Which IM to do..Frankfurt or Karnten???

I know Ironman Frankfurt is a great race. Its like the whole town shows up!

I did the HIM in Weisbaden last year and it is in the town right next to Frankfurt and it was a great race and supported beyond belief.

Helps to speak a bit of German and be able to read some, the signs people make up made no sense to me.

I did IM Austria (Karnten) 2 years ago and it was awesome ! Traveled from Manitoba (read pancake flat) and was OK on the hills. I'd highly recommend that race. Not sure about Frankfurt, but I've heard great things about it too.

I also think there is a new one in Regensberg this year too!

I couldn't find on the website where it says that the cutoff is 15 hours.  I'm not doubting you, I just couldn't find it.  I was also thinking about doing this one next year and 15 hours v. 17 is a deal breaker.  We have family in Frankfurt and it would have been so convenient. 

Are all of the European IMs 15 hours?  Any others? 

This was actually a surprise to my husband AFTER he registered too. We had found on the website that this one was 16 hours (I saw several with a 16 hour cutoff in europe when we researched last year), but they sent out an email to the participants earlier this year with the 15 hour cutoff.

To add to that - they actually lengthened the bike course due to construction this year to 115 miles. Not that big of a deal, but I did find it funny that they have shorted the timelimit & lengthened the bike course.

I am in for IM Austria already for 2011 because I had a code for registering in advance since I did this year 70.3 Austria.
I never did both but I can tell you that here around the general feeling is that IM Austria is way better than Frankfurt.
The swim is amazing in Austria while in Frankurt is crap.
The bike is very nice in both but Austria is faster even if they changed the course lately...
Run is flat on both
Austria is even better in terms of environment if you want to enjoy the area, going around for excursions. There is nothing around Frankfurt, and I don't like the city itself.
I live 2hrs away from Frankfurt but I go to Austria even if it is 10hrs drive, far away from here but I followed the suggestions of the triathlon community here around.
They gave this European champ title to this race but has nothing special. Yes ok on the bike you are very well supported by people cheering at you but for the rest...nothing special.

And of course, if you really want to come here for a nice Ironman, you have to pick Ironman Switzerland, definetely a great race. I am going to do it in 4 weeks. I live at 2km from the start/finish area

Thanks for the info everyone. I was leaning towards Austria initially because I want to visit the area but ultimatly the better race would sway my descision. With all the info, I'm now going to go with Austria!

Does anyone know of the date for next year? I can't find it? (trying to hit up TDF after) Also, what about signing up? Does it sell out fast? Should I be ready to go Monday noon Karnten time?

All the registration info is here:
http://www.triangle.cc/newsletter_article.asp?ID=1650

Registration is at midnight between the 5th & 6th - it is expected to sell out quickly, but I think it's hard to predict exactly how quickly with Frankfurt moving to the end of the month next year. The date is July 3, 2011 for the race. You can find lots of info on their website & facebook site. Good luck!

sorry to tell you but you have very small chances to get in there, both races.
I tell you to forget about those races and go to IM Switzerland which is not crazy for registration.

For registering IM Austria, I can tell you that I have friends organizing groups for getting a pre-registration code on site, the race day. How? you take 5 people with one partecipating this year. Everyone pays the fee to the guy going there plus some more for the car driving there and he gets  5 codes the raceday for the next year.
It is the only way to register there or, like me, racing in the 70.3, getting this code.
online registration is crazy but you can try...while...
...for IM Frankfurt...only online registration. I tried 2x in the past years and after 10secs all the slots gone! the website goes saturated immediately and you can't do much. you need to be lucky and get the connection slot, filling all the info in 3-4 secs and click the payment...

those IM races are the only ones in europe so difficult to register. all the others, can be registered the day after the race without rushing...I would say comfortably in the following 72hrs.

good luck

I'm not saying you will get in, but my husband registered online for Frankfurt this past year online with no problem. Just be sure you are online when it opens and hope for the best! Austria hasn't sold out for several hours in the last few years, but I expect it will be faster this year.

Don't know how, but I got in! IM Austria 2011, here I come!

I'm in for IM Austria 2011 too! Registered on my iPhone in a McDonald's in Paris, the only place we could find wireless. If they hadn't moved Germany to the end of the month next year, I may have done that one based on my husband's great experience in the race this year, but I'm excited about Austria!!

I don't know why but this year Austria registration got a big downturn. Last year after minutes it was fully booked. Now it is still open. Two explanations: organization got worse, after they changed the bike course or they increased the number of partecipants...

I'm pretty sure Austria is full, but you can still get in if you have a code from the 70.3. Although, I would have loved if Doug would have been able to do the race - going to be fun!

http://ironmanaustria.com/event/news_article.asp?id=311

Gotcha. Ironman.com still shows it open. I guess open is German for closed.