I know there is probably a reasonable explanation for this but i can't help wondering where does all the money go from the entries..
Looking at the results there were about 1400 entries at least £275 per entry so nearly £400,000….Where does it go ????

But the bit that is really annoying is the refund policy…I have two friends who had to pull out due to injury and as they were injured after the 1st April..they don't get a penny back..and its not like there wasn't a waiting list for late entries..I believe people on the waiting list were being charged an extra £100 quid to enter so £375 for a place which someone had already paid £275 for !!!!!

Sorry its a bit of moan but I'm bored at work today..

Oh and hats off to anyone that finished 16 hrs must be a killer….

It probably costs quite a lot to marshal – I mean you need to pay a bunch of canoeists to marshal the swim, loads of marshals for a long cycle course, and then you still have a marathon worth of running course to marshal.

Then you have timing, first aid, hiring a reservoir etc. which for such a big event isn't going to be cheap.

Then to add to all that, it is triathlon – to enter it you probably have a £2000+ bike, £200 wetsuit, all manner of fancy shoes, tri-suits etc. so they charge what they think you can afford. After all, the big triathlons are very much a business, and they run them like one.

Joe

I went to watch this and even got cheered on by some of the crowds who thought I was taking part (on my MTB with a camelbak)…………£275 yikes!

It's a relatively low number of competitors for a lot of marshalling and other fixed costs.

At London they have over 10,000 competitors, all paying over £70 each, plus big-name sponsorship and probably a fair bit from the companies exhibiting in the expo. And for half the time they only needed a few miles of roads closed off and patrolled/marshalled.

£70 for less than 3 hours "racing" 😯

Makes the NPS look like good value!

I did a non branded IM distance event (Forestman) for £175 this July. Everything was top notch, nothing could have been done better. It really was brilliant.
After IMUK last year I thought that I didn't get value for money. If you're not wanting to qualify for Kona give IM brand events a miss and try others.

I rode from the top of the Belmont road down into Belmont on my mountain bike. Overtook quite a few of the 'Ironmen' on the way down. On that performance I reckon I'd have won the entire race.

Pssst, didn't pay a penny neither.

I presume it's run by a professional events company who have to run as a successful business, so I'm guessing the money went into their company bank account. From there, they'll have used it to cover their ongoing expenses and wages for this year, and provide them with viable working capital to prepare for next years event. No different to how any other business works.

It sounds like a pricey ticket to me too (probably because I have no desire to entire an Ironman!), but I've no idea of their operating costs and if 1400 people are prepared to pay it (and to go back and do the same next year) then their pricing level is clearly right. Don't make the mistake of confusing £400,000 in your personal bank account with £400,000 as business turnover for an event that will have taken months to arrange and market. It sounds like a healthy profit and I hope for the organisers sake it is, but let's be honest; compared to the amount (for example) that Price Waterhouse et al have made 'administering' (or 'failing to pay back the debts of') Enron, it really is peanuts. Individual traders in the city have routinely been getting ten times that and more as their annual bonus.

As for your mates not getting refunded, yes, the organisers haven't been generous, but they haven't been unfair either. They have no requirement to refund participants in those circumstances and I'm sure the T&Cs were clear about refunds. The organisers had upheld their side of the contract by providing the event as agreed and can't be held responsible for your friends injuries. Sure they could have been more generous, but if they can command an extra £100 for waiting list places, then they obviously have no need to be.

I reckon if they offered full refunds, then you'd get lots of people entering thinking well maybe I will do it , maybe I won't but it doesn't matter 'cos I'll get my money back. Not good from an organisers point of view.

As for £275 being a lot of money, well yes, but having seen the event at the weekend, I can see where a fair bit of that will have gone. Event HQ, marshalls, timing, road closure, security, marshalls, and of course some profit for the organisers.

The Ronda 101k race in Spain has Duathlon, Run and MTB sections, a drink or food station every 5k and marshals walking the tricky parts. Free sleeping accommodation if needed, a free pasta dinner before the race and a medical team working 24hrs for finishers.

My entry fee as a runner was €60

i did a 300k audax last years.
tea and cakes at the start
buffet do at the end
£3….. 8)

They'll be needing lots of padding for the corners, triathletes not being famed for t'bike handling skills…

Toilets. When the dawning realisation hits you of what you are about to do, you need lots of toilets RIGHT NOW.

Bike safety. People will probably notice if 1400 bikes are just parked against railing in a centre of town, so there is a lot of infrastructure goes into keeping those bikes safe – usually overnight as you rack them the day before. People, security barriers, tagging systems for the atthlete….

You usually have to pay for a day licence – I think this is where you liability insurance comes from. This goes to the national federation rather than the organising company. For rides (like Audax), you don't pay this.

For Ironman races, you are paying a bit for the brand, but at the time I did my race it got me some great innovations (my name on my race number so spectators could cheer you on). You'll pay something towards the Ironman organisation as well.

Printing numbers. 2 of each on decent material that doesn't run when you in water.

Etc., and then you have to make money on it as per Trailbreak Martin's comments. Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity.

I paid €250 for IM France in 2002 and felt like I got good value.

Samuri – In my race I did the same thing down hills, at 13st I could outpace an 8st whippet without even pedalling… Different story on the way back up the hills though…

But lets be honest, they have had their £275 quid upfront and if someone else wants to buy your place or take part as you then i think that should be ok, i suppose if you die half way round and your taking part as someone else it might be a problem !!!But to take another £375 quid of someone is a bit off..

Samuri..

when you rode down from belmont on your MTB, was there a camera crew stood on the grass, just by the blue lagoon??

oh and don't forget the winners pot… It was a fair ammount

There might well have been Martyn, although I didn't see them. Am I now famous?
I almost took a load of cyclists out at the sharp turn in Belmont because they all virtually stopped whereas I was having brake problems and to be quite frank wouldn't have bothered braking for another 50 metres.

Oh, and FWIW I gather it's a not for profit organisation.

samuri – Member

There might well have been Martyn, although I didn't see them. Am I now famous?
I almost took a load of cyclists out at the sharp turn in Belmont because they all virtually stopped whereas I was having brake problems and to be quite frank wouldn't have bothered braking for another 50 metres.

Maybe you'll show them who is the boss next year 😉

I would do Rich but there's the small problem of the run. I can't do it. I'd be mid field or higher after the swim. Near the front after the ride and then finish last for the run.

Sorry Samuri, you're not a TV star yet.. I was filming the event for regional news and I'd seen a couple of MTB chaps coming down that road, made me chuckle.

It was a good event, and its in Bolton for the next 3 years

The legal process for closing all the roads is horrendously expensive

And I wish I'd known about this event before deciding to ride at Rivi on Sunday!!!

I'm seriously thinking about giving it a go in 2011.
Although the Pennine Duathlon seems more likely cos it's 'arder.
😉