How many are doing Ironman Brand races this year (Page 2)

I'm thinking it's more of a street cred thing. Where most uninformed people won't trigger on B2B, if you say "Ironman Raleigh" then people are all "oooo" and "ahhh".

but if you say "I did an ironman distance race this weekend" and they say "how far is that" and you start with 2.4 mile swim, their eyes glaze over as you launch into the 112 mile bike...I think you get the street cred at that point, no?

I've done both for the half distance.  Here's my comparison from when I did the Augusta 70.3 last year (since I lived there) and I did White Lake HIM this year. 

Honestly- I liked White Lake alot better evn though the bike and run course were boring.  I felt like I got more bang for the buck for White Lake than I did for Augusta 70.3. 

Logistically it was just better- packet pickup was so easy along with bike check in, parking, etc.  The logistics for Augusta 70.3 were insane- I had to be there so early to get in and out of the TA, but then had to wait a few hours for my wave start- I thought it was awful and I even live there and know my way around.  The packet pickup at Augusta was a long process the way the lines were set up.  And they had a mandatory athlete's meeting that you had to attend.  As you left the meeting you got your hand stamped while exiting the conference room.  And with that hand stamp you were able to get in line to pick up your packet- it was crazy. 

The food after Augusta was awful- they ran out of all the good stuff by the time I finished.  White Lake post race food was better IMO.  And I thought the White Lake aid stations were awesome- fully stocked by having endurolytes, gels, chips, etc.  You just don't get all that at larger races.  And...I like the non crowded bike course at White Lake.  Augusta had to many athletes the bike course was super crowded and you had so many people cheating and drafting.  Because get this- you paid $250 to do the race and had 3,000 athletes, but they didn't have any USAT draft officials out there on the bike course even though they had the money to pay them.  Just some guys from some motorcycle club basically making sure everyone was ok- totally not checking for drafting.  It was ridiculous if you ask me.

Augusta also did not have aid stations every mile of the run- and it was hot.  White Lake did which was muc appreciated.

Overall I think with the IM races you pay for the name and hype that goes with it.  You are just another number in those races.  I like the smaller independent races for the HIM distance- I don't need a lot of spectators and crowd to do a race, unless it's a stand alone marathon.  Then I need a big crowd   I do like the M Dot IM races though that's all I've done so I can't compare it to anything else.  However, I do think they are getting too expensive and would consider doing B2B in the future.  I think setup does a great job with their events and woudn't hesitate to do one of their fulls down the road.

IMKY!  Did B2B last year and have the funds to do an IM sponsored event so why not!  And it just gets annoying saying I did an Iron Distance triathlon when people ask about what races i have done...so saying Ironman might make up for the 550 buck registration fee.

I just Finished my Ironman70.3 Florida and had a AWESOME time. I enjoyed  doing the race with 2400 poeple and the hype that comes with an Ironman brand race.