Someone with some natural ability and a background in one of the disciplines could easily, yes. I would venture to say that a normal fit person could finish under the cut off (not in the 13 - 14 hour range) if they stayed injury free and raced smart. Just look at some of the people who make it across the line and you wonder "Wow, I didn't expect that!"

CAVEAT: That is not to say that those people didn't train and work hard to get there. I do not mean to discredit anyone and their accomplishments, especially since I know a few 16 hour people and they are awesome.

My opinion. Flame away.

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Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

Well, your title says "anyone." the average joe/jane anyone? I say no

Your post says half decent shape. Then I say yes, and as above race smart and fuel right (that's a big if), they could finish in 17. Absent weather/mechanical/etc, the cutoffs are very generous IMO

ETA also said as a 2X IM MOPer

Sure. But there are plenty of people who wouldn't be able to to sniff 14 hours putting in the same amount of work you did.

I also think that athletic background plays a big part. Someone who swam in high school, raced bikes in college, and is now a competitive runner could probably smoke a lot of people training 15 hours/week.

Having done a grand total of 1 140.6 in my life, I would like to think that on any given day I could wake up and swim 2.4 miles, ride 112, and run/jog/walk 26.2 in under 17 hours.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

it was the first thing I did the morning I did mine.

*badabump*

Otherwise I agree with Daremo.

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Someone super gifted and has stayed in shape, yep, would be pretty easy. May not be pretty, but they could finish.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Anyone who can swim 2.4 miles in under 2:20 can finish an IM. 8 hours on the bike (easy) then they'd have more than 6 hours maybe 7 hours to walk the marathon. No problem.

Hines Ward was in "half-decent" shape when he started doing triathlons. It took him a year, professional coaching, and all the time in the world to finish in 13+ hours. Granted, Kona is a tough-er course than some of the other ones. I'd bet he would have a hard time making the cutoff either straight out of bed or during the first month of his training. I would think nutrition/pacing/equipment choice would prevent anyone off the couch from going 13.5-14. 16-17 hours may be doable for someone in half-decent shape. Someone who is not in half-decent shape would probably have their body break down before the 13 hour mark.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Wouldn't the swim be tough unless you have a swim background? I find it hard to envision your average fit person (who doesn't swim regularly) could do the swim. When I first got in the pool this year I had to stop and rest after every 25 yards, and I figured I was basically fit (as a runner). No athletic background, but 'active'. I could ride, slowly, 112 miles, and could run/walk 26 miles, but I don't think I could complete the swim then (and probably not now, even though I've been working on the swimming since).

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no.

My reasoning has a lot less to do with physical condition, and more to do with the mental aspect.

8 hours on a bike, during the hottest part of the day, when you don't know your nutrition plan, haven't spent time in the saddle, that all hurts. Regardless of endurance/strength, just sitting on a bike that long takes its toll.

And walking a 6 hour marathon is brutal, with or without the bike. You start when it's frickin hot how, then the sun goes down and you freeze.

When you consider all that, it would take some serious motivation to endure all that. And there is going to be several points along the way when self doubt kicks in, and you debate whether or not you'll make the cutoff and what's the point of pushing so hard. Happens to the best of us.

When I get into that dark place, I tend to think about all the training I put in, sunk cost if you will, and persist.

My 2cents.

Yes. It will suck, but yes.

I haven't run in 2 years, or been on a bike more than a half dozen times in the last year. Pretty sure I could finish, although it wouldn't be pretty, I would likely have a bit over 16 hours to ride 112 and walk 26.2.

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Your training paid off because you finished faster than you would have if you didn't train.

Are there people who don't train who could finish in 15 hours? Yes. Finish under the cutoff, absolutely. I have a friend who plays basketball and does crossfit, the swim would be tough but 17 hours is a really long time. 2 hour swim, 8 hour ride (that's what, 14mph?) and then walk a 6:30 marathon. Finishing something is rarely all that difficult, improving is hard.

If they have a swim background, yes of course...If they dont, I say no...Never be able to make the cutoff and if they are a 2:30/100m swimmer 1hr36mins. I can see at regular person needing a few 5min break or swimming even slower with less than ideal conditions (against current or chop)

Ive done a HIM and i fear the IM swim...

Anyone, No....Most, yes

Here is a true story:

A friend in "average" shape in his early 30s decided to do a 70.3 race as his first triathlon and he has no swimming or running background. He did invest in the new P3 and all the good equipment (yes, before he even did a sprint). He put in some long hours riding his bike, but that is pretty much it for the preparation/training part.

His first time swimming in a wetsuit in open water with a bunch of other people would be on race day. He barely made the swimming cut-off of 1:10 hours. He finished the entire race in 7:59 (his time for the half-marathon was about 3 hours, which means he walked most of it).

He will be doing his first IM soon, about 10 weeks later after his 70.3 debut. So if you double his 70.3 finish time and then add some, then yeah, he can fit into the 17hr cutoff.

So yes, I believe that a person of an average fitness/shape/age category (with a good bike, lol) can definitely finish an IM under 17hrs.

yes.....you would need a dedicated mofo but they could do it....

You taking money? not that I wish ill on anyone, but I am predicting a DNF. Just going by the usual rule of thumb of double HIM plus an hour or so for someone trained (which may or may not be accurate, but it was close for me on one and off - I was slower - on another), I'd say severely undertrained more like add 2 hours, if he's already walking a HIM 13.1.

Sounds like he suffered through the swim and the run. It's one thing to suffer through a HIM distance swim and run. Whole different ball of wax to double that. It's not an arithmetic increase, but a geometric one from HIM to IM. Also eta looks like he was near 4 hours on the bike for the HIM.

Interested in which HIM and which IM? Add any level of difficulty to the course (hills at Whistler, wind at Florida, etc) as the ultimate variable.

Hope I am wrong though

Nope. I like to think I'm in "decent" shape, I have been playing this game for a long time and I couldn't.

For most non-swimmers - I think the swim would take them out of it. 2.4 miles is a long way in the water.

One more thing to add is that the course would play a big part. A choppy ocean swim would knock out a big chunk - especially if it wasn't wetsuit legal. A course like Tahoe would (and did) knock a bunch of people out who wouldn't be able to make it over Brockway twice. And a 6 hour marathon is more than 4 mph. Hardly a blistering pace, but more than a brisk walk for someone who just suffered on the bike for 8 hours.

Off the couch to Florida is different than Norseman.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

I seriously doubt the average joe off the couch, without significant background in sports, could go off the couch and make the sub-17 cutoff. The swim alone would tank most, even if they're not gassed, they wouldn't swim fast enough to make the cutoff. But even if they did somehow make that cutoff, they'd give up in the bike or the run.

However, for an active athlete or the gifted endurance folks, sure, there are plenty who could go sub17 and even sub 13 with pretty much no training. I'll bet most elites and pro triathletes have enough genetics to actually let them go this fast and faster on literally no training.

+1. In particular, unless your friend has been swimming 3 times or more a week since the HIM, they will not be able to finish the IM swim. I have been at this sport for only a year and a half, with no swimming background. It took me several months of swim training to be able to comfortably handle an HIM-distance swim, and even then, I am slow as hell. I would not be surprised to see others progress more quickly than me, but in the absence of either a swimming background or a serious swim training program, your friend is not going to swim 2.4 miles. And if he does, he will be totally drained.

If you look at each individual event then add up the times, then it seems that someone could under 17hrs . But when you do them back-to-back-to-back, then the answer IMO is no. Most people would have a very difficult time cycling 112 miles at a leisurely pace and would then find it impossible to walk/jog a 26.2 miles. Your training allowed you to string the 3 events together and race for 13.5 hrs.

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Average Joe can't get up off the couch to run a marathon never the less 140.6. It's why people like my girlfriend get pissy when I don't consider just finishing a marathon an accomplishment if they didn't really race it. This whole thread depends on how we define "decent shape" because according to the CDC the average American gets 17 minutes of exercise/day. Even stepping down to the HIM, the percentage of Americans who could finish on less than 20 minutes of exercise would be exceedingly small.

SMJ and ChrisM, yeah I think I should be taking money. We all think this friend is a bit crazy for doing a 70.3 and then an IM just like that. Granted, since his first 70.3 in June (mont tremblant), he has done a few more sprints and some long bike rides. I think swimming is his biggest weakness. His full IM will be in two weeks at Mont Tremblant as well, which I understand is not the most difficult course, but it is not flat either.
All his lack of training aside, this guy is a very tough cookie from a mental perspective. Once he went on a 24hr hike with my husband and a bunch of other people in a hilly park. By the end of the hike his feet were soaked with blood from all the blisters and he never complained or slowed down.

So can that mental toughness get him through a full IM? Or is the physical training really that important for a 16:59 finish? I should start a bet pool going.

I think it may be harder than you think unless you have a background in endurance sports. An acquaintance who is a professional personal trainer entered an IM to raise money for charity a few years ago. He's a decent swimmer, and he assumed that the training he did as part of his day job (he ran a few spin classes, lifted weights, ran on the treadmill a bit, etc) would see him through. He was wrong - swim took him 1:15ish, bike was about 8 hours, first half of the marathon took him something over 3 hours, and he missed the cutoff by a few minutes.

Similar thing happened to another friend who is a pretty talented sportsman, was a sprinter and soccer player when he was younger, keeps himself in good shape and goes to the gym a lot (6 foot tall and 170lbs or so), but had basically never done continuous exercise for more than about 5 minutes in his entire life. He spent 2 months training for an Olympic distance, took him something like 3 and a half hours to get round and he said it was the hardest thing he's ever done.