The Magic Show

The MultiSport Canada HQ Trailer at the Kingston Triathlon (one of the longest running triathlons in North America!)

I first heard the term, "The Magic Show" in the context of endurance sports events, from 8-time Ironman World Champion Paula Newby-Fraser, when Paula was working for Graham Fraser, when Graham was running all of the Ironman races in North America. Paula was referring to the Magic Show that was the travelling road show that was Ironman at the time - moving from race location to race location, arriving in the Ironman race site, in town-x, and transforming the race site, into the amazing thing that the Ironman race site was with all the bells and whistles! But this could describe almost all triathlons, running and cycling events. The Magic Show goes on all over the place at thousands of events every weekend!

Endurance sports races/events, be they triathlons, running or cycling all do this. They transform a city street, a park, a conservation area, where ever the race is, into what the race/event participants see on race day. Almost everything, be it the finish gantry, the porta-potties, the signage and so on, has to be brought in and set up. The transformation for some of the bigger races - say the big city Marathons, or the Ironman triathlons can be extraordinary.

However, the work, and the magic, that goes into even mid-sized races/events, is substantial! I am the official race and event announcer for the ReCharge With Milk triathlon series in Ontario that is run by MultiSport Canada (MSC). These are triathlon events that can have upwards of 1,000 entrants.  The series itself is 11-events stretched out over the course of the summer in Southern Ontario. It's the largest triathlon series in Canada! At each event venue, be it a quiet conservation area, or a busy down-town location in a mid sized city, the Magic Show goes on and they transform the place into an awesome race venue for the athletes.

With a triathlon you are really putting on three races - a swim race, a cycling race and a running race, with a transition area, a space for an Expo and then the finish area infrastructure. It's a lot of work to get this all organized and set up and each race site is unique. The minute details - just keep coming and coming: Heavy rains the week before have made a part of the what was supposed to be the transition area boggy. A change in road permitting, will not allow access to a certain road. Last minute road construction that was not communicated can close roads. And so on!

The MSC crew move all their stuff in and out for each event in the series - it's remarkable to watch the set-up and the tear-down that happens and the work that goes into all this!

Nothing seems to phase the MSC crew - even horrific race-day weather - which is rare, but NEEDS to be planned for with details, is all worked out in advance, so when they face it, there is a plan and you implement it. Nothing is left to chance! That's part of the Magic Show to! Although, that's not really magic, just extraordinarily amazing planning and implementation!

I've often said, if you want to hire a Race/Event Director - hire a Triathlon Race Director, because, they are not putting on one race, they are putting on three races simultaneously!

Race participants know none of this. They just show up and expect that everything will be in place. That there will be no wait at the porta-potties and that the 10K run is . . . measured to be exactly 10K. (With mobile GPS now, even course length accuracy is very important). That everything will be taken care of for them at the race. The expectations for running, triathlon and cycling race/event participants these days are VERY high. An event management company like MultiSport Canada knows this, and they go overhead and above to make it a great experience for each and every participant.

MSC Founder John Salt* even stands just past the finish-line at every race and shakes the hand of every person that crosses the finish line. I've heard John say, "If you want to know if an athlete had a good time at your race, just stand at the finish-line and shake their hand. If they have a good or bad day they will tell you right there. In 14 years, I've only had a few that were unhappy"!  Now that's being in touch with your customers!

And that's the story of the Magic Show!

* Some bonus content: A podcast - Bob Babbitt interviewing MSC's John Salt http://www.babbittville.com/babbittville-radio/john-salt/ A great listen!

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Tying It All Together for Endurance Sports Events

 Working the Mic at the recent Monster Dash run in Toronto*. Picture - MyNextRace.com

I just finished reading digital marketing guru, Mitch Joel's new book Ctrl-Alt-Delete. It's a highly recommended read. Three big take-aways:

1. Social media, and marketing through social media is big!

2. The current buzz with brands, is wanting to speak directly to end-user customers.

3. Everything is going mobile!

Endurance sports events be they, running, cycling, triathlons, MOB's or themed runs, sit at the intersection of the above. By their very nature, these events are social - with lots of social interaction going on. I mentioned this briefly in a previous blog. However, this week I came across an info-graphic that spelled this out in more detail with some interesting data and stats.

These events are also the meeting up point for brands(sponsors), and the large amounts of numbers and data that these events are starting to generate and put together - to say nothing of the gathering of hundreds, if not thousands of people in one spot, at one time. Remarkably, few events seem to be taking full advantage of this. Some are, but more could and should do more. 

It goes without saying that the demographic attracted to most endurance sports events are plugged in to a high degree via mobile devices.

At the Running USA conference last winter, a marketing executive who works in the endurance sports space, said to me, "Consider you are at an NHL or NBA game, with 10,000 or more spectators. Think about how much marketing and promotion you have been exposed to from the time you buy your ticket, to the time you leave that game. Now compare that with the promotion and marketing that goes on an endurance sports event with similar numbers from the time you register, to the time you are finished and heading home". Many events, are not taking full advantage of the opportunities here.

It's a great opportunity to leverage the social nature of these events, the social interaction that is organic to them, the high adoption of social media of the participants, and the want for brands to talk directly to end-user customers.

An example of linking that up with mobile follows:

With my frequent work as a Race and Event Announcer*, I often see the collision of the old and the new at the events that I am working at and where the above opportunities go wanting. Often the number one question that I get asked when I am on the mic at an event is, "Hey - where are the results being posted up?". Many smaller to mid sized events still post up printed hard-copy, for participants to check their times/results - if the event is a timed event, with results. In the online, digital age, this now is passe. I'll often announce, where on the race site, that hard copy of the results are posted up, and you'll see that huddle of people surrounding the posted sheets of paper checking their results. However, if a company such as Ottawa, ON based Sportstats is timing the race and producing the results, those results now go almost instantly on-line when a person crosses the finish-line (or timing mat out on the course), to that events page on the Sportstats web site. If people, have a mobile phone with internet access, they can go right there, and see their own results on their own mobile device in the palm of their hand! Even more, Sportstats has a App that ties all of a persons results together that can be customized for that person. People can even "follow" a friend doing an event that Sportstats is timing around a race course. I make the announcement over the PA about this new way of accessing results to. I think it's catching on! 

See the linkage and possibilities with all of the above?

If you are an endurance sports event organizer:

- Are you taking full advantage of the social media opportunities for your event?

- Are you allowing your event sponsors to speak directly to your event participants?

- Are you tying this all together for mobile?

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Race More?

 Recharge with Milk Wasaga Beach Triathlon Finish-line - Photo http://www.mysportsshooter.com

I was about to embark on writing a blog straight-up, about the benefits of racing more, for triathletes. I was and still am of the belief that many problems and challenges that the modern triathlete encounters, in races, particularly longer distance triathlon races, could be over-come in part, by racing more.

Then, two things happened:

1. I attended a local social event in my area where over 30 triathletes, many of whom I knew personally, were in attendance. As some know, I work as a Race/Event Announcer almost every weekend at triathlons, running and cycling races. As I stood there in the room filled with triathletes, I realized that I had not seen any of these athletes, with the exception of one, at a race all year!

2. The following day, I asked the question, "Why doesn't the modern triathlete race more?" on my Facebook page. There were an enormous number of responses - some very detailed and informative. You can see the thread of responses here. It's a good read.

Both of these previous points, caused me to re-think things a bit.

From reading the Facebook thread, it's clear that these days, time and costs are the key things that limit the number of races that triathletes do each year. There is no question that races are getting more expensive - for obvious reasons: The costs to put these races on have gone up substantially. As for the time issue, if you look at the largest age-groups in the sport, most active, modern triathletes are right in the middle of their key child-rearing years with 1, 2, 3 or more young kids at home, and also at a time in their careers, when time-on for work, is at it's highest. Add all that up and, and it makes sense why, the modern triathlete races less now, than a previous wave of triathletes did 10+ years ago.

I still believe that many triathletes, particularly newer athletes, in the sport for four years or less, would benefit greatly from more frequent racing. I am backed up on that point by some of the leading local coaches, who also feel the same way, but are pushed back on this, by the athletes they coach. Knowing this, and reading the responses on my Facebook posting, one wonders where the cart and horse are with this. Many athletes want to get better. They want to go faster. A proven way of doing this is to race more frequently (within reason, of course).

Which leads me to what is the definition of a race? My sense is that for many modern triathletes , their definition of a  "race" is a big production + long distance triathlon = expensive.  However, not all races have such big production, and there are certainly many shorter race options (and are hopefully less expensive). Despite what athletes think, these outings can be very helpful and valuable experiences in their overall development.

Also there are "other" racing options - standalone, running, cycling, and swimming events, that again, can be if you look around, not terribly expensive and time efficient. As an example, many local cycling clubs, offer weekly time-trial races, that for club members cost from nothing to a few dollars (with club membership). While not a triathlon race, these standalone races in individual sports can provide great feedback, and serve as outstanding training efforts for the triathlete. Some of these are mid-week, and because of their short and brief nature, can take up less time, than a "normal" triathlon training session.

What do you think? What is your definition of a "race"? Knowing that racing more, will make you better/faster, is that something that you would commit to?

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What a Week? And a Tale of Temptation!

The shocking revelations in the sport of cycling just keep coming. What a week it's been? Of course if we had really been paying attention, we would have known or suspected much of this, so really it should not have come as much of a surprise.

Everyone has their limits. Real competitive sport at the elite high performance level is ruthless - endurance sports like cycling, particularly so. You either keep up . . . or you don't! When you reach that personal limit, when you know you have trained as absolutly as hard as you can and you still can't keep up, or perhaps the podium, is only a few minutes, seconds or steps away . . . . then what?

Maybe I was lucky. I always trained with guys who were a lot better then me - first in running and then in triathlon. Early on in the game, I knew that despite all the training, despite all the hard work, even though we did all the same work outs, there was no way I was going to beat the better guys that I trained with. Call it defeatist if you like. To me it just seemed to be reality.

In the early '90's, I was deep into triathlon. I had come close to breaking 9 hours for the Ironman a couple of times. I was training what seemed to be a crazy amount - kept wondering, if this was my limit. Had a reached the point of taking this as far as I could go? Nine hours at the time was an OK time, but to really break-though, you needed to go sub-9 to be taken seriously. Some potential sponsors had even said, "Call me when you break 9"!

Around that time, I was working out at a local gym and fell into conversation with a coach (note he was not a triathlon coach, but a strength coach who worked out of that gym) who I knew, and helped athletes with strength training. He said to me in a quiet moment of conversation one day, straight-up, that I would be the perfect candidate for a low dosage steroid program. Super-lean (read - skinny-bean-pole) endurance athletes like me, did well on these programs. It allowed us to recover quicker from really hard workouts and made us overall more durable. Meaning, able to train more at a higher level, and then go faster. There was no testing at all in triathlon, the coach said. It was the ideal situation, he concluded!

It could have been that easy for me. In Canada at the time, we were still reeling with the hangover from the Ben Johnson Seoul Olympic Games debacle. Taking steroids, was a no-no. I soon moved, never went back to that gym and never saw that coach again. I did not succumb. I continued to believe that, I could be my best, and get that sub-9 Ironman time, on hard-work and hope.

I tried a few more times, but the sub-9 Ironman remained elusive and by the mid-90's, I had moved onto others things and after my son was born in 1997, gave up on the sport at a competitive level completely.

Given all the news and the revelations this week, I keep thinking back to those days in the early 90's, and that conversation at the gym. How beat-up, battered and fatigued I was after heavy training, and how one conversation and the outcome could have changed everything.

Not making excuses for professional cyclists, but the pressures right through the peleton that they face, would I assume be significantly greater than what me, the sub-pro triathlete was facing in the early 90's. However, everyone will reach their limit, and when they reach that point, knowing realistically, that just more years of hard work is not going to do it, that's perhaps when you reach that junction in the road - one road, is more hard work, but you know not much is going to change. The other road, is to seek some form of outside illegal assistance.

The question is, what road do you take? If you are an endurance athlete, at the level I was at (or there abouts), where you ever tempted along the way?

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Three Ironmans. Three Weeks. Three Very Different Events

 On the run course at Ironman Canada. Photo from IMCGuide.com

In the span of three weeks, the World Triathlon Corporation(WTC) will be putting on three Ironman races in three very different event venues, that represents the past, the present, and possibly the future of these races.

Last weekend was the inaugural Ironman New York City(IMNYC). In truth, most of the race took place across the Hudson River, in New Jersey, but still, the race did have a geographical and actual connection with the Big Apple, in many ways. This race was seven years in the making, and was being billed by the WTC as a showcase for the sport of triathlon and their iconic Ironman brand in one of the key media centers in the world. Veterans in the sport, in particular, those involved in event management knew that this was a massive logistical undertaking, that went way above and beyond what is "normal", for an Ironman triathlon -  which even in the best circumstances, has huge logistical challenges. Read more on this, from the perspective of IMNYC Race Director John Korff, HERE

From many reports the first IMNYC, was reasonably successful. However, no surprise there were a number of logistical hiccups: athletes with non-favorable stories from the course, and more than a few that were saying, one-and-done, and that they would not recommend others doing this race to others. As for media exposure, the big news coming out of the event was a sewage leak up-stream on the Hudson R. that was threatening, even having a swim, and an unfortunate death of an athlete that took place during the swim. Doubtful that this was the media pop, the WTC was hoping for. Registration was opened for 2013, with a $1200 entry fee - about $400 beyond the entry for most other Ironman races! However, the WTC abruptly stopped the registration after a day. The reasons for this, at this stage are unclear.

Despite criticism that they don't care about their race participants, the WTC obviously does take this seriously, and it was clear that the overall consensus from athletes was that, there were some things that needed to be worked on and edges smoothed out at IMNYC. Also, and this is purely speculation at this stage is that, without the benefit of a post-race de-brief, and review, the WTC may have had no idea if they could secure the permits that they had in place for this year, for next year, or if changes to the course were required, get new permits in place.

Key Point - putting on a large triathlon for 2500 people over an Ironman distance course in, and near-by the largest city in North America, is an extraordinarily difficult challenge.

One week from now is the Ironman Canada(IMC) triathlon in Penticton, BC. I have written about IMC before in this space, and you can read more about my personal feeling for the race HERE. IMC is one of the worlds original Ironman triathlons. At one time it was the only Ironman in all of North America. Ever since triathletes first started coming to the Okanagan Valley to do this race back in the 80's, athletes have raved about the beauty of the area, the challenge and scenery of the courses, the hospitality of the town of Penticton, the set-up of the race and ease of it all for athletes and spectators. Back before the proliferation of Ironman races, many had said, IMC, was a better race in some ways, than Ironman Hawaii - The WTC's centerpiece event, their World Championships and the race that started it all! Such is the popularity of IMC that in on-line polls that I have seen, IMC is often the one Ironman race that triathletes, "most want to do"!

Similar to real-estate what's key to a great triathlon and an Ironman race in particular, as told to me by one prominent Race Director, it's "Venue, venue, venue"!

The venue, set-up and logistics of IMC were so good that, Graham Fraser, who took over the management and running of IMC in the mid - 90's, essentially used, IMC and what went on in Penticton as a template, as he expanded the Ironman races to a number of other locations in North America. Now, in truth, IMC did grow in size and sophistication, in an organic fashion over a number of years. Thus, both the race and the city of Penticton grew together and adapted to one another. However, despite all these good things for and about the race, and the city of Penticton, there  have been points of friction, and issues locally, as their have been in some of the other Ironman locations.Mostly regarding the size of these events now, and the disruption they cause. But overall, IMC and those second generation Ironman races, have been very successful, and have a positive impact (financially, in particular) on the towns and cities where the races are held!

Key Point - The best set-up and location for these events is small to mid-sized towns and cities, where you have close to 100% buy-in and support of all stake-holders. Historically, with some exceptions, this does seem to be the case in North America. In the past, this has been the best model.

This weekend is the inaugural Ironman Mount Tremblant ( IMMT) in the ski resort village of Mt Tremblant, Que., about 90 minutes drive north of Montreal.  This Ironman race, despite not even happening yet, is most likely to be a huge success on all fronts. It had the benefit of running one of the WTC's 70.3 races on almost exactly the same course back in June as a bit of a dry-run for this weekend's full Ironman. The reports back from athletes and spectators in June, were unanimous - maybe the best long distance triathlon venue in the world! Useing the "Venue, venue, venue" mantra, IMMT seems to have it all - scenic and challenging courses; tons of great accommodation right there; easy onsite logistics for athletes and spectators; great local hospitality and help; total buy-in from all stakeholders. What's not to like?

Key Point - Perhaps the growth model for the WTC and for Ironman races is finding those perfect race venues such as in Mt. Tremblant, and not trying to put a square peg in a round hole, such as what happened at IMNYC. Does a set-up like at Mount Tremblant this weekend, represent the future of these sorts of events?

If you have done an Ironman, what is your favorite Ironman race venue? If you know of a place, that you think would be a great Ironman race venue, where is it? Or perhaps, on second thought, you may want to keep that a secret!

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A Rich Time For Endurance Sports Events

We live in a particularly rich time for endurance sports events - of all kinds. Running, cycling, swimming, triathlons, and now obstacle and adventure races - there has never been a better time to be an active participant and endurance sports athlete.

Go back an athletic generation, say about 15 - 20 years ago and, the pickings nor the selection was anywhere near as rich. Over the last two decades numbers of participants across the board in all of these endurance sports events has grown in a big way. In some cases explosively - in the case of the so called "dirty events", or obstacle races such as  The Spartan Race, The Warrior Dash, Muddy Buddy and others. These events barely existed a few years ago and now, attract, 4,000 - 7,000 people for a first year event! The Spartan race is expecting over a million participants world wide next year, and the Warrior Dash, bills it self as "the largest running series in the world"!

It's not uncommon now for marathon running races to have over 20,000 runners. Indeed, the really high profile marathons such as the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon, have over 25,000 and 30,000 respectively. The Vancouver Sun Run 10K get's 45,000 entrants every year! However in terms of year over year growth, the really big growth is in the 1/2 Marathon races! Then there are the Color Runs, which, are a bit hard to describe, but none-the-less, growing immensely in popularity in a very short period of time. Indeed,  niche seems to be key in running, with women's only runs, dress-up runs, and even running events for you and your dog, such as the Walk Run Wag series! The latter is geared towards fit runners who own fit dogs, but also less fit dog owners who's dogs are perhaps not as active as they should be!

Even within a sport such as cycling, the diversity of options is impressive with events for everyone and different disciplines. Traditional road racing, such as what is seen in the Pro Tour and  events like the Tour de France, are growing at the amateur and licensed category level, but the growth of more mass participation events, in the past called sportifs and now referred to as gran fondos is really growing. Some of these such as the Centurion Cycling series (see picture at top), founded by North American triathlon and Ironman pioneer Graham Fraser, try to give the racer and the rider, a similar experience to racing in a Pro Tour cycling event! "Racers race and riders, ride", is the motto for Centurion.

In the off-road cycling world, again more diversity - Traditional mountain bike racing, has  gone a bit under-ground and now gaining popularity are off-road trail races, with less technical terrain, like the new Fire Road Cycling events - gran fondos, or "Dirt Fondos" for the off-road crowd. The grand-daddy of this genre being the annual Leadville 100 -  a100 mile Mountain Bike race which is run entirely above 10,000 ft of elevation and is one of the hardest off-road races to get into!

Triathlon, the sport that really kicked off the endurance sports diversity trend many years ago, continues to grow - with Ironman triathlons still selling out a year ahead of time. One wonders where it will all start to plateau, but the numbers still seem to be growing in triathlon - even with a small cohort of veteran triathletes leaving the sport, at one end for one of the above activities, they are quickly replaced, by many newbies coming in at the front end of the sport of triathlon. There are even races specifically geared to the new triathlete such as the Multisport Canada Triathlon Series events, with their aptly named "Give-It-A-Tri" races for the newbie to get a taste of swim/bike/run.

No surprise, there has been a small cottage industry of Event Services companies that have sprung up supplying a variety of services to all of these wide ranging events. Timing & results companies, online registration companies, race photography and videography companies, race (bib) number printing companies - all supplying various needs for these many endurance sports events. It's a thriving industry and business, with an interesting range of vendors and suppliers from small to large!

That being said, and the richness of the endurance sports event selection out there, what sorts of events are you into? Has what interests you changed recently? What's next for you?

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The Business of Ironman Hawaii

This is not so much about the actual business of Ironman Hawaii itself, but about the businesses that are focused on the triathlon business and how they make use of Ironman Hawaii to advance their businesses.

It's pretty clear, that within the sport of triathlon that the #1 race and event each year that most triathletes pay attention to is the Ford Ironman World Championships, aka Ironman Hawaii (IMH). Therefore, it makes sense that there is so much focus on this one event from a marketing and promotional perspective for brands and companies, that work within the triathlon market or brands and companies that want in, and want a part of that market.

In yesterdays blog I talked about how Quintana Roo bike founder, and now Slowtwitch Publisher Dan Empfield, in a very grass-roots and basic manner went about promoting his new triathlon specific bike at Ironman Hawaii many years ago. This is how I first met Dan - with bare QR frame slung over his shoulder, at the pier one morning, pumping me up on this new frame geometry that he had come up with that would make me cycle faster and run faster off the bike. He was very passionate about this. I was convinced right on the spot!

The triathlon crowd at IMH is somewhat unique and novel in that trying to market and promote to them is a bit of a mixed blessing:

1. This is for the most part a best-of-the-best group, who tend to be set in their ways, have their favorite gear, and brands, might already be "sponsored", and are sophisticated in their choices. In other words, it takes a lot to move them one way or the other.

2. The best that could be said about many of these folks is that they can be major influencers and ambassadors back home in their own communities. So if you do get them on board, you have a great mega-phone at a local level.

Many companies continue to do what Dan did years ago - just show up and informally, start to spread the word of their brand or product. The Pier at the morning swims is the perfect location for this, because within a couple hours each morning all week long, you'll have 500 - 1,000+ athletes and the many other folks in town converging on the Pier. It's a rare morning when you do go down to the Pier and not walk away with some promotional literature, possibly a little give away shwag, or a sales pitch on something. In fact, I am drinking my coffee this morning out of a coffee cup that was part of a cooperative marketing effort on the pier at the morning swim two years ago between TYR , and Java-On-The Rock, a coffee shop along Alii drive.

A slight step up from this would be the companies like Coffees-of-Hawaii who to the best of my knowledge have no official status with IMH, other than that company owner Albert Boyce is a regular competitor at the event - but they know that triathletes love their coffee! Coffees-of-Hawaii promote themselves in a very unique way by mooring a large catamaran about 400m out from the pier and anyone out there swimming can swim-up and get a shot of Coffees-Of-Hawaii espresso, and if you are very nice they might put an extra shot of something really nice in it for you!( If you know what I mean!!) That's me in the picture at the top downing an espresso + Baily's two years ago!

Another level up from this is the more aggressive guerrilla marketing that can go on amongst the bigger brands and players in the business - typically with brands trying to move on in, on the space that a WTC or IMH sponsor has. I recall years ago, when Gatorade was about to launch their new energy bar. The launch location was Ironman Hawaii and at the time Gatorade was the official sports beverage. PowerBar had had an informal relationship with IMH for several years. The exact details of which I don't really know. I just know that in 1993, PowerBar was suddenly not given any formal allowances with IMH, because IMH wanted to do everything it could for Gatorade in helping them get this new energy bar off the ground. This prompted the marketing team at PowerBar to shift into high-gear and they immediately signed up a bunch of the top Pros in the month prior to IMH and then they also went room to room at the King Kam Hotel and gave people( probably in exchange simply for a box of PowerBars) a PowerBar banner to put over their balcony. When you came along Alii drive right by the finish line and race registration all you could see was about 100+ PowerBar banners flapping on people's balconies of the King Kam Hotel.

Gatorade dug deep and it got a bit nasty - at the Pro Meeting that year, they went so far as to say that, some of those neophyte PowerBar sponsored athletes would get limited, or no camera time for the NBC show - even if they were placed high up!! Of course years later, this is all moot as the Gatorade energy bar never caught on and now PowerBar/Nestle is a world-wide partner of WTC/Ironman and Gatorade is no longer involved!!

Another perhaps not as dramatic or guerrilla-type of marketing, we have been witness to just this past week - but no less impactful based on the strategy and some good fortune that fell in a key players lap.

Specialized started to build up hype about a new super triathlon bike, a month ago at Interbike. "Top-Secret - wait till Kona", the promotional material said. At exactly the same time, two time winner of IMH Craig Alexander decided to part ways with his bike sponsor Orbea. At the WTC's 70.3 World Championship four weeks ago, Alexander was riding on a Cervelo P4 with the logos blacked out! Alexander won that race, in convincing fashion and had perhaps his best bike leg ever against this level of competition. Speculation was starting to build. Then a grainy, "spy-photo" of Alexander came out, of him training in Kona two weeks ago - It was hard to tell from the photo what bike or brand he was riding. The the speculation and rumors shifted into over-drive. On the Slowtwitch Forum several of the threads with the biggest page-views of the year, where on this topic - "What Bike is Craig Riding". Specialized had their launch a few days ago of this new triathlon specific bike - the new Shiv in Kona, and then a day later, it's announced that Alexander's new bike sponsor is . . . . Specialized!

Specialized was savvy about this. They knew that for many triathletes, it's all about the bike. I am sure they also knew that, with the new media, and the social networking tools that are out there now, that word and news, spreads very quickly ounce you plant those viral seeds. Then of course, the #1 favorite for the most important race in the sport, literally falls right in their lap, and BAM - well, you could not have planned it any better! Or might this have been part of some grander master marketing plan??

Of course, if we are talking bikes and IMH, we need to talk about Cervelo. Ironically, in both triathlon and in road racing, Cervelo has been very successful. They have won just about everything. The one "major" that they have not won is the mens race at IMH - and it may have just slipped through their hands for this year! But does it really matter? Cervelo dominates in the one category that really matters - the most bikes in transition at IMH and many other big triathlons around the world. They crush it in the bike counts. Strangely, Cervelo arrived at this point a number of years ago, by doing things in a somewhat non-traditional manner, with far less traditional marketing than normal. Does who wins IMH riding a Cervelo matter to Cervelo these days?

Finally, there are all the real IMH sponsors. It costs a lot of money to be formally and directly associated with the WTC and IMH as a sponsor, partner or licensee. These relationships can be hugely successful - think of the Timex Ironman watch. The Timex/Ironman relationship is generally speaking regarded as one of the most successful co-branding relationships of all time. And it all started at Ironman Hawaii. And Ford seems to be getting good value for it's title sponsorship of not just IMH but almost all the Ironman races in North America. But there are many other smaller brands that so have a relationship that we rarely hear about. Is it worth it for them?


How influenced are you, by who the sponsors are of Ironman Hawaii and by the marketing that other companies do during Ironman Hawaii race week?

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What Now For Ironman?

"I just did an Ironman"! I heard these words two years ago from a man seated behind me on the shuttle-bus that was taking us back to the car parking area after the inaugural Muskoka 70.3 race. The fellow had been going on and on to his friends how he had quit smoking, lost 40 lbs and trained for a whole year for this, "Ironman" race. It was an impressive, inspirational, and in truth a really great and genuine story. Was I to turn around and tell the guy that in reality, he had only done half an Ironman. No, I just sat their, listened, took it all in, and then as the bus came to our destination, stopped and we all got up to get off, I congratulated him on what he had done. Had the venerable and legendary Ironman just reached a tipping point?

It started off as a drunken bar-room challenge back in the late '70's between some U.S. Navy personnel stationed at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. Who was the fitter athlete - the swimmer, the cyclist of the runner? What if they bolted together Hawaii's best known endurance challenges - the 2.5 mile Waikiki Rough Water swim, the 112 mile around Oahu Bike Race and the 26.2 mile Honolulu marathon. Surely the winner of this crazy challenge would be the best all round endurance athlete. The winner, as Captain John Collins, the acknowledged leader of this challenge said, would be called an Ironman! As Collins wrote right on the race instructions, "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life" And so it began, as a quirky and obscure challenge and race that back then few knew about, beyond a small circle of endurance athletes.

The Ironman really started to come into it's own 10 years on in the late 80's when Dave Scott started to own the race and set performance standards that were starting to be eye-openers for many. The famous "Iron-War" between Scott and his nemesis Mark Allen in '89 was a high water mark for the event in terms of performance and how fast humans could go over these crazy distances. The Ironman race by this time had spawned a small group of Ironman races around the world, but it was still, relatively speaking small group of serious endurance athletes who took part and raced these races. Each Ironman race had the feeling of a meeting of this endurance club. Everyone knew everyone else!

From the get-go many of the participants and racers beyond the top Pros such as Scott and Allen, were classic type-A sorts of folk - very driven and very passionate about their training and about Ironman. I first became aware of this passion when in the late 90's the Ironman Canada race, dealing with a onslaught of entries that was starting to overwhelm the event, floated the idea of having people qualify for it ( Note: starting in the late 80's Ironman Hawaii the so called World Ironman Championships, had been for the most part a qualify-only event). There was mass outrage on the triathlon newsgroups - remember those - about having to qualify for Ironman Canada! It was a testament to the passion that many of the Ironman race participants felt for their race.

Which brings us to this year and the last few months. The World Triathlon Corporation(WTC), has been in change and in advancement mode now for several years, but a string of changes in the last year with an aggressive corporate expansion policy has many asking, "What happened to Ironman?" Obviously, it no longer refers to just the original 2.5/112/26.2 distance as the WTC has branded races half that distance, their so called 70.3 races, Ironman as well. Can you brag about doing a 70.3? The WTC has also gone shorter, buying up a bunch of known "Olympic" distance races and series and branding them 50i50 races. With this latter move they have been careful, to not associate these shorter races with the Ironman, but people in the know, know the association, and they do have the now iconic "i" short for Ironman the name of the event.

What's behind all this? My guess is three things: the first in the most obvious - money. There is a mis-conception that these big Ironman and 70.3 races are huge money makers. I have heard the opposite - that they are not the profit centers that everyone thinks they are. Therefore, more races, of whatever length means, more money. Second - is simply the age-old exercise in the business, of brand extension. Once a business and a brand have tapped out one market, and the possibility of growth in that market is small or nothing, you need to expand into other markets and extend the reach of your brand. Finally, in many businesses, ounce you have X-number of customers/users/participants, your challenge becomes not so much finding new ones, but keeping the ones you have! Hence affinity programs of some form to keep the masses on-board.

Of course, there are still those very passionate folk within the sport who don't like any of this and the WTC and the Ironman brand has been getting a bit of a rough ride of late. On the very popular Slowtwitch forum recently , at one point 1/2 the subject threads on the first page were devoted to discussions about the WTC, many with a negative tone, about various moves the WTC has made of late regarding, race expansion, rule changes, miss-management of races, extraordinary revenue generators through affinity programs and other changes.

It must be said that over all this time, the WTC have been an outstanding steward of the Ironman brand, and of marketing the sport of triathlon in general. Races sell out quickly now, but it was not so long ago that this was not the case and the sport of triathlon was in the doldrums. Kudos to the WTC for keeping the flame alive and the lights on through some previous lean times.

Clearly when you say the word "Ironman" these days, it has a different meaning, to different people. The guy on the bus at the beginning of the blog, has a different idea of it than I, and many others do - but he's still right. The people railing against the WTC getting all corporate and expansionist perhaps yearn for the days when, one time race owner, Valerie Silk, used to send out personal Christmas cards to all Ironman Hawaii finishers. Back then, when mine would show up in the mail every year, I thought that was pretty cool! The problem is, once you go forward these days in the world of business and sport, it's hard to go backwards and the WTC is trying to expand it's business in a big way and has taken the word Ironman and it's original and iconic brand along with it.

The really big Irony, no pun intended, to me is that while there is a heavy over-emphasis on all-things Ironman in the sport of triathlon, the real growth action in the sport is far away from the Ironman. The Danskin, and Trek Women's tri series are huge women-only events that dwarf most of the WTC's events in participants and are the key front door to the sport of triathlon for many of these women. Might some of these women go on to do a full Ironman, or 70.3 race someday? Perhaps they will, but for now, they are happy to put a short swim/bike/run together and feel the accomplishment and garner some bragging rights, much like participants in the first Ironman did, all those years ago!

Where this all goes over the next few years will be rather interesting.

How do you feel about the direction the WTC is going in?


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20 Questions with . . . Graham Fraser

There is no question that Ironman, and it's spin-off half-distance cousin the 70.3 race are the flavors-of-the-month in triathlon these days. In North America and perhaps even further afield, there is one man to thank for that - Graham Fraser. Odd then, that Fraser has more or less checked out, and left the triathlon house! However, Fraser is, more than anything else, more than being the best Race Director and Event Manger in triathlon, a visionary! After all, this is the man who 24 years ago, literally on a whim, with nothing else to do, organized his first triathlon race in Grimsby, Ontario in 1986. At the time, triathlon was still a freakish side-show, practiced by fitness fanatics, but Fraser saw more to it. He thought, that if you organized, great, well run races with supportive sponsors and partners, that not only would he do well and make a bit of living at it, but that the sport itself would flourish. He was right on all counts - those series of races that he started organizing were the starting points for, both Olympic Triathlon and Ironman World Champions, several successful product suppliers in the business, the entry point for some major triathlon sport sponsors, and for some of the first real serious TV race coverage of triathlon anywhere in the world!

Late last year Fraser sold his licenses to run Ironman branded, full length Ironman and 70.3 races in various locations around North America, back to the World Triathlon Corporation for an un-disclosed sum. He retained one license for Ironman Canada - the first Ironman race that he owned, and one he personally saved from the brink of cancellation in the early in the 1990's. He makes it no secret that it's always been his favorite Ironman event and the one that was used as a template to set up the other Ironman and 70.3 events he started in Lake Placid, NY, Oceanside CA, and other locations around the continent.

Not one to sit around too long and watch the grass grow, Fraser has moved on already, and over this past summer, inspired by a cycling trip he took to the Tour de France, has formed a new series of events called Centurion Cycling. These events are modeled after the Gran-Fondo style of events that are very popular in Europe and attract thousands of entries. The Centurion events will fill a gap that exists right now in bike road racing and riding, between full-on Category( Pro, 1, 2, 3 etc . .) road racing and big charity rides. They will be 100 mile races (as well as 50 mile and 25 mile events), that are run over challenging terrain and open to anyone. The location and courses will be scenic - the kind of place that you have always wanted to go to ride. For a day, you will get the feel of what it's like to compete in a big Road Race, but do it on your terms and at your pace. This is Fraser's vision. Many are expecting the Centurion series to be the next big thing!

1. What got you into triathlons in the first place?
I had a friend ask me to do the Paris(Ontario) triathlon in 1983. I could not swim(Still can't!), and I did well for a hockey player!

2. With some free time now, what's next for you?
Obviously the Centurion cycling events but also spending more time with my family.

3. Is the Centurion Cycling series going to be the next big thing?
It has potential. We'll give it our best shot, creating an event with a different slant to it, and a different experience from other events.

4. How big can the Centurion Series get?
How big it's get's is not the goal . . . how much good it can do is the goal.

5. When you started that first triathlon you organized back in 1986, did you ever think that it would get this big for you?
Never. I was 25. I was just looking for something to do that summer and I always wanted to work in sports.

6. What's wrong with triathlon these days?
It does not have much wrong with it. Every generation looks at it a bit different. Ironman was never meant to be a do-2-3-a-year type of event. Some people are loosing perspective.

7. What's right with triathlon these days?
It has introduced a lot of people to a active and healthy lifestyle which, North America sorely needs these days.

8. If out for a training ride with Lance Armstrong, what would you talk about?
Would love to hear the off-the-record stuff, that he can't talk about. Who his real friends are? Training advice, of course. What motivates him? How his foundation works? It would be a long ride. Hope that I could keep up!

9. Will we see Lance Armstrong or other top road racers in the Centurion events?
It would be really nice to have his foundation involved.

10. What is the one thing all Race Directors should take care of first?
Simple. Athletes need to come first. Specifically, their safety. Plus little things that will give them a memorable experience.

11. What is the best triathlon race that you have ever been to, that has not been one of yours?
Challenge Roth

12. Are we doing the right things in terms of developing youth triathlon?
Kids need to do some team sports. If they do tris, do it for fun and with no specific training programs. If they really love triathlon, they can get "serious" at sixteen.

13. Why has Canada been such a leader in the sport of triathlon in a number of different areas?
A little luck with the talent pool coupled with great opportunities to race and compete. Plus everyone in the sport is generally really nice. That helps a lot.

14. Will you ever do another Ironman?
If my kids do it I might. To be honest, I was never good at the distance stuff. I think I have ADD! Now it's cycling and Nordic skiing - easier on the body.

15. Tubular or clincher?
Clinchers for training. Tubulars for racing.

16. Where's your favorite place to ride?
France. The Tour de France was unbelievable. Lake Placid is another place I like and the canyons around Boulder.

17. Who are you inspired by?
Steve Fleck!! [ LOL. He's joking. Full disclosure - I may be the only person still active in the sport who raced in that first triathlon Graham organized in Grimsby, Ontario nearly 25 years ago.]

18. Who will win the Stanley Cup this year?
Buffalo - I have been waiting 30 years!

19. Will Toronto ever win the Stanley cup?
No. Not in our, or our kids life-time either! They should just move the team to Hamilton!

20. What makes you the most proud?
Seeing people make the move at our events over the years from spectator, to volunteer, to volunteer captain, to doing their first triathlon, to finishing a 70.3 or Ironman race.

20 Questions With . . . . Tereza Macel

This is the first installment of what I plan to be ongoing series of twenty question interviews with people within the world of Triathlon and endurance sports, who I come across in my travels and day-to-day . I did something like this with 3-Time Ironman World Champion Peter Reid a number of years ago they were well received. The popularity of Twitter, and the quick, and witty 140 character response, has inspired me to have another go at this and see where it goes here on my Blog.

My first subject is Ironman specialist triathlete Tereza Macel who, recently wowed us with unprecedented back-to-back wins at Ironman Lake Placid and at Ironman Canada 5 weeks apart. To my knowledge, no Pro Triathlete has ever even attempted that double before. Tereza did, and won not just with the strength of her strong swim/bike, which she had been known for in the past, but now with a strong and steady closing run leg.

We all knew Tereza could swim - two years ago, over a year and a half stretch of time she was the first woman out of the water in five Ironman races around the world. On the strength of some fast cycling, she would lead these races deep into the bike, but would then start to run into problems late in the bike and then really struggle on the run. I shift to training with Brett Sutton and the TBB Team over the past winter seems to have fixed the late-in-the-bike, fade and more importantly, given Tereza run legs, to close with confidence. It's been a year of extraordinary performances for women at the Ironman distance, but Tereza's back-to-back wins at IM Lake Placid in 9:29 and then at IM Canada in 9:11, should be up there with the top performances of the year. At the very least, she is a prime candidate for a, "Most Improved" award, whoever wants to give her that.

With what she's done this year, she certainly is one to be put on a short list to be a serious contender at the up-coming Ironman World Championships in Hawaii a month from now. Certainly with her strong swim/bike, she will be a factor early on and if the run stays steady, you may see here being in contention for a podium spot or better!

20 Questions With . . . . . . Tereza Macel

1. Tim Hortons or Starbucks?
Starbucks - but not for the coffee, for the chocolate covered caramel pretzels.

2. Why Ironmans?
Ever seen me do a fast transition! Hopeless.

3. How hard is an Ironman race?
More than twice as hard as a half Ironman race!

4. Is the Cervelo P4, that good?
If it is not, please don't tell me, because I think it's that good!

5. Who is your real source of inspiration?
My Mom.

6. What is the real difference with you this year?
Team TBB and an increased intake of chocolate.

7. Will you do the Underpants Run at Ironman Hawaii?
No. Not if I decrease my chocolate intake and somehow develop a 6-pack!

8. You raced Short course/ITU for years. Helpful?
Yup! You learn to race yourself into shape.

9. You always list your nationality as Czech, but we all know you as a Canadian, eh! I am confused.
Born in Czech. Moved to Canada. Duel citizenship. Speak both languages.

10. Clinchers or tubulars?
Ask my Bike Mechanic(Husband) I have been known to ride both.

11. If out for a ride with Lance Armstrong you would talk about, what?
Are you saying that I could keep up with him. Thank you. That's cool!

12. Do compression socks really help?
Yes, but they do look really dorky.

13. After Ironman Hawaii you will do what?
Have a big hamburger, just like after every other Ironman!

14. Best time of the day is?
Bed time.

15. When not training your favourite thing to do is?
Watch movies.

16. Husband Chris Bastie is best at?
Trick question. Right answer is everything, right?

17. Do you follow or lurk on the Slowtwitch Forum.
Yes. I must admit that I do.

18. The first words out of your mouth after getting across the finish line at Ironman Canada were?
The brain is the first thing to go in an Ironman. I haven't a clue!

19. Do we need an election in Canada this fall?
No, and we did not need one last fall either.

20. In five years you will be doing what?
Laughing that I wore those dorky compression socks!

Picture at the top of Tereza Macel high-fiving her way to a win at Ironman Lake Placid this past July.

The Great Drafting Debate

This is a debate that is almost as old as the sport of triathlon. It goes on and on and on and . . . . . To get some idea of how long and deep the debate is, I would suggest to readers that they head over to the Slowtwich forum and do a search on "Drafting" and you will find likely hundreds of threads that do go on and on and on . . .

The History

In the early years of triathlon it came about, that there was a gentleman's agreement between athletes that this was to be an individual test of endurance. When you drafted on the bike behind another rider, there was a significant advantage( 30%+) for the trailing rider. It was agreed that we would not do this. That we would not take that advantage and that we would ride on our own for the whole bike leg. In the early years of the sport, this agreement worked wonderfully. It became part of the rules. The reasons that it worked well was the race fields were relatively small and back then their was a lot of differentiation between people's swim, bike and run abilities and fitness. The strong swimmers led the swim the stronger cyclists moved up on the bike and then the strong runners moved up on the run. However, towards the late 80's race field sizes started to grow considerably as the sport of triathlon went through it's first real growth spurt. I first started to see the problem first hand at the U.S. Triathlon Championships at Hilton Head, SC in 1987. Despite wave starts, on a flat an narrow one lane 40K bike course, large packs of riders started to form. For the first time, the gentleman's agreement was not working. There was a considerable amount of arguing and bickering going on during the bike. Two things were clear: 1) At times, their were simply too many people on too little road in too short a period of time. 2) There were people who were not agreeing to the gentleman's agreement!

The Middle Ages

In the late 80's the sport of triathlon really started to break out in the open. Participant numbers started to make a huge jump. The Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii started to really gain prominance as the sport's most important and high profile race. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) formed, as the sports world governing body and in 1989 hosted the first World Championships. For the first time race offcials and referees were appointed to police the bike leg and enforce the n0-drafting rules. This worked for a time, but it was starting to get a bit out of control - particularly at bigger, high profile events such as the ITU World Cup races, The ITU World Championships as well as the Ironman races. It reached a low point, during 1992 when at the ITU World Championships that year, almost 100 men emerged from the water within 30 seconds of one another after the swim and despite a challenging 40K bike, their was still a large group of 50 men still all very close to one another all heading out onto the run. The bike had done nothing to seperate the key contenders.

At several World Cups in '92 and '93, the scene after the races had been one of chaos and confusion. A number of the top 10 finishers ahd been disqualified out-right for drafting on the bike, even in some cases the first person across the finish-line. Post race appeals would be launched by the DQ'ed athletes and there was considerable arguing and bickering amongst athletes, and race officials. The net result of all this was that even an hour or so after the race was over, their was still not known who won the race. Media needed to file stories and the TV folks were now wondering if they had video of who actually won the race! How could they put a TV show together with no or very limited video of who factored in the final results? This is an over simplification, but the ITU in their wisdom said - fine we tried everything, now it's going to be swim/bike/run however you want, and the first across the finish-line wins! It's simple. It's straight-forward. Everyone get's it. They would allow drafting on the bike. This upset many in the sport. To this day, there are many that really don't care at all for the ITU racing. Some going so far as to say it's not triathlon anymore. It did change the dynamics of the racing quite a bit. The importance of the bike was diminished. However, over time, the importance of the swim was heightened considerably and the run, was as it always had been, was still the most important leg, if for no other reason, than it was last!

Meanwhile, the Ironman races were growing in popularity at a significant rate. Race fields for many of the races including Ironman Hawaii were now well over 1000 athletes. Despite the 180k length of the bike, there was considerable traffic and bunching early on in the bike portion. I first started to notice this at Ironman Hawaii in 1993. I swam exactly 1:00 their that year and headed out on the bike ride in a moderately sized group that only grew in size as we made our way along the Queen K Hwy to the half-way point in the town of Hawi. It had the feel of a big bike race, quite frankly. For the first time, the race was using marshals out on the course to try and enforce the no- drafting rules, but it was doing little to break things up. I recall some heated exchanges between athletes and officials as well as athlete to athlete, but for the first 100K it really did nothing to break things up and as far as I know, no penalties were handed out. What the officials could or would not do or the athletes themselves, the length and the winds on the IMH course would eventually do anyway. I recall riding mostly on my own that year from past the 100K mark to the finish of the bike.

As time went on in the '90s and the sport grew larger and larger with more races, the drafting problem in the non-ITU races, particularly the Ironman races and the 1/2 IM races grew. If you stood at the exit from the the first transition after the swim, as athletes were getting on their bikes, it became apparent what one of the key issues was - there were too many athletes on too little road in too little period of time. The no drafting rules by this time had been much more clearly defined and everyone was made aware of them. They were read out and gone over in detail at mandatory pre-race meetings. The rules, were good, but at certain times and places on the bike courses at these big races, now with close to 2,000 people in them, the rules were asking athletes to do something that was almost physically impossible to do!

In my last race in 1997 at Ironman Canada, for the first 50K, there really was no where to go. There were times when it was almost impossible to ride legal. Things in this race did not start to break-up until we started the long 15K climb up the Richter Pass, past 60K. Beyond the summit of Richter, it was fine. I recall riding in a small group, that rode legal. The old gentleman's agreement worked in these situations. We knew and respected one another. There was lots of road and space. There was a give and take, but an understanding that we would each do this on our own. After that last race in '97, I became an observer, but all I can say is that the drafting would become worse and worse. Another contributing factor was that unlike back in the early days, as people improved in the sport and the became true triple sport athletes, there was no longer that differentiation any more. Many were swimming, and cycling in particular, with a similar level of fitness and talent.

As an observer of races now, I realized that people were starting to fall into groups. There were those who were blatantly drafting. Who took every advantage that they could out on the bike. From what I could tell this was a relatively small group. There was another group who would inadvertently get caught up in the drafting - through no fault of their own. They simply became overwhelmed by the physics of it all - too many people, on too little road in too short a period of time. You can't have over 100 people finish the swim, and head out on the bike in less than a minute, and have them all line up nicely single file with a 7m space between each of them. Based on the size of races many in the middle of the field fell into this group. It was a moderately large number of people. It tended to vary based on how challenging the bike course was physically - larger on flatter course like Ironman Florida, less large on more challenging bikes courses like Ironman Wisconsin. Another group was the people that really did not care about the drafting rules in the big IM races. With respect, these tended to be the people towards the back of the pack. They were in this for the challenge. Time/place was irrelevant to them. They were simply going to finish. They trained with a group of friends for this race, so I race day they wanted enjoy or suffer along with others.

For a time, some of the big IM races tried a draconian implementation of the no-drafting rules. It did not work to well as their was considerable upset amongst athletes who had been DQ'd particularly those towards the back of the race who were really going just to finish. Some slightly different rules were tried - on the road time penalties, that would be served on the bike course, in Penalty Tents set up along the course. Get nailed for Drafting and you would be asked to report to the next Penalty Tent and check in, and then wait for 4 minutes. More and more officials were being asked to referee the bike leg. At big IM races there could be 20 officials out on motorcycles patrolling the course. (The picture at the top of the page is of the WTC Head Referee Jimmy Riccitello briefing the Draft Marshals before they head out on the bike course at this years Ironman Hawaii World Championship race) Despite handing out hundreds of penalties per race, the drafting on the bike was still an issue and cause for much debate and discussion after races.

Today

It's still a big problem. There is no easy solution. The obvious ones, are impractical, unpaletable or financially impossible given the way races are funded and financed these days almost completely on race entry fees. Wave starts help, but unless, you carefully think through the wave starts, and have enough of a gap between waves, Wave Starts can make the drafting out on the bike worse! Challenging, bike courses also help - in a big way. It's no surprise that the drafting is at it's worst on very flat bike courses, and considerably less on a bike course that really challenges triathletes. My wife raced at Ironman Lanzarote earlier this year - a race that has perhaps the most challenging bike profile of any of the big IM races, and she saw almost no drafting. Many are proposing complex and complicated monitoring systems with GPS units on each bike to police the no-drafting. Sounds cool, but I worry that an already complicated, complex and expensive sport may get even more complicated, complex and expensive. Sport when it's at it's best, should be simple. It should be the athletes and the competition that settle things, not some complex set of rules that can seem rather bewildering. As I mentioned earlier, it's one of the key reasons the ITU went the direction that it did in the early 90's. At the time, the ITU was wrestling with the drafting issue, they were also lobbying the IOC for inclusion in the Olympic Games. The ITU had been told, that the IOC likes simple sports, and sports that look good on TV. The no-drafting format was somewhat confusing to the lay person, and as previously stated often yielded bizarre results at the finish line where the winner, was not the winner!

The ITU racing is very exciting and the finishes often have a high degree of drama. If anyone witnessed any of the Olympic Triathlon races over the last three Olympic Games, it's hard not to agree with this. Still, there are those that don't believe this is real triathlon racing. I see their point, if you consider the roots of the sport. The overall importance of the bike leg has been diminished, but only in one dimension - that of it being about strong Time Trialing fitness. In actual fact the demands on ITU racers on the bike have increased! It's not just about putting your head down and hammering, you need to be able to think and react like a real road race cyclist. You need to be able to ride in pack, corner and cover moves and breaks. You need to be able to attack on hills and recover quickly. Sometimes things do happen on the bike and a move get's away. Sometimes it does not. There is much more going on than meets the eye. Many still pooh-pooh all this and go as far as saying that ITU triathletes are not strong cyclists. Perhaps, but I note that whenever the very best ITU triathletes jump into a no-drafting race, they are always near the front and, many of the very best athletes at the Ironman distance these days, and the 1/2IM or 70.3 distance are former ITU racing standouts!

At the Ironman races, they have now seperated the Professionals from the rest of the Age-Group athletes by having the Pros start before the Age-Group mass start. This allows race offcials to more carefully monitor the Pro race and make sure that those racing for money are doing it fairly and within the rules. For the most part the Pro Ironman races are fair and even affairs. The Age-Group Ironman races are still marred to a certain degree by drafting - the amount of it depends on the race and the bike course. Offcials do what they can when they can to break things up. They seem to be taking a realistic approach realizing that early on in the bike, in big Ironman and 1/2 IM events, say the first 20K or so, that it's impossible for everyone to ride totally legally, so they back off. Still, it's an issue, that knows no real solution.

I apologize if I have lead you down a path with no real answers or solutions to this issue, but currently, there really is nothing on the table that is going to dramatically change things. My only hope with this post was to give a brief overview of the history of where we have come from with this issue from the early days of the sport, through the middle years, and onto today. As I see it, part of the issue is the philosophy of what the bike leg of a triahtlon really is, and how different athletes see it and approach it, differently. I have some thoughts on this that I will address in a future post. Stay tuned!

New Product Developmemt - Frequency SS

New product development is always fun - finding a market is the challenge.

We are currently in the final stages of developing a new product at Nineteen. Pictured above on one of our sponsored athletes, Jeff Keil from Colorado, is our new Frequency SS. The SS stands for Speed-Skin or Swim-Skin. Jeff placed second in his Age Group at the recent Ironman World Championships and swam to a 3 minute personal best swim time in the new Nineteen Frequency SS! This was a new product category that was really opened up by our fellow wetsuit manufacturer, Blue Seventy Wetsuits when they debuted their Point Zero 3 swim skin just over a year ago. Until then in non-wetsuit swims, triathletes had worn regular swim or tri suits. Now they could gain an edge by wearing a garment that made them much more hydro-dynamically sleek in the water.

Blue Seventy pushed the envelope and moved the ball down the court - kudos to them. They even took the ball outside of the triathlon court and potentially opened up a whole new market when they seeked and won FINA approval for the Point Zero 3. Problem is, in the world of pool swimming there is one and only one brand that rules - Speedo. All the talk before after and during the recent Olympic Games was the Speedo Lazer. And to Speedo's credit, they hit the ball out of the court as well, when the Lazer wearing swim stars of the Games, including the mighty Michael Phelps, went on a World Record rampage! Guess what racing swim suit all competitive and masters swimmers are talking about?

Where am I going with this? Well, as I mentioned, new product development is fun and cool, but new market development can be a slow and tedious process and that's what Nineteen as well as any of the tri wetsuit companies are facing with our new swim-skins, when looking into the real swimming pool. I have already started this process and like anything, it's about doing a lot of listening at the out-set and learning as much as you can, as quickly as you can. My sense is that their may be some real potential here, but it's going to take time. One great thing about triathletes, is that they are early adopters of just about everything. Tell a triathlete it will help them, even a bit, and they will buy into it, almost right on the spot! It's a key reason for the success of many smaller companies supplying product and services to the triathlon market. Single sport athletes, for the most part are much more skeptical. So I have my work cut out for me. I'll keep you posted as I go.

Bicycles & Airline Travel - The Challenges

Below is a response to a series of posts on a message board that I take part in called TriRudy.com The subject was traveling with your bike on planes. It's been a subject of endless debate over the years, but has reached fever pitch recently, as almost all the airlines have significantly raised all of the extra fees that they charge people for extra baggage beyond one checked bag. It has become particularly frustrating and expensive for triathletes and cyclists who frequently travel with their bikes to places to train and to races.

My thoughts on Bikes on the Planes:

1. The prices that we are paying for airline travel these days are a bargain. Many would disagree with me on this, but it is the reality. I recently traveled to Ironman Hawaii (IMH). I paid about $900 for my ticket from Toronto to Kona. Nearly 20 years ago in 1989, I went to Kona for the first time. In '89 I paid . . . . . . . about $900. Name me another high cost business with very expensive deliverables, that has stayed the same price for two decades?

2. What the airlines are trying to do is recover some costs because, they are loosing money on many( all) seats in the planes. So they are starting to charge for all those little extra things that previously had been "free". Most of the airlines have totally overhauled their policies when it comes to extra baggage and come up with completely, and mostly much more expensive fees for overweight, extra bags, over- size and special bags( bikes, skis . etc) . . at least this is what they are saying.

3. Now, historically, the airlines have for the most part had a special fee for bikes. The problem was that this was very inconsistently charged and enforced. In the past, by chance and by luck, or by a bit of friendly persuasion at the check-in counter you could travel a lot with a bike and never get charged! No more - now they are starting to play hard-ball with this and the fees in many cases have gone up significantly AND they are cumulative ie if it's a B-I-K-E, you are charged this, if it's your second bag, you are given another fee, if it's oversize( which just about all standard bike cases are) you are levied another fee, and if it's overweight( again which many standard bike cases can be) you are dinged again with yet another fee. As ridiculous as this sounds, I know people that paid more to get their bike to Kona for IMH then they did for themselves sitting in a seat on the plane!!

4. There still seems to be a variation in which airlines charge what and also in the levying of the extra fees. We flew Delta to Kona and only paid $50 outbound for my wife's bike. The check-in agent said that she was only charging us $50 because it was her second piece of luggage. She had asked if it was a bike and we said it was. It says quite clearly in the Delta Web site that, bikes will cost $175 each way + any extra fees for over-size, over-weight etc . . I verified these charges before the trip, with a phone call to Delta Customer service and also an email to same. On the return trip leaving Kona we paid $100, which we were told every bike leaving Kona is charged. It's kinda hard to fake your way off the Island with a bike when over 2,000 bikes are leaving the Island in 2 - 3 days!! So we paid a grand total of $150 which was a relief because we had been mentally prepared to pay $300+ But again - confusion and inconsistency seemed to reign.

5. What to do? First, choose your airline wisely. Many people book via Expedia or other online agents and automatically pick the cheapest ticket. Before you do that check with that airline on their bike policy. There still is a range. For example, West Jet, still does not charge for extra bags and the bike fee is a set $50. It may be worthwhile to take the more expensive airline ticket up front, and know that you will be paying less for your bike. Second - write the airlines. Tell them that, you understand that paying a bit more for safe and secure transport for your bike is OK, but when the price to transport the bike is more than for your seat on the plane, it's an absurd situation. Third - lobby or contact Race Directors for the events that you are going to and inquire about the race's sponsor airline, if they have one, and use that airline. Only go to races that offer that sort of deal. At some point people can and should start to vote with their pocket-books. Fourth - You can as others suggested use another type of bag - Hockey Bag etc to transport the bike by stealth and try and fake it. Given the security measures with airline travel these days, particularly in the U.S., I would be a bit wary, of out-right lying about the contents of my luggage! But that's a personal decision. Also, significantly more work needs to be done to disassemble and re-assemble the bike and may be only applicable to those with advanced bike mechanics skills Finally - use a service such as Tri-Bike-Transport to ship your bike to the event. This is only offered for limited events and to limited geographic areas, but it is an option. I know that Tri-Bike-Transport's business is booming. No surprise, when you consider the hassles and how uncertain and variable the costs of traveling with your bike as checked baggage is.

No easy answers, but hopefully shedding some light on a problem right now for those that do travel with their bikes - Flyer beware!