Ironman or Not?

The recent furor over comments made by a reader at Triathlete magazine regarding the right to get an IM tattoo has made me think. His stance is that if you have not done the Kona championship race then you are in effect not really an Ironman. A statement that was met with tremendous disdain and outright fury by the other readers. I agree with them. Anyone who can complete ANY ironman distance should have the right to call themselves an Ironman.

In the same light I feel that the Ironman name has become synonymous with the distance of 2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. As such I feel that anyone completing ANY race of that distance whether its a Ironman branded race or not can call themselves that as well.

I have posted a thread in TriScoop.com regarding this to see what others opinions are regarding this. Lets see what the results are.