This is Slowtwitch, and such things don't get discussed here. There are a few notables in the top ten of either field, so it's hardly stacked with nobodies.

What's more concerning is that there were just 17 entrants in the women's race. That's a very narrow field.

(As for Sylvain Sudrie, I'd never heard of him either. It seems he mostly races in France. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvain_Sudrie)

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Wow. An American has not heard of an athlete that doesn't live, train or race in the USA. Shocking.

Kinda like Greg Welch when he announces in Kona...

I think I have heard of -- and by the way, am a fan of -- far more non-American professional triathletes than American pros. But yes, much like with the Lionel conversation, let's make this about nationalism.

The USA AGers worked hard for the chance to race today.

I hope to race it next year.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

For the really lazy. Yeah who are any of those guys.... ;)

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Founder: BestBikeSplit
Amazonian

Thanks for calling my biggest race of the year a joke.

It's not ironman so people don't talk about it as much. Besides, the race was brutal and people have only been done for a little while.

Congrats on the race! Those winds can be brutal. Races out there are by far some of the hardest I can remember.

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Founder: BestBikeSplit
Amazonian

Pubes, I'm surprised you haven't heard of those guys - pretty solid men's field. The French seem to put more emphasis on that race than others. Pretty sure he's won before. That Cyril V guy finished very high at Kona recently as well.

Seems like a quality of field equivalent to a lesser IM regional champs race. From my friends who raced it sounds like a super rough swim and a hot day. You'd expect the latter in OKC, but the swim surprised me.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

This was pretty much my point.

I'm sorry it was your big race. I'm sorry it was brutal.

Actually, I'm not.

 

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RayGovett
Hughson CA
Be Prepared-- Strike Swiftly -- Who Dares Wins- Without warning-"it will be hard. I can do it"

I agree with the above.

Why do you read that I haven't heard of the field? It is a stout field... I said I have not heard of the winner. Have you?

The only joke is your post. You know that Kona guys aren't racing because of timing. So what. There's more to tri than WTC - a discussion we're all sick of having on here. You've never heard of beals? Alexander? Reid? Ambrose? Mc niece? Etc.? Of course you have, so this is annoying elitist rubbish.

I ONLY SAID I HAVE NOT HEARD OF THE WINNER

FFS

Eh, how active are you on Twitter? If you follow enough people it was easy to follow the results (and I don't follow all that many people).

Chrabot did get bronze, so ya for USA!

But I've never really thought anyone takes this race serious in terms of the LC PRO athletes side of the sport. It seems it's for those either recovering from injury and/or can't make Kona.

Eta: or maybe I just don't take it serious enough to even know who raced. If solid field...cool.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Craig Alexander? What a nobody.

I heard that some person named Jodie Swallow won the women's race and she beat Caroline Steffen.

And where is Oklahoma anyway???

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

I actually think that, at this point, aside from WTS ITU, there really isn't.

Congratulations, by the way. How was the race?

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

This one is easy. Oklahoma is a little bit north of Dallas...it serves as an excellent parking lot for the great state of Texas.

I was about to use my Samuel L Jackson voice to say "English, motherf*cker - do you read it?", but I realized that I left out a key sentence in my reply.

My apologies.

I have heard of Sudrie. He was the one I was referring to that I believe has won it before.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Yes, of course it's an increasing problem, as discussed ad nauseam. But I manage to do both WTC and smaller series and/or independents each year. The upcoming westchester Olympic tri just north of nyc, for example, is in its 30th year and will have 1,000 participants. But if you're talking pro events, I can only agree. Seems like the challenge and rev races are like minor leagues. Pros follow the money and what sponsors want re exposure, so can't blame them.

Only guy in top 10 I haven't heard of is the Italian

Only when you revoke WTCs right to call it a 'World Championship'. That is a far bigger joke than the ITU long course World Champs, at least everyone actually qualified to be there. . . .

Hello PubliusValerius Publicola and All,

I know this is nitpickin' ..... but "Link for the lazy" ...... really?

Perhaps "Link by the lazy" would be more appropriate .....

Please check out the little infinity icon above and activate your links when you post.

It will be appreciated by the many ST readers that are time crunched .... a little extra effort by one of you and time saved for many ST readers.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

well said!

Thanks :)

First of all, I'm really a nobody at that level.

The swim had a 1 to 2 foot chop. It's one of the hardest swims I've done.

The bike was mostly north/south and had a 15 to 20 mph breeze out of the south. Personally I like windy courses cuz as soon as we go into the wind I pull people back and put time on them. That's what happened today. It was fairly hot, I knew it would be and adjusted my effort for it.

The run was just plainly hot. I'm not a good runner but appeared to run ok

Redman always puts on a good race. My only complaint would be that they could have moved the swim further off shore since the water was low

who has won that title before ...

 

Link anywhere for the Age Groupers results?

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http://www.sweat7.com
Facebook Page: Sweat7
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http://redman.onlineraceresults.com/search.php

 
Thanks Pete.

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http://www.sweat7.com
Facebook Page: Sweat7
Twitter: @sweat7coaching

Pubes,
If you stayed in touch with triathlon just a little bit more, you would know that very few french triathletes play the Ironman 'game' as their national federation (and other federal institutions such as the army, lots of them are in the army and paid by the army but with a special status of elite athlete) only support them if they take part in the official international federation (the ITU for triathlon) championships. The WTC championships are therefore not considered legitimate by these institutions. This is why you haven't seen many French triathletes do well at Hawaii and why they've historically dominated ITU long distance WC podiums. Sudrie already won it in 2009 I think, and podiumed a few other times as well.

Over 1200 registered including some very fast college kids. 400+ in the kids race yesterday. A lot of money will be gong to charities given its a not for profit organization.

Beautiful morning for racing today.

That swim sounds like it was pretty rough... My teammates are typically FOP swimmers at local races and swam 32-34 at Redman last year. They were 1:27 and 1:23 yesterday. One said it was worse than any Lake Michigan swims he's ever done (Steelhead, Racine, etc.) Can't imagine how rough that was for less confident swimmers.

They mentioned that there were times it was so shallow you had to walk. Sounds like a welcome respite!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Bro. I know this may come as a surprise to you over there with your keyboard and mouse, but some of us start threads on a phone. It is a big pain in the ass to hyperlink on an iPhone. Issue complaints to the forum overlords for this oversight.

whatever the reason, you defined irony when you called it a link for the lazy, but you were loo lazy to make it an actual link.

FYI, and this goes for a crap ton of people in this forum, to make a web address an actual link, no special anything needed, just type:

{url}insert web address here{/url}

but replace the "{&}" with "[&]"

This is quite helpful...I mean that seriously, thanks

funny, i came to the opposite conclusion. i was surprised such a strong field showed for a race that is too close to kona to draw such a field. esp in the women's race.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I did it in 2008 I think it was in Almere, Holland where a certain Chrissie Wellington won the female field. It is a bit of a difficult one to answer really.

It was a pretty tough day out. The swim ended up being nearer to 5km (Was supposed to be 4) secondary to a strong tide and big waves. I was and still am a 55 mins IM swimmer and was about 1:20 I think from memory. The bike was a two lap flat course, but was windy as heck. Coming back down the far side of the course it was a right struggle into a constant wind. The run was a pretty flat and easy affair, but I don't like running so i suffered as per usual. I think they tend to be on tough courses from what I have seen over the years.

As for the strength of the field, I would say it is probably where up and coming / second tier pros go to race. Chrissie back then was the notable exception having burst onto the scene at Hawaii in 2007, but you can see the draw for some doing a pre Kona hard hit at this time of the year and hopefully getting some prize money.

As for the age groups, well, I would probably not class it as a world championships in the way that the ITU olympic distance races are. The qualification (at least when I went in 2008) was send an entry request to your local federation and then get a place in the January. I think there were 20 slots for my age group, and being M30 - 34 it was a popular one. I don't think they allocated them all. For the lesser age groups such as the older men and most of the females, it was just as simple as sign up, spend £150 on a GB trisuit / tracksuit and go. The parade of nations was a bit of fun, but there was nobody really watching it. I did feel like a bit of a fraud wearing my GB tracksuit through the airport, and it was the time of the Beijing Olympics as well, so had to explain to a few people I wasn't an elite triathlete that they had never heard of :-).

Given that you pretty much just pay and enter anyway, I can see the point that it isn't really a world champs. Would you rather place 100th in Kona or 100th in the ITU long course? I would say there is certainly far more kudos to the former. Qualifying and racing in Kona is genuinely difficult whereas this just felt a bit like a jolly with some nice kit.

I was also at Almere in 2008 for the U.S. I was only in my 2nd year of long course and recall thinking that the swim would never end. When we came out, I laid on the dock for a minute wondering how I was going to finish. Besides the long swim, the real problem was the heat even though it had been cool just a few days earlier. My wife and I blew off the Parade of Nations and spent the evening in Amsterdam...no regrets there! Last year, I did the Parade of Nations in Motala, Sweden and it was a lot of fun as you noted. I also went to Austria for the 70.3 WC and watched the WTC parade of nations as it came by my hotel...a complete gaggle by comparison since everyone was just wearing whatever...certainly not the same feel as an ITU race.

I came in 2nd in my AG at a regional qualifier to make the team for Almere, but I would be the first to admit that it's far easier to make Team USA then it is to go to Kona. I've been to three IM70.3 WCs and three ITU LC WCs but have only been on the bubble (or worse) at the IM distance. But so what? If I see a race in a destination that I'm interested in, I try for it. It's just that simple. I wasn't interested in OKC but I appreciate that it is meaningful to everyone who raced. Congrats to all of them.

So to the OP, I would say, NO, they are not a complete joke. They are certainly not as competitive as Kona, but again, so what? They are worthwhile, provide an alternative to the Ironman monopoly, and have made my own triathlon experience richer.

I think this format/distance has the most potential out of all the non-IM branded races. It's a great, and very balanced distance. I would love to see ITU treat these like the WTS races and have a rotating schedule of races around the world.

The pro tri Union just released their new something "cup" that will be very difficult to make into a viable and long lasting series. I think they would have been better off trying to work with the ITU to create a series. They are the best run, most consistent, and most legitimate organization out there. They are also the only organization, IMO, that can hold "world championships". This should be the real "world championship" since its a legitimate organization. Also great that it's a rotating venue.

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https://twitter.com/mungub

Totally agree about the distance. The iron distance is just excessively long. Too long in my opinion

This distance is much more palatable

Is there any credibility to any ITU Worlds events. Especially when you consider that people can simply pay and don't even need to qualify to go. When people 2/3 of the way down the ranks of their AG at a local race end up at an event billed as a World Championships you have ask the question.

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https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com

If you look at the TOP of the AG ranks, you will find the best competitors. Guys like Tim Hola are not weak competitors. I raced against a guy a few times that beat many 20 years younger. Don't discount who's there because of the rear of the field, but judge the top. You'd find the same at Kona.

Not sure I agree that IM is too far, but with a longer swim, the ITU format is a much better distance to judge who is the best overall athlete of the 3 sports. While I love IM, this is much more fair to all sports having the same weight.

The problem is multi-focal.

1. The first is the ITU does a horrible job promoting anything but professional ITU racing. That & the Olympics is their main focus with nothing in 2nd or 3rd place.

2. everyone, especially in the US, but around the globe has a hard on for WTC.

3. WTC does a great job making sure everyone's hard on stays hard for Kona and the 70.3 WC's.

4. triathletes for the most part are complete not compete when it comes to racing, and WTC has done a phenomenal job catering to that crowd.

5. IIRC ITU and WTC went to court about the title World Championships. I'm pretty sure that ITU can't put on an Iron distance race and call it a World Championship ust like WTC couldn't legally put on a oly tri and call it the World Champs. Again, iirc they carved out those niches legally

Ultimately the fault lies with the ITU and NGBs who treat the ITU LC WC's like a bastard's bastards stepchild. It would take them a fair bit of time for them to bring the prestige of this race up, even though it's a World Championship, to the level of respect & competition that Kona & 70.3 WC gets.

I just don't see the will in the ITU or even USAT who hosted this race to make it anything more than an afterthought.

I had an athlete grab a silver at this race in their age group and an athlete win their age group at the 70.3 Worlds. The latter is much more easily understood by the triathlon population than the former.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I don't think that you need to make all 3 sports the same "duration" to have the same "weight" just that each is long enough to create the same amount of differential after each leg between the top pro and the back of the pro field. Based on this, I would say you need more like a 5K swim to make the 120K bike and 30K run. It would be nice for example if Andy Potts can have a large enough lead after the swim that a guy like Kienle needs the entire bike to close it as I would say that Kienle's swim is on par in terms of "the best" as Pott's swim and Pott's bike is equivalently weak to Kienle's swim. As it stands Kienle can close a gap after a 3.8K swim (not 4K but close) within around 50-70K.

Olympic distance is just about right. It should be made the international standard unit of triathlon measure and everything should be a multiple of the standard.
1/2 standard
Standard
Double standard
Quadruple standard

So then you end up with:

4.5k swim 120K bike, 30K run
6k swim 160K bike 40K run (call it 42).

I guess that's about right.

FWIW, a lot of us did swim about 5 k in those waves yesterday. And it wasn't a joke.

of ocurse the fault is Itu and federations.
only really fance and denmark reall have shown some consistent interest the long course worlds

the timing is of course awful ( as you say afterthought ) and when timed better you get really very good field like in victria ( spain a few years ago )

at the same time the Press dosnt seem to care much either
and prepfers to report about the 237 s new 70.3 race rather than talking about worlds before the race.

For us old folks O2 and O3 were the standards:
3k swim; 80k bike; 20k run
4k swim; 120k bike; 30k run.

All good distances, and that's coming from a crap swimmer. Much better than WTC distances IMO.

Which Fed just asks for nominations and gives auto entries? All the feds I know of at least have a qualifying percentage on them (eg 115% of AG winner), but I'm happy to be illuminated.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

Great display of ignorance. I think it is better you don't post on this subject anymore. It just shows how much you don't know about the sport. i would also imagine you have no clue in AG ranks who Slavinski is, Hola, maybe Wood......why would I expect that. They live train and race on this continent.

If I make an assumption from the username that you are in the UK, our fed does for starters. Well, it did when I applied. They set a standard that guaranteed selection - think it was sub 11 hours in an Ironman distance event, and then if they didn't get 20 people who'd done that, it was just a roll down type affair. Now, things might have moved on since then, but that's how it was for me in 2008. My best then was an 11:18 for what its worth.

I think this is the thing with age group racing hey, there is always going to be a question of is it worth it - cost, time of work, family commitments etc. It's a long way to go for the Europeans, and I guess a lot just went nah can't be bothered. Met a bloke at Ironman Roth who had qualified at the Staffordshire 70.3 by coming 36th in his age group (M35-39). He said they literally had people in a room at the awards ceremony and said, right who wants to go. Still don't think they managed to hand out all the places.

I guess the point of the above is even the mighty Ironman brand has trouble filling its races with the best in the world. I should imagine Kona is probably the only race on the circuit that has the best of the best, but I guess with a couple of hundred lottery - or legacy should I say now athletes, that waters things down a bit. I shouldn't think my lottery inspired 16:36 in 2003 has anyone shaking in their boots!

I guess this will always be the case for us amateurs. It's why if you truly want to say hey I'm the champion you need to race pro, and I guess this is the issue most have with the title world championships. Unless ITU can entice the best away from Kona then it becomes a bit of a second tier competition that will attract second tier coverage.

Amazing. I said from the very beginning I had not heard of this person...perhaps you missed that part, because I was not displaying or showing ignorance at all -- I was professing it.

Anyways, this athlete hasn't even been mentioned on this forum in almost three years. In fact, his full name has only been typed seven times in as many years. By comparison, age grouper Tim Hola, whom I have heard of and raced alongside -- well, that guy is almost ten times as prevalent on these pages. And this French athlete comes out of the woodwork, or wherever he has been training/hiding -- sounds like maybe in the army -- and wins a world championship. "World Championship". Whether or not that's a legit world title and why was actually the point of the thread. But glad to see you missed that entirely, as well as the productive discussion that followed.

Right, because ST is the be all and end all of triathlon.......

Please. If there is a better arbiter for what's important in the sport, let's hear it. Lava magazine?

I agree with this. Hola was 2nd overall & 1st in 40-44. Slavinski dropped out. Woods was 2nd in 45-49. FWIW, Woods won the overall US LD title last year at age 44. There are other names such as Kirsten Sass--who beat the entire AG field by almost half an hour in F35-39 & overall only a group of AG men (any age) were ahead of her. Another universe there.

Conditions: personally the swim was fun with all the chop, but very rough to sight. The wind really was a challenge on the bike & most overcooked it (myself included). Overcook the bike & you pay on the hot run. I walked & stopped at every aid station on the run (and in between on some), overheated & delirious. Tim Yount tried to pull me at end of lap #1 run, citing weaving and eyes rolling around from being dizzy/dehydrated. I barely knew which way the course went if not for the crowd lining the sidewalk. Rarely race that poorly, but wasn't going to stop, even if having to spend the full allotted time out there. To me, that means the heat, wind and hills out there between the three legs of the race were pretty overwhelming for most of us. Not sure what the drop rate was, but someone said the Japanese had quite a few (I haven't looked to verify that as of yet).

Anytime you see Crowie swimming over an hour (for a 4K), you know it has to be windy! That said, an aid station had run out of water at one point & they (volunteers) were yelling "Where is our water supply at? We are all out!" One thing that was odd was on the bike course, they (volunteers) tore off the snap caps on the bike water bottles--couldn't put it in the BTA without is just draining out. Then on the run, they had small screw top bottles with the tops still screwed on--then a "last chance littering" sign about 50 yards later. By the time many got the darn cap off it was time to toss it. Not sure if they penalized anyone for tossing beyond that point.

Drafting...I did see one AUS guy in a small group with a RUS guy and one USA dude, several times, close enough to all be on one bike. Aside from that I was not witness to anything but clear and clean riding. My guess is nobody wanted to waste the trip on a dumb drafting penalty.

Heat...yes, very hot for me. I like cold (in the wrong sport I guess!) Windy on the way out abut tailwind on the way back for the flat run.

Competition: Wow, there were some really fast people out there (you can't go off the paces due to conditions). These guys are every bit as fast as regular WTC regulars. In fact, Hola is one of the top WTC AG athletes in the world as well so there isn't much argument there. If some ITU regular racers moved over to WTC racing there would definitely be some shake, rattle & roll for the podium finishes, and visa-versa. For example, Mr. Woods (More Cowbell on ST), is ready for that sort of a challenge (moving to a full Ironman) & would crush it--certainly some 45-49'rs would be sliding down the list a spot. I'm working on convincing him to go long soon...

jjarret--tried to see if you were around race morning--but thought jarret was your last name & didn't see any stickers on the bike racks with that name on our AG rack, or suits with that name on it race morning. Sorry I missed ya!

All in all, it was "a finish" and better than a DNF, so it is what it was. The race crew overall did a fine job & the volunteers did just great I thought. Lots of help out there, friendly, supportive. From experience yesterday, I will say they have a top notch Medical Tent.

Finally, congrats to all the winners & the out of country folks who made the trip. You came a long way for a really, really tough day. If you finished, take it as a win. If you were unlucky enough to not finish/DNF--it may have been a smart health decision so there will be other days to train & fight the good fight.

Originally UK, now travelled a bit so have experience of a few feds. For LD WC minimum qual for UK is 115%, Kiwi is 115%; Aus have a points accumulator. Not sure about the USA. The 115% was in place during the 2010 round for 2011 WC, and for later WCs I've qualified for. But I am interested in any that use the auto process.

IM Roth? Jees, you were an early adopter. That stopped being WTC in 2001!

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

Loved the opportunity to race triple Olympic at an event where all athletes wore their national colors. I was challenged by the conditions, and finished my season on a positive note.

As much as I have a long history of feeling no love for the ITU, they certainly have much more right to call their event the world championships that the WTC do for their "ironman" world champs.

While many of us think of ironman being the name for long distance triathlon, it's actually a trademark for WTC's brand of long course racing. While Kona has defacto status for world champs, it's only the big race of their season. Triathletes competing in non branded races don't get a look in.

While the ITU long course champs don't generally get the top level triathletes actually going, only the ITU, the governing body of triathlon, has the legitimacy to call them world championships.

They might be a crap event, not get any TV time and relative unkown's might win, but it's still a legitimate use of the name "World Championships".

In my less than humble opinion, and legalities aside, I think the ITU should give up on their current WC events. They should have the ITU world champs be over the 'ironman' distance, but of course not use that name anywhere. Any IM distance race anywhere in the world should be eligible for WC points. IM brand races should get max points because they are the most hotly contested. Challenge races should get 0.95 points of IM races, because as much as I love Challenge, their races aren't quite as deep or hotly contested (but getting closer all the time). Independent races should get points but the depth of field should be used in some way to determine points. !/2 IM races should get 1/3 of the points of a full IM distance race, because they are way easier and you do way more of them each year.

Only when all international triathletes are eligible, regardless of the race series they choose to compete in, will the ITU races actually amount to anything meaningful.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

We may have talked in the changing tent before the race? My last name is Johnson

I did see you on the run course several times, Your last name is unique.

jaretj

Possible. I am not shy about talking to people at races, it's a comfort zone being at a race so I'm easy to speak to. Yes, the name is pretty rare. Even more rare if someone can possibly pronounce it correctly!

To get across the finish on a hard day like that, is positive for sure. I guess many dropped out...too bad. Those can live to fight again though. It's what we do as triathletes, regroup, plan for a comeback stronger.

For many European athletes, coming to race in the US is not worth it. The sport has little money for those racing long.
Sudrie has been racing for over 10 years and has had very solid results, but chose to race primarily in Europe, short course for a while and ITU type races otherwise. These typically get zero coverage in the US.
So all it would require is that you pay attention to what's going on outside.

Although he's nowhere near the same level, that reminds me of Hellriegel in 95 and then LVL showing up in Kona in 96 with everyone here thinking WTF??! Americans had no clue who they were. Except that it was pre-google (altavista and co really don't compare) so they had an excuse then.

It's especially interesting to see the changes at the NGB level.

In 2011, USAT:
- covered my entry fee
- provided me with an offical team (TYR) race suit with logos of my choosing (i.e., I got to put my sponsors on the suit; I could have chosen to have Zoot - at the time - make a suit that conformed to the template, or I could have used a Kiwami or ChampSys USAT-template suit)
- provided me with travel support (as a qualifier rather than a selection spot)
- provided me with a tiered bonus in the event of a podium finish
- gave me the opportunity to earn money from TYR (which is why I chose to wear the suit; well that and it's a really nice suit) in the event of a podium finish
- provided me with TYR national team podium apparel - track suit, polo shirt, t-shirt, bag, and some other goodies

in 2016, I would have received none of the above. Well, I think I still might have been eligible for a bonus in the event of a podium and a bonus from TYR if I raced in a TYR suit. But I am sure there was no travel support. I am pretty sure I would have had to pay my own entry. I could probably have gotten all the gear from TYR because I know folks there and they are awesome, but I am pretty sure USAT would not have provided it.

Of course, a lot of this is speculation, because prior to the race, USAT *NEVER* published qualifying standards for elites.

In case that wasn't clear, in the entire year preceding a world championship race held on US soil, USAT never provided information on how elites could or should actually qualify for said championship.

The only mention of the race is in the list of "upcoming ITU races." So, as opposed to in 2011, I really have no idea. Because in 2011, they told us all of the stuff I listed well in advance. Which is why I made the effort to qualify. And part of why I went.

A big part of why I did not race this year is that it was it was pretty clear that nobody cared about this race. There was good media coverage in Vegas in 2011. This year? Hardly any. It's quite sad. In Vegas/Henderson, they made a pretty big deal - it seemed - about the whole thing. USAT basically seemed - at least at the elite level - to care absolutely zero about the race this year. Which just makes me sad. This is a great race with a lot of history.

Beyond that, Sylvain Sudrie is well known to pretty much any serious long course pro. Sorry you've never heard of him. Nice to see that after all the years where the swimmers were penalized that this year the swim really decided the race. For personal reasons, I'm sad that Martin Jensen didn't race. This very well could have been his year if so given how strong a swim-biker he was. He drew the short straw a couple years in that regard.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

He's two time Euro champion at half distance (2014, 2016); in 2015 was 2nd. He races mostly Challenge-branded events in Europe; in 2015 won also Cannes half distance (France), Frodo came 2nd and Sebi 3rd.
ITU worlds was his first attempt at anything longer than half distance.

If there is a joke to be had, it would have to be the ITU's choice of date for this event so close to Kona. You have to wonder whether they did it on purpose to be bloody minded, or they are just that naive.

It was a real-deal Worlds back in the 80s-90s in Nice

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29 years and counting

Next year it is toward the end of August. Does that make the date more attractive for some? I still hope to get in and expect it will not be an easy race, meaning, I have always seen top talent show up.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Forget standard. Great courses rarely fit standardized distances.

ITU is not picking the date. They pick the host and the host is typically setting it up around the same date as their normal event. E.g., this year was Sep because that's when Redman is. Next year is late Aug because that's when Challenge Penticton is. Last year was late June because that's when the Vatternrundan is. It tends to vary anywhere from Jun to Sep instead of a fixed annual date. And I doubt ITU is ever going to let Kona's date impact their selection of a host.

Yeah, the Quadruple standard - that swim would be really popular with AGers!

The ITU Worlds (O3) distance has always appealed, but there don't seem to be any other races that run it? Certainly not in the UK.

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29 years and counting

I hear this again and again. I've done it 3 times, and iron distance 7. I prefer the O3 any day. I would sign up for one every year if I could.
It appears to have been somewhat popular in France in the past, but many of those races have gone to the half iron standard distance. Uggh.
I think all the indie iron events out there would be better off with the O3.

It seems like USAT has dropped the ball on a number of things in the past year or years.

1. Vendors at expos
2. age group doping
3. Elite qualification standards for a World Championship on home soil.
4. What little support they had for LC focused elite athletes

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

And, what appear to be, effed up changes to the Bylaws that govern the sport.

As a long time USAT member, I'm beginning wonder WTF is going on in Colorado Springs..

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

Yep, it would be nice to be rewarded for being a more 'rounded' triathlete :-)

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29 years and counting

Your willingness to call attention to your own ignorance of all things not WTC related is admirable. Such pride in ignorance is usually the domain of politics.

Can someone tell me if there were wave starts for this race? with different age groups/genders starting at different times?

Yes. there was about a 6 minute gap between female pros and our wave (only 1 paraAthlete). Copy & pasting:

1. Elite Males 7:28 AM
2. Elite Females 7:32 AM
3. Para ParaAthlete 1 7:33 AM
4. Qualifying Males, 44 and under 2 7:38 AM
5. Qualifying Males, 45 and over 3 7:41 AM
6. Qualifying Females, 44 and under 4 7:44 AM
7. Qualifying Females, 45 and over 5 7:47 AM
8. Citizen Males & Females, all long distance 6 7:50 AM
9. Citizen Males & Females, all mid distance 7 9:00 AM

Mike how difficult was it to get lost on the bike course? someone I know took a wrong turn and Im curious to get a 2nd opinion. Cheers

In Almere? Impossible I think from memory. It was two laps from memory of a square. No tricky turns etc. I can't imagine anyone getting lost.

This was posted on the USAT website in January: https://www.teamusa.org/...thlete-Qualification

Criteria for LC Worlds Qualification:
Long Distance Triathlon Worlds: Oklahoma City, OK, USA – September 24-25, 2016
Qualification Event: Ironman 70.3 St. George (US Pro Championship) – St. George, UT – May 7, 2016
Qualification Procedure: Top 3 Americans per gender who finish in the top 5% of the winning time will achieve automatic qualification. Remaining team slots will be selected via discretionary selection.
The following criteria shall be used for discretionary selection. The criteria are listed in priority order:

1. Finish place in the qualification event;
2. 70.3 Pro Ranking;
3. Other results from competitive long course triathlon international events.

Request for Discretionary Nomination: August 1, 2016 Athlete Support: Performance-based bonus will be available for athletes who achieve a podium finish.

We did have pay an entry fee. They gave us a Team USA uniform. We had to pay for screening of sponsor logos ($8 a logo). They did it for us and then sent it to you.

Emily Cocks
http://emilycocks.com/
The Triathlon Preview Show

x2. That was a really well marked and heavily patrolled bike course. Even the one spot where you either turned to do a second loop of the square or go back into town had both signs and people directing you.

Having read your post and actually competing in the OKC race on September 24th, I think that there definitely was a strong field including some notable pros (Crowie, Swallow) to name a couple.

The outright winner won on merit and therefore deserves his accolades. His times seems about right for the conditions of the race.

The swim was no joke, I have never in my life swam anything like that, it was purely about survival, it had all the elements, non wetsuit, windy, chop, poor visibility and turbid water.

Swim times were off the chart, I did notice one extraordinary swim Amy Stretton with a 55.29, she beat all pro men and even put almost 8 minutes on Jodie Swallow. She won first female 30-34.

The bike was windy, it had a fast out 40k but on the turnaround loop you paid for it!

The run was hot, but no different from the Redman of last year.

All in all I had no complaints.

It will be interesting to see your postings mature over the next 10-20 years, if your anger at most things triathlon doesn't drive you away first.

This is a great sport and a healthy lifestyle for many, many people. Most of whom are not as smart as you. We get it.

I suspect we share more of that rage than not, Senor Pelota.

4. What little support they had for LC focused elite athletes

Brian,

FWIW - In Canada this is the same.

Let's be honest, most of the best long distance triathletes in the world focus on the Ironmna and 70.3 races - just facts!

If you are a pro and an elite athlete, and you do this ( think someone like Lionel Sanders), then with regards to Triathlon Canada, it's almost like you don't exist! I don't know about this now ( perhaps the follow has changed yes/no?), but even just a short time ago, if you were this sort of athlete, you were residing out-side of an active testing pool for PED's. Not implying or reading anything into this, just stating facts.

I've heard that in other countries it's different.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog