,
Just an observation on preparing for AZ in metro Denver. I live in the area and did IMAZ this year. With a little flexibility I was able to get my weekly long ride in outside every weekend. Had to be somewhat flexible on which day, but was not forced inside one time between IMFL in 04 and IMAZ in 05. In addition these long rides were all started right after sun up.
Of course the weekday morning rides were a different story.
cool, thanks of the info. I figure with a little help from Mother nature I should be pretty good til January or so. I think last year it we had some days in the 60’s through Dec.
No doubt I got lucky and hopefully we will see similar this winter. I am in for AZ again next year but may have to skip it due to family needs.
Good luck with the training.
I’m giving a thumbs up for Idaho!!! I spent a lot of my summer out there this year living and kayaking on the Middle Fork, Salmon and other rivers in the state. I loved everything about the state, the people, the mountain, Idaho City rocks, Stanley, I would love to make home. Spent time in Cour d’Alene and thought the town was fantastic, but talking to people who live there, they are not really enthused about the triathlon.
I would definitely consider Arizona as I really want to do an early spring race, however, like you said the bike course doesn’t seem to be anywhere near finalized. I will wait until they sort all that out. I just think 3 laps of a bike course with over 2000 people is nutty.
I think ideally for me, I want to do one early spring IM (April) and then one late fall IM would be perfect. Then I can still race all summer as training.