Home Chat General Chat

Can I be an Ironman...

...without doing an official IM event?

Reason I ask is that I got the pre-reg E-mail this week, and was really up for IM UK – until I saw that entry is £300!

So my question is this: if I complete an event of the same distance – for example, Big Woody, at £120 an entry – can I call myself an Ironman?

I know there's a lot of organisation involved in any tri, and the longer the distance, the more it takes to set up. I also appreciate that tri is an expensive sport, and that folk can get sick of others moaning about entry fees. But surely not all IM events around the world are this costly to enter? And think how much bike bling you can get for £300!

Comments

  • andyb99andyb99 Posts: 229
    I sat 100% yes.....140 miles it 140 miles and thats the designated ironman distance.

    I'm doing IMUK but only because its close to my home...otherwise i'd be doing a cheaper option cause 300 quid is a bit steep.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Ironman (R) is owned by the World Triathlon Coroporation which according to my search on Wikipedia was recently bought by a private equity group. It does not denote an event of the same distance.
    http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/WTC_sold ... m_514.html

    So to call yourself an 'Ironman' means you have to shell out the £300 as that is the premium you pay to the people who own the registrerd trademark. Of course completing a long distance event is a worthy feat and you should feel proud. But then there will alwasy be the draw of the dot M and the Tattoo ...
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    while the mdot and 'ironman' are brands that in theory are special and unique, to me if you haul yourself over a full/long/iron distance then you are an ironman. I probably wouldn't get the tatt if I hadn't done a branded event, though.
    to me it is the challenge that is most important, not what I call myself after (other than an idiot!)
    there are loads of great non-branded events as well - outlaw, big woody, challenge events etc
  • You could always get a Big Woody tattoo...
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    I say so.

    If you really need to you can say iron distance triathlete.

    Chrissy's world record for iron distance was set at Roth and i bet she doesn't get to bothered that it was set at a non wtc branded event.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    I quite agree - an iron triathalete - I dare say that for anyone outside of the sport, Ironman is synoymous with the distance and not the marketing brand, after all not many refer to 'cola' as such but more likely 'coke'.

    Perhaps with some collective thought we could come up with some word that has the same sort of impact - to me anyone who does an LD is an Ironman or Ironwoman - it's just that the WTC have the trademark.

    I think this is one reason why the Outlaw has been named so, apart from the Nottingham connection of course. As you cross the finish 'you are an Outlaw!' How about that OSB - is that the plan?
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Why not just call yourself a triathlete?
  • BmanBman Posts: 442
    I would love to hear what they say as you cross the finish at the big woody..
  • bathtubbathtub Posts: 280
    So my question is this: if I complete an event of the same distance – for example, Big Woody, at £120 an entry – can I call myself an Ironman?
    The original Ironman race distance was established back in 1978, there were 12 yearly Ironman races before the WTC was formed in 1990 and registered the trade mark Ironman.

    IMO providing a race is the Ironman Distance, yes you can call yourself an Ironman as that is what the original concept was all about.
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Why not just call yourself a triathlete?
    Could argue you're not really a triathlete until you've done ironman.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Ah but John Collins who started off the Ironman triathlon had taken part in triathlons before - triathlons were alive and kicking prior to this. The marketing of Ironman by the WTC has really paid off. In fact as the Ironman series are not officially recognised by the ITU it could be agrued that Ironmen are not triatheletes but particpants in a sports entertainment franchise. Controversial!

    Having said that - yeah I would like to do a dot M
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Zac - you doing the Outlaw as well?
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Absolutely - one of first 100 or so to enter - doubt that will be my position though

    But would also like to do a dot M without a doubt - and the Vitruvian
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    See you there then!

    G
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Cool - I'll wear my Forum T shirt, not that you'll see it at 4am!
  • vetboyvetboy Posts: 21
    I reckon if you go the distance than you have the right to call yourself an Ironman.

    If you do the training, put in the effort and do the race than no-one should be saying that you are not able to call yourself an Ironman just because of the branding of the race. After all, being an Ironman should be about the effort that goes into it, not a marketing tool.

    On that thought - there was one bloke at Ironman WA who had never done a tri, hadn't trained, and only signed up 3.5 weeks before the race. He managed to get over the line within the finishing time and now can call himself an Ironman. Should people who haven't put in the work have the right to be there and call themselves Ironman for what is effectively 1 days work? I guess he must have been fairly fit already, but to me being Ironman is more about the journey to the start line than the race itself.
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    Could argue you're not really a triathlete until you've done ironman.
    Really? Go tell that to Al Brownlea, Tim Don, Javier Gomez etc etc none of whom have done an ironman; all of whom are pretty much the definition of a Triathlete...

    As for the original question. Who cares? If the only reason you're doing it is so you can wear the badge, then your probably not in it for the right reasons.
  • I agree with you, but (playing devil's advocate for a minute) can you call yourself an Ironman if you don't win the event? After all, Collins said that whoever crosses the line first, we'll call him the ironman.

    Personally, I think that completing the distance in the best time you possibly can makes you an ironman - if you can get away with not training and get yourself over the line before cutoff then that is commendable, but you'd surely be a little disappointed with your time? If you train your heart out for 6 months and only just make the cutoff, it doesn't make you any less of an ironman than the person who wins - possibly more given that the last person in is out there for twice as long as the winner, you'll know that you've done everything you can.

    Bman - if you want to hear what they say, then you'd better sign up and do it
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    I don't understand the obsession with having to 'be' something. Whether it's 'I'm an ironman' or 'I'm a Triathlete'. Who gives a f%$k?
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    I think Mowf is right.

    You compete in a few triathlons.
    If you score a ton in cricket do you tell everyone you're a centurion? No, you're someone who plays cricket. If you earnt a living playing cricket you might call yourself a cricketer.
    But Mowf is right. Why do we have to badge ourselves?
    Just do it, enjoy it and don't get too hung up on 'what' you are.
  • As someone who will almost certainly never be able to call myself an Ironman (either branded or unbranded) I think that the title is applicable to anyone who completes the distance before the cut off. As to the earlier posting about the person who completed the race in WA without really training, well for me the idea of completing any triathlon, be it Iron distance or less, is to push your own boundries be they either speed or distance/endurance based. If that person could complete the race with little or no specific triathlon training then good for them - but how much more satisfying is it to get the best possible time through the culmination of many hours of training and to know that you have reached a real milestone through your own hard work?
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Again it all comes down to marketing and money.

    Jellybaby is quite right in that Collins by implication reserved the title of Ironman for the winner. I don't know when the title expanded to all finishers but the WTC registered Ironman and Iron distance in 1990 as they recognised it had a powerful appeal. So much so that you pay well over the odds to do an 'Ironman' as for an equivalent event.

    There have been several discussuions about overpriced events and the general agreement is that where an event is overpriced, offers poor facilities, poor organisation etc then they should be avoided. However, we would shun the Chipping Throgsmorton LD if it was held in the middle of a quagmire, with poor organisation and facilities but for an Ironmanthen we would moan but still enter the following year - that is the power of the name brand.

    I quite agree to go the distance regardless of branding is a fantastic achievement but WTC own the trademark plain and simple.
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Could argue you're not really a triathlete until you've done ironman.

    Really? Go tell that to Al Brownlea, Tim Don, Javier Gomez etc etc none of whom have done an ironman; all of whom are pretty much the definition of a Triathlete...
    Fair point Mowf but i bet they all move on to to do ironman at some point in the future.

    Must say something?
  • I would love to hear what they say as you cross the finish at the big woody..
    Maybe they just shout you've got wood.
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    Fair point Mowf but i bet they all move on to to do ironman at some point in the future.

    Must say something
    I think it shows that they are the sort of person who likes to find their personal limits. And that that sort of person will probably naturally gravitate towards ironman. I bet most prefessional oli distance athletes could do an ironman tomorrow if they had to - they put enough miles in. I also bet, that the likes of big al and Gomez only gravitate towards long distance when they can no longer cut it at the shorter stuff. Must say something...
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    I think it shows that they are the sort of person who likes to find their personal limits. And that that sort of person will probably naturally gravitate towards ironman.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    I absolutely agree that if you 'walk the walk' - just felt like using that expression, don't know what the hell it means - you are an ironman. For the vast majority of people outside of the sport the likes of the Big Woody is an Ironman, in fact would you believe on the Tr247 website I found this:
    The Big Woody
    Held on: Sat 29th August 2009
    URL: http://www.tricoachinguk.org/
    Race Details
    Race Type:Triathlon
    Distance:Ironman
    Swim Open (3.8k) / Bike (180k) / Run (42.2k)
    I personally think that there is no problem referring to such an event as an Ironman distance or Iron distance event as this was (I understand) the common description of this distance until the WTC registered the name Ironman, and the dot M.

    The WTC are very twitchy about it however and I lifted this off their website:
    Copyright © 2001-2009 World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). All Rights Reserved.
    IRONMAN®, IRONMAN TRIATHLON®, M-DOT®, IRONMANLIVE®, IRONMAN.COM™, and 70.3® are trademarks of WTC. Any use of these marks without the express written consent of WTC is prohibited.
    So Tri247 could be in trouble! and I didn't know about 70.3, that is new to me, and interestingly there is no refernce to 'Iron distance'
Sign In or Register to comment.