New Ironman Race Entry Transfer Program
If you’ve ever lost your entry fee to an Ironman event due to illness, injury or other life events, you’ll be happy to hear that WTC (the Ironman brand owner) has launched a new pilot transfer program in the US and Canada. Now athletes can transfer their race entries to other open North American events.
“This program was designed in response to athlete feedback we’ve received over the years,” said World Triathlon Corp CEO Andrew Messick. “We understand that athletes want to race with us, but sometimes life gets in the way – injuries happen, weddings pop up or a job takes them across the country.”
He explained, “With the transfer program we hope to address these issues by allowing Ironman athletes to transfer to another open race in North America. If they have a simple date conflict, they can move sooner or later in the calendar. If they have an injury, they can move down to a 70.3 distance or postpone to a later race…We’re trying to give our athletes every opportunity to get in a race with Ironman.”
This new feature, of course, does not address the fact that many races sell out within minutes of opening so it may be hard to find an Ironman that still has room. The chances of moving between Ironman 70.3 races will likely be higher as they sell out less frequently. Once a race transfer request has been processed, the athlete will receive a unique link to transfer into the alternative requested event. Then, the athlete will be required to pay the US$50 transfer fee and any applicable price differential.
The official rules and conditions of the program are below:
North American Ironman Transfer Pilot Program
The transfer option is available as a pilot program for North American Ironman athletes only.
This offer is not available to Ironman Los Cabos or Ironman Cozumel athletes presently.
There is a US$50 transfer fee.
The event transferred into must be in the same calendar year as the original event year.
If an athlete is transferring from a higher priced race to a lower priced race, the athlete will not be refunded the difference.
If an athlete is transferring from a lower priced race to a higher priced race, the athlete will be required to pay the difference in addition to the transfer fee.
Entry into sold out events is not available.
Entry into events that only have Foundation and/or Charity slots open is not available.
Due to the pilot-nature of this program, WTC regrets that entry out of or into the following events is not available. Unavailable North American events include: Ironman Los Cabos, Ford Ironman Cozumel, Ironman 70.3 Panama, Ironman 70.3 Monterrey, Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico, Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, Ironman 70.3 St. Croix, Endurafit Ironman 70.3 Eagleman, Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake, Ironman 70.3 Vineman, Ironman 70.3 Calgary, Metlife Ironman 70.3 Cozumel, and City Bikes Ironman 70.3 Miami
Athletes must transfer out a race prior to 45 days before the race day.
Athletes may transfer into eligible races until 45 days prior to the race date.
If a one-day USAT license was purchased along with the original race entry, it cannot be transferred to the new race and will need to be repurchased by the athlete.
Athletes may only transfer once per entry (no transferring to a race and then transferring again).
Transfers are applicable to individual race entries only – entries purchased through third-party charities and/or travel groups are not able to transfer.
Races to be transferred into must have been opened to the general public for at least ten days.
