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Ironman Pro Races 2018
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I was looking on the IM website and it only lists pro races through August 2018. How do pros plan their year when they don't know which races will be pro races post August? I am interested in seeing if IMLOU will have a pro field this year.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Remember that the KPR system ends in 2018. Starting with the qualification period for Kona 2019 they have to KQ just like age groupers. Go back and read that announcement. I think all races have at least 1 pro slot for male and female pros with potentially more based on the number of pros that actually race.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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HuffNPuff wrote:
Remember that the KPR system ends in 2018. Starting with the qualification period for Kona 2019 they have to KQ just like age groupers. Go back and read that announcement. I think all races have at least 1 pro slot for male and female pros with potentially more based on the number of pros that actually race.

So every race will have a Pro field? Wont this just create the issue that existed originally...watered down pro fields and certain races with < 5 pro's racing? If so, I guess I never realized the impact that will have on the Pro field at Kona.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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There is no perfect system. To quote Messick: "If you win you are in, and athletes will no longer need to calculate how to plan their race schedule to qualify."

Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/...n.aspx#ixzz53QafFWJI
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Let's be real on one thing...KPR was established in a time when there were viable pro purse LC races outside of IM. So IM essentially forced you to race more IM events (yes 70.3's counted) for pro's and if they still wanted to race others it would be at the expense of being top shape for Kona.

Suddenly it goes away when almost all LC $$ pro races are IM exclusive......

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Mike Alexander wrote:
I was looking on the IM website and it only lists pro races through August 2018. How do pros plan their year when they don't know which races will be pro races post August? I am interested in seeing if IMLOU will have a pro field this year.


List of events is here.

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/organizations/pro-membership/event-registration.aspx#axzz53RVsdfkx


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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Mike Alexander wrote:
HuffNPuff wrote:
Remember that the KPR system ends in 2018. Starting with the qualification period for Kona 2019 they have to KQ just like age groupers. Go back and read that announcement. I think all races have at least 1 pro slot for male and female pros with potentially more based on the number of pros that actually race.


So every race will have a Pro field? Wont this just create the issue that existed originally...watered down pro fields and certain races with < 5 pro's racing? If so, I guess I never realized the impact that will have on the Pro field at Kona.

I think there will be a slightly watered down pro field but i guess they must have thought about this before they changed the system
But think about it, if you were 4th in Kona, the present system allows you to just show up for an IM, finish it and you are back. With this new system if you let say finished second in IM Argentina in Dec and there is only one slot, you need to race again!!
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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There will be 34 designated races, so not every race will have a pro field.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [TriBy3] [ In reply to ]
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TriBy3 wrote:
There will be 34 designated races, so not every race will have a pro field.

Thanks for the clarification. Interesting that they are short changing only ~6 or so races.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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That’s about what it was this year. There are 22 listed on the pro reg site, which goes through late August. Factor in Wisconsin, AZ, Coz, Malaysia, WA, etc, and it may have been right on 34 for 2017. This does include the men’s and women’s only races as well, and I’m not sure if they will continue to hold split events for the 2019 qualifying calendar.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [TriBy3] [ In reply to ]
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So.....that takes us back to my original question. If there is a set number of pro races....and they only have the list through August....doesn’t that make it difficult for a pro to pick their schedule. Why would they not list all races for the year? With travel involved, you would think they would at least have an entire year’s list.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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Short answer, yes. It makes it very hard to plan our schedules. I have had luck in the past simply emailing them about a specific event I’m interested in, and they will say “yes, that will be a pro event”, or “no, amateur only”.

I can’t speak to why they won’t announce the calendar further ahead of time. Perhaps they are still trying to negotiate terms with individual races (there is no South American pro championship race scheduled, for instance, because the negotiations with the Florianopolis managers failed), but that’s just a guess.
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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You're looking at this from a calendar year perspective, rather than a season year perspective. We are currently in the 2017-2018 cycle. Races in the 2018-2019 pro cycle are usually finalized later in the year. It's not *that* difficult to shake out.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [rrheisler] [ In reply to ]
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rrheisler wrote:
You're looking at this from a calendar year perspective, rather than a season year perspective. We are currently in the 2017-2018 cycle. Races in the 2018-2019 pro cycle are usually finalized later in the year. It's not *that* difficult to shake out.

Which races post August '18 are going to have pro fields?
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [Mike Alexander] [ In reply to ]
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You're missing the point. The 18-19 season is yet to be finalized. It gets announced in full usually around June 1, although details on the first races (usually thru IMAZ) are usually on the pro membership site beforehand.

The pro year is not a calendar year. You look at it differently than if it were a typical calendar year. Think of September as December and you start getting the right picture in terms of how you have to plan.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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I'm curious how it impacts pros attempts at qualifying. Do they try and find a 'weak' race, or maybe they try not to show up at a race with the top guys?

Is there a rule against colluding? Couldn't the top 10-20 guys go and pick a race each and agree not to show up at the others in order to maximise everyone's chances?
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Re: Ironman Pro Races 2018 [dado0583] [ In reply to ]
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dado0583 wrote:
I'm curious how it impacts pros attempts at qualifying. Do they try and find a 'weak' race, or maybe they try not to show up at a race with the top guys?

Is there a rule against colluding? Couldn't the top 10-20 guys go and pick a race each and agree not to show up at the others in order to maximise everyone's chances?

I think that's a drawback to the new system, it wont incentivize the top guys to race each other. Even the regional championships with 6 slots (2M, 2F, 2 floater) don't have enough spots to really encourage all the heavy hitters go head-to-head.
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