Not for me, just a general musing on how people can actually get registered for what’s become the Unicorn of starting places!
In 2007 when I registered for the 2008 event it was fine, still open after a fortnight. But something has changed in the last 5-6 years whereby entry has become very hard if you try to do it Online, and not in person or via a tour package. I believe there were a lot more Online slots reserved for Foreign entries back when I did it, not sure what the set-up is now; as otherwise the German ‘locals’ just hoover-up all the places on-site. So options…
go there the year before & sign-up on site (this seems the #1 way now)
volunteer? I reckon that would be a total blast (but quite a time/money commitment)
2 people from my club went and slept on the street to be first in the queue to register for next year. They were first and won a training week for being no1.
Seems like an awful lot of effort just to pay 500 notes to enter a race. Is it really that big a deal?
I guy I see at the pool was in this year. I asked how he got in and he said that he didn’t even try when the initial sales happened iirc but there was something equivalent of a flash sale of slots and he just happened to be looking at the race at the time. I’m not sure if he did it as he had a very important family thing that clashed and he was trying to see if he could defer his entry to next year.
You can get someone to get your code for you - so @Hewligan could have got me a voucher code to enter.
It’s reserved to only 1,000 places.
TBH, it’s the same with gigs and festivals now.
I blame social media and the one-and-dones
Felix can sell out his race, to tour operators, and have his fixed costs covered before the general sale has even started.
Look at getting tickets to Glastonbury (not for me!) - it is the same rigmarole.
Or seeing Drake at Manchester Arena (£200+ for what was a £70.50 ticket)
These prices are, in part, driven by the desire to “promote” yourself whilst at the event and get those likes in on social platforms.
I remember the days of going to your local record store to buy gig and festival tickets, or actually taking the bus/train to the city it was taking place in order to secure those tickets.
After your post on Outlaw, I did a fair bit of research this morning.
I do not fancy a 14 hour drive, or flying into Munich/Nuremburg alone.
Looked at tour packages - and all in, you are looking at over £2k - that is for a basic 4 night package - once you have added BTF membership, travel insurance to cover Iron distance racing and open water swimming.
That does not include lunches or evening meals, along with getting to the local airport and local parking - plus a possibly overnight stay at a UK airport, or in Munich, depending on flight times.
I reckoned all in I’d be looking at £2.5k - which is an obscene amount of money.
I could buy AT LEAST 10 pairs of new Nike trainers with that
Option 1 is getting a friend who is racing or supporting to get you a ticket. That is how I got my ticket, and we reciprocated this year by queuing for friends. Took maybe 4 hours of waiting and queuing in total to get the 2 tickets we needed (one per person). €519
Option 2 is the normal online lottery.
Option 3 is a tour or a camp for those that can’t queue but want to guarantee a slot. IM Talk are doing a 2020 camp with Roth entry, so if I needed to get in I would probably do that one as it would be fun.
Option 4 is really option 1 all over again, but with a year lag: go to Roth to watch the race in 2020, turn up at 8am on Monday to queue (earlier if you want a relay ticket as those are limited and were already gone when we arrived). At 09:30 they will give you a ticket, maybe at 11, 12, or 13 you will get to pay for that ticket to be turned into an online entry voucher. Take water, food, and a stool!!! It took us a long time to queue on very tired legs, but I went to grab bakery products and water for my friends, and that changed our mood a lot.
And that is about it. The race is very well run, the town is very welcoming, the finish experience is very special, and the course is conducive to a fast time, so it is likely to remain popular for the foreseeable future, and thus getting a ticket will remain difficult.
€519 for entry
€30 for race day license
€80 shared Eurostar costs
€60 shared fuel costs
We camped for free
We ate out at an average cost of €30 per day (it was cheap) for breakfast and dinner. Lunch was normally supermarket food.
Total cost was maybe €900 including bits and bobs along the way.
But we really did do it on a budget, as a bit of a road trip.
I booked with Nirvana before they secured the gig with Ironman and then was transferred to Sport Tours that caters for the Oz market. I booked Lufthansa Birmingham to Nuremberg via Munich RTN for 120 and then had a pick up waiting to take me to lodge that had been booked out for Sport Tours. Essentially bused in when needed and took all of the hassle away even taking the bikes so you can watch the fire works at the end. My wife came out a day before the race and they had a car there to collect. I think I paid 1200 for the pair of us.
Would I do it again?..
I despise camping.
Tried it three times - hated it each and every time I have done it.
A decade between each “experience”
£989 for four nights + £100 single person supplements.
€620 entry fee (let’s say £620 at the current juncture )
£200 Lufthansa flights from Manchester to Munich
€80 each way bike box flight surcharge
£40 airport parking
£32 insurance
£30 airport meal and snacks both ways
£15 fuel cost to and from UK airport
€180 food costs (thu, fri and sat: lunch @ €18 and evening meal @ €42)
I had this dilema last year. I managed to get a spot through the online entry system (first time I’ve tried so guess I just got lucky). You then have a week or two to pay the entry else your slot expires. In the meantime I looked at the costs and hassle and finally decided against it. I like the Munich area so would have liked to hang around there for a while afterwards but didn’t fit in with school hols so wouldn’t have had much scope for any leisure time.
Another batch of slots open again in December I believe, so a second chance. I assume this is for slots that didn’t get taken the first time round.
The coverage of the race did make me regret my decision somewhat…the finish looks great!
I entered and got in circa 2010 (for 2011 race), I had to be on the ball timing but it wasn’t outrageous. I managed to book a chalet type place approx 20km out, it was on a farm and reasonable cost.
In the end I couldn’t go as Mrs FP got very ill and needed a lot of support and TLC from me. I even got a full refund after the initial full refund date had expired (but then i got that from IMUK in 2005 as well, when work in oz meant I couldn’t make the trip).
Roth seems very very hard to get into now and my enthusiasm for the logistic gymnastics just isn’t there any more.
I think you’re looking very much worst-case there with your travel costs & woes.
Travel from MUC is not much more than an hour by car/train. I cannot believe you don’t live within a couple of hours of an airport that flies there. You can find fairly reasonable accommodation out there, albeit it’s spread-out if you are not in Nurnberg.
Tbh, my recommendation to most people is actually IM Austria. Everything is in & around Klagenfurt and good for families/supporters. The lake swim is AMAZING, as is the bike scenery. Finish it off with a nicely shaded and very well supported run.
I feel like you’re always finding reasons not to race abroad, which is fine, because everyone has different priorities! But I for one will never pay €500+ to race in the UK, plus the accommodation & extras that I’d also have to pay. To be blunt, Outlaw was crap ROI for the expenditure imho. Bolton requires no explanation.
That’s on my long term, one chance to race an IM abroad, radar along with Norseman. Though that’s almost impossible to get into. I’m talking real long term though, as i’m never going to leverage the disposable income to achieve this in the next few years with young children, house etc etc
£495 entry (Tier 3)
£763 Hotel & Flights (Expedia) (5nts B&B Crowne Plaza)
£88 (bike)
£38 airport parking
£spends?? I have €130 left over from hols to get me started.
So immediately you can cut those costs by:
enter Tier 1
cheaper hotel
3 or 4 nts
booking even earlier than I did (I was 7 months out)
Apparently despite going solo, I have Breakfast for two included…sounds about right
I would more than likely not drive and certainly would not be spending anywhere close to £180 on food!
@Jorgan - You are probably correct, but I hate airports, dislike travelling alone and cannot speak German + I have no triathlete friends to go with. Like you and @gingerbongo, I have priorities - disappointingly, spending £2k on tottering to Europe on an ultimately selfish Jaunt isn’t high up there.
Your knowledge of Germany, Austria and that region is ace, so you can save costs and have that knowledge of how to do things - I do not, nor do I have any inclination to learn them.
Re: Outlaw - I’d do it again, as it’s £300 and a hotel close by is £39. Drive down on Saturday to register, go to the cinema, sleep, race, get a massage, drive to work/home.
I was home and the car unpacked by 6:30pm the last time I did it.
IM AUSTRIA is the same date as Roth in 2020, BTW - 05JUL2020.
