A Half Ironman is not an Ironman

The Bad Pawn

I just want to point something out to a few people out there.

Doing a Half Ironman does NOT mean you're an Ironman

Just like doing a mini-marathon does NOT mean you're a Marathon runner!

I'm sorry to post this but i've been driven demented over the last few weeks with people telling me their doing an Ironman, only to reveal after a few probing questions that they're actually doing a Half Ironman (more specifically Galway)

Don't get me wrong, a Half-Ironman is a tough race, with challenging distances that require committment and training if you want to perform well. I take my hat off to those that take up this challenge or indeed those who run a 10k / Mini-marathon, they are both quality distances. But lets be clear, people going around telling others that they're an Ironman or a marathon runner in the above circumstances is a falsehood. It be-littles the hard work and dedication displayed by those who have actually gone the full distance in both events and thus EARNED the right to call themselves an Ironman or Marathon runner.

I've run several marathons and completed a bunch of HIMs' and one full Ironman so I feel i'm entitled to feel this way and post my thoughts.

Again the best of luck to those stepping up in distance and taking on whatever their personal challenge is. Everybody starts with a 5k or a 10k or a sprint tri. Those races are serious achievements that require hard work and improving fitness. As you grow stronger and fitter you may step up and increase the challenge be it deciding to go faster at a short distance (which i'd argue can be tougher than going longer, for instance the mile is as hard as it gets) or pushing out the boat and increasing the distance you take on.

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their training and racing

Rant over:)

griffin100

So if you complete a non IM branded triathlon of 2.4 miles swim / 112 miles bike / 26.2 miles run then are you still an Ironman?

mloc123

I think the main problem is the Ironman brand is misleading.

Also, as I understand it you are not an 'Ironman' until you win Kona?

The Bad Pawn

Yep in my mind it's all about the distance, the brand is irrelevant. The IM corporation have just been very successful at marketing.

You can call them either an Ironman or an Iron-distance athlete if you want but I think its essentially the same thing, so long as you covered the standard IM / challenge distances. 2.2 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run

Same as a Marathon runner. (i.e;' doesn;'t matter if you run paris or NY marathon, its about the distance and you)

Sport101

Who cares what people call themselves, seriously, unless you got one of those tattoos of course, then its just downright unforgivable.

ronanmac

Jees, people are very precious about this mini-marathon/marathon, half-Ironman/Ironman mullarkey. If you've done the distance, you know your own achievement. Either is a great achievement (an Ironman astonishingly so in my eyes) so be comfortable with it! Bask in your own glory! And if other people aren't as amazing as you, well, at least let them bask in their own glory!!

huskerdu

ronanmac wrote: »

Jees, people are very precious about this mini-marathon/marathon, half-Ironman/Ironman mullarkey. If you've done the distance, you know your own achievement. Either is a great achievement (an Ironman astonishingly so in my eyes) so be comfortable with it! Bask in your own glory! And if other people aren't as amazing as you, well, at least let them bask in their own glory!!

+1

The Bad Pawn

I care.

I'm not going to go around correcting everyone who makes the mistake of calling their 10k a marathon or their HIM an IM, but I care enough to put a post up on a forum so maybe some people will get what i'm saying.

I can't say I agree with Sports comment re:the IM tattoos as I don't have an IM one. Whatever ink people decide to get on their body to commemorate a special event in their lives is a very personal decision and one I wouldn't assume I could interpret correctly, because i'm not them..

Ronan & Husker I hear what you're saying but i'm venting here. I'm entitled to feel a bit ticked off if I feel like it, just like you're entitled to feel a bit bewildered if you don't get it.

tunney

ronanmac wrote: »

Jees, people are very precious about this mini-marathon/marathon, half-Ironman/Ironman mullarkey. If you've done the distance, you know your own achievement. Either is a great achievement (an Ironman astonishingly so in my eyes) so be comfortable with it! Bask in your own glory! And if other people aren't as amazing as you, well, at least let them bask in their own glory!!

I rode your ma last night.

By your ma I of course mean my bike.

Sometimes the meaning of the words is important.

catweazle

The Galway Organisers are being very subtle with their use of the term "Ironman", I dont think I have seen any mention of it being a "1/2" Ironman anywhere be it in press, website etc etc.

They have been calling it either an Ironman or an Ironman 70.3

So you cant blame some people who have signed up and are calling it an Ironman when that what the organizers have been branding it as

bryaner

Same as a 5" langer and a 10" langer I guess..

c montgomery

Theres only one ironman

Patrick_K

Do some people actually call themselves an Ironman ?
Get a grip people !

tunney

Patrick_K wrote: »

Do some people actually call themselves an Ironman ?
Get a grip people !

Some people get tatoos of it.

I'd say "I did an ironman" thats about it.

Pixsar

I'd never say "I did an Ironman" I would say "I completed one" I think the former might not sound right..:D:eek:.. should I ever decide to take part in one.. or a half Iron Man or not a half ironman but an event with the same distance as a Half Ironman or half the distance of a full ironman or a 70.3 or Galway... you know what I mean....:cool:

shotgunmcos

Pixsar wrote: »

I'd never say "I did an Ironman" I would say "I completed one" I think the former might not sound right..:D:eek:.. should I ever decide to take part in one.. or a half Iron Man or not a half ironman but an event with the same distance as a Half Ironman or half the distance of a full ironman or a 70.3 or Galway... you know what I mean....:cool:

..eh no?

tunney

Pixsar wrote: »

I'd never say "I did an Ironman" I would say "I completed one" I think the former might not sound right..:D:eek:.. should I ever decide to take part in one.. or a half Iron Man or not a half ironman but an event with the same distance as a Half Ironman or half the distance of a full ironman or a 70.3 or Galway... you know what I mean....:cool:

Nope. Don't know what you mean.

if you do a 70.30 or Galway - "i did a half ironman"
if you do an ironman - "i did an ironman"
if you do an ironman distance event -"i did an ironman distance event"

ronanmac

tunney wrote: »

I rode your ma last night.

You did?

tunney wrote: »

By your ma I of course mean my bike.

Sometimes the meaning of the words is important.

Oh, I see...

Seeing the words "I rode your ma last night" being used to make a point about Ironman got me thinking that people take the whole thing more seriously than I imagined, and got me thinking why that would be.

Thinking about this again, I'm in no place really to judge how people who've done an Ironman are entitled to react to other people doing shorter distances and calling it an Ironman, as I've never had, and am unlikely to have, the commitment needed to train for a competitive Ironman.

As for the marathon/mini-marathon debate, I've done marathons and it's never bothered me to hear people recall their mini-marathon feat while dropping the "mini" prefix. That said, I've never put the same commitment into marathon training that other people have either, so perhaps it's a case of people being slighted by others diminishing the huge commitment given to their achievement. If so, apologies for my irrationality.

tunney

ronanmac wrote: »

You did?


Oh, I see...

Seeing the words "I rode your ma last night" being used to make a point about Ironman got me thinking that people take the whole thing more seriously than I imagined, and got me thinking why that would be.

Thinking about this again, I'm in no place really to judge how people who've done an Ironman are entitled to react to other people doing shorter distances and calling it an Ironman, as I've never had, and am unlikely to have, the commitment needed to train for a competitive Ironman.

As for the marathon/mini-marathon debate, I've done marathons and it's never bothered me to hear people recall their mini-marathon feat while dropping the "mini" prefix. That said, I've never put the same commitment into marathon training that other people have either, so perhaps it's a case of people being slighted by others diminishing the huge commitment given to their achievement. If so, apologies for my irrationality.

Unexperienced people making mistakes in nomenclature - no problems. I think the issue on this thread is the organisers are doing it.

ronanmac

tunney wrote: »

Unexperienced people making mistakes in nomenclature - no problems. I think the issue on this thread is the organisers are doing it.

I make no mistake in the nomenclature myself, it's just that I don't get riled by people who do, but now see how people can get aggravated by it.
As for the organisers doing it, it seems (regarding the mention on the Galway thread) that it's extraneous bodies rather than the organisers that tend to drop the 70.3 clarifier. Newspapers would be culprits in this regard, and as for the information evening with the Ironman mention that's annoyed people, I believe that was organised and promoted by Galway Triathlon Club?

pmg001

The Bad Pawn wrote: »

I just want to point something out to a few people out there.

Doing a Half Ironman does NOT mean you're an Ironman

Just like doing a mini-marathon does NOT mean you're a Marathon runner!

I'm sorry to post this but i've been driven demented over the last few weeks with people telling me their doing an Ironman, only to reveal after a few probing questions that they're actually doing a Half Ironman (more specifically Galway)

Don't get me wrong, a Half-Ironman is a tough race, with challenging distances that require committment and training if you want to perform well. I take my hat off to those that take up this challenge or indeed those who run a 10k / Mini-marathon, they are both quality distances. But lets be clear, people going around telling others that they're an Ironman or a marathon runner in the above circumstances is a falsehood. It be-littles the hard work and dedication displayed by those who have actually gone the full distance in both events and thus EARNED the right to call themselves an Ironman or Marathon runner.

I've run several marathons and completed a bunch of HIMs' and one full Ironman so I feel i'm entitled to feel this way and post my thoughts.

Again the best of luck to those stepping up in distance and taking on whatever their personal challenge is. Everybody starts with a 5k or a 10k or a sprint tri. Those races are serious achievements that require hard work and improving fitness. As you grow stronger and fitter you may step up and increase the challenge be it deciding to go faster at a short distance (which i'd argue can be tougher than going longer, for instance the mile is as hard as it gets) or pushing out the boat and increasing the distance you take on.

I wish the best of luck to everyone in their training and racing

Rant over:)

Wow you must be really insecure in your own ability to feel so strongly about this!

I don't see how what other people say they do takes away from your achievements?

pgibbo

ronanmac wrote: »

as for the information evening with the Ironman mention that's annoyed people, I believe that was organised and promoted by Galway Triathlon Club?

Correct

Oryx

People within the sport arent misled by the mixup between Ironman and Ironman 70.3, or by marathon and mini-marathon. The only people who put all these achievements together into the one homogenous lump of 'triathlon' or 'running' are those who dont train and dont understand the achievement anyway.

People who dont run 26.2 miles or swim/bike/run at any distance will never understand the effort it takes and the huge achievement it is. Those that do, instinctively understand.

As for the misnomer of the Galway 'Ironman', well again, the only people truly misled are those that havent a clue about it anyway.

The Bad Pawn

pmg001 wrote: »

Wow you must be really insecure in your own ability to feel so strongly about this!
?

PMG I'm unsure why you think I have to be insecure in order to feel strongly about something?
Perhaps that's the decision making process which you use and are therefore making the assumption that others think the same way as you do?

I'm sorry but that's not the case.

As clearly stated by the title of this thread my point is simply that "a Half Ironman is not an Ironman" and so what if it bugs me that some people act like it is. What i'm saying is not rocket science, it's simply a fact. I resent that you feel the need to drop such an assumptive and negative comment about me personally into what is a pretty straight forward debate.

I agree with you, other people saying they did an IM when they only did a HIM doesn;t take away from others achievement, but it does dilute the perception of the work they did.

From my original post you'll see I have the utmost respect for all people no matter what distance they decide they want to train at, or indeed what pace that suits them.

Post script: I agree with the earlier posters that 99% of this confusion is down to dubious PR and advertising by the event organisers. At the end of the day they're the ones with the marketing budgets and press releases

Izoard

[QUOTE=The Bad Pawn;69192087 I agree with the earlier posters that 99% of this confusion is down to dubious PR and advertising by the event organisers. At the end of the day they're the ones with the marketing budgets and press releases[/FONT]
[/FONT][/QUOTE]

I don't think this is a real surprise...the main reason why ~2,000 will show up in Galway is because it has the "Ironman" badge - the "70.3" bit is just noise.
It is in everyone's (in the orbit of the event) interest to promote the Ironman element and not surprisingly there will be many finishers who will be calling themselves Ironmen - just the way it is.

tunney

Izoard wrote: »

I don't think this is a real surprise...the main reason why ~2,000 will show up in Galway is because it has the "Ironman" badge - the "70.3" bit is just noise.
It is in everyone's (in the orbit of the event) interest to promote the Ironman element and not surprisingly there will be many finishers who will be calling themselves Ironmen - just the way it is.

Met someone in the pool this morning, strong swimmer, nice guy. He tried to rescue me, bit embarassing having to explain I wasn't actually drowning - I just hadn't swam for a while.

Anyways we got chatting and he mentioned he was doing Galway 70.30 and he had a few questions about HIMs. He asked "and what sort of pace will the average punter being going at?" I could see he was a little concerned about finishing back of pack. When I said "7-9 hours", he laughed and said "So I should be fine with five hours then" great swimmer.

pgibbo

tunney wrote: »

He asked "and what sort of pace will the average punter being going at?" I could see he was a little concerned about finishing back of pack. When I said "7-9 hours", he laughed and said "So I should be fine with five hours then" great swimmer.

He must be more than just a great swimmer if he's going to complete it in 5 hours.

Jk_Eire

Fair play to anyone completing any kind of race. But it would be great if everyone took stock in order to properly compare their achievements without developing a false sense of smugness.

My example. I was chatting to a friend after I came back from a run. We spoke about running and cycling, and I mentioned that I've done a few duathlons (phoenix park series) and some road and mountain races over the past 6 months (5k up to half marathon with everything in between)

A sense of smugness developed across her face and body language and she responded in a belittling tone.
"Oh, only duathlons, I did a full triathlon like Ironman.You have to train much more, and it's harder than you might think."

Turns out it was Try a Tri in Athlone.
750m swim/20km bike/5km run.

*Sigh* I didn't say anything. I commended the achievement, which it was after all.
If it were in front of other people as an attempt to brag over me, I may have pointed out that it was in fact about 10% of an Ironman.

Patrick_K

Patrick_K wrote: »

Do some people actually call themselves an Ironman ?
Get a grip people !

+1, most of the folks competing in ironmen comps couldn't drop a hard sh1t.

The Bad Pawn

RoverJames wrote: »

+1, most of the folks competing in ironmen comps couldn't drop a hard sh1t.

Rover, you seem very familiar with Sh1t.. hmm?

<RoverJames banned for trolling>

BeepBeep67

Bit of craic this thread - but I'll only managed to read half of it - so no tatoo for me then!

griffin100

I'm even more familiar with self rightous opinionated w&nkers who talk through their arse

These would be the people who do half ironman races and say that they've done an Ironman then?

The Bad Pawn

RoverJames wrote: »

I'm even more familiar with self rightous opinionated w&nkers who talk through their arse

Definitely sounds like you need to start changing the people you socialise with then Rover

:pac:

tunney

griffin100 wrote: »

These would be the people who do half ironman races and say that they've done an Ironman then?

You you sleep with someone who has completed an ironman - have you done an Ironman?

The Bad Pawn

tunney wrote: »

You you sleep with someone who has completed an ironman - have you done an Ironman?

If your a contract killer and whack an Ironman for the mob - have you done an Ironman?

griffin100

You you sleep with someone who has completed an ironman - have you done an Ironman?

Feck it, now I'm gonna have to share my finishers T shirt with the wife!!

tunney

griffin100 wrote: »

Feck it, now I'm gonna have to share my finishers T shirt with the wife!!

The question "who finished first?" just got a lot more awkward.