Hey!! I am on the list!!! well...the Age group list :-)

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Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs

Everyone in the world knows that Americans don't like to leave America. And usually can't identify 10 other countries in the world outside of the USA.

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tie me kangaroo down sport, tie me kangaroo down

Probably pissed that they can't bring their M16s..

Well they like to go to Bahamas apparently: http://triathlon.competitor.com/...ry-start-list_135495

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reading that new race format, give me Duffy for the Win!

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Oh, that is it. Brilliant!
Because Andy Potts always carries his??

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Team Zoot So Cal

The bright side is it allowed a bunch of other male pros to race.

Just remember to yell 'on your right' and not the other way around 😜

Really? Everyone knows this? Yes, we "Americans" can be really closed-minded.

Actually I saw quite a few Canadians on the list.

Seems like a high risk, low return on investment for a lot of pros, with far less prestige than Kona. Looking at the list, what are the odds of a pro triathlete winning enough money just to break even on the cost of the trip? It's pretty much the same argument we use when pros put a lot of resources to take a financial loss in Hawaii and we give them crap for it.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

There's two US male pros racing and I think it's lousy that there isn't more. I know it's a home race for us Aussies, but in years past Vegas and Mont Tremblant for instance, there would be at least a dozen Aussies racing abroad.

Not everything is about making money or a return on investment as a pro. At least this is not the Aussie way. It's a World Championship. You put yourself in the race because you want to test yourself against the best. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn't. Everytime we race we take risks, financial or otherwise. Why should a trip to Australia be any different? You put yourself in the race because it's an experience. This amazing sport we do gives us an opportunity to travel, experience different countries and different cultures that we wouldn't experience otherwise. To forsake this because you might lose a couple K here and there is retarded.

When it's all said and done, I want two things out of triathlon; to know I did everything I could with my given talent to be the best I could be, and to have one heck of an experience that I couldn't have had in any other career.

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http://www.josh-amberger.com/

Going back to 2014 and 2013. Looks like there were 10 and 11 Aussies that raced pro male, not quite at least a dozen. Yes it is more, but the big difference is that 70.3 worlds date coincides well with the American/Euro race season, lots of Aussies are already in the area. Whereas it is the off-season for races in Australia so no Americans are really in Australia racing at the time. There is a big difference flying around the world for a 70.3 versus already being on the continent and just flying to the race that week.

Did you count Appo as one of those Americans?

Cute speech and all, but some athletes are trying to make ends meet as pros (and very often failing) and simply don't have "a couple K here and there" to throw around for the sake of a good experience.

Serious question. If you are a pro American and can't line up a homestay not just for the 70.3 but also a training block to do there after the race before Hawaii, then you're not that enterprising. Literally the only cost for the trip should be flight if they do this properly through their Aussie buddy network. I am sure a lot of Aussie age groupers would be glad to host an American pro for month long training block afterwards. Finally the entire debate of "I won't make money doing xyz" in pro triathlon is borderline silly. If a pro triathlete is doing this for money they are in the wrong profession outside of the top 5. For the rest, its more about the life experience they are getting before they go back to the rest of the world and have to do a conventional job. In that context, a trip to race in Aus is probably a good cost benefit from a lifetime experience perspective. They might make some connections that allow them to make a lot more money/opportunity than if they stay home too by expanding their professional network of business contacts at 70.3 WC. It's like going to a convention in other industries where you can access many decision makers.

Did you check who you were responding to? (hint: signature)

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if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

Risk vs reward, plus the ITU long distance championship is in the US this year so the US pros have a better chance of making money doing two local races instead of making a long trip and not making any money unless they are in the top 5 (prize money minus the expenses).

There are several men that train in the US most of the time that are racing like Tim Don but he has a better chance of winning this year than the current US crop. Guys like Beals are working their way to the top but not quite there yet.

Yes, I know who he is and it doesn't make his opinion valid. He sounds like a child who doesn't understand adult financial realities.

See Josh Amberger just confimed exactly what I was saying above. If you are a pro in this sport and you are doing it based on financial decisions, you picked the wrong profession. Most pro triathletes are reasonably smart and often decently educated and could make a lot more MONEY doing something else, but they are putting aside MAKING MONEY for the competition, the experience and the personal enrichment that comes with racing with and against people globally and the associated travel and cultural experiences.

Josh good to see you have your head on straight. Maybe you can drive that enlightenment into the heads of others. Also to Josh, I think you guys in Australian and New Zealand are used to having to get on a plane and go global across all sports to "compete"....swimming, track, cricket, rugby, tennis. That's just what Aussie and Kiwi athletes do. Here in North America, we have an isolated world view. If you play football, basketball, hockey, baseball, you don't have to leave this continent for the 'best competition", so this mentality generally filters down in the culture across sports. Maybe the Canadian athletes feel some greater commonwealth connection to going overseas, but we're still pretty "localized" in mindset.

Serious question- do these pros have families? It's one thing for a single guy/ gal to spend their minuscule amounts of cash to travel 1/2 way around the world, get there 2-weeks before the race, stay an extra month, then spend more of their money they didn't make at the race to go to Hawaii a month later. When all is said and done, their 2-months removed from the ones they love. Potts has gone public saying that he's got his family in mind when he decides on races.

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Finally the entire debate of "I won't make money doing xyz" in pro triathlon is borderline silly. If a pro triathlete is doing this for money they are in the wrong profession outside of the top 5.
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I would agree with you on the average race but not in a World Championship. Perhaps I have a different mindset, but if I'm going to the WC, I plan on doing well. I want to win the cash, I want the points, I want to compete. If you're going for the experience, then there are a plethora of great races easily done and less the cost. I finished 17th at the WC probably means less than I'm the reigning Champion at IM 70.3 ______ (insert any other race name here) to the sponsors. I find the 'lifetime experience' argument more silly than the potential to make money. There are so many ways to gain life experience, even in the context of sport, that doesn't include needing to travel as far away from your home for a race as physically possible.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I don't think you understand the point. If you are a pro in this sport and want to continue being a pro in this sport, you need to stay solvent. You need to make ends meet. Unless you have some sort of exogenous resources -- parents, significant other, spouse, savings from like as investment banker, etc. -- you have to be very very good and/or extremely smart with your spendingjust to stay afloat. Look how good Cody Beals is, and how scrupulous, and he still lives under his parents roof. It would be insanely dumb for an athlete who has no money and has next to no chance to make any money at 70.3 worlds, to shell out "a few K" for a lovely experience and personal enrichment across the world. That is groceries for six months. If you can swing it, then by all means...but most can't, especially if they are already trying to swing that kind of experience and personal enrichment in October on the big island.

I think you have too much money for this conversation, Dev, or at least don't remember what it's like to be dirt poor.

Having seen what goes on at both Kona at 70.3 WC, I think the lifetime experience angle for a young person (in that I mean any pro from 20-34) is worthwhile. These guys are not making much off this sport, and there is more to life than money. Working in an industry where we can make decent coin, pretty well the only thing I remember through my career is what we achieved, the the life changing experiences....how much was on a paycheque, or what the EPS was this quarter or now much market share we got from the competition well all that stuff just blends in.

Most of these pros when they are done racing, they won't remember the size of any given 2nd tier paycheque. They will remember the racing experience, the comraderie with fellow pros and age groupers and the cultural experiences. Pretty well all my friends in my age group (50-54) who raced pro in triathlon, what they remember is what Josh is pointing out. They have all moved on to different careers doing the regular everyman grind. No need to do the everyman grind while you are your own boss as a pro long course triathlete. Once they are working in the everyman world and have maybe 2 weeks of vacation they won't be able to do stuff like this.

I know exactly what it is like to be dirt poor even though I am not like that now. I also know that you can do a lot while poor out of close to nothing. When i was 18 I spent 3 weeks bike touring in Europe on my bike off $335 (yes it was the 80's so call it $1000 now). I just lived on baguettes, jam, espressos, lived in a tent that I packed up every day, and ate cold food out of cans and the odd fruit. I realize that this is not how to live as a pro athlete, but just using an example that you don't need a lot to live. I saved all year for my $600 airfare for this

If pro want to get to the Worlds, I am certain an enterprising one would be able to get local age grouper buddies to free up some air miles and local aussie age groupers to host. Then all you have to do is come up with your grocery money....and you don't have to be dirt poor because your earnings suck from triathlon. You can get some revenue coaching age groupers, running some camps for them, working at Home Depot part time....whatever it takes to generate revenue to eat because you really can't train 60 hours per week. Even if you train 30 hours per week you have 30 hours to work at local bike store or wait tables at restaurants etc etc. There is no excuse to having no revenue (in a developed country) other than lacking initiative and just wanting to train and do nothing else.

By the way, I agree about your point about pros that have families not wanting to spend a ton of time away. Aussie and Kiwi pros though, do this all the time "the other way around" because that's really their main opportunity to make money on the other side of their summer.

Good grief that sounds like a crappy life experience just to go to a race. I can't think of a less appealing time than to spend 6-8 weeks amongst strangers in a strange land, working at a local convenience store just to eat, and scratching by just for the opportunity to train.

Can it be done? Sure. Does it appeal to some? Sure. But I can totally get it why someone, including me, just wouldn't be interested in that lifestyle (at any point in my life, including when I was much younger). I won't bag on the guy or gal of whom this appeals while at the same time I'm not bagging on the guy or gal of whom just isn't in to this sort of thing. It completely makes sense to me why a pro wouldn't go to Australia for a race.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
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Canadians:

MCMAHON BRENT

REID TAYLOR

SANDERS LIONEL
WURTELE TREVOR

Smart move for the Americans to stay home. Not many podium slots left with this lot going.

In reply to hey_burgs:
Same exact reason I am making the trip with my family. I'll be very AG MOP at this race, but I'll do the best I can on that day. But like you say, it is the experience I am looking forward to. The country I never visited before, the friends from around the world I will make, and the opportunity for my kids to experience another country and culture. For the last 35 years, triathlon has allowed me to "see the world" as an age grouper, and it has afforded me a greater understanding of different world perspectives, and race in very cool places. Now I want my kids to have the same experiences and learn from travel like I did. Can't wait to arrive in Australia!

Who the hell wants to race in a place where everything can kill you?

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

It is a great opportunity to get KPR points as well. With the Pro system moving to 4 races instead of 5 for KPR it seems like a great place to pick up points. I mean even a 13th place finish gets you about the same points as winning a major 70.3 (P750)

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Pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong) the change in the KPR qualification was announced after athletes had to accept their spot to 70.3 worlds. So while yes it's an opportunity to get significant points, the change in the system likely didn't weigh into athletes decisions. It might have swayed 1 or 2 more to accept their slots though if they'd known.

They don't have to accept or deny right away, they can wait a bit. I mean there is value in time, I would have waited if I was a borderline decision.

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When was the change to the KPR system announced?

Some time within the last 30 days. Regardless, every pro should know the rules come out are this time of the year. I have been asking about which races will be pro races next year to decide my own schedule at a high-level.

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Right, but you don't get unlimited time to accept your spot. In the case of the 1st cutoff, you have to accept by a specific date (prior to the new rules coming out) and in the case of the roll downs you get 48hrs to accept (for most if not all this was also before the rule change came out). The new rules weren't out in time to factor them into the decision making process.

There wasn't a 48hrs to accept as far as I know. I did roll down my spot right away this year as I did last year, but in 2013 I sat on my Kona 2013 slot until pretty much the last day I could which was like 1 month later.

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My wife was given 48hrs to accept/decline her roll down spot.

Her decision came down to weighing the life experience of competing in a world championship and having to leave her 2 year old child and other commitments for 10 days to two weeks away (finances really weren't part of the final decision but were discussed). She's also a crap swimmer so the surf swim was part of the decision - may have also factored for some other North Americans who just can't swim like those Aussies! In the end she and her coach decided it was best to take a mid season break and build for a fall season and tackle the life experience of her first ironman. Just some insight into one North American pro's decision. Everyone is entitled to make their own.

Have they given you good responses for this? I want to start planning next year as well. Who did you contact....Heather?

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_____________________________________________________
Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

Looking at this list, I can't help but think about this quote from Major League:


Board Member #1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.Charlie: Most of these guys never had a prime.Rachel Phelps: The facts are, we lost our two best players to free agency. We haven't won a pennant in over thirty-five years, we haven't placed higher than 4th in the last fifteen. Obviously, it's time for some changes.Board Member #2: This guy here is dead.Rachel Phelps: [obviously...] Cross him off, then.

What a great scene.

Loads of Aussies and Kiwis come to the US to train which made it much easier to go to 70.3 Worlds in years past.

Of course everyone wants to have good experiences in work/life, but at what point do the decisions become a poor career/financial move (risk vs reward). I work with several pro athletes and most of those athletes have the means to travel to Australia then straight to Kona to prep for Worlds, but I know several athletes (considered top tier) that the loss of a few K and the impact of all the travel would crush them. Yes they may have had a few laughs and met some new people at 70.3 Worlds but it could take a while to re-coop from the trip financially and physically. So for them, they have to weigh out the value of that one race, especially if they're also racing Kona several weeks later, which is another long travel and expensive trip.

Maybe those choosing not to race in OZ have the same "wants" from triathlon that you do, and maybe they feel by traveling to Australia they aren't doing everything they could with their god given talent to be the best they could be. Maybe they actually want to win races and make more then they spend on their career. As a competitor, or at least a professional competitor, you should try to optimize every opportunity to make money (if you are racing for a living). If an athlete has the means to spend several grand to travel to the other side of the world to place outside the top 10 at an event (world champs or not) then power to them, make it about the experience. But I reckon you'll find most do not have those means or want to risk the impact of the travel if they are racing Kona too.

What's the format?

Take a bunch of Molly, get naked and work for a 3some?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I have not heard back anything about races. I asked specifically about Ironman Wisconsin as that would be my home race but would also fall on the same day as 70.3 Worlds.

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Sounds like the tightened up the policy on accepting.

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When i was 18 I spent 3 weeks bike touring in Europe on my bike off $335 (yes it was the 80's so call it $1000 now). I just lived on baguettes, jam, espressos, lived in a tent that I packed up every day, and ate cold food out of cans and the odd fruit.


I did that for 3 years, quitting my job at age 49. I didn't spend much in that time and am back at work now. Everyone should do that for a while and prove you don't need a lot to have great experiences.

This is a pretty good take on this topic.

I guess you were right, Dev, in the sense that for an enterprising North American athlete it doesn't cost much/anything to go to this race. But the opportunity cost is substantial enough to keep some away as well, apparently

If someone beats a depleted field of second and third tier racers, can it be considered a breakthrough result?

For marketing purposes yes, you can claim say top 10 at WC's or top 20 at WC's on your resume. No one knows who showed up and you can only race the people who did. At a personal objective level you may know that at a deeper field, you may be 10 slots down, but that does not matter for the pro's resume.

I am planning to getting back to that at least for a few weeks at a time in a few years and getting back to my roots on traveling by bike under my own power living simply and interacting people outside my "regular community". Triathlon was just an outcome of being a track athlete who happened to bike tour a lot. I plan to end it as a bike touring guy who hopefully does some tris and probably swims a lot too.

My perspective here for young pros being on the "other side of my professional career in another industry" is that they should find a way to embrace the unique experiences that they have access to as pro athletes. Age groupers will bend over sideways to help pros, because we want to see them succeed because they can live the dreams that we can't because we're too darn slow. Life is not only about money since we don't die with the money it's about the experiences and how we can positively benefit from and influence others. I think a guy like Josh Amberger has exactly the perfect mindset. He can get a job in an office later and make a lot more money. He seems like a smart enough young guy with initiative that it won't be hard for him to make good money "later". He (like many young pros) is only going to have this opportunity for a very finite period in his life.

I don't think anyone cares about ITU Worlds. Like at all.

So what? How does that change anything?

I don't know why this would be such a concern for him. People race whatever they want to race for whatever damn reason they like and don't have to justify it to anyone else.

Why don't you like rifles? Won't fit in your purse?

I actually don't disagree with you and considered including that wrinkle in my original post. It just kind of rubs me the wrong way. As a professional it makes complete sense but the fact that it "works" (i.e. marketing and sponsorship) may be more indicative of how far our sport still needs to come to be taken seriously.

Similar things happen on the local level. Everyone knows the handful of super competitive and fast local races. If someone skips the competitve local race and instead goes to another race the same weekend, it always annoys me when they start spouting off how they were overall winner or won their age group.

 

I don't think anyone cares about ITU Worlds. Like at all.[/quote]
that would depend in which country you live . and in smaller countries it does to matter somewhat, also for emerging tri nations it can be very handy to find sponsors with a solid result .

This is true. My current and most of my prospective sponsors are North American based. A top 5 at ITU Worlds in Oklahoma is probably worth more from an exposure/sponsorship/marketing perspective than a similar performance which may be good for a top 10 on the other side of the world.

Also, this is one statement taken out of context from a 1,000 word post. I offered up several better reasons for why I'd chose ITU Worlds over 70.3 Worlds. I'd encourage anyone interested to read the post for my full perspective. The thesis is basically that I need to be pragmatic about the races I choose in order to pay the bills, even if that sometimes conflicts with self-gratification and other factors.

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CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
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I agree with this, but it's not the current landscape when it comes to prize money and sponsorship. As I said in my blog post:

"Podiums and particularly wins at Ironman and Challenge events are disproportionately lucrative, regardless of the caliber of the race."

I get paid for winning and getting on the podium, not for trying my best or seeking out the biggest challenges. For example, I made $12k for handily winning Eagleman against a relatively weak field. The month before, I raced my heart out on a tough day at St. George and didn't even make $2k. That's how it goes.

"I’m drawn to the idea of chasing glory at big races and exploring my limits against the best in the world. If I were independently wealthy, that hunger would entirely dictate my race schedule. But such a quixotic pursuit needs to be tempered with some practicality in order to pay the bills."

What I'm saying is that triathlon is my passion, but it's also my livelihood. It's a tough way to earn a living, so I need to work the system as best I can. It can be a difficult balance to strike.

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I agree with what you are saying. I will add though that athletes have to be careful not to fall in the trap where they get stuck in a pattern of winning. By this, I will use an example. That example is the following.

Andy Potts has the talent to win the Ironman World Championship. He stands a far better chance of winner now, even though older, than he did before. Personally, I would love to sit down with Andy and ask him some very specific questions, but IMO, he was not experienced enough to win Kona in the early years despite having the talent. Now he is getting older and while he may still have the talent, and he may have the experience, it may also be too late. He spent too many years, hammering the swim, and then riding the bike too hard, too early, not understanding that it had no chance of helping him win the race, other than getting a clean transition. Frankly this is how Andy won all his races and so I am sure he figured that it was his ticket to Kona.

Instead Andy, should have been traveling, going to Frankfurt, adding tools to his tool-box, racing big races where they dynamics might be less like his 'b' class races he was winning. He may have gotten the experience early to have won Hawaii once or twice, but he didn't, and I think it hurt him.

Now not everyone can be Andy Potts and I think picking and choosing your battles is important. It sounds like you are in for ITU Long Course Worlds and given the proximity of both the race location and date of the IM 70.3 Championship it makes a ton of sense. Now I don't think anyone doing ITU Worlds should also be doing Kona if they planning to do well at Kona and frankly, Kona is half way back to the US from AUS.

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Instead Andy, should have been traveling, going to Frankfurt, adding tools to his tool-box, racing big races where they dynamics might be less like his 'b' class races he was winning. //

I think you have it completely wrong here. I consider Andy to be one of the most successful pros the sport has ever seen. And I mean success in a financial sense. OF course he would like to win Hawaii, but not at the cost of all the other money he has been able to make over the years. He still gives himself a shot at winning Kona, but it never has become his single focus, and thus he probably have given up a couple places. Odds are he would never win Kona, and I believe he know that. And anything other than a win would not add to his $$.


And what would you say to Andy now? Train your ass off and just do hawaii and a couple qualifying events, and maybe you will be Frodo? Come on, looking objectively at kona now and there are very few that can even entertain winning. I think Gomez has a good chance against Frodo, but the old guard of the top 10 over the past decade don't have much of any chance in the near future.


Andy is doing the exact right thing as a professional, titles that don't pay, or chasing titles that have little chance of catching, are just longshots to be avoided. Professional means making money, he has won enough big races that he has maximized his sponsorship $$, so all that is left is prize money( and bonuses of course), and how often he can win it..

I removed part of my original post, about my assumption that Andy did in fact want to win Hawaii and thought he could win Hawaii. I think that is big part of it that maybe I should have left in. Regardless, IMO Andy, is very short-sided IMO, he is looking for the 'upfront' check, the immediate win, the immediate sponsor check, instead of what it takes to win more down the road. Conversation with industry folk would back this up.

Don't get me wrong, Andy is tremendously successful but it is easy to look at his success and say that it is enough. He could have made 10x what he has made had held a longer view and been more patient. It is funny, Andy was the only person who I heard feedback from Ironman Wisconsin last year. His feedback, "why would he do that". He doesn't see all the little reasons, some financial, as to why I would do that. Heck he doesn't even think, geez, Trek is right in Madison Wisconsin. Andy is a super nice guy, who I have a ton of respect for as an athlete. He has been wildly successful, likely much more than my own triathlon abilities could ever provide me. But he has been 1UPed by Hoffman and TO in recent years who are inferior athletes to Potts.

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Regardless, IMO Andy, is very short-sided IMO, he is looking for the 'upfront' check, the immediate win, the immediate sponsor check, instead of what it takes to win more down the road. //

I wonder if you even know how silly this comment is? Andy has been quite the opposite, no immediate wins, but a very, very long career of wins. He has gotten sponsor checks all along the way too. What race exactly has be not won other than hawaii that would add to his super impressive resume? He has not been patient, how long do you think a super successful pro career can last? He is going to go from his mid 20's to early 40's, making more bank that just about anyone in the sport each year, and maybe more than anyone over a career.


I guess you just disagree with me that being a pro is about making money and having the most longevity as you can in this sport. Thats ok, but I just cannot fathom how you don't think he has held a long term view to his job here, in fact probably holds/held the most longest of term views. He did not want to be Tim DeBoom or the few others that won hawaii and ended up broke. He has taken a sport that usually gives you 10 years and is going to turn that into 20. Seems pretty long term view to me..

I'm wary of this trap, namely becoming too comfortable and complacent about the races I select at the expense of long-term development. For now, my solution to this is to make sure that about a quarter to a third of my races are ones that take me out of my comfort zone. The primary objective at these races isn't to make money, but to better myself as a professional and as an athlete. The remaining events are the ones that dependably pay the bills. Assuming I continue to progress, the line between the "risky" races and the "moneymakers" should begin to blur. Anyways, I wasn't intending to hijack this thread and make it about me.

Interesting analysis of Andy's career and counterpoint from Monty. I could have agreed with either of you.

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CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
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Monty - Clearly we are going to disagree, so to avoid insulting you and Potts more, I will bow out. I have fundamental differing view about patience and the long-game. If you really think my comment is silly then so be it. In the end it really doesn't matter, and we can't even really analyze it unless we know Potts intent and general motivation regarding life, triathlon etc.

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Interesting, yes, this is a very rational thought in allocating / budgeting a specific amount of time and resources to furthering your 'education'. Love it. Just the way you put it speaks very highly of how much thought you are putting into the process. Maybe Potts has done that I dunno. But I look at it as a very analogous situation to any cash-cows in business who sit on the laurels and expect things to never change instead of investing more in R&D and eventually not being able to pivot their own business to keep them in business.

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very true, and different people come to different conclusions. which is great.
i agree with monty that Potts does what he does extremly well ( especailly given his nationality ie the biggest tri market in the world and the fact that since deboom no american has won kona )
If he was from the seychelles etc than prob he would have made more money trying to win hawaii and having a few hawaii podiums.

BTW Cody great blog.

Had been meaning to comment on this thread a while back, but had been wanting to cross post my thoughts on 70.3 Worlds as well. So rather than taking up the whole space here of that post, you can read it here: http://www.bw-tri.com/...64a1f97b693d957ad31d

And then going to reply to some other comments on here:


Just for the record, Rodrigo Acevedo is Colombian and represents Colombia. I am the only US Male racing here, very surprising when I realized this. You hit a lot of the other points that I covered as well, not everything is about making money! Life experiences, like Dev talked about can sometimes provide bigger ROI than any prize purse or bonus will ever do.


Didn't take a "couple $K" for me to pull off this trip. Dev already hinted on how to make it work. My financial breakdown of the trip is in the blog post noted above.


Yes, very much so, but like you pointed out after about 13th-15th it drops off pretty quickly. Still some pretty solid points on the line, and they seem to be getting harder and harder to come by!

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
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Good luck Brad...it's a long way from the days of being an Airman at your first 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater in 2010. Very excited to see you are in Oz as a pro now. This is the first 70.3 WC that I did not make it to, but will enjoy your journey from far away. Glad you are able to do it on the "cheap" and hopefully can use it as an opp to continue to make business connections with those who are there. And maybe you get some KPR and Chattanooga 70.3 WC points for next year too.

Thanks Dev, 2009 was first World Champs in Florida ;) Didn't race it again until 2013. As for points, KPR not on the radar, Chattanooga, we will see :)

Thanks again for the support!

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

OK, then it has been 7 years since 2009 when we met there for the dinner with Eric!

Thanks for circling back around for me. I read it. Good stuff. Have a great race - if you finish you will be the #1 American in the world :)

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You forgot to use pink text on that last sentence ;) thanks and good luck at your next race, seems your toe is fixed based on Timberman?

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-Brad Williams
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Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

I mean it seriously though - even if you are the only one, it doesn't matter. You were the only person with the stones to go and deserve that. As for my foot, my foot is nearly 95% percent, still a little swollen in the tri shoes, but no problem running and I don't notice it cycling from a pain standpoint. Now just have to get back the fitness lost.

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x2....you can only beat those that show up. Part of the challenge is getting to the start line to race. Brad has not exactly followed an easy schedule to get to that start line and has one of the heavier recent travel schedules, and that travel schedule alone as well as the prospect of losing money made others pass. Brad stepped up to the travel and a likely prospect of losing some money, but it appears he is treating this as an investment of his time for other positive outcomes. Like in any business, sometimes you invest, sometimes your harvest.

By the way, are you going to make the old man Crowie hurt after the swim tomorrow on the bike?