International IM: How to?
When I first came to triathlon one of the primary draws to the sport was the fact that there are races all over the world and maybe it would lead to more travel (a long time goal of mine) in my future. Then the realities of kids and a two-career household eventually make the idea of such a trip seem overwhelming to orchestrate - family vacations can be a logistical challenge as it is, let alone doing one around a big IM. My 57yo brother-in-law has invited me to join him doing no less than 4 international IMs but I have wilted. While they provide a constant dose of inspiration, it is not lost on me that many of our teammates who do these - @Paul Hough, @Juan Vergara et al. are retired/near retirement/kids in college.
Calling all international peeps, here are some questions:
1) What is felt to be best practice with regard to how much time to allot for an International IM? 2 weeks? Week before and a week after or more time after to dovetail into a vacation?
2) I noticed in a recent RR that there are boutique travel companies for IMers - I assume these are pricey, making an expensive trip even more expensive. How much do they actually improve the experience?
3) Are there specific IMs that are more family friendly? Seems Roth is a good one.
Any other advice is appreciated.
DS
Calling all international peeps, here are some questions:
1) What is felt to be best practice with regard to how much time to allot for an International IM? 2 weeks? Week before and a week after or more time after to dovetail into a vacation?
2) I noticed in a recent RR that there are boutique travel companies for IMers - I assume these are pricey, making an expensive trip even more expensive. How much do they actually improve the experience?
3) Are there specific IMs that are more family friendly? Seems Roth is a good one.
Any other advice is appreciated.
DS
1
Comments
@Doug - if I wasn't racing new venues I would already be done with Ironman. It does help that most of my kids are gone. I have 3 adult sons out of college on their own and 1 daughter starting college next month. Yes, international races are pricey and it goes up with how many family members you are taking and how much touring you plan to do. As to how much time you need...I would say at least a week. A lot of people make it a once in a lifetime experience and will stay a week for the race and a couple of weeks to travel within Europe afterwards. By contrast, I like to go a little deeper into the local area. Because I still work and tend to go overseas two times a year (not always for a race), I typically shoot for 7-10 days and carefully select my travel to incorporate weekends and holidays. For example, I'll be doing Ironman Norway 1 July next year, and will be touring all that week including the 4th of July ... one less vacation day to use.
I've used both Endurance Sports Travel and Nirvana Europe in the past. They make their money by negotiating block rooms at hotel venues and selling them at a premium...typically not much more than you would pay booking on your own. Both typically have entry slots to popular Ironman races which they also sell at a premium. RaceQuest is even smaller but they can get you into Roth. Sometimes they grab the best locations, sometimes they don't. I typically check their prices before looking on my own. The last time I went to Zurich, I booked on my own, but specifically chose a hotel that was in Nirvana's portfolio because I know they negotiate very early breakfast times on race morning...sure enough the hotel had breakfast open at 0400 for IM Switzerland even though I wasn't using Nirvana at all.
These travel companies can reduce the stress if you have never been to a location. E.g., little things like giving you 2 CO2s to use for the race since you can't fly with them (I just buy them at a bike shop or the expo and give them away afterwards for good karma). They will set up preview tours of the bike course, and shuttle you from the nearest airport or train station, etc. I used EST at 70.3 WC in Vegas years ago when it was stupendously hot and Ken Glah rented a RV that he posted at the run/finish area so families could go in and cool down while watching and later the athletes. My daughter overheated just watching the race and this foresight was a blessing. Both companies are great.
All told I've been to 30 foreign countries but am most familiar with Northern Europe. Either from racing, vacationing or actually living in the country, I can provide some advice on Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Holland, England, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa.
As to family friendly...I think the best was IM Cozumel. I've done it twice staying at the Cozumel Palace (all inclusive). My daughter was a young teen then and loved. I brought my mother-in-law ... she loved it. Everyone was happy. I got maximum SAUs! If you haven't been out of the country, it's a good place to start, then you can branch out. But first, you need passports. Remember that they are good for 10 years, but minors are only good for 5 years and both parents have to show in person to get one for a child to ensure that one parent is not trying to spirit the child out of the country without consent of the other.
1) How long: in my opinion it's more of a budget driven issue than a best practice. Specifically from a racing perspective my minimum is a Tuesday arrival for a Sunday race (which gives me 3 training days and a total rest day in Saturday) and/or one day per time zone.
2) Travel Companies: For us it totally depends on how close to transition we can get a hotel. We always attempt walking distance and if that is the case we won't have any support (just a rented car and Google). At IM races we would always purchase the VIP package for my wife to be confortable on race day (their cheapest version is sufficient and the price varies from 100 bucks in say IM Florida to 1000 in Kona). We've used travel companies only twice: IM Los Cabos (Endurance Sports Travel) and Roth (RaceQuest). Both totally different. Both provided more than what we really use, therefore we paid a premium for unused services (but where very happy with that those we used).
3) Roth is definitely family friendly. But I guess the answer to your question highly depend on ones definition of "family friendly". For us it's never a key driver in deciding where to race. Nevertheless there are two main ingredients which tend to make my wife happier:
- how many times does she get to see me on the course (both bike and run). Single loop races are obviously boring. In Roth she saw me 8 times (record!).
- how "confortable" can she be wife be while I'm out on the course. In Roth she did not have time to look for comfort as she was running around all day to see me. At IM races the VIP package provide all the comfort she needs.
We've never taken our kids to my races as they tend to be during spring / autum when's the boys are in school (currently they are 15 and 10). If and when I take them to a "summer race" my own definition of "family friendly" might change (but by then you will be the expert telling me all the best practices!!!)
Hope this helps.
Doug - if you are interested in IM Norway, I wouldn't put it off too many years. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the Haugesund venue will only last about 3 more years before they move on. The race is capped at 2000 but I doubt they will hit even 1500. Here are the number of finishers for the Haugesund 70.3:
2012 - 389; 2013 - 1051; 2014 - 1196; 2015 - 1332; 2016 - 1171; 2017 - 902.
So it was in decline after the peak in 2015. I think they saw the collapse in registrations this year and made the decision to announce the full before this year's event was even held. They have also indicated that there will be a new 70.3 venue in Norway, possibly in 2018, but more likely in 2019. That will further hurt IM Haugesund, Norway. So unless you want to try and get into Norseman, this is your best bet for a Norwegian 140.6. Meanwhile, I am excited about doing a race that isn't crowded.
@Doug
Here's another tip that can apply to any IM. Book your rooms immediately...even before registering. The Scandic Maritim at the finish line is already completely booked (I'm there). And some of the hotels I was interested in Iceland (return trip) sold out the night they opened up (one year out). My itinerary is:
Bergen 1 night, Haugesund 4 nights, Bergen - 2 nights, Iceland - 3 nights. This will be just Karen and myself so much easier to find a room. Unlike the U.S. where the standard room is 2 double/queen beds, the standard configuration in most of Europe is 2 single beds or 1 double. When I've brought my daughter along, I look for 'triple' rooms (1 double + 1 single). Family rooms are even harder to find. I was touring around Northern England last month with wife, daughter and mother-in-law and booked 2 rooms each night (one with a double bed, and one with 2 singles). The few triple/family rooms go very quickly...don't wait.