Has Ironman Triathlon Lost Its Integrity with Registration Fee Increases, etc.?

I’ve been racing Ironman triathlons for over four years now and I’ve completed six Ironmans. Over the years though, I’ve noticed a trend – more and more athletes per race and higher and higher registration fees! Sure, it may just be supply and demand – the races all still sell out quickly, but I wonder when enough is enough? When will the maximum number of racers stop being bumped up? When will the registration fees stop increasing? This article focuses on the facts in regards to the increase in the number of racers allowed per Ironman and the steady increase in registration fees. You make your own conclusions about the state of Ironman...

The last race I did this year before having a screw taken out of my knee (old football injury) was Ironman Coeur d’Alene (CDA). The screw removal caused me to miss Ironman Wisconsin, but I got registered for next year (2011), after a very frustrating registration process. Anyway, I found myself somewhat frustrated at Ironman CDA due to the large number of racers. The fact that Ironman has gradually increased the maximum number of racers never really bothered me until this race. Ironman CDA is a two lap swim with a beach start. There were so many racers in this event that I literally had to tread water for several minutes at the first turn buoy and wait for my “turn.” There were so many of us queued that we were having small talk with each other. This happened at the next turn buoy as well!

It wasn’t just the swim, the bike course was too crowded also. Like most Ironman races, the bike course isn’t typically a single loop – it is usually a lollipop with two loops on the lollipop part or two to three loops of the entire course. This means that there really isn’t 112 miles of road on the course, it’s more like 50-70 miles since the loop portion is usually done twice. Ironman CDA was two loops of the entire bike course.

• Number of registered racers for 2011*: 2765
• Change from 2003: +1191 / +75.7%
• Total Bike Course Length: 56 miles (2 loops)
• 2011 Number of racers on bike course per mile: 49.38
• Drafting Rule in Ironman: 7 meters separation
• With almost 50 riders per mile, there are 32 meters available per rider, if everyone were evenly separated, which is not practical. It's hard not to draft...
  

*Granted, all these people won’t show up. I’m not sure what the average DNS rate is – couldn’t find this anywhere.

• Ironman CDA 2003: $350*
• Ironman CDA 2011: $575**
• Total 2003 Revenue from Registration Fees: $550,900 (based on 1574 racers)
• Total 2011 Revenue from Registration Fees: $1,589,875
• Change from 2003: +$1,038,975 / +289%

*I could not find any historical data on entry fees, so this is an estimate…it was probably lower in 2003. I wonder why it’s so hard to find the historical data? Hmm.

**This does not take into account active.com's registration fees - $28.75, bringing the total to $603.75!

I decided to include miscellaneous factors that have added to my frustration with Ironman.

• Registration Website (active.com) – for Ironman Wisconsin, I spent an hour of my day at work, completely stressed out trying to register. The registration website kept crashing! I couldn’t believe it – I would get all the way to the point of putting my credit card information in and it would crash. Then, to top it off, the site told me at one point that the race was “sold out” and registration was closed. I was shaking I was so pissed. Later, an update on Ironman Wisconsin’s site said registration was going to be rescheduled due to problems with active.com! Registration was rescheduled for two days later and I did get in, but it was still a very stressful process– active.com took 5-8 minutes to respond to a form submission.

• Holding all hotel rooms hostage – this has recently started in the past couple years, but now ironman.com has started blocking all hotel rooms within 20 miles or so of the race site for the week of the race activities. The hotels won’t let you book directly with their website either – you have to go through the ironman.com site. I wouldn’t mind this if the rate was cheaper, but in my experience it’s higher than booking directly through the hotel. Also, I booked a room for Wisconsin for 2011 through the ironman.com website and was told on the website that I would receive a confirmation in "around 10 days" – that they were really busy. Really??? Based on my experience registering for the race, I really don’t know if I have a room reserved, even now – 10 days later (still no confirmation).

What are your thoughts? For me, I still love racing Ironman, despite what I consider negative trends. I will still sign up for new races, try to win the Kona lottery slot, etc., until my frustration becomes unbearable or the races become too unsafe.

Oh yeah, now go train!