cjbruin wrote:
andreasjs wrote:
Come on, this is twisting it: Comparing qualification through a race where you actually train like a mad man for months or years and race the shit out of yourself to finish in the to qualifying through a lottery or because you are a celebrity. It might go under the term "qualifying" if you define it very broadly but those ways of getting to Kona are just completely different.
I am not saying which of you is right or wrong in terms of who should be at Kona but that comparison you just did is just off in my view.
Why? Age groups are just arbitrary divisions that enable slower people to get slots that could be awarded to faster ones. AGers who puff out their chests about "earning" their spots never seem concerned about pro who didn't earn enough points to qualify...or the person who aged up by a couple of months and missed qualifying when s/he would have won their previous age group.
I really think it's just a matter of time before WTC implements a point system for KQ and people could qualify by getting 5,500 pts in two races, beating out someone who got 5,000 for winning their age group in their only WTC event. The elitists will lose their freaking minds when that happens.
I think you are mixing things up. Comparing lottery entry with qualification through a race is different than defining what qualification through a race should look like. I believe there are 3 questions
1. What should be the possible ways to enter Kona be? While their might be different ways, it does not mean that those ways are comparable!
2. For each of those ways, what is the best process?
My personal opinion on both questions - of course others will have a different view.
1. 95% should be through race qualification because afterall it the nature of Kona as I see it (I know others view it differently) is that it is a competive event for some of the sport´s fastest people ("fastests" is relative...). The remaining 5% should be for a) celebreties because it makes media and sponsor revenue for WTC which in one way of another probably does something good for the sport and the participants b) non-competitive athletes (be it people who has done many many ironman races, lottery winners or people with a special story) because that is also part of the nature and history of the race.
2. I think qualification through one race in each region would make sense. Have X slots for pros and Y slots for amateurs (which you then could divide into age groups or not). This would attract the top of each age group to that race and then they battle it out and KQ. This way some very fast people from all over the world will race Kona. I know that it is not perfect because someone qualifying from region A might be slower than someone from region B not qualifying but for sure, a lot of very fast people will race kona, probably faster than today. For example, the lucky guy or girl who today get a roll-down or is in an age group with very few people will not qualify so easily in the future. I know an age group ranking system will be more attractive to WTC but it will reward the people who race a lot and are relatively fast, not the really fast ones who race a little. For the remaining 5% of non-competitive ahtletes I do not really care how they "qualify".
All this said, I do think the current model for how to enter Kona is pretty good. It is not perfect on all criteria but I think it stacks up pretty good on most criteria:
- maximizing revenue and profits for WTC
- having a decently competive field for both AGers and pros
- being in sync with the "nature of the race" and meeting the promise to the original owners e.g. having the non-hard core racers present
It might not be sustainable and might need some changes as more and more Ironman events are added but given current context I think the current model makes pretty much sense.
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