Which IM for Your First

There are plenty of late season 140.6 Indie races you should consider as well, unless you're dead set on doing an IM brand race.

If for some reason you miss out on registering in person on Sept. 8th in Madison you should explore the idea of doing an Indie race.  Redman in Oklahoma City is in late September.  You can register for this race as late as a month or so before the event.  No need to wait online or drive to register.

My very first IM race and branded race was Brazil. I registered 29 days before the race because it was still OPEN unlike IM races in North America.  I didn't have to plan a year to a year in a half out for this.

I was doing some winter base training here in MN with friends that had already singed up.  I pretty much was doing everything they were doing so I felt I was I would be in shape if I continued training with them.  I was already planning on going down with them to take pictures of them racing but ended up racing with them as well.

If you add up the cost of getting to the race a year ahead of schedule just so you can register and then add the travel cost to get there and race that combined would be just shy of what we paid to get to Brazil in total.  We did a package deal with EST and it was great, they took care of everything down to the little details.  All you had to do was get your game face and race...

The race is usually around Memorial weekend, end of May.  We didn't get outside until the end of March and we still had plenty of time for our 100 mile rides here in the frigid tundra we call MN.

It was an awesome course and an awesome experience that we are planning on going back in 2009 or 2010.  We originally went in 2006.

Doing races like WI, AZ, FL, LP and Canada is a hassle when it comes to registering unless you are willing to pay extra to get a race entry after it fills up.  We did Switzerland last year and FL.  We had no problem regsitering for Swizterland from the comfort of our own homes.  The only reason most of us got into FL last year was becasue we had friends racing or volunteering the year before and at that time they could get a registration for a friend which save most of us the hassle.  We took care of the with with a free meal once the got home and thanked them for the help.

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Gregkl - 2008-05-16 9:30 PM You know, I never thought about non Ironman brand races. That might be a good idea. Are they well organized and put together? Can I still get an Ironman tattoo and call myself an ironman? If anyone knows of Indie 140.6 races that are good and maybe even close, I would like to hear about them! Thanks so far for the feedback!

I did Redman last Sept. and it was excellent. Very well run and organized and they did a great job caring for the athletes. One word of caution on it though it is small. 200 or so people in the full (they also have a half) so if you want all the bells and whistles better stick with IM brand.

I'm doing IMLP for my first as it is driveable for my family. I went up last weekend to train and will go again in June.

A couple of negatives for IMLP is the cost of staying there. There are not a lot of hotels and lots of folks rent houses for $2500-3500 for a week. There are less expensive options farther out of town.

We figured the cost of another IM would be about the same with flights and rental car and housing compared to just housing at Lake Placid.

Living in the Northern US later IM's allow you to train in better weather. My coach encouraged me to do Fl but logistically for my family it didn't work well.

Make a list of pros and cons of each; what your family/work life will be like in the 3-12 weeks prior to that IM to see if training and life blend well; things you like about the course or not and it will be clear which IMs are best for you.

Double post..oops!

Now THAT's a race!  Didn't they have one year when Bjorn Andersson was the ONLY finisher?  That's nuts.

Good luck!

Why would you do that?  Not "because I can", but rather, "because I could fail".  No better reason to give it a try, right?

Bluepoolshark - 2008-05-19 6:00 AM My first IM is the Norseman this August, not an IM branded race but where else can you get a finish view like this

Kick azz!!  Supposedly the "hardest" iron distance on the planet!  That would rock!

(And isn't is fully self-supported on the run??  That's hardcore.)

To the OP, my idea for my first was one that suited my strengths and was within both my means and driving distance.  So I did IMFL.  This year I am in for IMLP because it is also within driving distance and the family and I can make a summer vacation out of it.  That was really the driving force behind my selections - proximity and timeline.