The folks over at Ironman Germany are spinning like tops as word spreads of their 2003 date conflict with the country's other big iron-distance race, the Quelle Challenge Roth.

IM Germany (Frankfurt) recently announced its date for 2003. We reported in Monday's TriBiz Reader that it coincidentally falls on top of the date for the Quelle Challenge Roth, the iron-distance race that until last year was affiliated with the World Triathlon Corporation as Ironman Europe. Today, IM Germany press officer Kai Baumgartner produced a press release explaining why the date change is needed. It can be read in full here.

To me, it just looks like spin, and Ann Miller--the MGM tap dancer of the 1940s and '50s who really could spin--would be proud. Among the reasons Baumgartner cites: school summer break schedules that would hamper volunteer recruitment, the potential for conflict with Ironman France earlier in the summer, and the potential for date clashes with other large Frankfurt-based summer festivals. I wonder if these challenges were also not present this year.

I've got no problem with the Frankfurt organizers playing hardball with a competitor. But I do think they should just own up to it. I'm not buying: We really tried hard to find another weekend on which to place our race, but the other 51 Sundays didn't work out.

Take, for example, this statement: "According to the rules of the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) there mustn't be two Ironman events during one weekend." Wait a minute: Didn't two sets of Ironman competitors jump into the Atlantic Ocean the weekend before last? C'mon! Just say it! "We're going to drop Roth like a bad transmission! We're going to stop it like a bad check! We're going to flip it like a cheese omelet!"

Whether Frankfurt or Roth survives and prospers is of no big import to me, but it would be sad if this country of 100 million people can't support two large events.

So while I don't have any affinity for either race, you can't blame me if I start to develop one. IM Germany, in its attempt at appearing to take the high road, has rather transparently taken the low. If I were any of the athletes whose names were dropped in the lame defense of Frankfurt's date selection--Jürgen Zäck, Normann Stadler, Spencer Smith, Lothar Leder, Paula Newby-Fraser, Katja Schumacher--I'd ask that my start fee be bumped an additional DM$5000 as compensation.