Yeah his zipper broke as well and tried to use duct tape to comply with the rules for the bike section. He said in an interview later that he threw the shirt on in T2 to cover up because he was sure he would get DQ'd otherwise.

I agree that the rule dumb, unfortunately, there are the refs out there that have authority issues. This is the way it is in all sports with some rules that are left to interpretation. I chalk it up as part of sport, it is what it is. I race my race and do what I can.

So what's your cutoff temperature?

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

It happened at IM 70.3 Lima (Perú).

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Love the Pain!

Quito-Ecuador

The rule sucks ass. Copy and paste of my previous rant:



They added a new part to the bare torso ruling for this year. I'd like to think I had something to do with that but I doubt I was the only one that lodged an official complaint.

The new rule (2017):
(d) Running with a bare torso is prohibited. Athletes must wear a shirt, jersey, or sport-top at all times during the run segment of the Race; (1:00 Minute Time Penalty, DSQ if not remedied promptly)

(e) Uniforms with a front zip must not be undone below the point of the end of the breastbone (sternum); (DSQ if not remedied promptly)

Last year's rule read (2016):
(d) Running with a bare torso is prohibited. Athletes must wear a shirt, jersey, or sport‐top at all times during the run segment of the Race; (Stop‐and‐Go Time Penalty, DSQ if not remedied promptly)

So subsection (e) was added. I received the stop & go penalty at Augusta last year for having the front panel of my Kiwami Spider LD trisuit unzipped. Technically, I didn't have a bare torso and I was wearing a top. I just had it zipped all the way down. The rules official said the rule of thumb was "no nipples exposed." I told him that was great and all but that's not the actual rule, and that his interpretation of the rule as written was wrong. I wasn't about to have a 10 minute long debate with him in the middle of the race but it irked me enough that I wrote Ironman an email later pointing out why they were wrong in this interpretation. They of course didn't agree they were wrong, but they did say the rule needed further clarification and would probably be changed some for next year. So they amended it for this year.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Happened to him there, too?

If I were Jesse, I'd be pretty pissed. He lost time complying with a stupid rule in good faith whereas there seems to be no mention of the rule for Kienle

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Europe (France excluded) is just more liberal. Sarah Crowley could have run topless as well I guess...
Stupid rule but I switched to suit with rear zipper in order to comply.
Sam

Back at IMNZ 98, I was walking after dark (horrible day thanks to a back injury) and a work colleague was waking beside me, keeping my spirits up. An official, who happened to be the owner of the LBS I frequented pretty regularly, walked with us for a while, chatting, for 400m or so. As he left, to go back to his post, he said my friend had to leave me, or I'd be DQ'd for "pacing".

I finished in 15:15, narrowly missing the then, 15:30 cutoff (local noise restrictions, one of the reasons IMNZ moved to Taupo). As you can imagine, I didn't frequent that LBS ever again.

As my son says "Life is easy. Don't be a dick!"

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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"

I'll take "How to suck the life out of triathlon with stupid, pedantic rules." for $1000, Alex!

Maybe he forgot to turn on the pink font?

Are you referring to me or the official using pink? (hopefully the official, because my buddy and I thought he was kidding....at first.)

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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"

Not trying to be a dick, but I think that they mean you because that rule is discussed at every pre race meeting at IMs that I've been to. It seems like he actually let you off the hook and gave you a fair warning after letting it go for long enough to actually justify DQing you.

You might not like the rule but it is a rule. You might have held this against this guy for the wrong reasons.

Brent

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I meant the LBS guy. Maybe he was being sarcastic? How close to a podium spot were you Tridork?

Could be - maybe warning in case another overzealous official came by? I had something similar happen following my step brother years ago when he was walking. Still, can't have everyone having someone else walking with them thru the race. Do you let walking ok, but not running? What is pacing? It still sounds, to me at least, like the LBS guy was being lenient and helpful.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

1. the incident happened about the 14 hour mark
2. the race only had about 500 people in it.
3. there was no pacing. I was walking and my mate was a mix of ridiculing me for walking, and actual encouragement. Mostly we were talking about the hot chicks in the race as I sauntered along.
4. Podium? LMFAO. I finished in 15:15, just 15 minutes before the cutoff.
5. I finished 3rd or 4th to last overall
6. There was no mention of that rule at the pre-race meeting (it was 1998)
7. At the previous race, they said that after dark (about the 12-1/2 hour mark), you could have friends or family walk/run with you to keep you company.
8. The guy wasn't kidding/sarcastic, as we asked him, but he was deadly serious.
9. One of the other marshalls actually did a run to McD's for a fellow competitor that I was walking with for a while, and brought me a cup of tea as well. THAT was outside assistance, but clearly he realized we were racing for expensive finishers shirts. not podium places
10. I remember sitting in the T2 tent, deciding if my back was good enough to continue. As I sat there deciding, the men's winner crossed the line to huge cheers. That got me off the chair and out the door to START the marathon. My back was in agony (bulging disk radiating pain all over my back with shooting pains down my leg. I decided that if my back didn't improve enough after the first 12 km hilly loop, to be able to job at least 1/2 the time, I'd pull out. Luckily the last 3/4 of a km was slightly downhill so I ran that far, past the finish line and headed to the city, 7.5km away, for the first of two loops.

Trust me, the guy was being a dick.
Rather fortuitously, his store went out of business about a year later.

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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"

Wow, he sounds more like a capital DICK

I remember a few years ago at a half in France (Deauville) I was asked by a referee to zip my suit. It was clearly already above the sternum, you couldn't even see my HRM. He wanted my suit to be fully zipped.
A year later still in France but another half, I was coming off the bike, and right after t2 there was and aid station. Took a plastic cup of water and dropped the glass in the middle of literally 100 other cups. The referee asked me to pick it up and to put it in a dustbin (not a huge one put there for the race, but a normal one in the park where the run leg was. It definitely couldn't hold all the cups...)

Pooping would be difficult.

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

Depends how long the zipper is ;).

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)