How deep did IMUK pay?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I don't know how deep, but both of these races have among the biggest purses nationally. http://www.tri247.com/article_12767.html

I think it is at least 5 as there were 5 listed a few days ago and I saw commentary on twitter that all would be paid for just finishing.

It is true that challenge weymouth did have a significantly larger purse.

Sounds like a good reason to get rid of the prize money at IM UK and just put it all at Frankfurt and just pay deeper at Frankfurt.

Honestly I'm surprised that they didn't get culled in the first round. It's not like the brits need motivating to join the race. GBR are the second biggest nationality after the home nation at every euro race on the circuit. At Switzerland this year they outnumbered the Swiss...

n.b. though the male field was competitive in both events this weekend.

Do you know why the local pro was denied entry into IMUK?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Funny you mention the Brits being the biggest participants...at IM Whistler, you were the biggest group outside of Canada and the US!

Wales sounds like an insanely tough course....kinda like Lanzarote on home soil!

Unless I'm wrong, the 'only' pro events culled were in North America. Heck, at least IMWI fielded a full field.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

I think it is because she didn't enter in time, and was not allowed a late entry. Looking for the link on twitter but I can't find it. it was Eimear Mullen.

I'd have thought that was a good reason to retain a pro purse at IMUK. UK has a lot of strong pros, a lot of registered AGers, is a healthy market for sponsorship, and brits love turning out to watch a sporting event (as evidenced by first few stages of TdF this year). Seems like WTC would want to build IMUK into a marquee event.

Brandon,

Do you know the rules of how late you can enter a WTC race as a pro?

Thanks
japarker24

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

On the year it opened we got the back end of hurricane Katrina... riding in the bars was specifically prohibited on some sections of the course.
They have not had a good day for it yet. This year I hear the sea was rough enough that many people swallowed a lot of water and had trouble eating on the bike... 12% dnf rate.

Each race has a registration deadline or quota. http://www.ironman.com/...n.aspx#axzz3DLA8FqLU

As far as comments on why only two. The race has a reputation for being very challenging, there is lower fruit to pick out there on the Ironman circuit.

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I'd say that Eimear would be a big oversight to not be allowed to race.

I would hazard a guess that she requested an entry late. WTC has been getting better about sticking to the entry deadlines, at least in North America. I am not sure about the other regions, but if you're late over here or if you want to be put on 2 start lists from the NA folks that are on the same day, it's a no-go.

But, you might still see athletes on multiple start lists in other regions or overlapping between regions.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

See you Brits have it all wrong. What you need is an IM race where every sport is measured slightly short. Transitions need to be ultra short too. On the bike you need short steep climbs in the wood sheltered from wind and open downhills with very shallow grades with tailwind and pavement that is as smooth as glass.

Then everyone will start bragging about their fast times, and the race will sell out. Pros will have fast times and show up too.

Oh wait...the central European races monopolized that tactic where everyone goes to set IM records and PBs. You guys are left having to differentiate yourself with hard races, with miserable weather at the wrong time of year when no one wants to spend vacation money to go to the UK. But that is about par for the course. The one week per year with minimal rain and when the sun shows up to give every Brit cancer has been monopolized by Wimbledon anyway!!!

Maybe IM Wales can differentiate itself on bragging rights. Kind of like if you got to play international rugby at Cardiff Arms park and came out the other end alive to tell the tale of not dying with the Welsh masses wanting your head.

Correct, Eimear applied after the closing date for pro entries.

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Robbie
http://www.instagram.com/trisutto

Even with the crap weather they sell out anyway. You are right though nobody in there right mind would go on holiday to Bolton, Tenby on the other hand is beautiful. I am very new to triathlon and have been staggered at the amount of events (long and short) around the UK.

If you can find a Lake nearby, then Ironman Silverstone would be the perfect super fast Central Euro approved draft fest with fast times (sorry, but my German buddies who boycott Roth and Frankfurt in favour of Lanza and Nice say so...).

Or how cool would IM London be with a swim in the Thames (yikes, but I would do it) and a finish on the Mall at Buckingham Palace where Vino stole Cav's gold medal!....OK, I'll swim in Hyde Park....how do you get a 180k loop out of London though? I am sure there are some smart Brits working on this project. If you guys are smart enough to rule all of India (because Indians clearly can't effectively rule themselves because they all think they are smarter than each other), then you can put an IM In London. Give it to us on Wimbledon week so there is a remote chance of sun and I'm in and dropping 1000 pounds on that entry fee!

Those darn Euro's. Always cheating.

Challenge Henley was pretty close to what you describe... swim in the Thames, closest cycling to london that you'd actually want to be, (no finish on the mall though). The local people resented it though, so they had to move to Weymouth. There they ignored the monopoly on fast races and used the weather to their advantage by shortening the swim and also doing whatever they did on the run course that allowed the winner to go sub 2:30 - facts which which they hope will be forgotten while the two sub-8 times are remembered.

IM London can't ever happen though. NIMBY Londoners even hated the Olympics right until the day it started.

Maybe IM Wales can differentiate itself on bragging rights. Kind of like if you got to play international rugby at Cardiff Arms park and came out the other end alive to tell the tale of not dying with the Welsh masses wanting your head.

________________

There is nothing in sport I have enjoyed more than pints and rugby at the Arms Park. Bread of Heaven and all that....bloody incredible experience. To experience the anthem at the park is worth price of admission alone.

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@rhyspencer

Better still given they can enter as many races as they want for just $750, why did they leave it so late.

Another stupid Professional athlete.

As for just the 2 women starters, women really aren't helping themselves in this sport.

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You know, coming to this topic this is the part of our sport that is lacking somewhat and maybe it is because we don't actually get a stadium to play in. Other sports have their landmarks/monuments. To some degree, all we have is a street in Kona and a hill in Roth. Look at Penticton...people don't really care about the course. Yet, you and I would flock to ride on Alpe d"Huez or Stelvio, or the cobbles of Roubaix, run on Boyleston Street, the NYC marathon finish in Central park or the London marathon finish at the Mall , or watch Rugby at the Arm's Park, or tennis at Wimbledon.

Perhaps IM Wales is onto a good thing. We just need the stories and pictures and videos to get pushed out more actively to the rest of the world. Sure there is Norseman, which is just outrageously difficult, but perhaps IM Wales, IM Japan Hokkaido, IM Tahoe etc are just hard enough to still attract lots of athletes who are still "your average person" .

I do hope that WTC would re consider a full version of the Silverman IM. I'm heading over to the half in a few weeks. Something about swimming in behind Hoover Dam in Lake Mead and then 4400 ft of climbing in 90K that I can't pull myself away from. Also related to this, I think that just due to the distances of our sport it become difficult to take full advantage of topology without scaring people away.

Right in you backyard in Penticton you can have a triathlon that is just as hard at the Alpe d'Huez tri....swim in Skaha Lake, climb out and back over yellow Lake, bike to Nickel Plate Alpine center (basically the stats for that climb are exactly like Alpe d"huez) and then run in the resort ending with a summit finish.

Or imagine a sea to sky triathlon swimming at English Bay in Vancouver, riding the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler and running directly up Whistler or Blackcomb Mountain to the summit.

I really think that part of the reason our sport has less monuments is like cycling we have no stadiums to play in, but unlike cycling we don't take advantage over the topography to make our events more dramatic. At the half distance though, it is possible. I actually felt that the 70.3 WC in Tremblant could have been a lot harder by taking us a good 300m of vertical up the mountain (and back down) on each loop. Sure the times, would be slow, but who cares!

Dev

Having just returned from Wales (I'll write a race-report later), I can tell you the bike-course is bizar and the run-course the same.

The bike-course is never-ending undulating. It goes up-and-down with almost zero-possibility to cary any speed from a downhill into a uphill. At the end of the bike-laps there are 2 hills that are something like 14-16% and the locals cheer you on and make you feel like riding up Alpe d'Huez in the tour. Very special indeed. I don't think I have spent more then 60sec's in the same gear. If you have electronic shifters, remeber to charge-up properly before entering this race. Descent bike-handling and descending skills help a lot here since the many but short downhills often in small roads with broken tarmac and little run-off if you get it wrong allow for making a serious bonus-time or loss of time.

The commentator at the awards-ceremony was happy to announce that especially for this year, after having sorted out the uphill bike and the uphill run, they finally have sorted out the swim so it was uphill as well. We started at 07AM sharp with 15-20mph on-shore wind, 2-3ft straight -onshore swell and the tide coming in. The first buoy of the 2-lap-swim is approx 150-200 off-shore in front of some cliffs. All great, but with on-shore winds and swell, the waves bounce back and you get reverse currents and standing, near-vertical 2-3ft waves. The first lap I managed at average pace of 1:30/100, the 2nd lap I was down to 1:50/100 due to the tide coming up and a much larger part of the course being affected by the standing waves.

Apart from that, the weather was very a-typical for Wales, no rain, but some good winds and some sunshine but not clear-blue sky and temperatures of 15°C in the morning peaking to 18-19°C in the afternoon.

I can't compare since it was my first 140.6 IM, but I would say that this race is a very nice one. The crowd's are huge, very supportive (and loud at times), the course is hard but beautifull and manageable if you've trained for it.

GReetz,

S.

Aye, because IM Boulder and Florida are so slow and mountainous and St George was such a hit with the American crowds. My step-dad raced Boulder this year, and I still can't comprehend how they managed to cram such a flat course into such a mountainous area.

Also, calling Frankfurt "fast" is a bit of a stretch. This is only the second year they broke the 8-hour barrier. It's a very average course - rolling, an average amount of climbing, and villages full of sharp turns, drain covers and pave. Flat marathons (with a bridge to climb every 5k) aren't necessarily fast either at 2pm along a humid river. Funny how 60 members of my team raced it this year and none reported short readings. Oh, and did I mention it used to have 185km on the bike? You get fast times in Frankfurt because for quite a few Europeans (and especially the Germans), this is their championship, whereas Kona is half a planet away.

Both sides of the Atlantic have easy courses and challenging courses, those where drafting is de rigeur and those where drafting won't save you. Courses for PRs and courses that expose your weakness. It seems to me that, at the end of the day, the real exciting courses have one thing in common: They don't belong to any of the big long-distance corporations. Races that dare to use spectacular natural landscapes not just as pretty backgrounds (a la Boulder), but as the racing ground: Norse/Celt/Swissman, Helvellyn, Savageman, Zofingen...

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