Just received this email. Not surprised.
After thoughtful consideration and evaluation of our North American race calendar for 2024, we have made the decision to discontinue the IRONMAN Tulsa and IRONMAN 70.3 Tulsa triathlons following the 2023 edition of both races which is set for May 21.
A decision like this is never easy, and we understand the disappointment this may cause for our participants who have enjoyed this event. We are grateful to the Tulsa community for hosting us and would like to thank our sponsors and partners at Tulsa Regional Tourism along with the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for their support.
“Both our team at Tulsa Regional Tourism and our friends at IRONMAN agree that this is the best collective decision to make for next year,†said Renee McKenney, Senior Vice President of Tourism for the Tulsa Regional Chamber and President of Tulsa Regional Tourism. “Tulsa is on track to realize some major expansions of our trails and watersports landscape, and those final touches will be taking place in 2024. Meanwhile, we have worked very closely with the IRONMAN team to ensure 2023 is going to be the best year yet. We can’t wait to see everyone in May!â€
Athletes looking for an early year IRONMAN in 2024 are encouraged to look into the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas triathlon, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series. Priority registration for that event will go on sale April 24, 2023 at 12pm EST and you will receive an invitation to register coming directly from IRONMAN Texas on Monday. The registration link will only be available until 11:59pm ET on Sunday, April 30.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to providing our athletes with exceptional race experiences.
The IRONMAN Team
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
It seems like it’s had really low numbers. I’m registered for this year and I guess it’ll be fun to say I raced it while it was there, but I’m also not surprised it’s ending.
Low numbers and they combined it with the 70.3 to make it work this year. Had the trail construction been the real reason they would have designed a new road course and made the announcement following this years race.
They need to bring back Louisville…
It’s getting harder to find an early season IM in North America. I like racing in the spring and fall, and the number of races is dwindling. I live in a snowy icy hellhole, and so going down under to race isn’t an option, since I don’t relish doing 2-3 hr runs on the treadmill. Done it, but don’t want to do it in the kinds of volume I would need for say IM NZ for instance.
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races.
Living in Florida and training year round outdoors Spring races are perfect with long sessions over the Winter months. Texas in April is the only full option now.
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races
IM has made some scheduling decisions that make me scratch my head. Look at the upper Midwest with four races in three weeks:
Sept 9/10: Madison 70.3/ IMWI
Sept 17: Michigan 70.3
Sept 30: Muncie 70.3
I guess the challenge here is that there are other options in summer: Des Moines 70.3 (June 11), Steelhead (June 25), and Ohio 70.3 (July 23). That leaves only the spring when the weather is very volatile. I can see why each location would prefer the fall, but I wish they were sufficiently spaced so that one could have a reasonable shot of doing two of the four.
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.
That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full
2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23
Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.
That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full
2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23
Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out
Declining numbers is across many races/regions, so this doesn’t surprise me one bit
Doesn’t bode well
I do believe it’s holding up better in Europe vs N/South America
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races
They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman…
When I registered for the full I think there were 100 Kona slots for this year and still didn’t get any registrants. Only making the comment as another reason why I’m not surprised to see IM cut the race, couldn’t get people to register even with a pretty big Kona carrot (not that it matters now).
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races
I think their business model relies on concessions from host communities, which means they are often trying to put races in places where the host is willing to pay rather than the most attractive venues.
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.
That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full
2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23
Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out
I am all for piling on WTC but come on.
The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races
They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman…
IM Tulsa didn’t even exist the last time Redman happened in 2019. Tulsa been announced in 2019 as a 2020 race.
In fairness, Redman RIP’d itself. Nobody did the race. The half and full had 29 and 218 finishers respectively the last year the race was held (2019). Basically nobody did the full or half duathlon or aquabike. The sprint and oly races (and their respective duathlons and aquabikes) had less than 250 athletes combined. 2018 was even worse. 2017 only slightly better than 2019.
Let’s not pretend that Redman was setting the world on fire. Lack of participants and COVID killed the race. Nothing to do with Ironman.
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.
That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full
2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23
Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out
I am all for piling on WTC but come on.
The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.
I wouldn’t say COVID killed it. If that were true it would have done so for all races. If they 2500 for the full the announcement would have been a contract extension.
The incompetents that run IM cannot create sustainable races
They sure are good at killing independent races however. RIP Redman…
IM Tulsa didn’t even exist the last time Redman happened in 2019. Tulsa been announced in 2019 as a 2020 race.
In fairness, Redman RIP’d itself. Nobody did the race. The half and full had 29 and 218 finishers respectively the last year the race was held (2019). Basically nobody did the full or half duathlon or aquabike. The sprint and oly races (and their respective duathlons and aquabikes) had less than 250 athletes combined. 2018 was even worse. 2017 only slightly better than 2019.
Let’s not pretend that Redman was setting the world on fire. Lack of participants and COVID killed the race. Nothing to do with Ironman.
Let’s also not pretend that Covid didn’t have any impact on 2019 being Redman’s last race. Also remember that these races don’t have to pull a profit to continue.
You know “setting the world on fire” depends a lot of what you consider successful. Every person I talked to over the years said it was the favorite race they’d ever done. The independent races don’t have stockholders or venture funds to answer to, they are ran by volunteer triathletes, for triathletes. And they didn’t have to have thousands of participants to break even. The fact that “Ironman” is canceling a race that brings in a LOT more money than the independents do should tell you something about what their motivation is.
Of course I’m also someone who isn’t impressed by how expensive a car you drive, how big of a house you live in, or if you have a corporate logo tattooed to your leg. I’m obviously a minority non-narcissistic triathlete I guess.
My read of the note suggests the reason is work on trails and waterways completing in 2024. This suggest the race could come back after that. Is that others impressions? Or was it not a great course, had low numbers, etc.?
Many complained about the quality of the bike course roads.
That being said here’s some numbers for you for the full
2021 1906 athletes, 1707 finishers
2022 776 athletes, 652 finishers
2023 639 registered as of 3/1/23
Notes:
-No info available for the 2023 70.3 on the website
-2021 was a pro race
-2021 was also one of the very first races to happen after the covid shutdown and there will a lot of Kona spots given out
I am all for piling on WTC but come on.
The pandemic ended this race, not mismanagement.
I wouldn’t say COVID killed it. If that were true it would have done so for all races. If they 2500 for the full the announcement would have been a contract extension.
I don’t understand what logic you are using.
It’s getting harder to find an early season IM in North America. I like racing in the spring and fall, and the number of races is dwindling. I live in a snowy icy hellhole, and so going down under to race isn’t an option, since I don’t relish doing 2-3 hr runs on the treadmill. Done it, but don’t want to do it in the kinds of volume I would need for say IM NZ for instance.
IMTX does really well, im not sure why there aren’t more early season choices. i agree with you totally. friend of mine did tulsa the first year, while it was nothing overly remarkable, i would have considered it alongside texas if i decided that was the time of year i wanted to do an IM.
the fall is so crowded with full IM races in the US, i wonder if they’d ever move either FL, Choo, or AZ to an april/may window. i know Choo does the 70.3 in may already. MD, WI, some of the other locales probably couldn’t swing it in the spring due to weather, but those ones easily could. it would be great to have another early season option besides TX.