Same with me I suppose.
I was running but needed more of a challenge so over the years I upped my tri distances from sprint to half IM and when my tri club decided to have a mass entry for Frankfurt I got on board but felt like it was still a massive step up to what i had already done over the previous few years build up.
Personnally I think the cut offs are too generous but i also think there should be cut off times in marathon races as well. There is a guy at work who is still living off doing the London marathon in 2008. He did it in about 6 hours but never mentions that.
I am probably being harsh but I see these as races and not events.
Sadly, there are many things life, where people expect to succeed without putting in the hard work. However, the 6-0 guy deserves some respect for his perseverance!
I Believe IMJ is the place where people take offence when others suggest that they need to do some thorough preparation to complete an Ironman.
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I feel exactly the same. When I first got into about 20 years ago the only “Ironman” I knew of was The Longest Day. I’m not even sure if I knew the term “Ironman” to begin with, it was just this crazy local race over mad distances done by people who must be certifiable.
I think 2012 was the single biggest turning point, but strangely not for OD, but triathlon in general. The more mainstream it gets the more I recoil away from it. I just like to train and do the odd local low key event to keep me honest.
From the outside I think Ultras have that original spirit, maybe because Triathletes have moved over, or maybe they always had it. Low key, no bragging, no blogs, #smashed it, #beast mode, #boom. I’m much more drawn to that kind of atmosphere but am an appalling runner so not much of an option.
I do find this forum a haven of fairly like minded people who generally aren’t sucked into the hype.
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Agree with this. 70.3’s are my “enjoyable” distance. But I do seem to get relatively better as things get longer, so I’m willing to give long course another bash. But there is still some dread there.
I’m sure I saw something a while back about a lady who had entered even more than that and never made the swim cut-off .
Completely agree with all about 70.3. The training doesn’t dominate your life. The event itself doesn’t take all day. The whole process of training for it, recovering etc much more palatable. I do love the iron distance though. I always find I’m drawn back to it
We live on the Cotswold Way, and there are always trail runs coming past the house! I think ‘ultra’ is where Triathlon was 10 years ago.
Have you tried Audax rides? Something else I want to do more of are those low-key gravel/mixed rides that cost a tenner to do. It’s an adventure, and you pay a nominal fee for someone to give you the route and hopefully provide a few new ‘ride buddies’ to do it with.
Oh, and Swim-Run, that is still niche 
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The 6-0 guy needs some respect for his disposable income!
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This is where my head is at. I’m not anti IM, I like a bells and whistles event now and then. But there’s a huge world of endurance events out there, which any semi competent triathlete is more than equipped to have a go at.
It’s just the mind set that needs changing.
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Unfortunately ultra and trail is heading that way fast. Proliferation of kit options/brands. Back slapping facebook groups. People entering 100km, 100 mile events having not so much as gone up to a marathon before. People entering 100 mile ultras across Dartmoor and Exmoor and being “very shocked” at how hilly and hard the terrain is. People complaining at the event orgainser because there was no phone signal on the middle of Exmoor. “do i have to bring everything on the mandatory kit list?”. And definitely one and done crowds. Oh and of course big companies putting on low quality events to skim the market quickly whilst it is vibrant.
I actually think, in the modern age of social media etc etc that transition is happening even faster than triathlon, though i don’t think it will hit the same mainstream heights.
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I did the ‘3 forts challenge’ in Sussex in 2017 it’s a fairly hilly marathon taking in the Devils Dyke. It’s actually 27 miles though does that count as an ultra?
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I mean, that’s ridiculous. I did think there was at least still some semblance of qualification in ultra. At least with events like UTMB, and from what I heard, it was even the case that to get into some of the high points scoring UTMB qualifiers, you almost needed to qualify for those too?
This was me for my one and only trail race, at least inside my own head, but it was only a trail HM, around the countryside of my home town that I’d run around by myself anyway. It seemed a bit annoying I had to go out and buy a hydration backpack for a 100min run, when there were aid stations, but it was in the race rules so I did it.
Well, they are keeping it ‘fresh’ in Hamburg; yet more course changes for 2020. Probably after some feedback, especially the bike 
I hope the run stays the same though, that was a corker.
Did seem ridiculous with out and backs on that course that they couldn’t get the distance right
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haha - i did have your comments in the back of my mind when i was writing that, but i can assure you it wasn’t directed at you @FatPom!!! 
We have had much, much worse versions of that story!!! 
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Scrap roll downs so at the top end of the racing, it is the best men and women racing at Kona and not someone else who’s come in behind the top people?
We’re talking spare batteries for a headtorch, survival bag, base layers on a 30 hour ultra across open moorland!!