For today’s post, I’m starting with a confession: after my140.6-mile triathlon, I won’t really be an Ironman. At least, not an officially sanctioned one. That’s because even though the Vineman is an Ironman-distance triathlon, it doesn’t bear the official Ironman logo - known affectionately throughout the sport as the M-dot.
To casual observers, there wouldn’t appear to be much of a distinction, but within the sport of triathlon, it’s a topic of contention. The question has been asked in countless training groups, magazine columns, and online forums – should someone who completes a non-M-dot event be allowed to wear the official Ironman logo?
It shouldn’t shock you to hear that the answer from the World Triathlon Corporation (the company who organizes the Ironman) is no. However, it might surprise you to learn that many age-group triathletes feel the same way. And I actually wouldn’t have a problem with accepting that line of reasoning - if only it weren’t so hypocritical. Or if the sport of running hadn’t already traveled down this road in a much more accommodating manner.
The M-dot was born back in the days when the Hawaii Ironman was the only event of its kind. As triathlons grew in popularity, the logo came to represent the absolute pinnacle of the sport, attainable by only a select tier of talented competitors. Today, the Kona race remains the universally acknowledged world championship of long distance triathlon, with the M-dot its most easily recognized representation.
So if the sport of triathlon wanted to keep the M-dot logo exclusive to the championship event, I’d completely sympathize. The problem is that they’ve sabotaged their own exclusivity to the point of ridiculousness.
Over the past decade, the WTC decided to expand its brand, and created a series of “Ironman-sanctioned” races to give more athletes the opportunity to challenge the distance. It was (and remains) a noble idea, but it was executed with an abundance of arrogance. They created Ironman races in a handful of cities, and made contractual agreements with some existing triathlons to become trademarked Ironman events. Those sanctioned events would be the only means of qualifying for the annual world championship in Kona.
Some races agreed. Others – most notably Wildflower – didn’t want to play along, and immediately lost their allocation of Kona slots. The not-so-subtle message to triathletes was that if your next event wasn’t an M-dot event, it wasn’t a real Ironman race or official Kona qualifier. Consequently, you wouldn’t be authorized to wear the official M-dot logo.
So in a strictly legalistic sense, I’m not allowed to say that I’m doing an Ironman this weekend. It’s really a long-course triathlon. And when I finish, I won’t be allowed (at least, not in the company’s eyes) to wear Ironman gear or sport the M-dot logo.
Now, I’m a reasonable guy. I understand the appeal of logo protection. You don’t wear the unicorn logo if you haven’t run the Boston Marathon. You don’t wear the silver mountain lion belt buckle if you haven’t run Western States in under 24 hours. You don’t place the Dark Mark upon your forearm if you’re not a follower of Voldemort (sorry, I’ve still got Harry Potter on the brain). Unquestionably, exclusivity carries a certain prestige.
On the other hand, I’ll compete in this weekend’s race with no fewer than 4 M-dots already on my person: one on my Timex wristwatch, one on my sunglasses from Target, and one on each of my Wigwam socks. If I wanted to, I could wear the official M-dot endorsed wetsuit, or bike helmet, or display the logo on a singlet or visor or a myriad of gear that is available from almost any triathlon-related website.
I guess what I’m saying is, if any fat slob can purchase a handful of M-dot logos at the neighborhood store, the luster of prestige takes a significant hit. To put it more bluntly: if you want your product to be exclusive, you probably shouldn’t sell it at Wal-Mart.
Earning the right to wear that M-dot supposedly carries so much prestige that I’ll go out of my way to make my next triathlon an Ironman-sanctioned race. But consider my situation: I’m participating in the oldest Ironman-distance race in the continental United States. Vineman was around long before the cities of Tempe and Madison and Panama City Beach even thought of hosting triathlons. It’s one of the most beautiful, best-organized, and most historically successful races in the country, and it’s less than a 3-hour drive from my house. Oh, one more thing - it costs about $200 less than an M-dot Ironman.
I mean … is there ANY logical reason why I would pass over this race just so I can earn an M-dot? Is the right to wear the logo really worth that much?
I mentioned the Boston Marathon earlier, with good reason. For the first 50 or so years of that race’s existence, during every non-Olympic year – and especially before the advent of World Championship meets – Boston was the universally recognized world marathon championship.
(It wasn’t an entirely accurate designation - given travel expenses and the relative difficulty of going overseas for races – and it’s no small wonder that so many “World Champions” from the first 50 years were Northeastern white guys. But that’s another post for another time.)
It shouldn’t shock you to hear that the answer from the World Triathlon Corporation (the company who organizes the Ironman) is no. However, it might surprise you to learn that many age-group triathletes feel the same way. And I actually wouldn’t have a problem with accepting that line of reasoning - if only it weren’t so hypocritical. Or if the sport of running hadn’t already traveled down this road in a much more accommodating manner.
The M-dot was born back in the days when the Hawaii Ironman was the only event of its kind. As triathlons grew in popularity, the logo came to represent the absolute pinnacle of the sport, attainable by only a select tier of talented competitors. Today, the Kona race remains the universally acknowledged world championship of long distance triathlon, with the M-dot its most easily recognized representation.
So if the sport of triathlon wanted to keep the M-dot logo exclusive to the championship event, I’d completely sympathize. The problem is that they’ve sabotaged their own exclusivity to the point of ridiculousness.
Over the past decade, the WTC decided to expand its brand, and created a series of “Ironman-sanctioned” races to give more athletes the opportunity to challenge the distance. It was (and remains) a noble idea, but it was executed with an abundance of arrogance. They created Ironman races in a handful of cities, and made contractual agreements with some existing triathlons to become trademarked Ironman events. Those sanctioned events would be the only means of qualifying for the annual world championship in Kona.
Some races agreed. Others – most notably Wildflower – didn’t want to play along, and immediately lost their allocation of Kona slots. The not-so-subtle message to triathletes was that if your next event wasn’t an M-dot event, it wasn’t a real Ironman race or official Kona qualifier. Consequently, you wouldn’t be authorized to wear the official M-dot logo.
So in a strictly legalistic sense, I’m not allowed to say that I’m doing an Ironman this weekend. It’s really a long-course triathlon. And when I finish, I won’t be allowed (at least, not in the company’s eyes) to wear Ironman gear or sport the M-dot logo.
Now, I’m a reasonable guy. I understand the appeal of logo protection. You don’t wear the unicorn logo if you haven’t run the Boston Marathon. You don’t wear the silver mountain lion belt buckle if you haven’t run Western States in under 24 hours. You don’t place the Dark Mark upon your forearm if you’re not a follower of Voldemort (sorry, I’ve still got Harry Potter on the brain). Unquestionably, exclusivity carries a certain prestige.
On the other hand, I’ll compete in this weekend’s race with no fewer than 4 M-dots already on my person: one on my Timex wristwatch, one on my sunglasses from Target, and one on each of my Wigwam socks. If I wanted to, I could wear the official M-dot endorsed wetsuit, or bike helmet, or display the logo on a singlet or visor or a myriad of gear that is available from almost any triathlon-related website.
I guess what I’m saying is, if any fat slob can purchase a handful of M-dot logos at the neighborhood store, the luster of prestige takes a significant hit. To put it more bluntly: if you want your product to be exclusive, you probably shouldn’t sell it at Wal-Mart.
Earning the right to wear that M-dot supposedly carries so much prestige that I’ll go out of my way to make my next triathlon an Ironman-sanctioned race. But consider my situation: I’m participating in the oldest Ironman-distance race in the continental United States. Vineman was around long before the cities of Tempe and Madison and Panama City Beach even thought of hosting triathlons. It’s one of the most beautiful, best-organized, and most historically successful races in the country, and it’s less than a 3-hour drive from my house. Oh, one more thing - it costs about $200 less than an M-dot Ironman.
I mean … is there ANY logical reason why I would pass over this race just so I can earn an M-dot? Is the right to wear the logo really worth that much?
I mentioned the Boston Marathon earlier, with good reason. For the first 50 or so years of that race’s existence, during every non-Olympic year – and especially before the advent of World Championship meets – Boston was the universally recognized world marathon championship.
(It wasn’t an entirely accurate designation - given travel expenses and the relative difficulty of going overseas for races – and it’s no small wonder that so many “World Champions” from the first 50 years were Northeastern white guys. But that’s another post for another time.)
The stature of Boston as a championship event has diminished significantly over the past 20 years. The race remains the only marathon with qualifying standards, although qualifying times have softened in the modern era. There are well-established world-class marathons in New York City and London and Chicago attracting (and paying) the top talent that would have raced at Boston in years past.
But the BAA never tried to gobble up all of its competitors or worried about making endorsement partnerships with other cities. If another city wanted to host a marathon - great. If runners could use their local marathon to qualify for Boston – even better.
Through the years, the BAA logo remains a symbol of significant achievement in the sport. One big reason is that everyday slackers can’t just buy the unicorn at Wal-Mart – runners have to earn it.
That’s why I wouldn’t mind if the M-dot folks decided to restrict the prevalence of their logo to the Kona championship. But if they continue slapping their name and logo on any race or product that helps increase their market share, it sends a mixed message. And hopefully, you can now appreciate my confusion.
So when you hear from me next week, you can think of me as an Ironman, or a Vineman, or a long course triathlete, or whatever the heck you want. Honestly, I’m not going to lose sleep wondering about what my label should be.
Because I know what I am. I’ll know what I’ve done. And it doesn’t really matter to me what you choose to call it
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Here here!! I actually got in trouble for using the mdot on a map I created of IM Louisville. It was barly readable.
IM is becoming way too commerical, My first long course is going to the the Chesapeake Ultraman
Posted by: Winz | August 02, 2007 at 01:19 PM
If you were to take this to court, you would most likely win the right to call yourself an ironman and wear the logo for the following reasons:
1) The term ironman is a common term which describes a triathlon distance and is debatably in the public domain just like the term marathon is.
2) A person who completes an ironman distance is commonly referred to as an 'ironman'.
3) As the article states, as anyone is allowed to buy m-dot items, anyone is allowed to wear them. The only legal criteria for being licensed to wear m-dot items are to purchase them or receive them as a gift. If you steal an m-dot item you should return it or face possible criminal prosecution.
Until that court date the safest route is to refer to yourself as an ironman with a lower case i as that’s the common term and not an Ironman with a capital I as that is trademarked by the WTC.
After saying all that the funny thing buzzing around in my head is I think that I will need to do an official Ironman event and Madison is a really cheap and cool place to vacation...
(Boy did those greeks miss out on copywriting the term marathon…)
Posted by: dave | August 02, 2007 at 04:10 PM
Has everyone read the big flap in Triathlete Magazine? They've had some serious response to a gomer who said that not only should non-sanctioned 140.6 mile triathlete events not earn the Ironman designation, non-Kona events shouldn't.
In other words, if you don't complete Kona, you aren't an Ironman. Man, did Chris Hauth have a thing or two for that guy.
Posted by: Iron Pol | August 04, 2007 at 09:01 PM