Boilermaker and Beyond

A few weeks ago I wrote about the quick sellout of the Berlin Marathon- well, the Florida Ironman did them one better.

For those not in the know participation in an Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride and concluding with a marathon run (26.2 miles).  While the Ironman held in Hawaii is the most prestigious there are twenty eight other Ironman events held around the world (the closest takes place in Lake Placid in July).

These races are strict on finishing times, 17 hours overall, and are not cheap- $650 for a general application, $1,300 (in pledges) as a charity participant.

Anyway back to Florida…

The 2013 Florida Ironman, held in early November in Panama City, has already sold out. That’s not the story; the story is the event filled in less than a minute! Three thousand participants in less than a minute- think about the computer registration system you need to deal with that explosive demand. From a purely selfish side I’m glad we use the same registration company (Active) that Ironman uses.

So does anyone wonder about the demise of the mailed-in race application?