Lost treasure

Ah, memories. Found this treasure in the email archives from a class last spring. Thank gawd for chat.

We tried. We really did. Made it 1.5 hours (class was 3 hours), then the torture became unbearable. Researchers should not even try to teach.
------------------------------------------------
C:
endless yammering
yet nothing is being said
alcohol daydreams

M:
Ice cold meat locker
More inaudible rubbish
Ice cream save me now

C:
oh screw the ice cream
this calls for serious booze
vodka gimlet please

why such a cold room
freeze students to submission
no attention span

M:
Hard core prescriptions
Alcohol and cigarettes
No Intervention

C:
cookie in pocket
an unexpected surprise
eat now or later?

M:
WTF is this?
He keeps saying "binary"
The point evades me.

C:
oh there is no point
existential head banging
keep thumping noise down

M:
Eat out of boredom
Eat to avoid this lecture
Eat it this instant.

C:
too old for boozing
thought my drinking days were done
must reconsider

Ironman's Sad Loss of Integrity (Part #3)

Sigh. Ironman, oh Ironman. What's happened to your logic? You withdraw a blatantly flawed program and bluntly state that you were wrong, but stick to the derailed logic that prompted the firestorm in the first place.

Thanks for at least paying enough attention to respond quickly and kill a tragically stupid idea.

http://ironman.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/ironman-access#axzz13gVMhFYm

Ironman's Sad Loss of Integrity (Part #2)

A few months ago, WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) bought the Muncie Endurathon, a half-iron distance race that has been around for over 30 years. They then proceeded to extort a 60-day blackout from the city. This effectively cancelled several local races (which were shorter and not a threat for business). It also raised the registration fee by a good $100 or so.

After reading the article below, I wrote a letter to the Ironman folks. One local event organizer fought the 60-day ban, but there were many other events that were affected as well, including some raising money for charity.

Delaware County Commissioners want to blackout dates around Ironman Triathlon
Star Press - Muncie, Ind.
Author: KEITH ROYSDON
Date: Sep 22, 2010

MUNCIE -- Weeks before it was publicly announced that the Muncie Endurathon had been purchased by an international Ironman triathlon group, the Delaware County commissioners promised they would implement a 60-day blackout of competing events on roads near Prairie Creek Reservoir, site of the race.

But word of the blackout surfaced only this week, and the news has left the man behind another local triathlon group, Muncie Multi-Sport, wondering what the blackout means to his annual slate of five races.

Steve Tomboni asked the Delaware County commissioners this week why they promised a blackout on other "road events in and around the Prairie Creek Reservoir area" for 30 days before and 30 days after upcoming Ironman 70.3 Muncie events staged by World Triathlon Corporation.

Since the 2011 Ironman Muncie 70.3 race is set for July 9, a 30-day, before-and-after blackout would overlap with one of Tomboni's events -- one set for June 1-- by a single day.

"Why 60 days?" Tomboni asked in Monday's commissioners meeting.

"It's not 60 days," Commissioners President Todd Donati said. "It's 30 days prior and 30 days after."

The blackout also came up during Tuesday evening's meeting of the Muncie parks board, which heard a request from Ironman attorney Jan Abbs that the park board enact a similar 60-day blackout on use of the city park at Prairie Creek Reservoir for events similar to the Ironman race.

The parks board ultimately tabled the blackout request until its next monthly meeting after board member Mary Beth Lambert asked Tomboni if the 60-day blackout would cause problems for his Muncie Multi-Sport events. Tomboni said the blackout was "problematic" in scheduling multi-sport events.

"It seems a little overkill to ask for 60 days on the only lake in the county," Tomboni said.

The commissioners made the promise in a July 21 letter to Jon Moll, another DeFur Voran attorney representing Ironman Muncie 70.3. The announcement that Ironman had purchased Muncie Endurathon was made Sept. 9.

At Tuesday's parks board meeting, Mayor Sharon McShurley said the "end goal" was to enable successful events at Prairie Creek.

Donati argued on Monday that the blackout would actually benefit Tomboni's events since they wouldn't be in direct competition with the larger Ironman race for runners, volunteers and vendors.

"They're making a mountain out of a mole hill," Donati said about Tomboni's concerns. "He has five events, they have one. We all have to get along."

Tomboni is a former Muncie Endurathon race director who left the local race and this year founded his own group, Muncie Multi-Sport, and his own series of five races.

Tomboni's races are for the most part duathlons, which combine running and biking, as opposed to triathlons like the former Endurathon and the upcoming Ironman Muncie 70.3, which add swimming to the mix. The last scheduled Muncie Multi-Sport event this year is Oct. 2.

Response to the first year of Muncie Multi-Sport's events has been good, Tomboni said, with 400 participating in the most recent race and 2,700 T-shirts ordered for athletes and volunteers for the summer-long series.

Tomboni said he didn't know what was behind the commissioners' promise -- which was signed by Donati and fellow Commissioner Larry Bledsoe but not Commissioner Don Dunnuck -- but noted that the Muncie parks board, not the commissioners, controls the city park at Prairie Creek.

The commissioners' letter specifically conveys their promise to "not allow permits for road events," however.

In an interview after Tuesday's parks board meeting, Bledsoe told The Star Press he allowed his signature stamp to be used on the letter promising the blackout after being assured the blackout would not interfere with Tomboni's events.

I ignored Donati's flawed logic and stunning lack of math skills and wrote a letter to the Ironman folks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Carla Happel [mailto:cghappel@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:56 PM
To: Jessica Weidensall; Catie Case
Cc: cghappel@yahoo.com
Subject: Ironman 70.3 Muncie

I'm writing you because I couldn't find any other appropriate contacts on the ironmanusa.com website. Please feel free to forward to the appropriate individuals.

I find the following very concerning:

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109220312

Does Ironman demand 60-days of inactivity at all of their other race sites? Why? How on earth is a local sprint tri a competitor? I am a triathlete, and have done a couple of IM 70.3s, and am registered for a full IM next year. In no way does the availability of other local events influence my decision to register for an IM race!

I am terribly disappointed in the Ironman organization over this, and appalled at the arrogance shown here by such a move. Why are you trying to put local organizers out of business by closing their venues for two months, in the middle of race season, no less????

I'm sad to say that if this proves to be typical Ironman behavior, I will look elsewhere for half and full-iron distance races in the future. Next year's IM Louisville will be my last Ironman event.

Please reconsider what you are doing to the local economies, particularly of Muncie.

Thank you.

Carla Happel
USAT #233308

I got two replies later that same day.

Reply #1:

RE: Ironman 70.3 Muncie
Thursday, September 23, 2010 6:55 PM
From: "Jessica Weidensall" <jessica@ironman.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To: "Carla Happel" <cghappel@yahoo.com>
Cc: "Catie Case" <catie@ironman.com>

Hi Carla,

Thank you for your interest in Ironman 70.3 Muncie and for your feedback. To address your question, Ironman has varying levels of restrictive clauses in regard to its host venues. Each race is handled differently based on the nature of the venue, history of the event, needs of the community, event location, historical events in the area, etc. These are in place for a number of reasons, which I have outlined below.

1. To ensure a successful event. We have made an investment in the event and the community and are ensuring our ability to acquire permits, recruit volunteers and secure local sponsors and media. In this case, there is an event organizer who would like to plan a Half-Ironman distance event (same distance) less than 30 days before Ironman 70.3 Muncie. In Muncie, anyone can put on anything at any time outside of 30 days before and 30 days after the event. Muncie has a great history with triathlon (largely based on the reputation of the event we acquired) and we take our efforts to protect that history and event very seriously.

2. To protect the interests of the community and the residents. One of our goals is to protect the residents who live and work along our event courses. Back-to-back events scheduled each weekend would inconvenience residents.

3. To ensure quality of the events. Often times residents do not demarcate between events and look at Ironman as representing all triathlons in a region. If, as often is the case, an event company comes in and puts on a poor event with negative repercussions in the community whether through traffic problems, issues with payment to suppliers, or worst case a serious injury, it impacts all events in that market. Also note that an Ironman event in a region generates millions of dollars in economic impact to a community, not to mention thousands of dollars for various non-profits in an area. Our goal is to ensure that there is a long-term benefit for the community.

In the end I hope you will reconsider competing in Ironman events in the future, as we appreciate your participation. Restrictive clauses and contracts are in place to protect all parties in the event communities and in the end to enhance the overall athlete experience.

I hope that helps clarify some items for you.

Best,

Jessica

Reply #2:

From: "Tom Ziebart" <tom@ironman.com>
Add sender to Contacts
To: "cghappel@yahoo.com" <cghappel@yahoo.com>, "brian@pacelinepromotions.com", "Jessica Weidensall" <jessica@ironman.com>, "Ryan Tolle"
Cc: "Shane Facteau" <shane@ironman.com>

Carla –

Thank you for your e-mail. My name is Tom Ziebart and I work for Ironman. My title is Operations Manager and I over see a number of Ironman races. We are very excited about the new Ironman 70.3 Muncie. The Muncie race has been around forever (I did the race back in 1984 when I lived in Michigan) and is one of the most respected long course triathlons in the United States. We hope to continue to improve the race and look forward to working with the local organizations that have supported this event for over 25 years. Please see below as I have answered your questions and concerns.

-----Original Message-----

From: Carla Happel [mailto:cghappel@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:56 PM
To: Jessica Weidensall; Catie Case
Cc: cghappel@yahoo.com
Subject: Ironman 70.3 Muncie

I'm writing you because I couldn't find any other appropriate contacts on the ironmanusa.com website. Please feel free to forward to the appropriate individuals.

I find the following very concerning:

http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109220312

Does Ironman demand 60-days of inactivity at all of their other race sites?

In some cases when we purchase an event we do work with the local government to secure a date and site that cannot be used for 30 days before or after our events. This does not happen at every site, but it does take place for good reasons.

Why?

We do this for a number of reasons.

#1 - Use of the site and roads for a triathlon puts a burden on the park and roads around the park. Parks are used by everyone during the summer and if an event is held each weekend at that park, then the community is not able to use the park. Same with the roads around the park. If an event takes place each weekend and the roads are closed the people living on these roads are not able to travel on them during the weekend. We want to make sure that the community is not overburdened by events each weekend.

#2 - Events also put a burden on the Police, Fire Rescue, Lifeguards and EMS. Having an event each weekend would mean that each of these groups would be working each weekend.

#3 - Other Events - this might seem to hurt other events, but we have seen the opposite happen at other sites. Events that take place 6-8 weeks before our events have seen tremendous increases in their participation because of Ironman. A good example of this is the Tupper Lake Triathlon in New York. It takes place in June about 6 weeks before Ironman Lake Placid. Before IMLP took place, the Tupper Lake Triathlon had about 200 participants. Now the race has over 1,000 as athletes use the event to get ready for IMLP. The opposite is true when an event takes place less than 30 days before our events. Those events tend to get less participants as athletes choose to do the IM race and not the local event just before the IM race.

How on earth is a local sprint tri a competitor?

We do not consider any event a competitor. We know how difficult it is to produce an event and we try to work with all of the local groups to make sure everyone has safe and successful events.

I am a triathlete, and have done a couple of IM 70.3s, and am registered for a full IM next year. In no way does the availability of other local events influence my decision to register for an IM race!

Glad to hear that you have done some of our races. I hope that you have had a good experience at these events.

I am terribly disappointed in the Ironman organization over this, and appalled at the arrogance shown here by such a move. Why are you trying to put local organizers out of business by closing their venues for two months, in the middle of race season, no less????

I hope that my answers to your first questions have changed your feeling toward the IM organization. We are not trying to put local organizers out of business. We are working with local organizations to make sure that this site is not overused. We are also working with them to support many local charities and non-profit groups.

I'm sad to say that if this proves to be typical Ironman behavior, I will look elsewhere for half and full-iron distance races in the future. Next year's IM Louisville will be my last Ironman event.

Good Luck with your training for IM Louisville. It is a wonderful race and I'm sure that you will enjoy the event. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns.

Please reconsider what you are doing to the local economies, particularly of Muncie.

Carla Happel
USAT #233308

Thomas A. Ziebart
Ironman

tom@ironman.com
407-765-9608 -cell
352-324-3715 - fax
1006 Hamlin Ave
Howey in the Hills, Florida 34737

In all fairness to Ironman, I've heard that this situation was resolved somehow, but have no idea what that resolution might be. I have not been able to find any news articles about it.

Next: Ironman's Sad Loss of Integrity (Part #3)

Ironman's Sad Loss of Integrity (Part #1)

This is a summary of the last two days of foolishness over at Ironman. I'm not really commenting here, as it is so stunning that I need some time to pull myself together and write something coherent. Opinions to come.

To the uninitiated: "Ironman" is a trademark, a brand. WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) bought Ironman some time last year. Since then there has been a distinct trend to extort as much money as possible out of participants.

October 27, 2010, the marketing geniuses at World Triathlon Corporation announced the following program.

Ironman Access: New Athlete Membership Program

WTC Introduces New Athlete Membership Program

Published Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Today World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) launches an exclusive athlete membership program called Ironman Access. In addition to other member benefits, the program will offer advance registration for Ironman events worldwide before entries open to the general public. Membership into Ironman Access is on a first-come, first-served basis and will close once it reaches capacity.

Advance race registration for Ironman Access members will open one week prior to the event’s general entry registration date. Athletes are required to pay the general entry fee to the selected event.

Members may choose to register early for one or more of the following 2011 and 2012 Ironman races:

2011 Ironman Florida
2011 Ironman Arizona
2011 Ironman Cozumel
2011 Ironman Western Australia
2012 Ironman New Zealand
2012 Ironman South Africa
2012 Ironman Australi
2012 Ironman St. George
2012 Ironman Lanzarote
2012 Ironman Texas
2012 Ironman China
2012 Ironman Brazi
2012 Ironman France
2012 Ironman Coeur d’Alene
2012 Ironman Austria
2012 Ironman Switzerland
2012 Ironman European Championship
2012 Ironman Lake Placid
2012 Ironman UK
2012 Ironman Regensburg
2012 Ironman Canada
2012 Ironman Louisville
2012 Ironman Wisconsin
2012 Ironman Wales

In addition to exclusive, advance registration, Ironman Access will offer perks including an official membership ID card; a second chance in the Ironman Lottery Program*; two VIP passes per registered event; a one-year subscription to LAVA Magazine; discounts on Ironman partner products at shopironman.com and at Ironman’s on-site event retail stores; and a 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC broadcast DVD. Membership benefits are valid for one year starting from activation date. In order to take advantage of early event registration, membership must be current. The annual membership fee is $1,000 USD.

*With purchase of a general lottery entry.

Needless to say, this has set off a major sh*tstorm on Facebook and tri discussion boards. WTC has taken a real beating since the announcement, yet didn't feel compelled to respond until the next day.

What follows is the series of FB postings by Ironman. The arrogance is truly impressive.

UPDATE #1: After reading your comments on FB, we realize there is confusion regarding the Ironman Access program. Ironman strives to improve the entry process for our events, many selling out a year in advance with on-site registration. This program resolves two prevalent issues. (Stand by for additional posts)

UPDATE #2: 1) Currently, to guarantee entry to a number of our events, athletes travel to the event location one year in advance and wait in line to register for the following year. For athletes who are taking a weekend of their time, paying for their travel, hotel, airfare, etc., this program is an alternative. (More to follow)

UPDATE #3: 2) Most importantly, Ironman has a significant number of athletes who register for multiple events with the intention of racing only one of them. Once they successfully register for their "first choice" event, these athletes do not attend the other events in which they have registered, thereby reducing opportunities for other athletes. (Next post to follow)

UPDATE #4: Ironman Access enables athletes to compete in the event they want + eliminates their need to register for multiple events. As a result, more slots will be available for general registration across the entire series. (Final update to follow)

In closing, Ironman Access is a limited program, which will increase the overall number of general registration slots and provide an alternative to those who do not want to stand in line and take two trips to an event location to race once.

Oh I see. We're all confused.

Coming soon: Ironman's Sad Loss of Integrity (Part #2)

A not-so-politically-correct conversation

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.