stevej wrote:
Have you done Kona before? If you take the show away from Kona (the pro’s, industry folks, breakfast with bob, coffee swim up boat, underwear run, ST party, TGINRP, etc), the race is really no different than any other Ironman. The appeal of Kona to most is the show. If you take away the show, the demand won’t be the same.
I'm indifferent to the show. The only thing I want in a WC is a chance to compete against the best and to watch the world's top pros. As long as IM continues to attract the best AGers and Pros, I will keep trying to qualify. And in any case, if the world's best athletes are there, the show will follow.
One can make a reasonable argument that expanding the field to 5k and moving from Kona, to which some athletes are deeply attached, will lower interest in the WC and dilute the competitiveness of the field. My sense is that these concerns are overblown. I'm guessing there is a large population of athletes that have been excluded from Kona by a combination of price and distance. They will make up for the loss of the Kona diehards. Showcasing the female pros will also help grow the sport among women (and men).
I expect the women's AG field to get more competitive over time and the men's to have a modest drop off at best. I think this is a good move by IM, even if it has been rolled out in a typically clumsy manner.