Oh my god, how could they do this...WTC sucks...Tara sucks...BL sucks...NBC sucks...the sport is doomed--again.


Sigh......

Go get really fat...then get on the show and lose a grip of weight and get a Kona slot and stop being a b@tch!

- it would be great to make an effort with some older IM races which WTC doesn't seem to be investing in such as IM Australia or IMNZ, for instance. IM Aus has only 40 Kona slots... 41 would be better - or at least a step in the right direction.

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Coaching - Future Endurance

At the same time, however, if it inspires a few couch potatoes to get out on the bike, then that's not necessarily a bad thing, yeah?

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Coaching - Future Endurance

1. How is it different if they give 'm out for other races? To keep Kona 'pure' or something? If you truly believe that, dream on. You could argue that Kona is better, since it "only" has 1800 participants as opposed to 2000+.
2. Whatever you may think, this person didn't take your Kona slot away. You took your Kona slot away by not being fast enough.
3. How is this different from the lottery, the executive challenge, and other miscellaneous special interests dropped into the race by NBC/WTC?

In conclusion, lighten up. There are things in the world you should worry about. There are things in the world you should be angry about. This is neither.

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Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

People need to wake up. This isn't the superbowl or anything. Sure, Kona is cool for us, but lets face it nobody really cares about triathlon as a sport or its world championship (aside from us of course). WTC is running a business, more power to them.

So I'm being a bitch for bitching about people bitching? Fair enough, no need to result to personal attacks.

meant for the op

Ok, really, what bothers you about this? Are you one spot away from getting your Kona slot and if there was one more in your age group you would have KQ'd? (Assuming they would have given this slot to your AG)

Imagine what a cluster (*&k kona would be if they had 1700 AGers finishing under 10 hours, ie everyone's "deserving" of a slot at the world championship?

Now what pisses me off...Bill Gates and his wife give all that money to fight disease in third world countries. Gee, I could really us a P4.

I think Tara from BL was supposed to do IMFL last year but was a no show. Just checked results and she isn't listed.

Wonder if she'll really do Kona as announced tonight on the show.

but kona offers the unique opportunity of us getting to see them CRATER in the heat!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Glad I didn't follow my first instinct and go off on you about it :-)

Also glad to see I'm not the only one that is tired of the oh-so-predictable righteous indignation on ST.

My GF got me an e-bay slot, 2X last year.
Waahhhhhh!!!!!
$39,0000 BTW
I wanted a Ferrari

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Beacuase the media doesn't give a shit about any Ironman except Kona.I have some serious gripes about a lot of what "The Evil Empire" does but this isn't one of them.They can do what they like to make the coverage more interesting and appeal to the non tri-geek masses.I've actually become a bit of a fan of The Biggest Loser here in Oz lately so I'd watch a fat yank waddle around Kona if it made the coverage more interesting...

Oh, and the spot the fat bastard got didn't in any way deprive any potential qualifiers of their chance to go to Kona

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As long as she isn't banging Sean Penn, I'm okay with it.

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Live long and surf!

the sad part is the fat guy will probably have a faster 70.3 time than me anyway ...

I was going to post the same thing when I heard this. WTF?

Offering bullshit, birdseed prize purses to hard working professional triathletes, while feeding (pardon the pun) a free Kona slot to a fatty.......

......there is something morally wrong about that.......especially when you consider the fatty will make more $$ from Kona than the winner of the race.

But hey!! It's good for the sport <muffled cough>

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**

This.

just curious what are the gripes you have with WTC?

Edit: Basically all their policies are "evil" empire type of business decisions and this really is no different than their refund policy or there jacked up prices. But good for them, they have a great business plan, and are executing it very well!

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I read that she was training for IMFL and had some sort of accident and broke her leg.

Go cry to your mama. No one here cares about your pathetic little gripes about your sad, bitter life.

Get over it or keep it to yourself.

Just pathetic.

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_______________________
Powered by Demons.

You're assuming this is WTC's idea. NBC airs the Biggest Loser and Kona. Perhaps NBC pushed WTC to give her a Kona slot. It's possible.

Personally, I couldn't care less who they give a slot to. It's their race and they can do whatever they want. It's not like they took a slot away from someone to do this. I don't know why people get upset about things like this.

Holy crap dude your girl friend paid a third of a million dollars for 2 Kona spots? Seems like if she's got that much money she could throw in the Ferrari also.

Styrrell

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Styrrell

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Pretty much all of my bitching about WTC involes what they have done recently in Australia and Asia.Some of it has been corporate thuggery,some of it totally disrespectfull and some of it just plain stupidly funny..I've voiced my opinion about them enough here and elsewhere and have been reassured by enough of my friends that I am not alone.

No point rehashing it or worrying too much though as nothing much will change..


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"Thanks to the vision of Ironman founder John Collins, who insisted that a system be maintained to allow the "common man" a chance to compete in this great race, 200 far-from-common age-groupers will join the rest"


As per the founder's vision, they are following tradition. Special interest stories are part of the allure of the event. If you don't like it, tough cookies! Life isn't "fair" get used to it.

When this race was founded, there was no "world championship" tag to it, right? It was just a bad ass long endurance race and than has evolved into this "world championship" tagged event that I think is more self appointed than any regulated actual "world title". For me, and just looking at a "world championship", it initially bothered the shit out of me that we have people in a "world championship" race that really dont deserve to be there, and those same people kinda basically are the "face" of triathlons when we watch the telecasts (although I think the last telecast had more stories of "qualifiers" than ever before).

BUT, this is a private company, who basically can create and do whatever they want with their event (they can basically call the race whatever they want to). So, at first it bugged me, but now I basically take it as exactly what it is, just a for profit company that can and will do whatever it wants with it's race. So I cant really fault how they have their business plan. It is what it is.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Roughly $40k per slot
I am torn between the 458 Italia and the McLaren MP4/12C

This is good, all of the people who watch biggest looser now will be interested in triathlon and maybe we increase exposure. On relative came to me and said, ''that ironman thing that you have been talking about, is that the same as what the biggest looser is doing?'' suddenly they are interested in the sport and hopefully the networks will mirror the interest, then the publicity goes up. Sound business policy and i think overall good for the sport.

$40,000 is a start, but isn't buying that car. You may get an older 328 or 348 though.

I don't get it. We all work every hard for a slight chance at qualifying, we put stress on our families then you have someone who had a tough life get a spot just for a celebrity slot for TV. Its BS.

Let them qualify and have respect for the race distance.

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Greg C. Moriates
Owner/Coach
GCMendurance.com

I am sure NBC gets multiple slots to assign however they want. As do a number of other sponsors/vendors.

OOHH Buurn!

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-Jason
______________________________________________
Is that all you've got? Are you sure?

Hey don't worry, they just end up looking like fools.

NBC gives them TV coverage and to be honest they probably will not even finish the race, just like the last guy from the Biggest Loser they gave a slot to.

It just shows you can't just lose 100 pounds and conquer Kona or Ironman.

Say what you will about NBC and WTC "giving away" slots, thats an entirely different argument...

But before you go off judging... this is who you are calling a "fat bastard":

Grow up and stop whining.

I get the hang up related to the world championship, but let's extend the logic. Of the 1700 starters, how many deserve to be racing for a world championship? How many of the pros have a legitmate shot at winning the thing? So, using the deserving to be there logic, the field would generously, IMO, be 20, 15 men and 5 women. I'm being really generous stretching it to 20.

Quote:

We all work every hard for a slight chance at qualifying, we put stress on our families then you have someone who had a tough life get a spot just for a celebrity slot for TV. Its BS.

Her being in the race doesn't change the number of qualifier slots.

Thom

So does this mean Kona is only for the professionals and the rest of us are dreamy hopefuls? I think it is a great idea to throw more media attention to these races to promote the sport and exercise as a whole. Don't you think the biggest loser has worked hard to get to this point anyways?

I'll take that bet. Tara is tough as nails.

Thom

Holy biggest loser batman...okay ex-fat bastard..;-)

I imagine her participation in Kona will do more to inspire the average lazy bugger to get off the couch than the girl who wins it..

---------------------------

Well by deserving I simply mean "qualifying". However they want to have a "qualifying" mark, they have a qualifying mark. So if 60 pro's qualify, they qualify. Of course to WTC "qualifying" is defined as lottery or winning a spot.

I think having a legit chance and "qualifying" are 2 different standards.

Do the Indiana Pacers have a "legit" shot of winning the NBA title? No not really, but they qualified, so they deserve their playoff spot.

Also, seeing that this is a world championship for Pro's and AGers, if we want to go by your logic, I'm guessing the field would be roughly 400ish. Which would be pretty epic, but of course that would never actually happen.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Never watched the show, but aren't the biggest losers extremely fat? She just looks like a runner

I don't understand the gripe. One more fat guy in Kona won't change my life. Even if I ever qualify for Kona I want to do it the old fashioned way and beat other people in my age group. This Biggest Loser in the race, in theory, should be no where near me (at least I'd hope not).

All businesses, to some extent, should be doing some sort of charity and community outreach. Biggest Loser into Kona fits the bill for me. I actually think it would be fun if they forced the people who weren't the winners of the reality show to do the other IMs and save Kona for the champion. Chronicle the training and experience on the show. Then I'd at lest be interested in watching. Let's see Jillian or Bob teach the aero position. Awesome.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

You're absolutely right. And while we're at it, we should also ask them to keep out people like Dick Hoyt and Charlie Plaskon. Heaven forbid they use a slot that could have gone to the 26th fastest 35-39 male at IM Cozumel who nobody will hear about. I mean, aside from the fact that these slots don't impact the qualifier slots at all.

She handed out medals at IMKY this year. I met her and she was very nice. I gotta say, when I heard her last night, I have to admit, I didn't like hearing here say, " I'm going to compete in the World Championship IM in Kona"..

To me, it's like she is implying she is competing to win. I'd rather she just said she is going to do the IM in Kona and against the clock and/or a goal.

I know, nit picking but, I personally would never tell anyone that. I don't even tell anyone I race IM's because I'm slow :)

here is Tara's marathon article,(not a terrible time)

Tara Costa, the winner of Biggest Loser season 7 is still in tip-top shape after completing the show seven months ago. Once weighing 294 pounds she is down to a size 8 and she just ran the New York City marathon last week. In her interview with Ok! Magazine she revealed her inspiration for running the race and how she trained in order to finish with a time of 4:23:12. She said that after finishing Biggest Loser she needed a new challenge in order to keep herself motivated so she followed an online training program to get ready for the marathon. She said,

“It was definitely a transition to go from weight-loss mode to training mode. Initially, I felt like I wasn’t working hard enough in comparison to the workout plan on the show……. I had two rest days a week when I would do yoga or go to a conditioning class at the gym.”

x2 - Not sure if pulling cars is good for Kona training but it can't be all that bad....

Well done, ST...
Before I open threads like this, I try to guess how they will turnout..

For this one, my guess was that this guy was going to get shredded for either 1. Picking on fat people, 2. Railing on the WTC or 3. Both......

Once again, you didn't disappoint, ST.

Carry on

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Obviously.

Quick recap: Start of show--fat. End of show--less fat in varying degrees. Post-show--Some stay fit, some gain a little back (kind of like wresting..get to weigh in (show finale) and then ease up to more normal, a few gain all back. No one size fits all, pun intended.

Tara--Pretty damned fit at the end of the show and a pretty good athlete.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

God forbid she do well, then all the ST'rs will want to know how often they should be pulling cars, and what is the perfect nutrition for a day pulling cars, and which harnesses are the most "aero."

X2 Cath.

If ever there was a BL contestant who deserved a Kona slot, it's Tara. She kicked ass and took names (she won like EVERY challenge on the show) and embodies the principles of living right after the cameras are off. I have ZERO problems with her going and think she will do awesome. She won't be like the last fat ass (Matt) who gained a bunch of the weight back and failed to finish.

S

This thread makes me wonder what the measure is for being a "good athlete." Is a good athlete someone that accels (well above average) in one or more sports, or is it someone that is now much better at something in which they were once terrible at? When I think about a good athlete, I picture an olympic-level decathlete - not a 20-something, 4+ hour marathoner. Her weight loss and marathon were fantastic achievements - and both a great turn for her health - but I don't see how either make her a good athlete.

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"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell

Funny you should mention Olympians as she beat a gold medal winning olympian (in wrestling) pulling the car as well.

I know - way too much time on my trainer in my home built sweat lodge getting ready for IMT....

I really don't want to derail this thread with what I'm about to say, BUT I do find it funny that there's this "WTC can give slots to whoever they want" crowd, when so many people were complaining at the mere thought of Lance doing Kona.

Disclaimer: I'm fine with either case happening, even though Lance has basically written off Kona this year.

I understand that it does not change the number of qualifying spots. It just twists me that they do not have to prove themselves to even complete the distance. Even if you get a lottery spot, you still have to prove that you can finish a long event.

I also understand that it is good TV and that is were the sponsorship comes from. If a person is given a free spot, I believe they should be doing it for a cause to raise funding for something needed.

Just my opinion.

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Greg C. Moriates
Owner/Coach
GCMendurance.com

I was just extending the logic of people not deserving to be at Kona because this is the "world championship." I actually like the premise of how it's set up now, most qualify, some get in through the lottery, some locals, some vendor etc slots. If we really press the world championship theory, the field gets pretty small.

Quote:

Of course to WTC "qualifying" is defined as lottery or winning a spot.

Or winning/earning/buying (however one obtains) one of the slots reserved for charity, vendors, etc. The BL entrant qualified, whether everyone likes this qualifying standard or not.

Dang she is hot. Should give her a spot just for that.

458 if you want an emotional connection to your car and you like parking out front, MP4 if you get your kicks from engineering.

Jay Leno just ordered his MP4, orange

You could go cheap and get a Venge McLaren instead!

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...=cry%20like;#3309574

Folks, we have an obesity epidemic in our society, in case you haven't noticed. A lot of obese people don't really try to lose weight because they don't believe they can do it. They've tried diets; they fail. They don't think they can exercise. The Biggest Loser phenomenon convinces them that they can, that they should at least try. What I like about the show is that it puts exercise, not diet, front and center in this effort. Most of the weight loss philosophies in this country over the last 30 years have been diets, and diets alone are doomed to failure.

So, I support anything that raises the profile of the Biggest Loser contestants and provides them a platform to show overweight Americans that there's no reason they can't get fit--fit enough to compete in some serious endurance events.

Former contestants, especially the ones who keep the weight off, seem to feel a responsibility to spread the "gospel" and I believe they really make an impact in an ongoing way. I know former BL contestant Jay Kruger, who joined our tri club this year. He's constantly making appearances and promoting fitness. Judging by the people who comment on his Facebook posts alone, he inspires a lot of people. I think it would be great if he were given an opportunity to do Kona. Sure, it took him 4:10 to do Boston and he'd probably take 13 or 14 hours to finish Kona. But that is mind-blowing to obese people who can't fathom getting to that point.

(My only beef with the show: they'd probably lose more weight riding a bike for 5 hours a day in zone 1 or 2. But, that makes for far less exciting TV than Jillian Michaels screaming at them to toss a medicine ball until they barf.)

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______________________________________________
Outside of my bike, my running shoes are my favorite things. Inside my bike, it's too cramped to run.

Start your own triathlon on the Big Island. Invite whomever you want. Problem solved.

life isnt fair

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

Are you suggesting the WTC stop running IM as for-profit business and run it under some sort of altruistic "Citius, Altius, Fortius" ideal?
I hear that if you buy a special $1000 "Ironman Access Pass" you get to enter races that are 100% Biggest Loser free.

I thought you were talking about Matt Hoover. Who did show up as a fat bastard in 2009 and failed to finish on time.

Man oh man, if that chick was fat, that is an amazing job by the trainers and herself for changing her life.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

If we really press the world championship theory, the field gets pretty small.

______________

And I like that. If it's a "world championship", in theory the best of the best are the only racers in the event. You shouldnt have a race full of qualifiers and non-qualifiers.


BUT

BUT, of course WTC can do whatever it wants to, and this idea that it is an "world championship" is more self imposed than any actual triathlon guidelines event. So it works, I just have a small small small issue with this idea that it's a "world championship" event when it's run in it's current format. But WTC can do whatever the hell it wants to do, and will do whatever the hell it wants to do.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

ndrfnnut wrote:

Why don't they give these charity slots to other popular IM races (Lake Placid, Canada, etc)?

I don't want really fat people at my IM (IMLP) --pink...ish

It's been said already, but no one really would watch IMLP, Canada, etc, but they'd at least maybe have heard of Kona and want to watch it, or more realistically, read an article about it online, while sitting on the couch watching something else and eating potato chips.

Also, FWIW, my wife was inspired, at least partially, by Tara running the marathon. She ran NYC mostly because I nagged her, but I'm sure seeing that Tara could do it helped, since she likes that show. She was also inspired to crush one of our recent team workouts because she heard that trainer chick, the manly one (Jillian?), was at the Boarders in Columbus Circle (across the street from Central Park). She wanted to get the workout done fast so she could go see her, which she apparently did.


Oh, and for the record, I don't think you're being a bitch. Things like this usually peeve me too.

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~~~~~~~~~
Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

I don't get it. We all work every hard for a slight chance at qualifying, we put stress on our families then you have someone who had a tough life get a spot just for a celebrity slot for TV. Its BS.
Let them qualify and have respect for the race distance.

Greg,

It's been this way for a long time. Nothing new here. The race is not the story, the stories are the story - that's what NBC wants. That's what get's eye-balls on the TV.

There is always this "up-in-arms" discussion. Triathlon is not a sport that the mainstream population knows anything about. But they might watch if they know it's a cancer surviving, single mother, military mom, with one leg, who lost 100 lbs and who was hit by a car a year ago and broke her back ( I made that all up, with obvious apologies) - that's a story. That will get, and keep them watching! Macca running up and down the Queen K in his underwear . . not so much! The WTC knows this. NBC knows this. I know this. Many others know this. But I know that many don't seem to get it. The WTC is a private event management and marketing company. They can do whatever they like, that they feel is in the best interests of their business and their brand!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Not everything has to be black OR white. At Kona, you have several races inside of one event. You have the "world championships" that happens in the 8-10 hour time frame and then all the older age group stuff, disabled athletes, etc... then you get the "everyman" sideshow in the later hours. So what? I think it's all just sour grapes for people who don't have the gumption to get there themselves.

how do you know they don't have respect for the distance?

How dare they widen their viewing audience and advertizing dollars! What, are they in the business of making money or something!?

I'm recording this as the kick ass comment of the day.

i would rather have a week end with Julian,(if you know what i mean), than suffer in the Lava field again.

I just logged in to post this exact same thing.

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Ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away.

That's true. It was just one badass race. No championship, no marketing hype, etc.

That's changed, and they want to increase their audience.

If someone wants a really, really tough race that will be celeb free, I'd recommend the Spartan Death Race (invite only), or the HURT 100.

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http://aclockworkmango.com

And now that it has?
It's RUBBISH?
Are you mad?
It is our sport's finest 2hrs a year
Goin back again myself, Kona #5

Well I guess that's my small beef about it. WTC is having it both ways. And again, it's their race, and they can do it however they want to. Just the competitor in me, cringes every time I see a race recap and I see the coverage being of the lottery people or TV slot (again, this year were more stories of people who legitly qualified), who are struggling to beat the swim cut off or the 17 hour time finish (it's just now where the coverage is half "racing/ half "stories". IF, IF it's a world championship event, to me it slightly cheapens the actual "competitiveness" of the event, and the way WTC markets it, it's more of an "event" than a competiton. BUT, again, thats done because it makes WTC alot of money, and it's more about marketing than actually showing the racing and again, they most certainly can do it however they want to. Just for me, the competiveness of the race seems to get forgotten sometimes, and considering it's a "world championship", that kinda sucks.


Edit: But, I will say, the small beef I have with the event has certainly decreased over the years. I do cringe a bit, but just basically accepted that it is what it is.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I figured thats what you meant, or at least hoped, but your original post is $39,0000. So i figured either a bargain at 39 bucks or nuts at a third of a million.
Styrrell

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Styrrell

$ per ebay slot to win
32$K the first time
258K for the McLaren or Gallardo EVO or 458 Italia
$5K per day for all three at several trackday arrive and drives
T
Seriously Living
Until I die (again)

You're right on the money. Shows like the Biggest Loser carry some inspiration with them and for a continent struggling with an obesity epidemic what we need is more channels like that through which people can realize its never too late to turn their life around. Its a show that demonstrates pills and diets and books are no replacement for working your butt off (no pun intended), but it also demonstrates that working your butt off can pay off.

Like Fleck alluded to, sure Macca running up the Queen K is a great story, but NBC knows that Tara from BL will probably speak to a lot more people considering 68% of the US population is overweight and 34% is straight up obese (Reference: http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/...-obesity-stats-2010/).

This might sound a little altruistic but if Tara taking the 1800th Kona spot and finishing in under 17hrs inspires people to turn their lives around from an abbreviated livelihood of obesity, then far be it for any one of us to say she that doesn't deserve the slot. If this was my year to KQ and I miss it by "one slot" (like thousands of other people), then I'd better just HTFU for next year.

Bad929: I know its a "World Championship", and I know having BOPers theoretically takes away from that. But if it wasn't for the human interest stories the Kona coverage would be a one hour recap broadcast on OLN, and advertisers and sponsors would walk away. KSwiss was all over this year's Kona sponsorship, but do you think KSwiss would be offering up a million bucks to the Raelert bros if they didn't think triathlon was a sport that ultimately had mass market appeal? Triathlon is a sport where "anything is possible" and every day people rightfully believe they can do something great. Take away everyday success stories and you take away mass market appeal. Take away mass market appeal, and the money for the pros, and the money for product development will dry up pretty quickly. Thats why the sport needs the human interest stories as badly as it needs its champions, and why the NBC Kona coverage is so split between the two. Simple as that.

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Raf
http://www.shutuplegs.org

This is all well and good, but I think we should continue to hammer the cry baby who made the original post.

All you bitter pussies (that's right, Bigpuss is calling you guys pussies) are just gonna have to get over it. WTC puts on triathlon events. One of them is on NBC a few months after they run it (at which time we get treated to all the freaking whining about how shitty the telecast is).

You don't like? Go f@ck yourself. Make your own f@cking triathlon and get NBC or your local public access channel to play it on tv.

Or why don't you just quit triathlon and become a badass roadie so you can go to some other forum and cry about Lance Armstrong scratching his nut.

GET OVER IT!

Stop bitching and go home.

Pussies!

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_______________________
Powered by Demons.

I re-read my post and fail to see where I called Kona "rubbish".

Is it the more commercial than it was 20 years ago? Yes.

Is that a bad thing? Not particularly, but if one wants to avoid a corporate race there are other options.

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http://aclockworkmango.com

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

 I'm not saying they are a bad thing, and I get what your saying. I'm basically saying there is a small part of me that hates that the sport is exactly as you put it. An participation sport that cant stand on it's on merit of racing. And like I said, litttle by little the soreness goes away, and the reality of the situation occurs. The sport needs these "stories" to make it and to get more "attention", etc.. But it doesnt mean that I have to 100% like it. Thats kinda all I'm saying. In a true sense, it sucks that that is what it is, but the reality of the situation is that, that is how the race and the coverage of the sport is.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Bravo to that chick.
Edit: That is exactly what WTC and NBC should market the hell out of. That's fantastic and amazing, good for her!

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I guess, I can see some good aspects. Mainly that more people are aware of triathlon and specifically Ironmans. I'm amazed how many people I met in the last couple months who didn't know what an Ironman was. Also it could convince some people that they can achieve something in their live if they stop being lazy.
But I have to say, I can only support this idea if the BL actually finishes the race. If this person just goes there for fun and gives up not even halfway into the race it wouldn't seem fair.

Interesting as she didn't win season 7 of Biggest Loser, but Helen did. She was in finals but wasn't the winner.....interesting the article was wrong.

I bet she was given the slot at NY marathon too. She didn't have to qualify or win it in the lottery.

It's call Capitalism

I think there wouldn't be such a fuss over this if she was required to at least finish an IM event like the Lottery winners.

By doing so it would 'validate' her ability, just like the lottery winners, and thus allowed to play in the 'big show'. If you don't 'validate' your spot and give the distance the respect it deserves, then you don't get to goto Kona.

By just showing up without 'validating' - we end up with the disgraceful Hoover fiasco. Thats disrespectful of the sport to just show up and fail after being spoon-fed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hoover disgusts me.



Now I'm also assuming both of these fatties didn't do a 'validating' race before hand. Otherwise correct me if I'm wrong.

Quote:

I think there wouldn't be such a fuss over this if she was required to at least finish an IM event like the Lottery winners.

We heard the same whining about the bachelor when he got a slot and he was a fairly accomplished triathlete who finished with a very respectable time. BTW, you only have to do a 70.3 to valiate a lottery slot.

Tara was involved with the Rev3 series, though I don't know if she ever did a race. She also did Escape from Alcatraz (or that other SFB race). She isn't new to triathlon.

I only care that she has completed at least a 70.3 distance in the past 12 months. Otherwise, I don't care what she did before that. Same standards should be held to the fatties and the bachelors as lottery winners. Thats all.

I have no problem w/ her getting a spot after accomplishing what she has...good for her. It doesn't affect anyone else so what's the big deal. This is how the sport of Triathlon is gonna grow - with media coverage. Human interest appeals to some, championship racing appeals to others - either way it promotes the sport and will bring more people to it and over time it will increase the level of competition as a result.

Why does he disgust you? He missed the cut off by 3 minutes, which is better than some of those "not fatties". he had to do the same things that the lottery people did to get to go to Kona. Rather than quit, he finished the distance. Just because a person doesn't fot the ideal mold sholdn't make them less of an athlete. At least he stuck with the sport and finished an Ironman the next year. The fact of the matter is that Hoover and now Tara will bring more awareness to the sport than any other triathlete ever could. I find it hard to believe that anybody who knows anything about the sport would ever turn down the chance to race in Kona, regardless of their size. Hoover was fat but in the spot they showed on the Biggest Loser, which was seen by more people than the actual race, we was pretty greatful for the sport, not just Kona. Don't be pissed at him for taking an opportunity that anybody else would given the chance. Could he have been leaner and performed better? You bet. Could he kick your ass on the wrestling mat? Same answer. Fat or not, the guy is an athlete and you do have to give him some credit for not giving up. A guy like that and a girl like Tara are going to inspire way more other fatties to get off the couch and try to do something physical than any other "real" triathlete. Put those two in a room with any of the top level triathletes and see who is more recognized. To reitterate what other posters have said, the media slots don't take awy any real spots. Why aren't you bashing the lottery winners or the people who pay ridiculous amounts to buy their way in? The disgusting one in this post is you! Nice you can cry on the boards since you are bitter that you aren't racing.

1) She lost weight, good for her, 75% of americans should join in that quest.
2) people watching the biggest loser might tune into ironman now and attract more sponsor money.

I don't see the problem. Yes it sucks she didn't "rightfully" qualify, but in my mind that's not really an issue. I see the positives.

As far as I know, Tara didn't qualify - which puts her in the same category as a lottery winner. Kona is definitely a field split up into three categories: Pros, fast AG qualifiers and lottery winners. Are they all enthusiastic and can contribute to the sport? Absolutely! But especially in the lottery group there are a bunch of people (not all) who DID NOT put in the work. And those people are less deserving of a spot and definitely take those spots away from AG-qualifier athletes.

How about a rule amendment banning anyone who doesn't make the cut-off from entering the lottery again until they AG-qualify?
Or changing the validation rule to require at least one sub-17 Ironman finish?

BTW, can anyone confirm that Tara validated her slot with a 70.3 finish? Maybe I just didn't hear about it...

Go cry to your mama. No one here cares about your pathetic little gripes about your sad, bitter life.


But you seem to care enough to respond with a post that is far more pathetic.

Dang she is hot. Should give her a spot just for that.


Yeah, I'd be okay with 1,700 hot women, none of whom have ever competed a triathlon entering. At least I could tolerate watching for a few hours.

The women might object but hey, it's my fantasy.

A few observations from my end of the pool:

• Well done Tara for getting & staying fit
• This doesn't mean that I accept you deserving a spot at a race so many people slave away for years to qualify for (or not).
• Ditto lottery winners.
• NBC would have orchestrated this as sure as a bear sh%ts in the woods. Its called marketing.
• Having celebrities and lottery winners at a race which is called a "World Championship" and they have never even completed the distance is very, very strange. It may be capitalism and a private business ......but its still strange.
• Triathlon has long been the "everyperson"sport where amateurs can race alongside pros. However, to take it this step further and include people who have never even completed a race before (Tara may have - but I'm speaking more about the lottery winners here) is strange.
• Tara at Kona probably does send a positive message to society - provided she doesn't crumble in the cauldron and fail to make the swim cut-off. She wouldn't be the first.
• Nevertheless, there's no point getting worked up about it cause WTC owns the game is this is how they like to play it.
• Its a strange world, especially when ratings are involved.

Maybe go with the new Lamborghini Aventador, or the Pagani Hyuara.

As for BL Tara getting a Kona slot: NBC-Universal does have the broadcast rights, and surprising she is from an NBC reality show. Just a way for them to get free advertising. Now I am not one of the super elites, or even remotely fast triathletes, and respect to you all of course, but personally I would not even consider going for the lottery for Kona. I agree with AG qualifiers and props to all of you. Now if WTC wants to inspire people to get off their lazy butts, like I should be doing more, and get active then more power to them. The US is turning into a vast nation of people who want convenience and everything given to them. This race shows people what you can do if you get out there and put your mind to it. Hell, I see the footage of the Hoyts racing or Sr. Madonna and force myself to take another look in the mirror. Those are 2 cases, but it is the idea. Good luck to all racing tomorrow!

I'd hit it.
More power to her, she lost way more than the 50lb I've lost....

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Chicks are like Voltron, the more you can get, the better it is." -Tucker

I believe that Tara has completed a number of 1/2 IM distance races - and I think she has also done a non branded IM distance race. Yes, she used to be fat and was given her slot to Kona, but she is as much a triathlete as most of us on here. I'm rooting for her!

I think this belongs in the cry like a little biatch thread...

Everybody wants the price of race entry to go down or at least not increase and they want prize purses to go up, or other changes and improvements to be made... well that costs money. Which requires WTC to act like BUSINESS. Which means drawing people other than you and I into the sport and towards the television broadcast of the event. If that takes a biggest loser contenstant getting a shot at Kona then I say whats the harm?

On top of that everyone likes to bitch about fat people, and how overweight people are in the US... Personally I think showing Americans through the coverage of NBC that someone that used to be extremely overweight can go on to complete an Ironman is a positive role model this country desperately needs.

Get over yourself... the pro's will still have an amazing race, the top age groupers will still duke it out, and a few stories of inspiration will bring up the rear. Whats the harm?

One word, Qualify!

Two more words: She's hot.

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

Then be consistant, complain about the roll downs,

I wonder if she needed surgery to remove the rolls of extra skin.

The hard part now will be staying this way beyond the honeymoon period. Odds are high that within 10 years she'll be enormous again.

I don't want to seem like I am hammering you, because I think you have taken a pretty moderate and tempered position, but I just fail to see how the top age grouper race going on in the middle, and the lottery/celeb/charity race going on towards the back in any way take away from or diminish the true world championship race going on at the front. I love Kona (making food for my watch party right now), and I want it to be the most competitive and true world championship that it can be, but I just do not think that having lottery folks and media slots there in any way diminishes what is going on at the point end of the race?

Can someone try to articulate for me, calmly, why they think that having someone else on the same course, on the same day, 4 or 5 hours back, is diminishing the true race going on at the front? Is it because they are taking up camera time that "should" be spent on the fastest competitors? If you take away all of the stories that are interesting to the non-competitor public, there would be so much less media attention that the net result would probably be less camera time, even for the winners. I think the "3 races" analogy is right on, and I fail to see how having 3 races going on simultaneously in any way diminishes the world championship race going on at the front.

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The plural of anecdote is not data. :-)
- Andrew Coggan

Anyone have an update on her? As I type this, the Athlete Tracker has her last update as 5:18:00 to mile 59 on the bike (next bike check 30 miles later, but that was 4+ hours ago).

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-Mark Rebuck, http://www.markrebuck.com/

I thought she was finished with the bike at 8:31:47 and into T2.

I just talked to her and she looked great. I interviewed her yesterday and she is tough as nails. No way that girl was not going to finish. She is NOTHING like Judy Molnar or that other dude.

Kudos to her. She has a smile, is running well and is miles ahead of some very hard bodies. Unless the wheels fall off she will be in hours before the cutoff.

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infinIT Nutrition
Custom Blended Nutrition Solutions
http://www.infinITNutrition.com

Personally I don't mind celebrity slots. Seeing Tony Kanaan out there today was cool and if giving the Biggest Loser a slot makes 1 person lose weight and get in better shaped then that's cool too. I do wonder however, how the lady that missed the swim cutoff at last years race, got another slot this year? I know she's a doctor, so did she buy it on eBay or was she given it for being in the 2010 show?

I think it's great. All sports have some kind of public relations slant. She is obviously committed to health and goal achievement. Good for her.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

in talking to her beforehand there was no way she wasn't finishing. She was more nervous about the experience than not finishing.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

Did gravy come out?

"Did gravy come out?"

Hey that is uncool! Come on be nice.


Yes, I did laugh.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

especially in the lottery group there are a bunch of people (not all) who DID NOT put in the work. And those people are less deserving of a spot and definitely take those spots away from AG-qualifier athletes.

_______________

seriously dude, shut up. The lottery system is in place to honor how the race started and John Collins request when WTC took it. They did put work in, they have to complete at least a half before they toe the line. And frankly, Tara Costa's story is EXACTLY what the US needs to wake up. I had breakfast with her down here and she is an amazing, inspiration person. I suggest all ST'ers get off their bikes, shoes, pool and get involved with foundations like hers. Anyways....

BTW: to add fuel to the ST fire (because I can), I did Kona today. I was a lottery winner. I did 11:03. First IM in 3 years after "retiring". But, I have qualified for Kona before in 2003 with a 9:58 at IMC. I also did a 9:58 in 2006, and 10:09 in 2007. I've DNF'd too.

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@rhyspencer

I saw her when she got off the bike and she was happy and running off to the run. She will finish.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

in speaking to a few people tracking her there, she should be in real soon.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

Sub 14 for her first IM with all the media and self imposed pressure, Damn good job!

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

Tara looks pretty hot, id like to do inappropriate things to her.

Thing is, yoyo dont do thick crust...... So this presents a moral conundrum...

I have no problem with her getting the slot. But damn. She gained some weight back. If you really train for an IM and eat right you don't look like that. There are two things that make people healthy. Eating right (diet) and exercise. Just doing one is not really setting a good example. I think she could go faster.

Not to nitpick, but you need to ponder the phrase healthy. Being healthy is basically 95% genetics and 5% diet and exercise. It doesn't matter how fit or fast you are, you can have dangerously high blood pressure or heart troubles or defects or this or that. Conversely, if you have good genetics you can eat like crap and be outrageously fast.

Of course she could go faster. Her aerobic base consists of doing what it takes to lose some weight. But as is the entire topic of this thread, she's not RACING. She did the event because it's a bucket list thing.

Not to nitpick, but I strongly doubt that she did it to check something off of her bucket list. She has raced tri before, and likely NBC approached her to do Kona because they do the broadcast (and also the Biggest Loser) and knew that millions of unhealthy people in America think she is awesome and inspirational. In the weight loss world she is a huge celebrity and does lots of public speaking. If her doing Kona means that she inspires one overweight person to get off the couch and maybe try to do the same thing she did, then great.

Anyone on this board would take a charity slot in a second to do that race (likely with no valid reason), myself included.

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Part of the Slowtwitch Strength Training Association. Picking up something heavier than a bike makes me happy.

I am happy for her finish and glad she had the opportunity to do the race.

the lesson here is eat ice cream and you will get stuff given to you others have to earn

brb getting some ice cream

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Or perhaps the lesson is change your life and life can change for you.

That does logically follow.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I keep eating it and so far this has yet to happen. I'm hoping for a BMW myself.

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Part of the Slowtwitch Strength Training Association. Picking up something heavier than a bike makes me happy.

"I keep eating it "

Americone Dream or Mission To Marzipan make a cloudy sunny. Ice cream is so awesome.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

i am not a fan of them having to run the marathon also on the show but who knows

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Follow me on Twitter @CK21TRHC
I use what I love: ISM, Blue70, Trek, FLO

This is why I weigh 148 with 14% body fat rather than 138 with 8%. Ice cream. SO yummy!

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

  


Are you sure about that?

I'm about 95% sure that I wouldn't accept a charity slot for Kona or Boston even though I seriously doubt I will ever qualify for either.

If the 5% of me did win over the other 95% and I chose to accept a charity slot...I would definitely NOT BUY ANYTHING with the words finisher on it since, in my opinion, it doesn't really count unless you qualify.

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Check out my sad excuse for a blog:
http://brianstriblog.blogspot.com/

Really? If you finish you didn't really finish? Oh, BTW, if you buy your way in you did qualify.

There are a few ways to qualify:

Be faster than most in your AG at one race.


Be sort of fast and get a roll down at one race.


Get a lottery slot.

Pay a butt load of money.

However the pros get in.

Those are the KQ rules. If you get in and finish, you finished! Wear the shirt.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

You're thinking of a shirt that says "winner".
Her shirt will say "finisher". There are thousands of those.

Perhaps you have the WTC's next schwag-bag idea. They could give out shirts that say "qualifier".

mine will have to say "lottery" or "eBay rich guy"

Do you often picture yourself nailed to a cross?

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Um...the point of charity slots is for people who don't/can't qualify. They are trying to raise money for good causes.

As for not buying a finisher shirt, last I checked if you finish a race, then you can claim that you finished it. Perhaps there should be different shirts for people who didn't qualify. Maybe they just get cotton instead of fancy material.

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Part of the Slowtwitch Strength Training Association. Picking up something heavier than a bike makes me happy.

And the latest new flavor!

http://www.benjerry.com/...rs/feature/schweddy/

Hahahhhaha!!!! Nicely done....

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Commented on this before and I agree that if she accepted a slot to another race it wouldn't be that big a deal.

Here are the facts:
-She said she wanted to do the race for the tattoo, she finished, 42nd out of 44 in her age group. Enjoy your tat.

-NBC and her are both going to make money off of this, the people claiming she is a 'charity' slot, what charity? The one she runs, that will most likely pay her a salary? NBC's charity that has a vested interest in putting one of their weight loss contestants on TV to bring in more sponsors and donors?

-This is a one and done race for her, another celebrity bucket list gets checked off.

Also to the 'Well, gee golly gosh, what if couch potatoes see this and it encourages them to get off the couch... Do you honestly think that a couch potato is watching early afternoon random NBC sports coverage in December, with college football on? Biggest loser had it's lowest ratings ever this week and contestant after contestant have gained back the weight. It isn't about changing peoples lives, its a game show, and some contestants keep competing for fame after the show has ended.

Hey Mott,

Pass me the Ice Cream, maybe later I'll order a pizza and hit the BK drive thru. When my wife asks, I'll just tell her 'I'm Training For Kona'

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Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A

Wow...I was curious about her splits and stumbled on her race photos...she has definitely gained a bunch of her weight back...looks nothing like she does in the photos throughout this thread.

Link?

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

http://www.finisherpix.com/...ent=0042&bib=141

heres from on her fb page
http://www.facebook.com/...ggestLoser?sk=photos

Damn! She gained back quite a bit of that there weight. I guess it's easier to eat like crap when Jillian Michaels isn't screaming in your face every time you pick up a Krispe Kreme.

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

Seriously? I looked through some of her recent Facebook pics and she looks fine.

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Part of the Slowtwitch Strength Training Association. Picking up something heavier than a bike makes me happy.

I accel for about 10 seconds, at which point I have reached maximum velocity. The rest of my race consists
of a gradual decel.

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

Didn't see the FB pics before I posted. The FB ones are a lot better, actually. Though she still doesn't look as good as she did in those others.

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

That's because the Biggest Loser competition is an unhealthy plummet to the bottom. I've watched a few seasons (Tara's included) and found their weight loss to be extreme and unhealthy. I think it sends a positive message and highlights the dangers of obesity, but the competition itself is dangerous, they eat next to nothing and exercise four hours a day...granted, I'd do the same with the kind of prize they fight for but it's not healthy, which is part of the reason so many gain back most if not all of the weight back.

Tara is certainly not at her Biggest Loser slimmest...but she's also not obese, and she continues to inspire and raise awareness. To those who say she's undeserving of her slot and she's not even in as a charity slot etc: look at her FB photo's from the week, she wasn't just there tapering and enjoying Hawaii, she was doing appearances, meeting with kids, etc. I find her to be inspirational and a positive influence, and no matter what way you slice it going from super obese to an Ironman finisher is impressive.

Well said.

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your astonishment!

Here are her pics from Kona (site is slooowww right now). Personally, I think a sub-14 Kona finish for any previous Biggest Loser contestant is beyond incredible.

http://www.finisherpix.com/...ent=0042&bib=141

I saw her last night and she looks good. Not as thin as at the finale of the show, not an uber-thin endurance athlete, but normal and healthy and happy.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

2x here...also its a business, they can do whatever they like with the slots---and people who go on and on about this should spend more time training and less time bitching, cuz bitching and whining won't get you to Kona

An interview I did with Tara 2 days prior to the event. She totally respected the distance and the race itself. I will admit that before I met her I was dubious (to say the least), after I spent time with her it completely changed my opinion.

Tara Costa

I did speak with her on Sunday and she is planning to do Lake Placid. So...the Kona thing was not just a one time deal for publicity.
Warning...I do the intro so you have to listen to me drone on for about a min. :)
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infinIT Nutrition
Custom Blended Nutrition Solutions
http://www.infinITNutrition.com

I'm on a computer at work. No speakers. Did she say if she was going to have to pay the fee for Lake Placid?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Not a question I even thought about asking, or really even cared about. She is out trying to promote her work with childhood obesity. My guess is that her foundation has enough money to pay for any event she wanted to do.

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infinIT Nutrition
Custom Blended Nutrition Solutions
http://www.infinITNutrition.com

She presents herself very well. She clearly appears to sincerely believe what she says: "I am an ordinary person who was given an extraordinary opportunity" and "I feel truly blessed."

Hard not to like her.

Obesity is rapidly killing this country and will drive us out of existence with healthcare costs and an aging, invalid population. If people are inspired by watching her, how could anyone object?

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

JSA that's exactly how I felt. I have made fun of the biggest looser athletes because they don't respect the sport I love. They are just there...well frankly I have no idea why they are there. Maybe just for a free trip to Hawaii.

Trust me I am a hard ass about this stuff. I don't post it here because of who I work for. We have worked with other Media entries, and they were a pain in the butt (excluding Tony Kanaan, he is awesome). But after I met her my mind was totally changed. She is different, hard as nails and totally deserving of crossing the finish line.

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infinIT Nutrition
Custom Blended Nutrition Solutions
http://www.infinITNutrition.com

Took the words right out of my mouth Steve.

To add though, without these human interest features, triathlon shows would end up like the WNBA shows. Hold on, no let me re-think that. WNBA shows may be worse....


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you can always gain 150 lbs, go on the show and use your massive underlying fitness to shed it all in a few months. Then Kona here you go.....plus you might be rich(er).

This is what I believe some of those diet pills or fitness commercials do. They find some low paid athlete that is injured and pay them to put on some weight. Then once the injury heals they start training and can drop the weight quickly.

Of course on the show you are going to wasting lots of your time lifting weights.

Yeah but they can't stop you from going home at night and putting in 3-4 hours on the treadmill/trainer/pool ;)

Seriously though, its kind of a large health risk to assume just to get to Kona and make a few bucks. And once you get that fat your body is never going to be quite the same.

That's the deal-with-the-devil aspect of this that bothers me. TBL takes a very serious problem and turns it into a freakshow: both the contestants who get on it, and the extremes they go through to win a stupid game. I am rooting for this young lady, like I would root for anyone, to take their health seriously and embrace a healthy life and weight level.

As for the bitching/moaning here, we have a special name for days where people on ST bitch and whine about Kona slots/qualifying and celebrities: Tuesday.

Actually sort of sounds like lightweight rowing to me......so not so bad.

Quote:

As for the bitching/moaning here, we have a special name for days where people on ST bitch and whine about Kona slots/qualifying and celebrities: EVERYDAY.

Fixed that for you.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I say this both rhetorically/devils advocate

Who's fault is that?

I have done 3 IMs, doing my 4th at IMFL in a few weeks. Have zero vision/desire to ever qualifying for Kona. Never want to turn a passion into a very unhealthy obsession, that is too visible on ST, to risk at all costs, just to qualify for Kona.

That is what I don't get.

My biggest fear of every qualifying is taking that 10-12 hour flight from NYC, and being stuck in a seat next to a people that are over-the-top with this nonsense have to listen about gear ratios, and wattages, and running splits and 10 X100 on 30secs, etc the whole way ;)

She paid for Placid on her own. That I know for a fact. I am trying to convince her to do IMWI if Placid goes well. As a trade I was supposed to do Placid next year with her, but I do not have medical clearance yet to do so.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

I would rather watch an interesting story like hers or lottery athlete with an interesting story than a pro who drops out because they are having a "bad" day. The only stories that sell are FOP and BOP. Everything else is just race fodder.

yeah, we were walking back to the condo with our bikes when we saw her come in. We were impressed with her time. I have to say it has got to be tough racing your first IM with a camera in your face for 14hrs! She looked very relaxed and happy when we saw her on Alii.

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Like T says, "Remember it is all about the Bike because it is all about the Run!"

Well I didnt see her name on the Participant List for Lake Placid 2012. Hmmm interesting.... Another race she'll get into by taking another spot.

Quote:

Another race she'll get into by taking another spot.

You really think they're going to kick someone out of the race to let her in? I've never understood why people get bent out of shape about someone else getting something they may not be deserving of. My mom always told me to worry about myself.

Thom

Well I know they aren't going to do that but how many others is going to get special treatment? The last time I checked we all had to sit at a computer and register at the allotted time for races we hope to get a spot. The races are already crowded to begin with. Oh well, I guess its another person to swim over! just kidding

I have 2 children ages 9 and 7. I have been telling them for years, that NOBODY ever said life was going to be fair. When you have the money, you make the rules. That's how the game works..

Fixed again....

;-)

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Hopefully the spot she stole at IMLP is from someone that saw Julie Moss crawl against the finish line and was going to sign up for IMLP as the required IM race so they can apply for the Kona lottery.

So it is a win/win

Not everyone has to sit at a computer. Other ways to get in to the race include lottery, military, major sponsor, or be a celebrity / VIP / person-of-interest. With the lottery, you pay your money and take your chances. With the others, you need to get high enough on the appropriate list to be told "hey, we have a spot open at the race - interested?" None of these 'take away' any of the slots that are available at regular qualifying races. They've been around for years. There were even some slots freed up on the pier this year - fewer pros because of the new points system.

As many others have stated, this World Championship is different because it is being run by a for-profit corporation. Their game, their races, their rules. Everyone has a choice whether to play or not.