Organizers Say Ironman Won't Return to New York City Because of Financial and Logistical Issues Ironman, the organizer of the world's best-known triathlon, will shut its race in the New York area after just one year. The race, which was known as the Aquadraat Sports Ironman U.S. Championship, was too expensive and complicated to host and too difficult for spectators to watch, the organizers said, and the prospects for improving conditions were slim. "These are pretty big complex events, but you don't know what it takes until you do them," said Shane Facteau, the vice president for operations of North America at the World Triathlon Corporation, which operates the Ironman races. We crunched the numbers, we looked at it, and at end of the day, this was our conclusion. You have to weigh value versus cost. Considered one of the most grueling and competitive triathlons, the Ironman includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. While there are many shorter triathlons in the New York City area, triathletes have long coveted the chance to compete in an Ironman event locally. About 2,300 men and women registered for the Ironman race, which was held in mid-August and took eight years to bring to fruition. But the event was marred before it began. Two days before the race, Westchester County sent partly treated human waste into the Hudson River, nearly forcing the organizers to cancel the swimming portion. On race day, a 43-year-old man died before he could finish his swim. Logistics played the largest role in the decision to end the race. Organizers hired ferries to take participants from Manhattan to Palisades State Park, then put them on other boats to take them farther up the Hudson River. The bicycle race was along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey; the marathon ended in Riverside Park in Manhattan. The organizers were also not allowed to use amplifiers in Riverside Park after 10 p.m., so athletes at the back of the race were not greeted with the words, "You are an Ironman" as they crossed the finish line. They also had to weave their way past picnickers, casual joggers and others in the park. After the race, some athletes had to return to New Jersey to pick up their bicycles. "Over all, it was an excellent race, but it certainly added time to a long day," said Aaron Lewis, 18, who finished the Ironman in just under 11 hours. They did the best they could with what they had. The day after the race, athletes who had paid the $895 entry fee this year were invited to enter next year's event. The fee, though, had jumped to $1,200. The organizers have halted the registration and refunded the entry fees. "The enormity of going through it again was really taxing and the spectator experience was not what they wanted," said John Korff, the local organizer of the race.