I remember a comment once made by, I believe, Mark Allen (or maybe Scott Tinley). They commented how much harder it was to do an Ironman in 15-17 hours and they admired the guts of those who did it. They said it was "easy" to do a 9 hour race.

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"The men who try to do something and fail, are infinitely better off than those who try to do nothing and succeed." Lloyd James

Let someone not named Mark Allen or Scott Tinley say that and watch this place erupt.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

These are also typically the people who have really low self-confidence and need to build themselves up by bringing others down. They are also the people who drop out of races when things are not going 100% their way. Congrats on finishing! ... and don't worry about what other people say. Everyone faces different obstacles/conditions during the race and in training and we all have different race goals. The only person who is in any position to critique your race is you yourself. Glad to hear you called them out on it too...