is to start your own races.
starting in 1997, i put on a 800m swim/8km run duathlon at the local beach. it cost $15 for a t-shirt, cash prizes, a lunch, and a great event. last summer, some friends took it two steps further and organized the “Steel Wool Duathlon” - a 20km mountain bike and a 20km run. the route goes up and down Signal Mountain in jasper, alberta. it’s a 10k road that climbs exactly 1000m: a 10% grade. the race was free, we wore old race numbers from other events, and the prize for first was a crappy lobster-trap lamp from the salvation army with a little plaque on it. we’re doing it again this year, and are also planning a trail marathon for the skyline trail in july.
i’ve been to so many races lately where i feel like i’m being sold a used car; where triathlon gets turned into a commodity that you pay $150 for, then get a t-shirt, a bagel, some sliced fruit and a medal. this turns me off, and most of my friends, too. we’re very passionate about the lifestyle, and love to push ourselves for fun, but we’re also students and can’t afford to drop ~$100 every time we want to toe a line. at the ripe old age of 25 we’re already feeling like we want to be back in the good old days of cheap, fun racing that could still be as hardcore as you liked.
i know already that many people will argue that big corporate races ‘guarantee’ safety, fairness, insurance, and even precious ironman spots. but this argument, to me, misses the point entirely. those races don’t represent my lifestyle much at all. but cheap, impromptu, nasty races sure do: i get to leg it out with my friends over unique distances, i don’t have to pay extra for crap food that i wouldn’t otherwise have bought and a t-shirt i don’t need, and the stories are always way better.
so if the high-cost, low-value, corporate triathlon scene is your thing, i think you pretty much have to accept the prices (of various kinds) that are part and parcel of it. the average IM age-grouper earns 6 figures anyway, so just buck up and keep demanding the supply. but if you’re sick of it, vote with your feet and your wallet: grab your friends, chalk out your own starting line, and give’r.
-mike