How likely is IM Madison to be sold out?

Very few of the 70.3 actually sell out. However, it is already at Tier 4. So, it's a possibility. However, if you are flexible with date and location you could always do Steelhead a few weeks later if it does sell out. That one is only at Tier 3 and a little cheaper than Wisconsin 70.3

Yeah, but it's in the unpredictable lake Michigan.... For my very first IM I'd like to go with small nice lake
Thanks for your feedback, very helpful!

I did it the last two years and it wasn't sold out. I signed up for it both years in the spring.

From what I understand the tier pricing is designed to get you to register early. There are fewer spots in the first 3 tiers and tons of spots in the 4th tier. If you follow them on Facebook they'll post when it's down to the last 100 or so spots.

General advice for this race is be prepared for any kind of weather! Last year it poured right up until the start (they actually delayed the start). It was cold and windy. Water was very choppy. It sucked for the bike but the cool temps made it an enjoyable run. Year before that it was really hot. Probably wouldn't have been so bad if it was later in the summer but being that it was early in the season nobody was acclimated, especially since temps leading up to the race were in the 50-60 range.

It's definitely a challenging race but it has good crowd support on the run and near the end of the bike. I enjoyed the run because it's mostly shaded and it's a loop instead of an out and back. The last quarter mile or so is up a hill which can suck :-).

This is so helpful to know.
Have you done any other 70.3 races that you can compare? Am I sending myself into a miserable failure by doing this as my first 70.3..?

I would not worry too much about it. Everyone in a race faces the same conditions, and you can't really predict it in advance. As your first 70.3, your goal should be to finish, and not to stress about time or place goals. It'll just take a bit longer in less than ideal conditions. So what?

That being said....This was my philosophy for what was supposed to be my first 70.3 (Pacific Crest in Oregon) several years ago. In fact I deliberately entered a race with a really tough course so I'd be proud of just finishing and not feel pressured to do a time goal. (That was the idea with my first IM too....I apparently did succeed in finding a really slow course LOL.)

Unfortunately I hadn't really considered that it could SNOW in late June on this particular course because the bike went up so high that in Oregon (where....as we say....summer often starts on July 5) it was in fact above the snow line when raining lower down. Race day was 43 and raining at the start, and they cut the bike to 29 miles due to heavy snow on the upper part of the course; I switched to the du because the thought of T1 in that weather (after 58 degree water) was just too awful to think about--and it wouldn't be a "real" 70.3 anyway.....Still got to "enjoy" 40's and rain on the bike, rain, hail, and then finally clearing and temps rising to 70 on the run.

I would hope this degree of condensed weather wackiness is due to my selection of a race at 4000-6000+ feet and would not be normal for the Midwest....

Oh boy... what an adventure! You always have all those interesting stories accompanying your racing and training experience Thanks for sharing, Karen!

I do not have any other goals, except to finish, or if I don't get to finish, to at least make it to the run. First thing I did was checking what the cut off times are, and to target those. You are very right on the conditions, always hard to predict. Hopefully, Wisconsin in June stays away from either snow, and/or hot temps

I did Racine twice, Door County (non IM branded) twice, Steelhead 3 times, and Ohio once. Racine was my first one and that was before I knew how unpredictable Lake Michigan could be (ignorance is bliss :-)).

Door County and Steelhead are great venues but the swim can be very unpredictable. The two times I did Door County the swim was shortened due to storms and a small craft advisory. The first time I did Steelhead conditions were perfect. The second time I did it the water was very choppy. The third time a warm front came in and raised the water temp to non wetsuit legal. I didn't do it last year but I had a friend that did it. He's a very strong swimmer and he said the swim was awful and the water was so choppy he couldn't see the buoys.

Ohio has a pretty easy course. The swim is in a relatively small lake that is super calm but warm! Last year it was wetsuit optional. Since I suck at swimming and knew I wouldn't place in my AG I wore the wetsuit to alleviate any added stress. The bike is super flat...like 400ft of elevation gain flat. We were fortunate that there wasn't much wind but on a windy day it could suck. The run is somewhat hilly but not impossible.

I wouldn't worry too much about Madison. The swim is really not that bad, unless it's windy then you might have to deal with some chop. However, early in the morning there shouldn't be too much wind. The bike course is pretty technical. There are several down hills that turn into up hills so you loose all momentum. If you can ride the course or at least find some roads with decent hills that will help. There's nothing special about the run. There's more flat sections than hills. I think the worst thing about Madison is the weather. If it's hot, it can be miserable simply because it's an early season race (unless you're coming from the south).

I know a lot of people who did Madison as their first half and did just fine. As another poster said your goal should be simply to finish and if you train right you'll finish. Madison is a good and challenging race but very doable. However, if you're nervous about the early season heat then I would look at Ohio, which is at the end of July. But who knows, I tend to bring bad weather to races (I did the Louisville full IM last year where it rained and was in the 50s all day) and I'm not doing Madison this year so you might end up with perfect weather :-)!!

At least you can pretty much guarantee you won't have monkeys on the course, with "Monkey Zone" signs about every ten miles. If that would make your day, IM Malaysia also has a 70.3.....I guarantee no cold water or weather!

Edited by Hot Runner 2019-01-23 5:24 PM

That must have been a fun story to tell!! I did do a race with Turtle Crossing signs. Not nearly as exciting as monkey's, though The races I usually do involve cows and farmer dogs trying to chase you.

Malaysia has that, too!

If you don't need the Ironman brand logo, Michigan Titanium has a 70.3 race that costs a bit less, highest price to highest price, and is quite a bit less right now compared to Madison's price right now. I've never done either, so I can't comment on the quality of race, support, or anything but price really.

A quick google maps search came up with 3 hours, 14 minutes to get to the MiTi, versus 2 hours 12 minutes to get to Madison, Wisconin from Highland Park, Illinois.

Hope this helps,

J White

Madison 70.3 2018 was interesting. I had 4 athletes that ran it and from the waves, to rain, mud, up and down hills with the up starting at turns... it wasn't exactly a friendly course.

They all got it done, but go in with an attitude to take it as it comes approach. Don't get bent out of shape if the climate and event doesn't cooperate.

I think it sold out last year, but not sure. If it did, it was pretty close to race day.