IM reg. changes - no more 3rd party sign ups

Even though 3rd-party reg is what got me a IMLP spot for 2008, I like the rule .

Do you know if this applies to IMKY which is two weeks before Wisconsin??

NA Sports doesn't run KY.  They may, or may not, follow the same rules.

I disagree with it ...... it is pretty darn easy to ask someone to sign you up on site just in case you can't be there, or don't have access to a computer on that day.  But that's jsut me.

Everyone wants a piece of the brand, so they will still sell out in less than two hours (IMLP, IMCA, IMWI, IMFL that is ...... CDA and AZ will still take time).  But all NA Sports is doing is pushing all the blame on Active now and not taking any responsibility for their own booking.  Everyone knows how reliable Active is and how good their servers are ...... they never go down during IM sign-ups ....

Did Melanie also say that you had to pay the registration fee upfront if you register in person as well?

I bet IMNA really doesn't care about how many people can or can't get online registration. As long as a few weeks later they get $475 from each of the vouchers they hand out on registration day, they couldn't care less WHERE it came from.

I'm willing to bet that they are seeing that a large enough percentage of the vouchers (probably 3rd party ones) aren't ponying up the fee. They were probably ones who said, "Oh if my friend is gonna do it next year, maybe I will too. Get me a voucher and I'll sit on it til I have to actually pay". Chances are that if a person him/herself were to stand in line for a voucher, that s/he will commit to the race.

IMNA knows that they can sell out these slots, but if all the vouchers aren't being accounted for, it creates more work for them to put them into lottery or charity fund slots. So without much more information, I don't think that it is out of the mercy of people trying to register online, it's about selling out all the slots in the simplest manner. Money first. Then the athletes.

Just as easy as it is to ask someone else to sign you up on site, you can have someone else to sign you up on the computer. Granted, you would have to have a little bit of trust in this person since you'd have to give them your CC#. They'll also have to have your health insurance info.

That's what I had to do to get into IMFL 2006. I didn't know anyone who was going to be standing in line for the registration (or even if 3rd party vouchers were allowed back then) and was flying, obviously with no online access.

I saw pics of people sleeping overnight in line for Lake Placid 2009....I don't know....perhaps they got there at the a$scrack of dawn, and went back to sleep waiting for the registration to open. I don't know if I'm at that point of Ironman Idolization yet though. Ironman registrations are going down in history with iPhones, XBox (or is it Playstation?), Tickle Me Elmos....etc.

Crazy.

NO. I think those people slept overnight there.

Burial plots