As of this posting, there are now just 68 days until the next big race on my calendar – Ironman Switzerland. The race will take place in Zurich on July 12. I’m looking forward to the race, but I’ve got quite a bit of training to get through before the cannon goes off.

The Ironman triathlon, most commonly known for the iconic world championship race in Kona, Hawaii, is a 140.6 mile endurance test comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run (or for those metric fans out there – 3.8/180/42.2 kilometers). In 2009, there will be 24 Ironman races around the world. At those races, competitors can qualify for the championship race in Kona, which is held every October in the lava fields of Hawaii’s big island.

The training for an Ironman race is time consuming (hours per week average between 12 and 20 in the months leading up to the race) and can be somewhat expensive for an athlete just getting into the sport. The gear tab for three different disciplines can get long and the entry fee for an Ironman race, at $525, is significant.

In a story published in September, The New York Times reported the slowing economy hadn’t dampened demand for the Ironman races. In her story, “When Iron Is a Precious Metal,” reporter Christie Aschwanden wrote that the limited entries for the Ironman races (most are capped at 2,200 athletes) are snapped up in hours and seemed impervious to the downturn. I can attest to the demand, as I was only able to get into the 2008 Ironman Wisconsin after purchasing a “community fund” entry by making a charitable contribution in addition to the normal fee. I had tried to sign up during the standard registration online, but those spots sold out just 45 minutes after online registration opened. For some races, the Ironman organization sets aside a small number of slots for competitors who aren’t able to register in the normal window but are willing to make a contribution to a charity in the race host community, as designated by the Ironman organizers.

Following Ironman Wisconsin, I decided I wanted to sign up for an Ironman race in a foreign country. Because I had missed the registration window for the two races I was most interested in (Ironman Switzerland and Ironman Austria), I emailed the race directors to see if they offered the charitable slots. Unfortunately, neither race had implemented the community fund program. However, the contact at Ironman Austria responded to my message indicating they’d be willing to create a charity slot for me – at about three times the normal entry fee (the standard community fund contribution is not that hefty).

After breaking through a bit of a language barrier with Ironman Switzerland, I learned they planned to open registration again to sell the slots for triathletes who had registered and then decided against doing the race. In January, I signed up for Ironman Switzerland during their second registration period, securing one of the last available slots according to my contact.

The New York Times story may have been a bit premature. Obviously, economies around the world have slowed in recent months. The economic downturn has now impacted Ironman races, as the Ironman Switzerland website is now pointing to the credit crisis and job losses as a reasons for “deregistrations.” The site specifically notes economic conditions in “England and overseas” as factors in now having slots to offer to athletes.

So, even the desire (however sane) to swim, bike and run 140.6 miles over the course of a day can be tempered by slowing economic conditions and thinning wallets.

(Note: For triathletes still interested in signing up for a 2009 Ironman race, the website triathlonbusiness.com reported in March that community fund slots were still available for some of the races here in North America. A handful of the overseas races are still accepting normal applications and a few of the listed 2010 races are open, as well. For more information, check out the event listings on the Ironman website.)