Basically just means Amateur. Not a Pro.

Age Grouper = everyone in the race who is not a pro/elite.

Pretty simple.

I don't know why you would ask why would anyone want to do that? At my age I'm not going to a 1/2 IM and beat macca, so should I not care anymore?

"But is an age grouper just someone that is simply trying to win their age group and does not care about their overall standing? And why would anyone want to do that? I don't get it.. "

Simply put an age grouper is anyone that's not entered in the Clydesdale, eltie or a pro division. Obviously that's a wide range of athletes from kids to old people. I think a lot of age groupers do indeed care about how they finish overall.

I have a few goals in mind when i go to a race. The first is to win my age group, the second is to place as high as i can on the overall classification. I may me the exception, but when i go out there, I am racing everybody. That means men, women, and children...lol, anybody thats on the course in my mind is trying to beat me, and im going to do my best to make sure that doesnt happen. probable why im type AAA.

' "Age grouper" sounds so demeaning. Telling yourself that you're an age grouper is like telling yourself that you're not good enough to hang."

I don't speak for everyone but I'm thinking that the guy who wins the 35-39 age group race at Kona doesn't feel too bad about it.

"Of course, I can imagine that when you get older, if you still have this mentality, you're setting yourself up for disappointment because you're not going to beat a 30 yr old pro at age 60 or something"

True, but i can tell you the fire will still be inside.

Well, don't count out the old fogey's for the overall win. In MN, there are several athletes in their 40s or 50s that will outright win triathlons, and the triathlon scene there is one of the best in the country. There is one guy, Tony Schiller who is a legend. At the Annandale Tri, which is one of the most competitive amateur triathlons in the country, he got 6th overall, biking 26.4 mph for 21 miles and running 5:36 miles for a 5.3 mile run. Brian Bich, who is 42, won the entire race. I think that plenty of guys in their 40s and early 50s can compete for the overall win if they have the talent, desire and time to train as hard as the young bucks. Although I suppose by age 60 you really start to go downhill physically.

Each looks at this differently. And any given individual may have a different focus depending on the size and compeititveness of the race. For instance, when I race Memphis in May, I have no aspirations for overall since I know I'll be greater than 10 minutes behind. But to finish in top 3 or 5 of my AG there is quite an accomplishment (for me at least). On the contrary, in a race with more local flavor, my focus might be on high overall, or masters.

One of the great things about this sport is that most everyone can sense accomplishment, either by finishing the race or by comparing their results with a peer group of their choosing. And then there's always anticipation of the next race on the schedule. And the trash talk. And side bets, etc.

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

It is just me or does it feel like the OP is just waiting for an excuse to start quoting recent race times.

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If it's a YMCA pool, the lightning wanders around the locker room naked for an hour, then uses the blow dryer on its junk. -lunchbox

Masters 40+

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

"But is an age grouper just someone that is simply trying to win their age group and does not care about their overall standing? And why would anyone want to do that? I don't get it.. "

Uh, because maybe the AG'er is like 60 yrs old or more? There is a guy 80+ who comes to the local area tris. He wins his AG every time, but of course he's usually the only one in it. Would you expect him to be going for over all?

IMHO, this fella is the true winning champ of the race just by showing up at his age, despite that fact he's at the back over all.

absolutely not. Those are the guys who say "I was top amateur" or "I was 14th OVERALL".

Age Groups are an arbitrary thing, and so is pro or elite for that matter.... but overall is overall.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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Best of luck to you then. As a guy doing his first tri my advice would be to focus on having a good race and not worrying about what everyone else is doing around you. I noticed in a recent post that you are interested in "crushing the f**k out of the competition" (dream crushers are nothing new here - heh), but it might serve you well to lighten up a bit and just enjoy it.

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If it's a YMCA pool, the lightning wanders around the locker room naked for an hour, then uses the blow dryer on its junk. -lunchbox

You aren't...

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I think it's (AG) all about racing your peers, as in setting up a level playing field for everyone. Sure there is the overall playing field where everyone is on the same course on the same day, but as we all know, there is a decline in performance over time, so the AG concept is born.

It is unrealistic for me as a 48 year old, to compete physically with a 25 year old. Therefore I compete with people in my own AG. I still don't win, but my place number has less digits in it. (ie, I finish in the hundreds, not the thousands. LOL

You need to remember that winning is not the only reason for competing. And even within the realm of time or finish place competing, there are different ways of measure winning. For example, I go to an IM race for example. I want to go faster than ever before. I want to go faster than ever before on this course. I want to go faster (% wise) compared to my AG winner and also compared to the overall winner. I also want to tick off PB's in any of the 3 events.

And so on. Each of those methods of competing can lead to a victory of sorts. I don't race to win overall (but I do race as hard as I can, so that if the first 350 racers get killed by a meteor, I will happily jog it in for the win!) but I constantly strive to do my best, and strive to make my best, better each time.

There are lots of people out there, and they all have a different reason for competing. Fell free to race for your own reasons.

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TriDork

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This is my take on this There are pro's ,then elite amatuers , then age groupers. I have raced triathlons for close to 30 years and have run competively for close to 40 years and now in my mid fifties I still enjoy the sport for different reason. I know age is part of the reason I can no longer run sub 32 10k times and race the olympic distance at the 2 hour mark but I also do not put the monster training volumes I did when younger nor would i still want to I can enjoy still enjoy training close to 2 hours per day and competing and In my last race a few weeks ago I ran just under 20 minutes for a 5 k at the end of a sprint triathlon and had the 12th fastest run of the day and can still go sub 2:20 for the olympic distance so I look at how balanced I can get for all my splits age group wise >there are guys out there racing age group like Ken Glah, Dean Harper, Scott Molina who were stars in this sport 25 years ago and they can hang. The swimming and cycling can stay close to your times of your youth but trust me those running legs go.

If you look at the times for the 20-24 AG and 25-29 AG and then compare them to the times in the 40-44 AG and 45-49 AG, there's a good chance that the older guys will be faster - especially for long course racing.

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It is unrealistic for me as a 48 year old, to compete physically with a 25 year old.

It's funny how often the 40-44 AG crushes the 20-24 AG.

20-24 Doesn't make the Top 10 OA.

20-24 Manages to squeak one into the Top 10 OA

Not that I'm ever a threat for any of them.

-Jot

It's funny how you see split times from even the 50 plus faster than a lot faster than the 25-29.