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Massive announcement. The $99 half ironman.

Firstly, thank you to everyone that participated in this weekend's event. Love you all and wish you a fantastic Christmas. Now, here is a jaw dropper of an announcement. Entry to next year's Rotorua charity half ironman is $99 - you do the maths.

For years, this distance has been massively overpriced. We also charged a king's ransom but here is the difference, in your race pack was a New Zealand made cycle top that cost us $70 to purchase. This compared to other races where if you are lucky, you will get a T-shirt that costs a fraction of our $70 investment.

Also, the production of a triathlon is largely fixed expenses. The only per person expense added on top is the T-shirt (or socks or cap), finisher medal and race number. All other expenses, like traffic management, venue hire, timing are fixed. They don't care whether you get 200 or 1000, the cost of traffic management stays the same.

Also, distance (ironman apart) has no real bearing on cost. Apart from aid stations, there isn't much additional expense incurred in producing an Olympic distance to half ironman distance. The difference is in the yield.

So, with thanks to the likes of Virgin Blue and company, we also are going to approach the market with aggression. $99 gets you a half ironman with everything (except the shirt). You get exactly the same fantastic support team and product that we have delivered for the last 11 years. Nothing will change.

The guarantee.

Also, we fully understand that you may at some stage become broken down. We are going to support this pricing structure with a 100% no questions asked, moneyback guarantee. Even if you pull a heart muscle, we will refund your entry fee at any stage up until a week out. We prefer if you switch to a team, also free of charges.

Not all of us can afford Mediterranean cruises every winter. Because our $99 offer is limited, you can enter now, lock in the $99 price and pay us at any stage during the year when finances allow (like when you put $40 on the Warriors to win their opening game at $3.50). Here's the thing, we trust you to pay will also be chasing you up come December next year.

Also, of your $99, we will be donating $99 to Rotorua hospice. We are not keeping a bean.

So we now have the best swim (5 degrees warmer than Lake Taupo), easily the best ride in New Zealand and the most beautiful run and now the best price. We know that the industry will be choking on the cornies at this "price war". Just like Ryanair, tell someone who cares. We are going to raise megabucks for hospice and save you guys megabucks as well.

God bless the free market, eat and love way too much over Christmas and I will see you out on the road.

Hooksie.