Why are triathlons so expensive?

They have to buy a huge amount of food for the fatso participants.

Drunkagain

Simple: supply and demand

Next year's Florida Ironman (entry fee aprox. $450) filled up in lest than 24 hours!

It's a fad, and the American "lemming" is following the current fad.

It's just as bad to do a little local duathlon-$7/$8 for a 1-day membership to do a 2 mi. run/ 9 mi. bike/ 2 mi. run, in addition to the $45-$60 entry fee? Sorry, but not me. It doesn't take any more work to put on a short du like this than it does a 15k, does it?

It's just a business, and the US Tri Fed owners are getting rich off of it. They were just the first ones to think about charging a membership fee to participate in their race. Same thing is happening in "adventure racing".

I talked to an "adventure race" race director, he confirmed it's all about making the money to start an assoc. that you have to join to participate in the races.

(Paying lifeguards and kayakers on a swim course)

I am a lifeguard and i have worked many tiathlons as volunteer work, most of those lifeguards do not get paid

Buy a USAT membership ($30?) and you can usually save $10 on races because you already have insurance. Not sure if they do that everywhere but they still do around here...

Most local sprints are still $50 or less? I guess that's twice what a 5k costs, but seems reasonable.

IM "Brand" races are expensive, because they can be. There are other IM distance races out there that aren't the IM "brand" that are cheaper.

Teller wrote:

The entry fee is expensive for an Ironman and tri's in general. The mention that if Ironman jacked the entry fee up to $1000 they would still fill the slots is true and it is SAD.

Having 17 hours to finish an Ironman is ridiculous. I think the cut off time should be around 12-13 hours. Anyone, and I mean anyone who trains even a little and knows how to swim can legitimately finish this event.

Example: I play in the water for 2 hours

I then ride and walk my bike for 8 hours.

Then I walk for 6 hours and 45 minutes.

Transition times of 15 minutes total and just like that I am an IRONMAN.

This is not acceptable!

Good thing no one listens to you. Cut out the +12 hour finishers and the cost of the event will go up, because those people are your bread and butter--there's tons of them.

By the way, you clearly understand exactly nothing about the event. I've got a PR of 9:49 out of my 7 IM races, but the one that cost me the most was the 12:31, where I melted down 6 miles into the run and suffered through a 5 hour marathon. If you want to learn something about yourself, just try that.

I'd love to see you try to run 7:00 miles after cycling 112 miles at 22 m/hr. In fact, I've often wondered why such hatred on LetsRun for triathletes. I figure, though, it's the fact that triathlon was designed to be an all-around test of the athlete, and the runners on this board who hate on triathletes are just crappy athletes. Runners tend to suck in the water. They tend to be too wussy to bike fast. All they can do is run.

I'm sorry, but what did the great Lance Armstrong say about his recent experience at the NYC Marathon?

Oh yea, it was the hardest thing he'd ever done! I think he learned that serious runners are not "wussy". If I remember correctly, he marveled at how the truly fast guys do what they do.

Anyone can learn to be a decent bike rider, put in the time in the saddle. I rarely ride a bike, but I can hop on my bike and keep up with most bike riders, especially if we're in a nice pack. There is no drafting in running, no relaxing/coasting on downhills, you've got to keep turning your legs over, stop doing this and you're standing still. Stop pedaling on a downhill or in the draft and you can relax and keep up with the gourp.

It takes more than just running miles to be a good/great runner. Talent and dedication are required.

If Lance had actually taken the time to train properly he probably wouldn't have been in quite so much pain after the race. After he successfully completes the next marathon, he'll be in a better position to compare it to the demands of riding the Tour, or doing the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, or whatever else he does.

Runners (and I am including myself as one) need to move on from this idea that running - whether the running involves marathons, or road races or whatever else - is a "superior" sport to cycling or triathlons. They all have their attributes and drawbacks. Just enjoy your chosen event, no need to slag others because they choose a different path.

And one more thing. Drafting is illegal in triathlons/duathlons. If all you've done to train for those events is draft off a pack and "cruise" downhill, you're going to be looking at a lot of asses disappearing into the distance.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

I know this will probably start another triathlon bashing thread, but I was just wondering why triathlon entry fees cost so much. Anybody know?

He might know.

sebcoe59 wrote:

I'm sorry, but what did the great Lance Armstrong say about his recent experience at the NYC Marathon?

Armstrong said it was hardest thing he's ever done. He did not say it was the hardest thing ever.

What they should do is model it after local 5k's and have prize $$$$ for the top 5 or so people, so you can win the entry fee back. If I win I don't want a cheap little medal, I want to recover my entry fee. Most local 5k's do it why can't Triathlon????????

Out of the 100s of local 5ks that I have done over the years...I have never had one race give me back my entry fee for winning.....

So please don't say most....

Most local 5ks your lucky if you get a crappy little trophy...the best you can hope for is a gift certificate to McDonalds

Pamela Anderson's Left Nipple wrote:

Armstrong said it was hardest thing he's ever done. He did not say it was the hardest thing ever.

True. To add to this, don't forget it turned out he was doing it with a broken leg.

I'm still laughing over this one.

I used the word "wussy" to describe runners because that is the type of rhetoric that runners use on triathletes: painting all triathletes in the broadest possible strokes.

Not only are "truly serious runners" not wusses, but neither are "truly serious triathletes" nor "truly serious cyclists."

For a "truly serious triathlete" there's no coasting in that 5+ hour IM bike ride. If you're laying it down, the first couple of hours are easy, then the last 3 hours are incredibly tough--and then you've got to run a marathon.

As you say, tt takes more than just training miles to be a good/great triathlete. Talent and dedication are required.

Johnny Rotten wrote:

As you say, tt takes more than just training miles to be a good/great triathlete. Talent and dedication are required.

I agree. The same goes for other sports. Like synchronized swimming. It takes more than just time in the pool to be a great synchronized swimmer too. Talent and dedication are required.

The more important question is, what kind of person WANTS to be good at this? The answer is: Someone who cannot be as good at any other sport. For the triathlete, one who cannot be as good at any of the 3 individual sports arbitrarily packed together into one pretend sport.

obligatory triathlete basher wrote:

Johnny Rotten wrote:

As you say, tt takes more than just training miles to be a good/great triathlete. Talent and dedication are required.

I agree. The same goes for other sports. Like synchronized swimming. It takes more than just time in the pool to be a great synchronized swimmer too. Talent and dedication are required.

The more important question is, what kind of person WANTS to be good at this? The answer is: Someone who cannot be as good at any other sport. For the triathlete, one who cannot be as good at any of the 3 individual sports arbitrarily packed together into one pretend sport.

Why is that an important question?

Why would anyone WANT to be good at any of the following:

-stuffing a big ball in a hole 10 feet off the ground

-hitting a tiny ball toward a hole hundreds of yards away

-flinging a 16 pound ball as far as you can

-using a pole to propel yourself over a bar, when you're obviously too slow to sprint on the track

-slapping a little puck into a net while on ice skaets--makes a hell of a lot of sense to me...

All sports are arbitrary, none more so than track and field and running. Why does racing 1500m make any sense, when tracks are 400m in circumference? Why run over barriers for 3000m? My in thew world would anyone WANT to run 25 laps around a track? People who aren't good enough at baseball to be able to play, so they take up running?

And what about decathletes and heptathletes?

I love you txrunnergirl

Obviously, since Pappas can't run a 1500m to save his life, he must suck as an athlete, too. And here I thought he was The World's Greatest Athlete.

sadly it appears that my user name was not clue enough as to the seriousness of my post.

(i think i just accidentally made my first trolling post on this forum! not as much fun as i figured it must be, given the huge number of them on here. so much for that line of posting.)