The Hardest Ironman?
This past weekend I tackled the inaugural St. George Ironman in Southern Utah. The course was beautiful with stunning red rock vistas throughout the swim, bike, and run – and the volunteers were off-the-charts amazing (as St. George residents always are for the many endurance events held in their city throughout the year).
What really struck me about the event, was how many people – participants and organizers alike – who were crowing all weekend about St. George being the “hardest” of the Ironman events. I’ll grant that it is certainly a hard course – COLD water and a HILLY & WINDY course for both the bike and run – but while it might be the hardest course in the “M-dot” series, it is certainly not nearly as hard as some other iron-distance events (the Silverman in nearby Henderson, NV – just outside of Las Vegas, is undoubtedly a more grueling course in terms of climbing on the bike).
One important difference between the events is that IMSG is on May 1 – early season for most of us, so total miles and overall fitness are hard to have at peak levels – and Silverman comes later in the year – November – allowing competitors to have a full Summer of training under their belts. I was chatting about these differences to a fellow multi-Ironman finisher (Julie from Maryland – IMSG was her 15th and my 13th) and she agreed with my assessment of the challenge of “hard early-season IMSG” versus “even harder late-season Silverman” (both of us having now finished both events).
One of her comments (which I agreed with) was the “value” difference between the 2 events. At IMSG (like all other events in the M-dot series), you pay about $500 and get a very well-run event (good organization, well-marked and policed course, great volunteers, and a cheap plate of pre-race pasta) – and if you finish, you get a decent hat and t-shirt (and some cold pizza). At Silverman, you pay about HALF the entry fee to get the same level of well-run event, but then you also get a PILE of SWAG that in various years has included embroidered back packs, blankets, towels, hats, shirts, Recover-Ease, water bottles, etc. At Silverman, you pay less, but it seems like every time you turn around you are getting more more more!
Not to take anything away from the folks who run the Ironman series of events – they have done a brilliant job of marketing their brand and providing a consistently solid event in many locations around the world. I fully intend to compete in every single one of them at least once. That said, the M-dot folks could perhaps learn a thing or two from the organizers of the “other” Iron-distance events in terms of customer satisfaction – I am MUCH more likely to talk to other triathletes about my amazing experiences at Silverman or Great Floridian (my 2 favorites of my 13). Lots of people will only do one Ironman in their entire lives – cross it off their “bucket list” and be done with it – don’t you think those folks should have an AMAZING experience instead of just a so-so one?
Thanks for reading…
Shawn
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Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition
Shawn@WickedFastSN.com
www.WickedFastSportsNutrition.com
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