He says no I'm not going to pay you. The only way to spite him is to purchase the kona spot and waste $800 if you value money over the race. Or if the person after him wants it, you have to pay the guy after you to not pick it up.

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we live in strange times where narrative has way more impact than utility or truth...
-SteveMc

It is technically an open free market where any service can be sold. What the next guys in line is buying or the next 10 guys in line are selling is the service of not walking up on stage to take a slot. The actual slot is not material.

So let's say you're 15th, and slots go to the top 5 only. You basically have to pay 5th though 14th a sum to take the action of walking away. It's not that they are selling the slot. They are getting paid for not going up to stage. One could technically individually contact each guy and offer to pay them to not show up to roll down, but buying an eBay slot would be a ton cheaper.

Buying the service of roll down would be more deterministic than selling the service, to go to a specific slot, because you'd basically have to sell the service to slot number 15 but then take your revenue and buy the actions of everyone in between to also roll it.

All this is very interesting, but I am sure if WTC got wind of this, they would simply un invite the person/parties that went through these shenanigans. WTC is a private company and can ban anyone from their party for any reason they really want to, so pretty sure that none of this would fly.

I actually witnessed the wife of an athlete offer someone $5,000 to pass on their slot. It was around 1998 if I remember, at the awards/roll down ceremony of Vineman. I don't know if he took her up on the offer but I remember thinking "wow, these Kona slots are really valuable". Now people will pay $30,000 for a slot on eBay.
/

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

$30K? They are up to $45K+ now

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

See what I mean, those things are valuable.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Yeah, it would have to be on the DL. WTC would likely ban both parties for life if they found out.

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

You could probably have them all rubbed out cheaper than paying them off.

I'm not sure if WTC would care or not if you did that. Yes, that should be in pink, perhaps.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

You'd do the deal before the roll downs happen. You only get about a minute to decide.

I think it could work with the right person.

But most triathlete are poor. 😀

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This is not a realistic play...buying 10 people in front of you to pass on their slot. But say you are one slot out and know all others before you plan on accepting the slot. Then it could get interesting. Offer one of them some cash to skip. I imagine someone would have a price..."make me an offer" they might say. Thinking it would have to be 5 digits to skip.

Also doubt WTC could prove anything (i.e. guy who passes simply says he didn't want to go).

Wondering if the desire to go to the big dance might tempt someone to go through the negotiations the night before roll down, track all others down that placed before him which are guaranteed a slot, and go through them one by one to see if they might "pass on the slot", so to speak.

It could be a good paying job for someone who regularly qualifies:)

LOL....this would be much better "prize money" than IMLP 7th place. Just tell those athletes, to race age group and offer up 10K for their slots to roll down their slot. This could be a new market for the second tier pros who will be shut out of prize money now!

I have a friend who was offered a few years ago at Honu (which could qualify you for Vegas and Kona at the same time). Only one Kona slot available, and the guy who finished 1st was already qualified for Kona. My friend finished 2nd and the guy who finished 3rd knew that the it was up to my friend to take the slot or it would roll down to 3rd. This was known pretty much right after the finish line.

My friend wanted to do Vegas for sure since it was a new venue. He had done Kona 7x prior, so that wasn't as big a deal. The 3rd place guy offered to pay "the entry fee" to let the Kona spot roll down to him. My friend originally thought this meant that the 3rd place guy was offering $725 (Kona entry fee) cash for him to pass and strongly considered it. But what the guy really meant was that he was offering to pay his Vegas entry fee of $350ish. I think once the deal was less than what he originally expected, he said screw it, turned down the offer and took both slots.

ETA: Forgot to mention, the 3rd place guy even researched my friend and knew he was doing Coeur 'd Alene 3 weeks later and was trying to convince my friend that he could easily KQ there. My friend sort of agreed that he would have a good chance, but it turned out he had a bad day, and finished 12th or something in his AG...outside the KQ spots.

At 45k a slot, if I were pro material, I would rather just be an AGer and do that once or twice a year...

I almost did exactly this at oceanside one year. I was sitting at the awards and i had won the one slot for the 50+ AG, and musing if i should go to hawaii for the 16th time. I was talking it over with my girlfriend at the time and someone behind heard me say that maybe i would go and just do a really fast swim, and then watch the race from the bike and run. SHe was livid and said to me that if i was not going to race, i better not take that slot. I told he politely to FO and it was my slot to do with as i please.

Then it hit me that i could probably sell the slot to whoever got 2nd, i was thinking the entry fee to hawaii would be fair. But then the guy that got 2nd was Dean Harper and an old friend of mine, so i shined on the sale and just skipped the slot, was the only one that entire night that did not take it. Except for of course Dean!! I rolled it down to him and he did not take it either. I would definitely have sold it to the 3rd place guy, he would have paid a mint i'm sure. Slots just did not roll down at early season races with 3000 people in them, and only one slot in the AG. There may or may not have been a rule against this, not sure how they would ever know unless one of us blabbed, but certainly they would have made a rule after they found out i did it. A lot of rules were made that way, after i found the loop hole in them and used it. You know why you have to put on your helmet before you mount your bike and cannot ride in transition, you'er welcome...

yeah, but good they did not outlaw going to the local camping store to get lace locks for our running shoes. At least they did not outlaw that! Did you ever get a patent on that? You'd be a rich man right now and would have just been able to buy up WTC and just give out KQ to the highest bidder anyway...forget about racing for them.