It's pretty obvious they were not all weighed/measured using the same protocol...for example Sebi and Frodo are not a few lbs and 6"s apart

Not so fast.

Determinants of run performance:

Power- watts/kg
Running Economy- O2 consumed to go a given pace

and Crowie weighs 147 at 5'10"??

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

This suggests a couple of things, that at least among the top 15, body mass is not a limiter the way it would be in a hot marathon, probably because the run pace is so much slower than a pro marathon.

For the men, BMI seems to have some importance to have a top run split, but not as much for women.

all of this supposing that the heights and weights are accurate on the slowtwitch page.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

In his book, Friel states that top contenders should be in the 2.10-2.30 range (weight in lbs/height in inches). They're both in that range. A rack of beef ribs prob puts AP out of contention. :P

Andy Potts = 2.29

FVL = 2.14

Well, they had Kienle at 180cm/5'9'' and Hoffman at 178cm/5'10''. Go figure.

that...IS mysterious

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

What is the formula? Regardless the bmi of potts is higher, so he should have more difficulty, thus his performance is probably one of the best on the run

the imperial system is mysterious, metric is simple and straight forward :-)

I'd add that the bike greatly impacts the run. A guy who's slightly stockier due to more muscle mass might, arguably, be affected by the bike a bit less and vice versa.

FVL could have overcooked the bike a bit too. Who knows.

weight in lbs/height in inches is the formula used there

While I love the math, love the investigation and the theories, at the end of the day, none of that sh*t matters.

It's what the guys (and girls) do on the day. Otherwise we could weigh everyone and hand out medals before the start :-)

Skinny guy might be nursing an injury and the fat (relative) guy might be in peak form.

There are sooooooo many variables, wtih weight and/or BMI just being a few of them.

Still, great fun to compare and contrast for the entertainment of us all. We can argue till next October and yet again, they'll all have to race to prove who is fastest, not just who is lightest.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

so someones calculator is broken...

potts: 2.44
fvl: 2.59

i used the more acurate, metric system :)

we also have this guy producing better than fvl

12. Ronnie Schildknecht
Switzerland
height: 185cm / 6’1”
weight: 79kg / 174lbs

running split: 2:54:54



we have series misconceptions about weight... as I mentioned in another thread:



http://www.nytimes.com/...ion/27Best.html?_r=0

Can you explain this further? Power=Watts. Watts/kg matter in cycling on hillier courses. W/CdA matter more on flatter courses also in cycling. Where do you get the bolded statement from?

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Sub-9 IM. Navy SeaBee deep sea diver. Can Do!

that does work for uphill time trials and hot marathons pretty well

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Thank god we're not discussing the run in an ironman

Like I said, weight is a factor, but even your statement above seems to allow for other factors, like "uphill" and "hot". Weight isn't the only thing, even if it is a good general predictor

It doesn't work well for swimming however. I am a classic example. I'm 5' and not enough, and last raced IM at about 175lb. Even at nearly 50 years old at the time, I managed to come out of the water just inside the top 20%. Sure, I didn't win, but my weight was aguably not an issue. I beat a lot of people younger than me. I beat a lot of people lighter than me. I bet a lot of people with lower BMI. I love watching video of me gettingout of the water. While I'm not at all attractive to look at, the look of amazement on spectators faces as an old short fat guy tears off his wetsuit, is hilarious! My day goes downhill from there, but at least it starts well.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Not sure why you picked those two, but in general I wouldn't expect weight to explain the relatively small differences in times of the top 15 finishers. Or I wouldn't expect it to explain very much of the differences at any rate.

Start throwing in some folks further down the list and it will become more relevant.

not many short runners.. :(

Watts=the maximum amount of work/time that your body is able to produce. Work is still work even if it is going into the pavement and not through a drive train.

Watts/kg: Running is about overcoming gravity over and over (and over and over) again with wind resistance playing only a small role. W/kg is even more important in running than say, while riding a climb at 25kmh.

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Professional Athlete: http://jordancheyne.wordpress.com/ http://www.strava.com/athletes/145340

Coaching Services:http://www.peakformcoaching.com/

Where is the line fit? :-)

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Checkout http://www.iotexpert.com

And let's not forget everyone, if one person went a little bit more into the red than another on the swim or bike, it could just as easily skewed their run times. Or ate something at the wrong time.

Using the marathon split of an IM to make a determination on what weight makes the best triathlete is just bunk. There are FAR too many other factors that come into play.

Straight up TT or marathon? Different story as there are less potential influences that affect the result.

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

There seems a much greater range of heights & weights this year than in the past. Last year everyone in the top fifteen (except Rana) was ~180cm or so.

As an aside, BMI is a crap metric.