The New Ironman Pro Membership

OK, your demands have been heard: here is a new edition of SCOURGES of MY EXISTENCE!!!

1) Well, the rumors are true. The WTC is charging elite/pro athletes an annual membership fee of $750. With this membership, an elite/pro athlete has a "complimentary" entry into any WTC event they want, excepting of course IM "Worlds" and 70.3 "Worlds"(see here). Why and for what is not made clear - there are no details about "the Ironman Anti-Doping Program" - drug testing just at races? out-of-competition testing? Or just handing out some "say no to drugs" pamphlets at races?

What is clear is that is just another typical WTC policy that serves to disadvantage the vast majority of pros who aren't at the very top of the sport, or who aren't independently wealthy. It's a fact that only a small percentage of pro triathletes actually make enough money between races and sponsorships to make a living. The rest of us are sleeping on couches, working part-time or even full-time jobs in order to pursue our passion. WTC has not offered any real assistance to pros - no comped or reduced entry fees (except to those who finish in the top 3 the year before) or homestay programs in their policy, and most race directors don't go out of their way to offer these things because it affects their bottom line.

Offering these much-needed services to pros would engender good will for the races and the brand, worth far more than the minuscule lost profit, but this is not the kind of logic that WTC follows. A prize purse of $25k for most of these 70.3 races is insultingly low to begin with, but then they distribute over 80% of that prize money to the top three, and only pay five-deep. If you're in that top three, great, you have enough money to pay for your expenses and a little left over. Everyone else, tough luck!

So now there's a $750 "membership fee" - too bad we already pay $100 for our elite license and membership with USAT. Are WTC events in the USA not USAT races? The gimmick of complimentary entries is just a gimmick - it's not complimentary because you've paid $750! It's a way for WTC to get pro athletes competing in several of their events each year, because no one is going to pay the $750 with the intention of competing in only one or two races. Of course it's also a way for WTC to MAKE MORE MONEY, the credo for all such money-grubbing corporations and indeed for our capitalistic society (and you wonder why this country is going to hell).

WTC has the deep pockets to easily afford drug testing for elite athletes, but instead they stick the fee on precisely those athletes many of whom don't have the means to afford it, without working more hours at their part-time job or asking for a (second) loan from their parents. This is not the PGA where golfers who finish last in a tournament are still taking home like $12,000. This is triathlon where if you don't finish in the top three, you better have your eye on the classifieds. The ITU and USAT work together to provide out-of-competition drug testing for elite triathletes competing in draft-legal ITU racing, and no, these elites don't have to pay for it.

I want drug testing, every triathlete who isn't doping wants drug testing. But it has to include random, out-of-competition drug testing, or it's useless. AND pro triathletes struggling to make ends meet in a sport where there's little to no support or equity should NOT have to foot the bill for this privilege. WTC, you are a SCOURGE of MY EXISTENCE, you are part of the problem in this sport, not the solution. I won't be doing any WTC event next year or in future years, unless there is a significant change in policy.


2) Speaking of WTC events, my last one in a long time is finally coming up next weekend - the Clearwater 70.3 Champs. No, I refuse to call it "World Championships" because it's not. Aside from all their pro-unfriendly and triathlon-unfriendly policies, the other reason I won't ever be doing this race again is because it's in THE MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER! I was training seriously in December, so this season ends up being nearly 12 months! I'm so sick and tired of training right now. Mark my words: next year I'm ending my season in early October with Scott Tinley's Triathlon as my last race of the year. Or if Amica is the same weekend as it was this year, I could do that again because it's just a sprint. But anyway, s triathlon season lasting an entire year is definitely a SCOURGE of MY EXISTENCE.