Joel Christensen, left, and Scott Wilhoit run near the Tennessee Aquarium while training for Ironman Florida, which takes place this November. The pair will continue training for Ironman Chattanooga.VIDEO
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While Chattanooga's IronMan competition sold out in three minutes, many online registrants-to-be say site issues prevented them from securing their position at the starting line.
More than 2,000 participants had paid $650 for rights to enter the grueling race Wednesday, but Ironman Chattanooga posted a statement to its Facebook page later that afternoon indicating a number of athletes were unable to register because of technical difficulties.
"Unfortunately, our registration system experienced a failure while some of our athletes were logged in and finalizing their registration. We are working with our registration partner to confirm the affected athletes, and to offer them entry into the race," the statement read.
Ellie Seifert, director of public relations for Ironman, said as of Thursday it was unknown how many participants were locked out of Active.com, the registration partner Ironman uses to sign up its athletes.
Regardless, the starting line still is closed, and Ironman Chattanooga's three minutes of fame will add to the mystique of the race scheduled for Sept. 28 of next year.
"There were some registration issues regarding our registration partner, but with that being said, the race was sold out as quickly as people said it was," Seifert said.
Contact staff writer Jeff LaFave at 423-757-6592 or jlafave@timesfreepress.com.