Haha. That made me laugh. Mostly in the way that is how my wife thinks too.

It's early though. South Africa barely rolled down at Augusta or North Carolina last year. I bet you'll see a lot more roll downs in the spring.

At IMAZ 70.3, we had a few roll downs, mostly from the older age groups. I want to say about five or so rolled down. In the 40-44 age group, it rolled down to fourth place.

IMO, any races that are within 3ish weeks of Kona are a bit skewed as many that hit the podium wouldn't normally at any other time of the year. I know the winds were bad on the bike but in a flat race like that, 1:30 runs don't get you anywhere near the top 5 in most male AGs at other flat races. So maybe most of those went specifically to take a slot knowing they could take top spots.

I also think, as many will answer, that it is all about geographies and timing. Races close to the east coast won't see deep roll-downs until June/July (or maybe never since races have only typically have 30 slots rather than the 50-70 they were giving for Chatt) but on the west coast you'll more likely see roll-downs in early spring.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

With the swim being significantly shortened, the race really favored strong cyclists/runners. So the fast times weren’t that surprising to me. Although I figured to see many more rolldowns than there actually were. But it just goes to show that athletes are really willing to travel far distances to race.

My wife was able to win AG at NOLA and grab a slot. Even though race numbers were down there overall, there were more competitive women in her age group (55-59) than usual, who were there for a purpose of qualifying I'd guess.

I think it'll continue to be a hot ticket through next year as athletes look into plan B and plan C (myself included). And with 30 slots at a race, most age groups only get 1 with a few getting 2. So lots of talented folks will have difficulty and might need to toe the line several times.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

Not too surprising, everyone I talked with in South Africa was pumped about heading to Nice. Looks like an amazing course!

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

Sorry but those were not 'fast' times. Not like I can run any faster than 1:30 in a 70.3 but take a look at any other flat 70.3 in the spring or summer, you typically don't see anyone running >1:30 until 15th+ place. Sure, the winners of each AG were legitimately fast, but when you look at places 3-5, those guys couldn't break top 10 at a spring/summer 70.3, hardly even top 20. Take a look at results from Maine or Tremblant or Florida 70.3s, those podiums/top 10s are fast

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

The AG winners are the only ones who snagged slots to Worlds, so that’s what I was referring to. The semi-fast just cross their fingers and hope for the rolldown to come to them...and this year that doesn’t seem to be happening often.

Congrats to your wife! She had a great day. Second place wasn’t too far back, and only one slot offered in that AG. Have fun in the French Riviera!

Thanks!!

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

Ahhh I see, right because with 30 slots that means really only 1st place females and 1-2 males in each AG get an auto slot. Hard to compare to the past couple years since with SA not many wanted to go, even with 30 slots/race and with Chatt there were 50-70 at all US races. No real benchmark until you go back to when it was in tremblant?

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Bingo. I’m fairly new to the sport and haven’t had much desire to do Ironman branded 70.3’s, but the trip and opportunity to race Nice as World Chapionships was enticing. I didn’t realize that so many people would absolutely take the slot and opportunity, but I guess that’s just me being naive. Now I know!

i'm laughing, too...

one of my buddies that did imchoo told her that worlds was in Nice...so, now i have to figure out how to qual.

I raced the test event last month. The course is amazing, and effing hard! Everyone I talked to afterwards was pretty impressed by how hard the course was. I managed to finish FOP but, hell it took alot out of me.
The swim is amazing with the rising sun above the mediterranean sea.
The bike is hard.. you just climb steep gradients for about 50k. I consider myself a lightweight climber, but it took something out of me. Descending is really fun tho. High speed balls to the walls descending. Loved it.
The run was hard.. as in.. really hard. Out and backs along the coast in 37°C with not a hint of shade to hide.. and that after having climbed 1500m on the bike.. I planned on running a 1:16 but ended up at 1:25. No fast times were set on that course.

If you get a chance to race there.. do it!

At AZ 70.3 I believe women 50-54 rolled to 5th.

Wow! Your wife was the one who ran a 1:41?! Huge props to her. I was registered for New Orleans (same AG as your wife) but had to pull out after getting injured at Superfrog. Checked the results on Sunday just for grins to see how I might have placed if I'd been there, and I was shocked at how many blazing fast women showed up. The top four women were all outrageously fast, then there was a huge time gap, then there was everyone else (the group I'd have been in if I had raced).

Yep thanks Eileen, that's her. 1:41 at age 59!! Wish I had her talent and ability to up the game on race day!

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport