thats maybe the Or More that we dont know about.

I am an almost 50 MOP....so on the run for me its finding a group that has the same goal and having a good time :)

I certainly see pacing and not knowing where your competition as part of the fun and challenge. Without knowing where my age group competitors are at anytime I really have to think about whether I should push my pace or do I just stay at my current pace.

The best yet is the Mark and Dave on Queen K with the gorilla....that is classic!!

Okay, just my .02 cents worth of an opinion (and yes, just an opinion...)

Chapstick be damned... that's pretty damn weak for a DQ, especially if the spouse through it down on the ground. Again, think of the swim, and the fact that you can hang onto a kayak, and then keep going once you have caught your breath. So how is a kayak on the swim any different from ChapStick on the run??? Both are aides, but yet yield no forward advancement.

Okay, I get it, he had other faults leading to a DQ. But seriously, a ChapStick?? I personally like the idea that he should have had his wife put the ChapStick on her lips and then kissed her. Now that's thinking like an attorney!!

Okay, seriously though, where is the line drawn on "outside help"??? A kiss from a a spouse, a ChapStick from a spouse, a gel from a spouse, an Immodium from a spouse, a hug from a spouse, a slap on the butt from a spouse, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,,,,(and on and on.....).

Ok, now the "riding along side (next to) (behind) (in front of) on a bike" during the run???? So where is the line of cheating with this? Keep in mind, the first 3 leaders of male and female ALREADY have a bike escort during the run. So, was the spouse riding too close to the run bike escort? Just asking???

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

You guys are adorable. Next time I'm at a crew stop getting sunscreen applied, feet taped and enjoying whatever food and cold drinks I've had them bring I'll think back to reading on ST/FB/Twitter when all the triathletes got so outraged that one time a guy got passed some chapstick and "paced" for an indeterminate distance and I'll get a few miles worth of amusement out of it.

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Twitter
Instagram

Kayak is race personnel assistance. It's allowed.

I like the guy's reaction. Takes it like a sportsman.

I think you want to penalize if the support/coaching is intentional and systematic (in the sense of repeated or carried out by a coach).

You don't want to make it a race where without supporter cars and team you are not really competitive anymore. By nature of the beast there is some discretion / judgment a referee needs to apply. Like my wife shouting "you are 25th because she is excited after T2" would certainly be ok - having a team of 5 at different spots on the course briefing me about all distances and paces of nearest competitors - probably not in the spirit of the rule.

Cheers
Roberto

I'd bet if it was just the chapstick they would have let him go. Its the 2-3 previous violations before that.

Not seeing how a kayak during the swim is an different from ChapStick on the run. Neither makes any forward progress. And yet the kayak actually aids the athlete in catching a breath or recovering heart rate. I don't see how ChapStick offers any benefit to race performance. A kayak can help a swimmer calm down, recover, and then move forward again in a faster manner or pace, yet I don't see that ChapStick has any performance benefit.

Then again, not trying to dwell on the whole ChapStick issue, as I know most will say it was the alleged pacing on the bike during the run that got him DQed. Personally, I really don't care, as I don't know the athlete, nor was I number 6 who just missed a slot because of his ChapStick or bike pacing.

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Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice

I will make a few general comments. There are multiple reasons why there are lead bikers on the run. It varies from race to race how many. I won't get into that discussion unless you really want to but they do serve a legitimate purpose.

Now this past year the procedure actually changed. The lead bikers are supposed to stay behind the athletes. I say supposed to because often time lead bikers get very into the race and don't do what they are told. The rule likely changed because myself and a few other athletes were getting annoyed that not only were pros being paced and spoke up about it, but they were often breaking the wind for the athletes and remaining way to close especially in headwind type sections.

Anecdotally, I will say that I travel to races almost exclusively by myself. At Challenge Atlantic City in 2014, after passing Chris Boudreaux for 3rd, I picked up his lead pacer. This was a first year race and at this section of the course it was very congested on a narrower bike path type boardwalk with tourists having no idea a race was going on. Within 30 seconds of making the pass I was told to stand down and given a 4 minute penalty, 5 minutes by the time the official got her iPhone out, after slowing down and dismounting her bike. She was not wearing a helmet btw. I totally melted and started balling my eyes out at mile 16 of the run. I lost the podium, would have likely finished 2nd or even 1st and only secured a 5th because I had like a 20 minute gap at the time to 6th.

Now I mention this because in this instance the eventual winner had his GF all over the course giving splits but I became a little more educated in the process and learned a bunch. Fwiw In this case I was slightly behind the lead rider and he was kind of forging a path thru the crowd of people. I won't go into any further, some day I will, but till this day the appropriate USAT response should have been IMO to tell the lead rider to ride further ahead. It shouldn't be my responsibility to waste energy directing them to do it.

Circling back to this example, there is not a good reason why this person should have had their wife next to them. The rules could probably be simpler and made more clear, but given it takes three yellows for the DQ this racer must have either been caught for other violations like littering or whatever but regardless there were other infractions. Don't fall victim to reporting as clearly they are just trying to drive eyeballs.

A coach, friend and family member can give splits but they have to stay stationary. That is generally the excepted position IME. People out there who don't think pacing matters, go do a long run by yourself, then go do one with a friend or have your wife/husband ride sag next to you. There is a reason people do it, because mentally it is a lot easier to do it.

His mistake is he should have taken Lionel's approach and paid someone faster to pace him by giving them a boatload of cash, entry, accom etc. I don't like this idea either and I don't like that Lionel got away with it last year but it seems to be within the rules.

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Your kayak is like an official run course aid station. Yes, both provide aid. But both of these things are provided/permitted by the race director (i.e. not a third party outside of the competition) and equally available to every one. Kayak / official aid station = inside assistance. Chapstick "dropped" by wife = outside assistance.

Okay so the original story out of Denver has been updated (using the original link) to include the full story, including new video report, pic of wife on bike, and response by Jimmy Riccitello below:

On Friday, Jimmy Riccitello, head referee for all IRONMAN officials, provided Denver7 with the following account of why Smith was disqualified:

"Athlete Matt Smith was seen being assisted by a woman on a bicycle (not officially associated with IRONMAN), who provided him at least one item (chapstick) that he used during the event. He was cited for Unauthorized Assistance, and issued a stop-and-go yellow card penalty. During the 30-45 seconds that Mr. Smith was serving his penalty, he was informed of the reason for the penalty and told not to continue receiving outside assistance. Prior to this penalty, Mr. Smith was seen in the company of the female on a bike.
Subsequent to this instance, Mr. Smith was witnessed several more times, receiving Unauthorized Assistance from the same woman on a bicycle who was involved in the first situation.
Due to Mr. Smith’s initial Unauthorized Assistance rule violation combined with subsequent occurrences of Unauthorized Assistance, Mr. Smith was met at the finish line and notified of his disqualification.
Mr. Smith also had a conversation with the Head Referee at the awards ceremony, where the reasons for his disqualification were reiterated. It was emphasized to Mr. Smith that his disqualification was for the combination of violations subsequent to his first stop-and-go penalty, and not solely for his initial penalty for illegally receiving the chapstick."

IRONMAN also provided three examples from the policy pecific to the IRONMAN Chattanooga Athlete guide:

• "OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE": Non-racers may NOT ride or run alongside you.
  
• 11. "No individual support allowed. Ample aid and food stations will be provided. Friends, family members, coaches, or supporters of any type may NOT bike, drive, or run alongside athlete, may not pass food or other items to athlete and should be warned to stay completely clear of all athletes to avoid the disqualification of the athlete. It is incumbent upon each athlete to immediately reject any attempt to assist, follow, or escort."
  
• 3. NO INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT VEHICLES OR NON-ATHLETE ESCORT RUNNERS ARE ALLOWED. This is an individual endurance event. Teamwork as a result of outside assistance, which provides an advantage over single competitors, is not allowed. Individual support vehicles or non-athlete escort runners will result in disqualification. A non-athlete escort runner includes athletes who have withdrawn from the race, have been disqualified or have finished the race. Supporters of any type may NOT bike, drive, or run alongside the athlete, may not pass food or other items to athlete and should stay completely clear of all athletes to avoid the disqualification of the athlete. It is incumbent upon each athlete to immediately reject any attempt to assist, follow, or escort. It IS permissible for an athlete who is still competing to run with other athletes who are still competing."

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

The ironic thing is that the athlete, who proclaims to be so against arguing with officials, essentially did just that in a very passive aggressive way, by continuing to have his wife ride alongside him. Despite continued warnings.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

At one edition of IMLP I was running up the big climbs. At that time I was 42 and my 65 year old mother (you met her at 70.3 World's Vegas) jumped out of the crowd and starts running uphill with me. This was on the big uphill coming into town and the crowd sensing that some old woman was running with her son started cheering so she starts surging on me. At first I thought it was amusing. Then I realized that she was dropping me and that I could not even keep up at which point I blurted out, "Ma you better stop this running with me, because I could get DQ'd"....the reality was I pulled the rulebook on her to save me the embarrassment of being dropped by a 65 year old 100 lbs woman while I was fighting for a Kona slot. It can work both ways if you want to get rid of someone too!!!!

Now if Jimmy DQ'd me because I could not keep up with my 65 year old mother, well, OK that would have been a penalty worth taking, "Dev I had to DQ you because you sucked so badly that you can't keep up with your non athlete mother".

OK OK back to the thread. I can see the reason for the DQ based on the additional amplification from Jimmy. Makes sense. He should have been smart enough to tell his partner to go away and just have a latte at Starbucks and come back to the finish line

Haha, great story and loved meeting your mom!

The first time I did Kona, a (really good) friend came out and joined me. On race day coming out of the energy lab he was riding beside me on a bike (prolly informing me I was 89th place in age group, ha), and within like 10 sec. of this I told him "Dude, go on now, don't get me dq'ed."

So yeah to allow it despite warning and prior penalty...well not much you can say.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

How long till we see tactics employed by outside assistance.

Main KQ rival 2 mins ahead? Get a friend to ride along side them giving them time checks and offering them gels. ;-)

FTR: I don't disagree with the ruling at all. I do however have a few questions.

1. Mr. Smith was witnessed several more times receiving Unauthorized Assistance. Why did the ref not give him another yellow card?
2. The athlete's guide states: While YELLOW CARD violations will not count against your three strikes, IRONMAN Competition Rules still allow an athlete to be disqualified for repeated rule violations should an athlete receive excessive yellow card violations. Was there excessive yellow card violations? How many = excessive?
3. Was there a record of each infraction? If not, would this be a subjective ref ruling and hold up to a protest?
4. Why in 2016 can we still not get a ref/penalty report with races?

As much energy as you have Dev it doesn't surprise me that your mother has the same, if not more, and was dropping you up the hill.

. Thats only if you believe that it was only Chopstick.

It's the responsibility of the athlete to know the rules. In the story, Mr Smith was quoted as saying,
"I don't think it has anything performance enhancing in it, other than making me feel good."

During my 2 IronMan marathons, I would have liked someone to give me something to " make me feel good." It is an individual sport. Prepare for the race, bring what you need, or do without.

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Habitual line stepper.

Break the rules and get caught then you pay the price. I understand this every time I am going above the speed limit in my car or on my bike. If I am caught I have no issue paying the penalty.

Life really is petty simple when you follow the rules.

There are people who when the answer is provided, and they don't like the answer, they double down on the question.

Once again, the difference, even though you can't see it, is simple. The rules say you CAN hang on a kayak as long as you don't advance your position. The rules say you CAN'T take outside assistance.

That part in bold and underline was a really awesome backdoor brag assuming there is not a school zone everywhere you ride or a constant 5-10% downhill. Well played. This deserves ST post of the week!

I'm confused. Are you saying that you were issued a 4 minute penalty due to the race-provided lead runner bike escort? That has got to be the stupidest damn thing I have ever heard.

This already happened to me. At the 2014 Ironman Louisville race a guy came up on the bike. He was scouting for someone. The guy was riding besides me and relaying information on a phone to someone else. I told him he could not ride besides me at which point he started to heckle me calling me a "dbag" and other nasties. I told the police at the next intersection crossing and they tried to stop the guy but he blew thru. They radioed ahead to the next officers and those officers physically stopped him. I was told by another STer who was at the race that the guy got in big trouble, I assume by the police. I never told Ironman about the incident.

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