I wonder if that is who crashed in front of my buddy who then went cartwheeling end over end due to the guy in front crashing. My buddy had to be taken to the hospital. Bunch of road rash but nothing broken and head was fine too. Craziness!

I was volunteer bike handler 1st shift. my jaw dropped when I saw him coming in. looked like he was shot in the face. didn't miss a beat though, as he handed off his bike and headed for his gear bag. he did end up going to medical out of T2 though. stud for sure. surprisingly several crash victims. two with face injuries and none acted like they were stopping. one guy told me he crashed twice!

How do you crash on that course! It flat very few turns, no debris in the road to hit.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Well, I guess we can come up with a couple reasons. :)

I heard a crash behind me when a slow rider hit the dividing median & then swerved into the peleton passing her.

Yeah, that was him. She clipped the median & I heard her reaction & swerve. Nicholas was doing a rockstar job riding at a legal distance behind that peleton all day too. Glad he had a smoking run.

That's Nic Browne from Vancouver (by way of New Zealand)
He's an incredible runner. Finished just behind Jeff Symonds in a half marathon a few months ago. Too bad to hear that he went down

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Team Every Man Jack

Getting taken down by an erratic slow moving rider from an earlier wave can happen to any of us when there is rolling starts. A close friend of mine was out all year due to a similar accident. Nic crushed the race with 9:28 despite getting crashed out and loosing a lot of blood. Huge respect

I wish I knew. Six hours in the ER, a fractured elbow, messed up wrist and and I have no clue what happened. All I remember is sliding on concrete. A lady broke her collarbone at the same bumpy frontage road at mile 14 1/4. About every fifth rider lost a bottle, co2 or other stiff on that stretch. Crazy thing no ambulance came for the lady or myself. None of the bike support, cops, or race officials would give rides due to policy. After everyone was past and the sixth race vehicle told me they called it in during the hour I was ther, I just started walking. Made it three miles with no remaining bikers on the course and no sag vehicle. Thankfully a security guard from Exxon gave me a ride. Long day but could have been much worse - I’m strong at the Goose having a beer and food as I wait for my wife to finish - could be worse.

saw him cruising on the run. girl with him was pleading for him to slow down a bit, Haha. Apparently his pace was 1 minute faster or mile than anyone he was trying to catch or beat. All with half his face covered in band aids and blood everywhere.

Did he get in Starky’s way? 😂😂

Great guy I run with him regularly in Vancouver. His wife sent me a text and he looked pretty beat up - impressed he finished!

I just talked to my buddy who did the race. He said there were huge packs on the bike. Mix flat course, 2500 plus participants, aero bars, tired- competitive athlete you get crashes. He claimed it was so bad, up to a hundred riders had to seek medical attention. I know one lady personal who was in a crash today and broke her clavicle.

I wonder if anyone has video of the packs?

That was kinda of my point, SOME of these wreaks are due to the packs NOT all. I am not saying Brown's crash was due to packs, but if people would ride legal and get out of the packs there should be less wreaks. Then again I was not there and did not race it, but seem to be seeing a lot of videos showing massive packs, looks way worse then Kona. From the looks of videos and testimonies of athletes seems like many simple did not care about the drafting and is was not even 1-2 bike length drafting it was wheel to wheel drafting. Add into that that a lot of riders are doing a lot of there riding more on trainers then on the road your going to get crashes. Once again I am playing arm chair QB and was not there racing, but I don't think I want to race IMTX next year, pretty bummed out about that.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

wait for it...
at 42:32 here - https://d.pr/WOeGzw

I was at the back of one of those packs, trying to stay as legal as possible with Browne. The pack behind us must have had 100 riders in it. The guys in the peleton in front of us were drafting so bad, that most of them had sat up, & were having casual conversations like it was a Weeknight World Championship group ride.

I want this as my signature

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I see your point, about getting out of packs, & I agree with it. What I saw happen is the peletons get bigger & bigger as people started to realize there were no course marshals. I am not justifying this behavior but to your point, even 3-4 marshals present on the course would have significantly alleviated people riding in packs. This one is on Ironman for making ZERO attempt to enforce their rules.

+1. I was surprised by how blatantly people were drafting, not even attempting to maintain any semblance of legal distance.

I think if you look at that video a bit closer you will see that the first rider to fall was being passed on the right. This pack was heading southbound. I was the guy passing riders near the solid line on the northbound side and I swerved behind the lead rider to avoid the southbound riders.
It sounded terrible when it happened. About a half a mile up there was a moped tech helping a rider with a wheel issue and I yelled at him that there were riders down.
Lots of support on the course but zero marshals. I felt bad for those involved but I think it’s also pretty plain to see it was a draft fest.

Crazy. Watched the linked video. The packs are huge.
Skip to 9:30-9:50 - the group coming towards the camera.
20:51 - group going away from camera.
1 hour - group 6 wide.

“Weeknight World Championship Group Ride”...Haha!!! Lmao!!!

Pretty pathetic sportsmanship and hazardous. On weeknight hammerfest group rides I always stay out of the drops unless I’m leading. This is for safety and respect for everyone. Sad and dangerous that people are doing this so much at IM races.

I blame Zwift and Trainerroad

My son who was watching the race asked me later if IM had changed the drafting rules. Even he noticed the huge peletons on Hardy. I've done 18 IM races this was the worst as far as drafting. I did not see a single marshall on the Hardy.

Supposedly, two age groupers were penalized for drafting female pros. After that incident the marshals were ordered off of the course for safety reasons by law enforcement. I can’t verify this but it sounds like a good story for a certain forum owner to investigate.

Did Starky push him?

Was also there to witness the amazing blatant disregard for the sport and each other. I burned far too many matches trying to stay ahead and/or legally pass the whole pack of 20-30 and was mentally so spent by the time I got off the bike that I was convinced I'd take up pottery.

I was passed multiple times on the right (by the same person at least twice). I have seen drafting at flat races, but this was not next level. Looked like a charity ride.

Also can back up what is said about the officials being taken off after the pros were done with their first lap due to safety concerns. Apparently this was made known in the pro athlete meeting.

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IG: NCGregory8778

That's messed up to be injured and have to hitch a ride to the hospital. So now does WTC= What The Clusterf*ck?

We should stop giving them our fucking money. They don't deserve it. Everybody in that race is spending half a grand on entry and there is nobody marshalling this drafting peloton. I heard something on another thread about undercover marshalls but that is bullshit to me, what we need to see is prevention by having a visible marshalling presence on the course issuing penalties. It has to be prevented, not punished, because doing something about it after the event does nothing to help the poor fucker who has trained 2 years and spent all his money on race entry and travel just to be cheated out of a fair race.

There was supposedly drafting of epic proportions... saw a few videos of groups of 20-100 bikes just pedaling along in a peloton, people sitting up and soft pedaling.

I read a crash report of a guy that went down due to two guys in one of those pelotons getting together after overtaking him... and taking him out. Supposedly the ED has a ton of people coming in from the bike crashes.

Drafting and TT bikes are bad ideas for a reason.

Re the drafting: https://m.facebook.com/...213&id=583310212

My experience: was so easy sitting at the back of one of those groups, even at legal distance. Stronger Bikers would all try go off the front and not get anywhere then would end up with big bunches at the front. Saw pro men go past in a 15-20man group legal distance. Looked awesome and what I thought my group would change to but stayed with bunch at front and a spaced tail... No Marshalls on 120k of the toll way!!

Incident wise: Woman my group was lapping seemed to get scared, wobbled, and fell right in front of me. Long straight, flat smooth concrete. I ran over her and her bike and then was knocked out for a while...

Once I was coherent I was able to convince cops and ambulance to let me keep biking as bike was amazingly rideable. (After getting them to tell me what direction I was going... Long straight Highway remember!!!) 40min there.

Then went to medical at transition to make sure I wouldn't bleed out on run. Took ages there as well after my run time had started so 10 min quicker run time than recorded. Plus ugly pacing.... So all and all feeling disappointed/ lucky/ unlucky/ proud all at the same time. Will have to chase Kona another time...

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1

Huge thanks to all the supportive messages, and especially to emergency services, transition and finish medical services, and my wife Kristina and friend Geoff for worrying about me and looking after me post race.

CT Scan came up clear except for broken nose that looks fine. So that, ugly face, road rash, and an Ironman medal make for an interesting story to tell 😎

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1

Ugh. What policy were they citing where the race officials wouldn't give you a ride? So curious how a conversation like that goes.

When I solo crashed at IMLOU in 2015, medical/race officials gave my bike a ride back to transition and gave me a ride in a golf cart to an ambulance. They even let me borrow their cell phone to let my family know what was going on. But I had a broken leg, so literally could not walk like you did. But the lady with you had a broken collarbone and they wouldn't give her a ride??

Aerobar or roadie drops?

Road drops are fine if you mean road bike drops. You're safer for the group if you're not using the hoods over bumpy terrain. Cornering or being in the drops over bumps is roadie 101. Hoods are fine in the group on smooth tarmac.

I hope it wasn't an aerobar. A hammer ride is road-race sim. If you're leading in an aero bar you're cheating it. You're either doing less watts at the same pace or same watts and hurting the group at a higher pace.

The last one I did, when I noticed the guy come off the front after only 10 seconds tuck into his clip-on bar once he got behind me.....I slowed pace and slid over so he couldn't echelon to form a gap and sprinted back on to drop him. It worked.

I'd do it again too.

Some photos for your entertainment... Before:




After:


Got it done:





Race positions for age group + event splits
Swim- 59:56 (+8:56) - 20th

T1- 3:17 (+8:52) -19th

Bike 6k - 10:00 (+8:30)-19th
Bike 26k - 42:35 (+8:35)-17th
Bike 60k - 1:31:41 (+8:34) - 13th
Bike 93k - 2:21:32 (+7:49 ) - 13th
Bike 127k - 3:15:26 (+8:59) - 14th
Bike 161k - 4:46:27 (+52:33) - 72nd
Bike 176k - 5:08:39 (+52:16) - 70th

T2 - 2:45 (+51:14) - 70th

Run 2.5k - 21:42 (+60:54) - 71st
Run 6k - 34:37 (+60:10) - 69th
Run 9.5k - 47:44 (+58:59) - 66th
Run 12.5k - 58:53 (+58:56) - 64th
Run 14.2k - 1:05:30 (+58:07) - 63rd
Run 16.7k - 1:17:44 (+56:57) - 54th
Run 20.2k - 1:32:05 (+56:54) - 52nd
Run 23.7k - 1:47:10 (+57:14 ) - 50th
Run 26.7k - 1:59:50 (+57:15) - 45th
Run 28.4k - 2:07:15 (+57:25) - 45th
Run 31.3k - 2:20:24 (+57:20) - 45th
Run 34.8k - 2:36:48 (+58:27) - 42nd
Run 38.1k - 2:53:57 (+60:00) - 42nd
Run 40.1k - 3:07:28 (+60:37) - 40th
Run 41.5k - 3:13:45 (+61:16) - 38th

Swim - 59:45 (PB!!)
Bike - 5:09 (40 min on side of highway...)
Run - 3:13 (10 min med tent)
Total - 9:28

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1

This probably means little from a distant and total stranger, but I fully respect you and what you are all about. Wow.

What....In....The....Actual....F*ck

respect, just complete and absolute respect

Holy crap. Wow, good job dude. I’m a bit surprised the let you keep going given how bad you looked

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Matt

You are a warrior.

you just won the ST.

much respect

Beast!!! Max respect.

you're a beast. i would have cried and quit.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

That's just amazing! Pics definitely worth the price

told y'all!

Holy crap! Glad you aren't hurt worse! I saw you blur past me at mile 24ish as we were going under the Waterway Ave underpass for the last time. I was wondering what exactly had happened to you to be all bandaged up, and then had to wonder how you were able to drop me so resoundingly that late in the race! Nice work!

Wow. I'll probably get harpooned for this...

I am very glad you are OK. Props for pushing through the pain to finish, but a little piece of me is asking...'was it worth it?'

Concussions are tricky and the medical part of me insists going on was risky. My world revolves daily around the question of risk vs benefit. And I had a friend who did IMLP 4 weeks out from a fractured collar bone. (The dude almost swam faster one armed than I did) But he wanted to do IM distance for the first time and he felt it was worth it (barely beat 17hrs, but he made it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zALHOmQh328

Me, I'm not so sure, even though I'd probably have done it too.


It's just that you appear to have done the distance already (9:19:xx IMTX 2017), so what did you get out of it? Not the example to set for your kids, if you have any, even though you certainly get the 'HTFU' award.

Fatalities are rare in triathlon, but head injuries are dicey. You have loss of binocular vision and clearly some physical impairment. Again, I'm happy you made it, really.

And a 5:08 bike/3:13 M, busted up like that? Unreal! Congratulations Nicholas. You are going to have some really terrific PR's in the coming years. Be safe.

https://www.coloradoan.com/...an-boulder/88396104/

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...lon%20death#p6427784

I had the goal of this race for 6 months and travelled from Canada with weeks off planned after. I was cognitively fine, my bike was ok, and I wasn't losing worrisome amounts of blood. Also wasn't assessed as risking long term damage from ambulance or medical professionals at transition. Hospital afterwards cleared me relatively quickly after CT scan and some wound cleaning.

Binocular vision was a pain on far end of the course on the uneven, bush surrounded paths. But otherwise fine on the wide open course.

It was worth it.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1

Alright then.



Nice job, Ironman.
And keep up posted with the coming breakthrough race, because you clearly haven't hit your potential.

Chuck Norris has got nothing on you! - Tough as nails!
Wish you a speedy recovery!

F*ck. A. Duck!

Huge props and congrats on beast of the year, maybe century, award in my eyes!!

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"It's too dangerous and expensive to ride with d*ckheads" -tridork

Holy crap! Dude you are beast a half! Wish I was 1/10th as tough as you are!

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Passed me on my first lap of the run. My hats off to you brother!!!!

Hey Nic, followed you yesterday on the tracker and just wanted to say congrats on the AG win at IM Canada and KQ on a really tough course! I knew I was competing with you for a slot at IMTX and felt terrible that you got all busted up. Looks like the crash didn't shake your confidence too bad!! Good luck with the remainder of your training this year and at Kona!!

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Strava

Jesus, what happened to your face?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvBjBjRF0js


All kidding and movie quotes aside, you're a f'n beast.

Thanks. Super stoked to execute the race like that and lock in the Kona spot. Now to figure out my Kona plan!!

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1