Link?

http://www.therealstarky.com/blog/

Well she has said that a few times before, it doesn't make sense for alot of them to show up at Kona, the lower end of the field don;t get any coverage and no $, so her point is probably why bother? I think some would share her view
Think those comments about Chrissy might have been in jest? Doubt she would ever come back now, so why not challenge her?

I thought it was a pretty honest interview. They were careful, but otherwise fairly candid. Rinny's point is a good one. It's a VERY expensive trip and if your not getting exposure or prize money, then it's hard to justify. That being said, I think you'll find that for many lower finishers, just qualifying was a big achievement....and it is since you normally have to win 1 ironman and top 3 in a 2nd race if you don't have points from the last race there.

I think she forgets that the sponsors of many pros will cover some or all the travel expenses and may have a bonus just for qualifying. There's always some exposure. Plus I think 8th-10th place is usually "up for grabs" to a journeyman pro that races their own race somewhat and ignores a lot of the tactics on the swim & bike. You have 2 races going on. Those just trying to get in a good time and finish as hgih as they can that day, and those trying to get a podium...at all costs. This leaves the lower paying positions vulnerable as top names have off days and drop out or fold on the run.

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fixed that for you

I wonder if she knows that 95% of the field actually paid an entry fee to the race!

It is a weak take. And shows that, to the extent she bothers to think about her lesser competitors, she thinks they are an annoyance. Is it really that hard to understand that there is something special about being 27th in the world at something.

It's a different mentality when your livelihood depends on whether some age-grouper going for personal glory doesn't want to get out of the way.

I think she forgets that the sponsors of many pros will cover some or all the travel expenses and may have a bonus just for qualifying.

In almost all cases, no!

I've said this many times here, but it's worth repeating. There is a VERY short A-List in this sport that makes money in the traditional sense, of making money as a professional athlete. After that the money to be made and is made in that sense drops off a cliff!

You very quickly reach those who are covering expenses, and then onto those who are actually losing money, racing as a Pro.

My wife raced as a Pro triathlete for many years. Finished in the top-5 of a number of Ironman races around the world. Qualified for IMH 3 times and raced there twice. 2nd or 3rd ranked in long distance racing in her country almost every year. She never made any money at it at all - a few thousand dollars of prize money in the good years. No bonuses for qualifying for Hawaii. Paid her way there both times. Not complaining( Hey it's Hawaii!!), just stating the facts!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I have to say, while I can't stand TRS twitteria these podcasts are actually quite good. The Colonel / Shepley interview was great too. Gotta hand it to Darkmark and TRS, in 4 or 5 yrs into triathlon their marketing abilities are great. These two guys are getting as much play these days in our sport as mainstream guys like Babbitt and co. Well done to them. Impressive.

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@rhyspencer

Her point about why show up without a chance to even place top 10 at the tremendous travel cost is strong and valid, and comes from an experienced veteran. Her comments about Chrissy were practically a joke and she was egged on by TRS. It was all in good fun and she was just playing along. Plus, lets not forget, she's a competitor and I can respect the fact that whether serious or not, she can call out a former champ and ask for a race. The interview was a fun-time interview with some amount of candidness and some amount of wit and humor. I think anyone pulling away anything negative from the interview is simply looking (or listening?) in too much to the answers. Just have fun with it and move on.

I suppose it shocks me that at least 2 pro athletes were at Kona with aspiration of qualifying next year and were not even racing this year. I have trouble believing they laid out about $3k in travel expenses on just a recon mission without their sponsor helping them out in some way. Especially since they were there supporting the team, at booths, etc. The way their Facebook posts were worded, led me to believe their primary sponsor either flew them out there or at least covered their lodging. But I could be totally wrong.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

The way their Facebook posts were worded, led me to believe their primary sponsor either flew them out there or at least covered their lodging. But I could be totally wrong.

They may have had some help with that, but just like the income of the Pros drops of precipitously, so does the size and the amount of money spent on marketing for the endemic brands in the space - after the Treks, the Specializeds, and the New Balances, the money drops WAY down! Point is many of the companies that are "big" in triathlon are rather small in the grand scheme of businesses.

When I was the Marketing & Communications Manager for Sugoi it often fell to me to give visitors the tour of our facility in Vancouver at the time - and this was when Sugoi made 100% of what they made in Vancouver, for a company with about $15 - $20 million in sales at the time. We'd do the little spin through and end up standing back in the office area, and most people would have a, "That's it" look on their face!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

The context of her statement was relating to equality and the fact that there are 50 pro slots for men under KPR and only 35 for woman.

This has nothing to do with AGers or "lesser competitors." The quote was that, in her opinion, there are not 50 great elite males at Kona. The follow-up was all related to finances/expenses and the fact that going to Kona as a non-contender is a money pit. In sum, her point was that if you are a pro who is not in contention for Kona, you are likely losing money by making the trip. Tough to disagree with that, but people will.

I guess a lot of pros that go home and try to get clients to coach it makes for a good reading resume ;0)

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I enjoyed the show! I think her points about the "cost vs. chances of a reward" argument for many pros were justified, and agree with others that the Chrissy statements were mostly in jest. Triathlon is still growing and only recently developing the 'infrastructure' for Pro's to attract sponsors. Media coverage for the sport at the moment consists mainly of blogs and podcasts and each post or episode is going to be different. I was glad to see a casual interview with the pair and will most likely check out more of the TRS episodes as a result!

Thank you for the compliments regarding our podcast and marketing abilities. I think it's going to be very possible to hate the twitter stuff and enjoy the podcast. Point of clarification, I started my twitter account just 1 year ago and the podcast began in September.

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Enjoyed the podcast, thanks for sharing the recording. I'm a big fan of Chrissie, I have to say it.... her name is spelled with an "ie" at the end, not a "y". It's funny how everywhere on this post including the blog text has her name mispelled.

Or maybe all of us have it right and her parents are the ones who misspelled it.

By the way, I love that you misspelled the word misspelled.

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Classic! Thanks Starkie!

When you are not racing you have time to work the booths so a sponsor might actually get more out of it and it is one less person they need to fly out from the marketing team.

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

Based on conversations I had with many of these guys in Kona, I learned:
1. Like Rodney said, if you work the booth until 5pm, your brand may send you out there and even put you up for the week.
2. If you need more sponsors, it's a great place to make deals for the upcoming season. This seems to be why Matt Hanson was there. It may have been an investment on his part, but I'll bet it paid off.
3. It could be viewed as an investment in yourself if you're serious about course recon. Kevin Collington crashed on my sofa for free and trained his ass off on the course all week. He also had a couple of meetings with brands. Not sure if anyone paid for his flight. Lionel Sanders probably viewed the trip in the same light.

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There were a lot more than two athletes at Kona who were not racing.

Sanders & Bretscher were two I was thinking of. I kind of figured Matt Hanson paid his own way. All 3 took the opportunity to do course recon to improve their chances in the race next year.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Even back in the '90's, pre-Twitter/Fakebook, a lot of the 2nd tier non-money placing pros got our travel paid for to hit Kona. Local stuff was where the money came from, Lord knows the big industry sponsors had less money than us sometimes.
My buddy Bullet Bob Korock had a local hook-up that paid ALL of his travel to anywhere, and he was as equally 2nd tier as me.
If in this modern age of easy self-promotion, a pro going to Kona can't at least break even placing 25th, they're probably just sub-triple digits IQ.
Selah.

-bobo

PS-It was an entertaining interview, too

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"What's good for me ain't necessarily good for the weak-minded."