want to step up to the plate? Frank Lowery has put on a great event. My hat is off to you. While there are a few who argue that maybe Silverman isn't the worlds toughest...but Dave Scott?...Toughest bike in 25 + years? OK, so some of us who observe the tri phenom and put hundreds of hours into conceiving what we believe to be really great races think Frank is nuts...Inspired, passionate, committed..but completely nuts. We watch the scores of people who want their ironman experience to be predictable, a spectacle..but with a reservation. They want to know they will finish. On a certain level WTC has made IM a very preditable commodity. Thats intentional. Its what made them successful. I want to do an ironman..and be an ironman...But Silverman? How many feet was that bike? What are my chances of finshing? 60%? Gee that run sounds brutal. We say... If he's lucky he'll get 300 people next year. But Frank expects (as opposed to "hopes") many more hundreds, maybe a thousand will do his race next year. No frikkin' way say many. A day ago I said that. Now... I don't know... How many will say I want to be the one in 50 ironmen who faced the toughest course in the US? He's made it possible. Great support. Total commitment. Total community. You just have to face that course. You and the course -- back to the IM roots. Even a loser such as myself begins to think...hmmmm??? There may be twelve thousand people in the US next year who say I want my predictable, reality show IM. And they'll do it. Good for them... really its a fantastic accomplishment. But Frank is betting on the the 8% who want to step up to the plate and face a Randy Johnson fastball. The new bar in the US Iron world has been raised. OK you are an ironman...good for you (really I mean it)...but have you done Silverman? Its like going all in with suited connectors before the flop. Maybe triathletes, who have forgotten that knot in the pit of your stomach based on real fear before the gun goes off, will want to go back to the well. Damn...going to have to really think about that race. Fear...its good for the soul. Cheers Frank.