Can I steal this photo??

I bet he won T2.

Young Slash made me spit out my tea. Your post is totally correct. It is funny how so many have posted that the guy raced with what he had, not knowing his situation. He could have a fly bike and gear but went against the grain to show the world it is possible to finish such a race in the way he did. When I did my first Ironman and half Ironman, I was outfitted in Old Navy and Target attire, Keen Commuter sandals on an absolute beater road bike. I went out like that to show that other than race fees, it doesn't take a lot of money to do the race. People laughed at my bike, clothing, shoes and even posted photos and a write about me but I had fun. I had fun as did the crowd which mattered more than my get up and time.

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DISH is how we do it.

+1 on this. Good for this guy. It seems as if he doesnt care what people think, which can be tough in an environment such as triathlon (all those people out there riding expensive bikes, looking good with their kits). He did his own thing and finished his own way.

Great call. ++++++

I do think there is a touch of red lipstick and dark eyeliner happening there. Not sure how it held up for the swim. Maybe explains the long T1.

+1 on this. Good for this guy. It seems as if he doesnt care what people think, which can be tough in an environment such as triathlon (all those people out there riding expensive bikes, looking good with their kits). He did his own thing and finished his own way.

+2. This reminds me of the guy who did IMLP one year as RetroMan, where he wore a pair of cutoff denim shorts the entire day (no wetsuit for the swim, just the shorts), rode a beat-up girls bike complete with a banana seat and ran in a pair of Chuck Taylor's (also wore them on the bike). Finished just under 14 hours, but it turned out he had multiple IM's under his belt (including a few times in Kona) with a PR just under 10 hours. He wanted to see if the race could be done without any type of high-tech tri gear.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Nothing wrong with that. Tires are slicks, which was a good call. Aluminum rims for better braking. Many gears for the hills of Wisconsin. People really are too hung up on gear. Including me.

It was actually quite hard to pass him when he was weaving going up Midtown road..he needed a better gear ratio!

That was my first reaction...wow that's Robert Smith!

Great post Tim! The only thing better would have been if he had finished on one of those pedal powered bars he had "commandeered" the night before on State Street (am I right?). At any rate, this guy is what Ironman is all about. Mad props!

Not sure if it was mentioned yet, but I think this guy had one of the charity slots. He was racked near a few friends of mine that bought the charity slots a few weeks ago.

I'm not that impressed. I'm more confused than anything else. He chose to wear that and ride that. He knew what he was getting himself into.

Am I being cold here? I really don't get this recent trend of saying oh someone like him is inspirational. If he has some physical or mental situation that makes racing more difficult, than I may change my opinion, but with the information given, I just see a normal guy wearing inappropriate clothing on a Toys R Us bike.

There's a back story behind that rule:



http://www.slowtwitch.com/...ild_rides__1990.html

Is that Chris McCormick or "Macca" as some call him?

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Cory Foulk,Kona local,legendary Ironman hellraiser,Ultraman guru and a hell of a nice guy..

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Leadman 250 does it as well now.....

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I'm faster in Kilometers!
Wattie Ink Triathlon Team
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I love the contest-within-a-contest idea of completing an IM with the least amount of money spent.

Or better yet, the lowest value of all equipment used.

The looks on the faces of the people in the background of the picture are pretty funny. The two people on the left are like "What?! No way!" The big guy in the middle looks like he is starting a slow clap. The guy on the right looks like he might've already completed the race or something and is folding his arms like he is "not impressed."

M-Dot tattoo approved.

Let's just say I was standing VERY CLOSE to where this picture was taken and recognize every single person in it...the guy you describe as starting a "slow clap" (awesome image) was taking the one f-ing break he took during the four hours he was out there ringing his f-ing cow bell. I still have a headache from it.

Anyways - - I was impressed by this kid. Put him on a real bike and without any additional training he will take 1.5 hours off his bike time - - on top of that he will also run faster.

I think all of the people whining about him have to realize that he's a kid and with a little more training and the right equipment he will be kicking their butts in a year or two. I used to have a bike like this and no way could I have ridden it more than 25 miles let alone 112 on the IMWI course. Pretty cool....

If you are that concerned about it - race pro. Or give it a rest.

I also read from someone on my facebook page that he isn't even a triathlete. Just a guy who wanted to do an Ironman. Sorry thats all I know about him, except I stayed on the hill going into Mt. Horeb until the last rider and he came through alot earlier then them.

Why? I don't see anything in this list that would disqualify his bike.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

when I started training for my first race I picked up a free bike on the side of the road (hope it was free ..just kidding) it was a road bike with down tube shifting but worked well even though was a bit small. I did not know how to swim, so I watched you tube. I picked a HIM as my first race as I could not afford to do more than one race in the season. My daughter was born the 2 day's before the race so i was a little tired. After drove my wife and newest daughter home I was off to do my first race. It was the great day had some issues with my homemade gu, freaking ants, but I finished. Since then I have trained harder and smarter and with better equipment but I don't think I will ever have that same feeling.

Just some additional info. I had lost my job so I could not justify buying all kinds of gear with a new kid on the way. I would say that triathlon saved me from going over the edge.

and they finished in time. That was pretty cool. Wonder where their honeymoon is?