I just received an invitation to register for the Ironman 70.3 in New York. My thought is WTF. I thought that an Ironman was 140.6 miles (2.4 S, 112B and 26.2R). When did a 70.3 race that was called a 1/2 Ironman become an Ironman 70.3?
2005
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Well neither of those are really Ironmans, the real Ironman is here, started in the mid 60’s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_(surf_lifesaving)
All the rest of you are just imposters, trading on a name that was around well before the first triathlons…
I just received an invitation to register for the Ironman 70.3 in New York. My thought is WTF. I thought that an Ironman was 140.6 miles (2.4 S, 112B and 26.2R). When did a 70.3 race that was called a 1/2 Ironman become an Ironman 70.3?
That Shark was Jumped actually a while back!
15+ years ago is when that happened or there abouts. My wife and I were at the 70.3 Muskoka race north of Toronto. We were there to cheer some friends on. We were taking the shuttle bus back to the parking lot after the race was all done and in the seat behind us there was a guy going on and on, letting everyone near him on the bus know, proud as punch that he had just, “finished an Ironman” and that he felt like he was truly “an Ironman”. How he had given up smoking 2 years ago and lost about 50 - 60 lbs and this was his goal. I could have turned around and given him, “the talk” - but I just let him go! 
Ironman ceased to be a distance and became a brand a looooong time ago.
But yeah I’m old school and any 140.6m triathlon is an Ironman in my language. Ironman 70.3 is NOT an Ironman apart from the branding.
I think it’s even more layered than that OP. Ironman is a for-profit brand – not a race distance. It’s a sprint/olympic/half/full distance triathlon. Ironman has gotten so good at branding that people know what it is.
I just received an invitation to register for the Ironman 70.3 in New York. My thought is WTF. I thought that an Ironman was 140.6 miles (2.4 S, 112B and 26.2R). When did a 70.3 race that was called a 1/2 Ironman become an Ironman 70.3?
That Shark was Jumped actually a while back!
15+ years ago is when that happened or there abouts. My wife and I were at the 70.3 Muskoka race north of Toronto. We were there to cheer some friends on. We were taking the shuttle bus back to the parking lot after the race was all done and in the seat behind us there was a guy going on and on, letting everyone near him on the bus know, proud as punch that he had just, “finished an Ironman” and that he felt like he was truly “an Ironman”. How he had given up smoking 2 years ago and lost about 50 - 60 lbs and this was his goal. I could have turned around and given him, “the talk” - but I just let him go!
Don’t forget too that a 5150 (Ironmans branding for an Olympic) is also an Ironman. Joe skipper and his buddy Tom like to troll the fb ironman groups telling people how excited they are to get an Ironman tatoo after completing their first ironman 5150.
I think you are wrong Monty. Ironman Magazine started in 1936. It was the gold standard for building big muscles.
Ironman is a brand not a distance.
To swim bike run purists it is a distance.
To 6 year olds it is a cartoon.
To some it is a magazine and to others it is a name brand they love to hate on.