Ironman v Ironman distance (Page 3)

I’m not a sponsored athlete or anything, but I don’t wear logos of brands that I don’t use. I won’t wear a Cervelo jersey because I don’t have a Cervelo bike

If I asked someone with an m-dot tattoo which IM they’d done, and they said, B2B or Silverman, or Rev3Full, I’d think it was odd that they’d gotten an m-dot tattoo. I’d still be impressed by the accomplishment, but I would wonder why they’d chosen to mark themselves with that particular brand if they hadn’t done an im-branded race.

If having the IM logo matters that much to you, either do an IM-branded race or get a different tattoo. Even if I drove a BMW, I still wouldn’t use a Mercedes keychain for my car keys. Would you?

Well, I wasn't going to post, but.........

I would never get an M-dot tattoo. Ever. When I complete IMLP in 2011 I will not get an M-dot tattoo. I will get ink, but it sure won't be an M-dot.

well, with that logic I guess I better get rid of my HRM/watch with the IM logo.  Then I have some socks that my kids bought me with that m-dot logo.  I would never enter an m-dot race or put a corporate logo on my body but they seem to like putting that stupid logo in places that might bring them an extra dime!  guess I better trade my watch for a garmin before they put that M with a round head on that too!

Edited by rayd 2010-06-21 11:04 AM

there is only one Ironman..



everything else is just a race

Well, there's old school Iron Man.......

That's my take on it.  The M-dot is a trademark, whereas "Ironman" is (to many) a description.  I wouldn't get the tat without completing an M-dot race any more than I'd get a Harvard logo tat if I went to Yale.  On the other hand maybe I don't know the history of the term "Ironman" well enough to make that distinction; my impression was that the term predates the corporation.

I stopped telling strangers (not in the know) I do triathlons because I got tired of explaining that, no, it's not an Ironman, and in particular, nearly any reasonably fit person can complete races of the distance I do.  It felt incredibly dishonest to get respect for something I didn't earn even tho the misunderstanding was theirs.

I have a NY City Marathon participant shirt that my sister gave me becuase it was too big for her.  I have never done the NYC Marathon.  It's a nice long-sleeve tech shirt.  I wear it.

She also gave me a Saucony tee from when she raced at Kona.  Says Kona right on the shirt.  It's mostly just a white tee shirt, otherwise.  Nothing special and it's not like I need another tee shirt to wear.  But I wear that one too.

I've given a few of my race shirts to my wife since they didn't fit me well.  I don't think she feels bad about wearing them because she didn't do the races.

I have some Phillies and Eagles shirts/hats (some other teams too).  Never played for them.  I still wear them.

I also confess that although I have SpongeBob and Speed Racer bike jerseys that I wear often, I didn't create either cartoon.

I have done an Ironman 140.6 and some 70.3s.  I have done an independant iron-distance race and several half iron distance races.  I've done many olys and sprints too.  Pretty much nobody I know outside of triathlons understands, nor cares much about, the specifics.  They seem to be pretty equally split between being impressed that I do any of them at all and baffled that I would want to.

I don't have an M-dot tatoo, but I don't really like tatoos so that doesn't say much about what kind I might get if I did. 

If I see someone else with one, I'd assume they probably did one of the IM races.  But if they didn't, I'd guess they probably had some other reason they got it.  Maybe it just looked cooler than that snake or dragon or butterfly they were thinking about...

Edited by JohnnyKay 2010-06-21 11:38 AM

We would just be happy it was not a Yankee tat.  You CT. folks can go either way.  I see you are clearly of the right mindset.

and ps... good point.

Just just blew my nose with a Kleenex, sorry, I meant generic nasal paper tissue. I am sorry for using the term Kleenex in such an inappropriate manner. I didnt pay for the true Kleenex experience. I hope that someday I can actually try a real Kleenex and see what I am missing.

I agree.  This may be a done and over with topic to some, but not all of us have been visiting these boards long enough to see this topic come up several times over. There are new people joining everyday. I think the OP posted because he/she genuinely wanted to get other people's opinions, not as a troll.  This isn't the only topic that has come up repeatedly. I like BT and its philosophy, and in particular, I still remember one post in particular by marmadaddy:

From a practical standpoint I'd hate to see people discouraged from asking questions. Quite the opposite. We want to encourage it. We want them to gather the courage to ask a question and be confident that they'll be responded to politely, accurately and enthusiastically rather than just be told to do a search or go to the FAQ. If that's the case, how is someone to know what constitutes an ok question? How many times can something be asked before it's no longer ok? Following the logic of "that's been asked already" you eventually end up with a situation where you only get a small set of cranky old coots arguing over the aero characteristics of the newest ultra-light carbon bottle holder.

There are no stupid questions, no questions that are not ok, no questions that have been asked too much already if they're asked honestly. If you're wondering about something related to triathlon, ask away.

BT is here to disburse information on triathlon, but we're also here to provide community and support. We don't want to lose the latter in the name of adding a bit of efficiency to the former.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=172092&start=1
(must scroll down...)

This is what makes BT great, so thanks for a great BT community!

^^^^ 

Honeslty, if you cared enough to get the tatoo...you should do the real deal.  Nothing wrong with the generic IM distance triathlon...but if you've ver done a branded IM, then you'd know the difference.  Now, if you're just looking to call yourself an Ironman...then do whatever you feel meets the minimal cirteria.

There is an "Iron distance Race" close to me...and it's a great race and all...but it's not even close to the caliber of Lake Placid, Wisconsin, Canada, St Georg, etc...etc....you get what you pay for.

Which "non-branded" race did you do to be able to "know the difference"?  Seriously.

I've done both, by the way, so I know that there's actually no significant difference.  In terms of what counts--the effort involved--there's no difference.  There are harder and easier non-M-Dot races (hello, Silverman), just like there are harder and easier M-Dots.  The differences are in price, frankly, and a little bit of swag and stuff to do and buy at the expo.

Most of the arguments for some sort of alleged superiority of the M-Dot races vs. independent full distance tri's seem to me to be in the service of rationalization of the expense.

Edited by tcovert 2010-06-21 3:05 PM

(double post)

Edited by tcovert 2010-06-21 3:05 PM

All I'm saying is that if you care enough to put that corporation's logo on your leg as a perminent tattoo...maybe you should do one of the races that the corporation sponsors.  Furthermore, if you need approval from the general triathlon-public, then that should tell you all you need to know...right?
I have no M-dot tattoo...and don't really care how or why anyone get's one.  If you want it, get it...but if you have to ask if it's ok, then...?

actually, I've heard a lot of complaining abouot what you get for the price with an M-dot race.  made the decision to do another, smaller scale 140.6 much easier for me.

Yeah, all those guys that do that easy Silverman course are just doing the minimum to get a tattoo.

I kicked around the idea of a non branded race but I decided on IMLP. I don't know if I'll do a second one so if it's one and done it might as well be one of the biggies.

Still won't get their logo tattooed on my body. Unless I place in my AG

Actually, the toughness of the course was not even on my mind.  Every year I hear about the flat draftfest that is "IM Florida" but it's an IM.  I was more thinking of the fan-fare, the swag, the notoriety of the races, etc.  If you did Silverman, good for you...but I'm still not real sure why you'd get an M-Dot tattoo.  But then again, i wouldn't care either. 

Well when you make a comment about "meeting minimal criteria" you'll have to forgive me for thinking that you're expressing some negative opinion about non M dot races.

someone told me a story about a guy that did a 70.3 Ironman race, and got a M-Dot tattoo with only 1/2 the red inked in the dot.  he planned to fill it in after finishing a full IM, but somehow the red ink portion got infected and messed up the tat.

I'm surprised this is such a controversial topic.  To me, anyone who covers the whole 140.6, within the cut-off time, in an organized competition, is an Ironman, regardless of who sponsors or organizes the race.  Whether or not you capitalize the "I" is up to you!

So with regards to when the logo came into play take a look at this. The 1988 finishers photo. I see an M-Dot logo on this. If the WTC did not trademark it until 1991 then the logo was around before this.





Attachments
----------------
cover0429-ironman.jpg (42KB - 8 downloads)

This user's post has been ignored.

Awesome! You learn something new every day.