I see that registration is still open for IMSG. Can i get some opinions on the reason?
Time of year. Like the original IMAZ it is too early in the training season for most people to be prepared for IM distance.
The course is really hard/hilly. ‘I don’t want to go there if i can’t finish/PR’. ‘I don’t want to suffer more than i have to - i’ll take florida thank you’. Plus, the venue set up is difficult with separate T1 and T2. Plus, it’s not spectator friendly.
The water is too cold. ‘I may not be able to finish the swim - all will be lost.’
Too new to have a following.
Lousy location.
IM participation may have past it’s peak and now mostly we see people returning to the same race every year or two mixed with a few new entrants. This means new IMs can mostly only draw people from other IMs and IMSG doesn’t have lure to pull them in.
It just need more time, when people can’t get into their first choice IM they will fall back on IMSG, so by the end of the race season it will be full.
It’s the economy, stupid.
Or, of course, a combination of the above.
Anyone who did it last month want to give more insight as to the venue and course?
I would be worried that the swim has a greater chance of being cancelled (than any other NA IM). I would hate to train all winter and commit to the travel expenses only to compete in a long duathlon.
FANTASTIC race. Highly recommended.
I am really looking forward to going back. Beautiful, varied course. Amazing community support.
Yes, it is a challenge but isn’t that why we do IM in the first place?
I was a little nervous about the two transitions having experienced a few CFs with setups like that in the past. IMSG, however, was really well organized in that regard, Tons of shuttle buses. Clear plan for dropping things off. It was all very easy. Water was cold but manageable.
I think that training through the winter has got to be the biggest drawback for many people. Lots of long trainer rides for many of us.
I would say 1 and 7 are the most likely culprits. 5 is absolutely absurd since it’s an incredibly beautiful location. #2 seems like all the more reason to go there and complete. I think it just needs more time…but also, some of us that did this race a month ago need to come out of the woodwork and really explain how great this race was. Although challenging…it was a phenomenal race in a great atmosphere with wonderful people.
PS…the swim at 58 degrees was perfectly fine…and that lake is surrounded by mountains so there not any wind to chop up the water (it’s actually super smooth)…how would the swim be cancelled?
Combination of a lot of reasons, but i’d also add:
There are a lot of people who want to do an easier course so they can then tell everyone who cares to listen (& a lot that don’t) that they did Ironman.
These people aren’t really interested in pushing their limits. You will see them lined up the next day buying as much finishers gear as they can get their hands on, getting a big M-dot tattoo & will rarely see this person for the next year without at least 1 piece of Ironman branded clothing on.
I did it last month - beautiful course, great location & the organization is just going to get better & better with experience.
Only criticism: The split T1/T2 & separate rego/expo/briefing takes away from the Ironman week buzz a bit.
The wind comes down the mountains and whips the lake into foam; those mountains don’t protect the lake at all. The St. George International Triathlon, which was a couple weeks after IMSG, had its swim canceled twice in recent years. If you did the race this year you got lucky. Some thoughts on swim cancellations can be found here.
The OP listed most of what I observed. I don’t know about Ironman racing reaching its peak at this point in human history, though that horse gets beaten beyond death here on a regular basis, but rather than “hard,” I prefer the description “honest” to describe this course.
I’ve done 9 IMs including Silverman. This was the hardest IM I have done to be sure. It was awesome though…very well organized, great crowds, fun environment, beautiful course, etc.
The swim issue is a non-issue. I did the St. George Olympic tri last year when they canceled the swim and the lake wasn’t even close to being “whipped up into a frenzie”. It was windy but they would have never canceled the IM swim in weather like that. I swam in much worse conditions at IM Moo in '06 and at IM CDA in’07 when they gave athletes the swim “option”.
I was there as a spectator, watching my sister… I think the date is not too good but what do I know. There didn’t seem to be much buzz in the town about the race; I think a lot of that was the split venues. I have thought about signing up, but my wife said she wasn’t interested in going back. However, my sister, loved it from a participant perspective.
I’ve done 9 IMs including Silverman. This was the hardest IM I have done to be sure. It was awesome though…very well organized, great crowds, fun environment, beautiful course, etc.
The swim issue is a non-issue. I did the St. George Olympic tri last year when they canceled the swim and the lake wasn’t even close to being “whipped up into a frenzie”. It was windy but they would have never canceled the IM swim in weather like that. I swam in much worse conditions at IM Moo in '06 and at IM CDA in’07 when they gave athletes the swim “option”.
This race is a good one.
Matt
They cancel it because of the high number of newbs, so many of the sprint and olympic athletes are doing their first open water swim. I think they would be less likely to call an ironman for wind.
I signed up a month ago for IMSG 2011. Can’t wait. I expect to suffer supremely, but that’s why I do this sport.
Use the search feature. Plenty of threads with race reports, course info, etc.
See my thread about the same topic you posted:
Because if I had to spend one more Saturday morning glued to my trainer for 5+ hours I was going to go out of my mind. Timing on this one is huge. The course was amazing and beautiful and extremely difficult. It’s hard to train for a “real” Ironman when you can barely train outside for the 6 months leading up to the race.
For me it is mostly #1, but I do want to experience some IM’s in different locals just for the variety and experiences of different areas. I would love to go back to St. George, though. It was a great event in a very beautiful locale. It was difficult to train for an early season event, but well worth it. I think we also got very lucky weather wise. The DNF rate was pretty high as it is, if it had been the day before or after race day, there would have been carnage.
It’s new… new is scary sometimes. It is an IRONMAN for crying out loud. It’s supposed to be hard, it’s supposed to a huge challenge. I am really sick and tired of pansies wining about it being too difficult. I’d venture to say that IMSG is the most beautiful race on the IM calendar. For someone living in the south its a perfect time since it is way too hot to train through the summer. The winter is the best time for long training sessions down here.
Its a fine race but will take a while to develop a following and has some quirks that need to be worked out.
Time of year is not a problem for many of us in Texas and the SW … that used to easily fill IMAZ when it was in April, but it took a few years to accomplish.
I personally liked IMAZ in April, but its gone now so my likes didn’t matter;-)
The course on the bike is hard, but not that hard. The wind is a big deal and I suspect that may be a problem for them in the future. A hot/windy day would be a killer.
It isn’t spectator friendly, but that could be changed/improved rather easily I would think. The separate T1,T2 is different but OK once you figure out where everything is.
Water was fine … 58 on race day, but those of us who swam the 2 days prior found the water calm in early morning even if the wind howled later in the morning. IMCDA has been 58 or less more than once and has been windy there … no big deal. There was no pre-swim advertised, but many of us showed up anyway … do know that you will be charged entry to the swim site unless you have already picked up your wristband ( they didn’t tell us that in the pre-race packet and not a big deal but $10).
The location is OK but not as spectacular as some want to hype it. The local volunteers were wonderful and plentiful … the city obviously is very backing of the event. I thought it was just very windy and blowing dirt much of the time we were there … that was not very impressive.
In time I think it will thrive, but will take a couple years … and will need luck to avoid a disastrous hot/windy combination year which could be pretty devastating to it.
I’ll come back again, but next year i’ll be at CDA which I really think is a nicer race site and course … just my thoughts.
Look, it was known to be a tough course. Yet, the hardest of all NA courses. So what is everyone complaining about??
I thought the race was very well done.
Excellent spectators, and far beyond the normal “town” support. Every restaurant I went to, I was asked by some patron about the race. Granted, I was always wearing IM brand clothing (but, that’s half the fun of going to a race). Even on Saturday night (after the race), I went and ate Mexican food at a restaurant, and had 2 tables ask me how the race went. I’ve done 9 IM’s, and this has to have been the best “town” support I’ve experienced.
The swim was fine, just damn cold!!
The bike was okay. Tough hills, and 2 hard climbs. Road surface for about 20 miles was poor (but not awful). Granted, it is a 2 loop course. Highly fast downhills as you come back into town.
Run was tough, but not impossible. Again, a 2 loop run. As with the bike, the last 2 miles of each lap was downhill and fast.
I had a good experience, and would recommend this race. JUST MAKE SURE YOU TRAIN FOR HILLS!
My theory is that most people want to do the easiest IM they can find which is
Wetsuit legal
Semi warm swim
No Hills
No Wind
Call me cynical but every ‘What Ironman should I do’ post goes like this, ‘HAY, I WANT TO DO A IRONMAN BUT ARE THERE ANY WITHOUT HILLS OR WIND? AND IT WOULD BE REALLY NICE IF THE WATER ISN"T COLD AND I COULD USE MY WETSUIT!’
Maybe WTC should assign ratings to each event to lure people into doing the tougher courses.
I think other experienced triathletes stay away from it because training in the winter stinks. Getting up for a 100 ride when its 56 and windy outside is not fun, and spending weeks on a trainer is even worse.
I did it this year, and it was a tough course, but St. George is an awesome location and a great event.