sligotri wrote:
I just think it's reasonable to race against your age / gender and if you're not as fast as your peers you won't qualify. Seems fair enough to me.I agree. I just don't see the benefit. Trying to sell this as something that would benefit beginners is a farce. There will almost always be a few rookie smashers who have "Cat 1/2" fitness, just not the race experience....or maybe just not the sanctioned race experience, and end up in the same category as the middle-manager who had a mid-life fitness crisis and is trying to shoehorn in just enough workouts in between his/her 45 hour/week job and family obligations. You know what's more discouraging than getting your ass handed to you by somebody in your own age group who's just really fit? Getting your ass handed to you by somebody who's 20 years younger than you and FitAF but in the same category as you because they didn't have time to do triathlons until recently because they were running XC and track as a DI scholarship athlete.
"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"