In 2013 at IM-MT I was 13th place in M45-49. 8 slots available and the final slot rolled to me. I thought for sure I would be slowest at Kona but ended up 147 out of 249. I can only surmise that there must be some races where rolls went pretty deep.

A lot of those people may have had fast races to get to Kona and just not raced as hard as they could when they got there. It seems for a lot of people the goal is just to qualify.

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JT Multisport | Facebook | Instagram | World Sport Coach

I have been to Kona 3 times as a spectator and my experience has been that it has far and away the most competitive participants in the sport. People who qualify for Kona want to do well there. These are very motivated and driven athletes. There may be a few folks like me (Legacy & Lottery) who know they are just there for the experience but we are the exception rather than the rule.

/

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Fair enough. I know of a few people that have qualified especially later in the year and just gone to kona to go. Maybe they are a small number though

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JT Multisport | Facebook | Instagram | World Sport Coach

There have been anywhere from 1500 to nearly 2000 athletes here for the race in recent years. There are all sorts of attitudes towards the race among them from race hard to slow down and enjoy the journey.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

I don't know how far the urban legend has grown, but I think there was a guy at IM St. George a few years ago that was very slow (I think slower than 15 hours) that made roll down because everyone else thought they were too slow and had no chance. Not sure if that's ST legend or if that really did happen.

St. George though is a hard/slow race so not sure how applicable it was. That was the year that they were pulling people left and right out of the swim.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

And the last year it was a 140.7. And my first DNF ever.

4-5 years ago, when I did Eagleman, they did a roll down on the 65 AG (forgot if it was male or female). After awhile the announcer just said something like, "if you're in the 65+ AG and want to go to Kona, please come and see me." Not sure if there was a taker, but that's every regular Joe's dream of KQ-ing :)

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Ah I should have added, the AG I was referring to I think was the 25-29 AG.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Serious question. Would taking a rolldown at say 30th place be looked down on like it seems a lottery slot is? What say you ST?

Does IM even show who took the spots per AG? Or do you have to wait til Kona start list is out and then back track everyone's race result?

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Who the hell cares? I'd take it in a NY minute. It's KONA. I'd love to go back to Hawaii as a visitor.

Eagleman a few years ago the M45-49 it rolled all the way through and they used that spot no one took and added it to another age group. I missed that year. Riggin' friggin'...

x2

My first Kona was after IM Canda (Penticton) and I was spent just to get there. That, combined with the heat and wind kicked me in the ass. The second time to Kona was after IMMT last year and I was surprised how well I did after another late season qualifier.

Ken

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"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman

I would, and I've qualified "legit" the past two year. It's an awesome place to visit and race.

Ken

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"the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. if they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. when they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." - Slowman

As a follow up how does the average lottery winner fair against the best of the elite

Some folks also swim and bike too hard there I think and blow up on the run.... or they don't race well in the heat. I'll likely be one of those if I qualify.

There are also legacy spots too.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

There are precious few athletes who do well in the heat. Even those that are fast here are far faster elsewhere normally. Pro's and local residents included.

Blowing up on the run is a great Kona tradition.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

How does that work? You can't be legacy if you were a prior lottery winner and went Kona. I guess you could have been legacy last year and hit the lottery this year.

I'm going on a legacy spot this year, while I can't compete against the top in my age group , my goal is still to do well within my AG (55-59). While I have never qualified I usually place okay on limited training. This year I've been more focused with more volume, we'll see if it pays off.

Maybe I should have said "Legacy or Lottery". I got a legacy slot. This is my first time racing at Kona. See you there.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

That's what I figured. Good luck from one legacy winner to another.

I have a feeling that I will be one of the slowest qualifiers for M35-39 at Kona this year.

I don't think that I am slow, I just know that I got in via a double roll down, I was 7th and they only had 5 spots.

I don't think things roll down in that AG very often and I can't imagine they roll down twice much at all.

The guy in front of me beat me by several minutes (I was 9:23 and he was somewhere in the 9:10 to 9:15 range). So yeah, I think that in M35 -39, I am going to get smoked by anyone that got a spot through qualifying.

BTW, I don't give a damn about getting smoked. I am training my ass off and intend to race my ass off and let the chips fall where they may.

I am likely a one and done Kona racer, so I plan on leaving it all out there with no regrets or what ifs down the road.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

That's an interesting added question on this subject - what's the longest roll down number (excluding the "anyone here" type).

I'd also be interested to know the general consensus on how far beyond the number of confirmed spots in your age group is worth the trip to roll down. Obviously related to above number but generally is it a must to go if you're 2,3,4,9 spots outside?

I had a friend miss a Kona slot on roll down in IM Louisville 2011 I think. He was in the very low 100's in his AG.

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

If I could find a race with a 300 spot rolldown in the 40-44 age group, I'd be a shoe-in.