PTO have been doing a great job to help the sport this year. Really stepped up with their earlier payments to pros, and now this.

This is super cool, wonder if PTO will invest in some Xtris? Imagine a stacked pro field at Norseman!

---

Tim Russell, Pro Triathlete

Instagram- @timbikerun

Expect to see the PTO investing in unique and well known races outside of Ironman. Its a great way for the PTO to build the brand and attract their athletes to races outside of Ironman building the sport. Ironman have not reacted well to the PTO - this is just one way they can build the sport without the help of Ironman. I am racing it next Sunday and really looking forward to assessing the atmosphere and sucesss of this move by the PTO.

---

He who understands the WHY, will understand the HOW.

Really disappointed with the prize purse structure... and the lack of gender equality. While I think a gender neutral payout can be exciting and thrilling, it's a step backwards for the sport without a baseline equal payout guaranteed (like in Davos... which never actually happened due to the crazy weather).

Definitely great to see the initiative and effort made by the PTO but disappointed with this particular prize purse decision

https://www.witsup.com/...helvellyn-triathlon/

It’s possible that the end result could have women taking home more prize money than men with the equalizer format.

Why is anyone cheering on a 15k across how many pro triathletes? Seems really really small and only a nominal gesture.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

It’s something to talk about in a currently dead environment.

Definitely great to see the initiative and effort made by the PTO but disappointed with this particular prize purse decision //

Why is that? Are you afraid the women will be taking home most the money? If they get the handicap close and right, it will reward those that had outstanding performances, on the day. In the past it seems to have worked out pretty fairly, and gets tweaked each year if there are some seconds to go either way. What it doesnt do is reward sub par performances because of a lack of field in either of the sexes...

Barb Lindquist and others liked the format during the LifeTime races in Minneapolis.

Wanted to get more detail on the Lifetime equalizer format and found a spiffy article from ST circa 2010, good stuff.

https://www.slowtwitch.com/...ess_Series_1533.html

Agreed, I too hope that the PTO help break down the IM dominance. It really isn’t good for the sport.

As for criticism of the prize amount and the split. This is normally a good quality age group race over an unusual (in the current Tri world) distance and terrain. Why would PTO splash out more on a new pro event at very short notice. I understand the female pros will have a 28 minute lead. Given that the best ever winning male time is about 3.25, I think 28 minutes gives them a more than excellent chance of getting amongst the money, it also creates an exciting extra element to the race. As I said originally, well done PTO.