Ironman Event

Chicken1

Head The Wall wrote: »

Regarding the expo stalls, they were open all weekend not just today and they were very crowded when I was there yesterday. They are geared more so at the competitors who were obviously racing today. Unless you know for certain they lost money stop spouting crap.


It's you that seems to have the completely wrong expectations of the event, but hey don't let reality get in the way of your imagination.

Jez will you came down I am only saying what was said in the papers what the event would bring to the City, can you seriously tell me that it brought in what was promised. Dont get me wrong I would never knock any event but it did not deliver in punters which is what was required and looking at the stalls there today is proof of that.

restingpilgrim

The expectations of the event were lead by the crap press releases and people trying to justify spending millions on an event that was only any good for the competitors not for the general population of Galway who had nothing but closures thrust upon them. If they had said this was a big event for competitors and go and support those who were attempting the feat then it may have got a better reception. Also this is advertised as an Ironman event and was in fact not even a half Ironman due to the cutting of the swim to less than half distance, due to weather which is unlikley to be much different in future years. It still took a lot of completing so congratulations to all who finished.

Hear that a five year contract is in place so we will have all of this for a few more years no matter whether we want it or not.

As for your comment on businesses losing money not being backed up, one only has to read the local press and one hotel stating in was costing them over 20k in lost earnings due to all of the closures and coach partys cancelling their bookings

Aiel

Contrary to media moaning,i mean "reports",today was a great day with a brilliant atmosphere around Salthill and out on the course,especially around the finish.The competitors all said it was well organised and well supported,the positivity of the occasion was in stark contrast to people who would moan about anything and everything.Also,by 3pm the main stall selling the offical merchandise was sold out of alot of stock and nearly sold out of alot of other items.

restingpilgrim

All you do is back up the competitor and supporters as you state you were there to support a friend, Will you be back to watch if you have no one to support next year.

Head The Wall

Chicken1 wrote: »

Jez will you came down I am only saying what was said in the papers what the event would bring to the City, can you seriously tell me that it brought in what was promised. Dont get me wrong I would never knock any event but it did not deliver in punters which is what was required and looking at the stalls there today is proof of that.

1900 competitors and supporters, family's etc. many of whom were staying here in accommodation and feeding themselves for the weekend. Maybe they paid for these services with thank you's and kisses.

You're basically stating that you who have "read the papers" and the event was of no benefit to Galway because the stalls seemed quiet today. Mad assumption

restingpilgrim wrote: »

The expectations of the event were lead by the crap press releases and people trying to justify spending millions on an event that was only any good for the competitors not for the general population of Galway who had nothing but closures thrust upon them. If they had said this was a big event for competitors and go and support those who were attempting the feat then it may have got a better reception. Also this is advertised as an Ironman event and was in fact not even a half Ironman due to the cutting of the swim to less than half distance, due to weather which is unlikley to be much different in future years. It still took a lot of completing so congratulations to all who finished.

Hear that a five year contract is in place so we will have all of this for a few more years no matter whether we want it or not.

As for your comment on businesses losing money not being backed up, one only has to read the local press and one hotel stating in was costing them over 20k in lost earnings due to all of the closures and coach partys cancelling their bookings

It was advertised as an Ironman 70.3 event which is what it was and some of these events have had the whole swim cancelled due to weather conditions, Mother Nature doesn't always play ball. This sh1t happens

Who are these people that spent millions on the event?

Do you really think that hotel brings in 20,000 every weekend, come on it's 80 a night for 2 people B & B and they have 62 bedrooms. Don't believe whats in the papers

Aerohead

I was out in Salthill today and to be honest it was very quite there, the biggest crowd were the people taking part

dloob

With all the planned road closures I left the city for the weekend.

finlma

dloob wrote: »

With all the planned road closures I left the city for the weekend.

Great input to the thread. :rolleyes: Who cares what you did for the weekend?

Great event, pity about the weather. There were great crowds in Salthill.

ErnieBert

Amazing story
http://ironman.com/columns/ironmanlife/kevin-mackinnon-profiles-one-of-the-athletes-set-to-compete-at-ironman-70.3-ireland#axzz1X1SkFzLE

doubleglaze

As regards the contribution to the local economy:

One of the Ironmen stayed in my house last night, so no benefit to the local economy. However, I'm pleased to report he is staying another night (again no hotel room purchased) and is currently out on the tear to celebrate his achievement (thus contributing to some local hostelry).

Perhaps tonight is the night when the bucks will be made in Galway.

scholar007

restingpilgrim wrote: »

Saw the advertiser following the line that millions will be spent in the city during Ironman. From the business people I know and from being in Salthill today I would say that the shops were quieter than normal as a lot of them were on roads that had been closed down. As most of the competitors would have been early to bed on Saturday I doubt if many euro would have been spent apart from on hotel rooms.

Who do I send my fuel bill to for the ridiculous diversions? I really felt sorry for AGS members who had to send people around the houses to get to their destination. In actual fact, I've never seen the town emptier. People just stayed away from what I could see. Perhaps those businesses who benefited in any way would let us know. I hope the Connemara Gateway hotel is going to be compensated for the €20k loss of trade.

Head The Wall

Yes keep ignoring the facts and have a good moan for yourself.

JohnCleary

ErnieBert wrote: »

Amazing story
http://ironman.com/columns/ironmanlife/kevin-mackinnon-profiles-one-of-the-athletes-set-to-compete-at-ironman-70.3-ireland#axzz1X1SkFzLE

I've decided to ignore all the other bullsh1t in this thread, but that story really touches the heart (no pun intended there) - Well done that man, a person who is grateful to be alive

celty

The organisers should be grateful we currently have a crap senior hurling team. Were Galway in the All-Ireland final on Sunday, there would have been absolute mayhem for people on the West side of the city and in Connemara trying to get to Dublin.

Will people put up with this for each of the next four years?

I'm also dubious about the claims of the benefits IronMan supposedly brought to Galway's economy, even if it seems to have been well organised.

xflyer

No doubt it was well organised. Big doubt as to the supposed huge benefit to the local economy. It's not really a spectator event either. The most interesting part would have been the swimming but that was at the crack of dawn when only the most dedicated would be out.

My main impression was of it being a bit of nuisance for most locals. The road is still closed today thus causing traffic tailbacks. Which didn't help me to find a place for it in my heart.

But I don't want to knock it. Events like this are good for Galway. But bring back the airshow. Now that was a spectator event! (and a nuisance).

dloob

finlma wrote: »

Great input to the thread. :rolleyes: Who cares what you did for the weekend?

Great event, pity about the weather. There were great crowds in Salthill.

I guess you care enough to comment, thanks for the feedback.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who stayed away because of the road closures.
I wonder if the Ironman business will make up for the loss of regular business.
If it didn't cause so much disruption on the roads it would be easier to ignore for those uninterested in it.

beeintheknow

Aiel wrote: »

Contrary to media moaning,i mean "reports",today was a great day with a brilliant atmosphere around Salthill and out on the course,especially around the finish.The competitors all said it was well organised and well supported,the positivity of the occasion was in stark contrast to people who would moan about anything and everything.Also,by 3pm the main stall selling the offical merchandise was sold out of alot of stock and nearly sold out of alot of other items.

Have you lost your mind? Can you see or are you blind?

HardyEustace

I can't see why the same arguments(no contribution to local economy, block up the streets, difficult to get around) can't apply to the people that come down to race week, particularly on the Thursday night.

The only businesses that seem to benefit are pubs and nightclubs, and even then, there's plenty that come down, buy off licence and just make a general nusiance of themselves around the spanish arch/town.

Because this was an event that wasn't based on getting blind drunk, I think that money that did come into the local economy would be distributed far more to different shops, cafes, restaurants and retail. Not just off-licences and pubs.

beeintheknow

HardyEustace wrote: »

I can't see why the same arguments(no contribution to local economy, block up the streets, difficult to get around) can't apply to the people that come down to race week, particularly on the Thursday night.

The only businesses that seem to benefit are pubs and nightclubs, and even then, there's plenty that come down, buy off licence and just make a general nusiance of themselves around the spanish arch/town.

Because this was an event that wasn't based on getting blind drunk, I think that money that did come into the local economy would be distributed far more to different shops, cafes, restaurants and retail. Not just off-licences and pubs.

Surely you understand that off licenses and pubs are not the only ones to benefit from money being spent in them?

Predalien

Although the crowds weren't great (it's not really much of a spectator sport) I'm happy to see Galway hosting more family friendly events, even if there wasn't a spectacular boost to the local economy it makes Galway more attractive for other events if we can show they can be executed successfully here.

Pure Sound

Fair play to everyone who took part in the event, it must have taken them a lot of time and effort to prepare for it. I'm surprised with the complaining about road closures to be honest, the Ironman event holders have had a traffic plan available for weeks with a list of the road closures. Who cares if you were stuck in traffic for a bit longer, think of the competitors and what they achieved.

beeintheknow

As long as it can be demonstrated that the financial pained incurred in closing the roads was offset by a gain in spend from competitors etc, then I am delighted.

To quote a man who greatly inspires me, and should inspire you all - 'ah git monaay'.

HardyEustace

beeintheknow wrote: »

As long as it can be demonstrated that the financial pained incurred in closing the roads was offset by a gain in spend from competitors etc, then I am delighted.

To quote a man who greatly inspires me, and should inspire you all - 'ah git monaay'.

If you were to engage in that exercise you'd also have to factor in that cost of cleaning up empty bottles, various human effluent from the streets, policing etc. that comes along with large events.

I think that there's a huge amount of intangible benefits from hosting a race like this. Not least that could inspire a lot of people to engage in some form of sporting activity and encourage both children and adults to be more active.

biko

beeintheknow wrote: »

Have you lost your mind? Can you see or are you blind?

Please refrain from getting personal.

beeintheknow

biko wrote: »

Please refrain from getting personal.

You have failed to appreciate the subtlety of my reference.

Zzippy

celty wrote: »

The organisers should be grateful we currently have a crap senior hurling team. Were Galway in the All-Ireland final on Sunday, there would have been absolute mayhem for people on the West side of the city and in Connemara trying to get to Dublin.

Will people put up with this for each of the next four years?

I'm also dubious about the claims of the benefits IronMan supposedly brought to Galway's economy, even if it seems to have been well organised.

Actually Galway were in an All-Ireland final on Sunday, they even won it . There are a grand total of maybe 2 hurling teams in Connemara, its football country and very few people in Connemara would travel for a hurling final. I didn't hear of any Connemara hurling fans giving out about road closures on their way to Dublin yesterday... You're clutching at straws making that argument - "what if.....?"

I attended the Ironman yesterday and had a great time despite the weather, feck the begrudgers, this was a great event that seemed well-run, would have been better attended if the weather had been better, and is another way to put Galway on the map - highlights of the race will be shown on tv worldwide.

A lot of the people giving out wouldn't get off their holes to get out of bed on a Sunday morning, but all of a sudden road closures were a major inconvenience. Humbug! :rolleyes:

Aiel

beeintheknow wrote: »

Have you lost your mind? Can you see or are you blind?

Explain the above quote please?I will with-hold my wrath until you do:rolleyes:.

beeintheknow

Aiel wrote: »

Explain the above quote please?I will with-hold my wrath until you do:rolleyes:.

"Soaring intellect in use of reference not understood by masses shock"

dloob

I suppose it does get the city international exposure which is a good thing and it's only for a weekend.

Pure Sound

Does anyone else feel grateful for events like these, there are many city's/towns with similar populations all over the world where nothing ever happens, Galway is a great place and we are fortunate to have so much going on, its a pity that us Galwegians don't see this and tend to complain about how everything is so terrible