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In 2004 (I think) the spots rolled forever because of the extreme exchange rate making the trip just too bloody expensive. I think the cost of an Hawaiian holiday plus the reluctance to travel too much right now might be part of the reason. ( I am going to do Ironman West Oz and then ride 3,000k back across the country to Adelaide and that three week trip will cost a fraction of what a Kona trip would cost)

Another thing I am noticing is the seeming lack of interest in the Ironman Worlds in general among my Aussie triathlon mates and social media types.Sure the "industry types" are into it but the general masses just don't seem to be "fans" of the sharp end of the field anymore. Hell people in my wide triathlon circle don't even get horny for Cam Wurf and he is the perfect Aussies larrikin. I just don't see the love.

I will be conducting an experiment on Saturday. I will be in Noosa helping with the running of Ultraman Australia from Thursday to Tuesday and I can guarantee that there won't be many among the 200 or so people assembled that actually know the World Champ's is on let alone who will be staying up on Saturday night to watch it.I won't surprised me if I am the only one who watches it live.

Agree every word

Have you seen the price if accomodation at Kona, a lot of people cannot afford to go anymore.

The race needs to move to carer for more people and make it somewhat affordable. Every race needs 100slots at least, 40 slots makes it out of reach for all but the pro agers of the tri world.

I have to disagree on your point that kona is what being the average athlete back. It actually only bring back a small % near to qualifier times or who have the ability and opportunity to train super hard to be a chance. 90% of the field are there to finish and be apart of the experience and understand Kona is no chance. So we need more slots at every race to increase the opportunity to qualify, to do that we need a venue that can handle more people.

Ironman cairns always had 100 slots not it has 69 ironman West Aus had 80 in previous years now has 40, the fields are bigger, those at the point end are faster and therefore the average athlete has no chance and are not there for kona in anyway. On top of that you have the repeat qualifier athletes that scoop up the slots year on year, so we dont have a lot of new blood qualify anyways.

Kona can certainly last, but it shouldn't be the WC every year. So many in this sport tie it to their every ambition and it is a destination so that is something to keep in mind. I'll say it again though, it shouldn't be the WC every year. There are many "better" courses (YMMV obviously) and it is a case to showcase those spots as well as making the WC more accessible travel wise for so many athletes.

Now we have had st george, what are everyone’s thoughts?

I think we had two amazing pro races and two amazing champions.

I wont be surprised if St George is on again next year as a world title event.

But not in May: a World Championships needs to be no earlier than mid-August, wherever held.
And also, for athletes' welfare, a venue where the run is not in stupid even dangerous temperature/humidity conditions. No top marathon (apart from the Olympic games and even then they choose the coolest time of day) runs in adverse conditions. Why does Triathlon aim to make it even more of a sufferfest than it is already? Is keeping the however designated 'World Championships' DNF rate up a race aim?
Champions both. Thought the supporting acts in silver, bronze and top 6 were pretty amazing too. Haug chase bound to catch and Matthews resistance. Sanders never give up and Currie's desperate effort to hang on. Moench, Astle and Norden (like Matthews debutantes) closing in in style. Leiferman, Angert and Chevalier all chasing hard. First class!

Best ironman world champs I have followed. Definitely in favour of moving it around.

I've been following the forms of online coverage of Kona since 2004, and it's pretty boring now.

As far as a race venue, it certainly delivered. Rotate the world champs.

The one gripe was that they didn't have live timing splits up on screen, which they use for their B races. Anyone know why they weren't up on screen? The app was working perfectly.

As a participant, it felt more like a normal race than a WC. St George is great, but keep Kona the WC

Agreed. Please rotate, including the date based on local weather.


I was also surprised by the lack of splits. Had to use the app tracker to follow properly.

If the two day Kona race this October goes off well and the local community is accepting of that concept, it will stay in Kona. That way they can have 4000+ racers over two days, accommodations not withstanding.

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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

I think the accommodation in Kona on these sort of numbers will be the killer, they still have 3 championships level races and about ten total qualifiers to go and the place is full now.

If it went to a rotation what would be your events, I think it should be a permanent rotation, not like the 70.3 that can go anywhere.

I would have it as:

Kona
Cairns
Frankfurt
Mainland USA easy to fly to location

If the object is to put the "World" into WC by rotating the venue, it's difficult to justify the US hosting every second year. Replace mainland US with somewhere else.

American triathletes have the most disposable income, though. This is where the $$$$ is for Ironman.

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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

As a frequent traveler to Hawai'i I'll say:
1) it's stupid expensive and getting worse every year
2) accommodation and flights for almost 4000 athletes, fans and family for a single weekend... impossible.

IM Kona may be the dream for many but reality means it's days are definitely numbered.

Won’t they need to decide about 2023 before the race for 2022? Qualifiers start in September.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

That's good. It means they can more easily make the effort to travel than the rest of us. ;-)

I’ve also been wondering this given that I’m signed up for an IM this September.

Could be similar to what I observed from afar in 2021 when some races had very few spots while others had up to 150! I could easily see Sept 2022 races (Wisconsin, Maryland, Wales, Chatt) having 40 or fewer and then after a hopefully successful 2-day Kona races like FL, CA, AZ, etc all of a sudden have 80+ spots. Doesn’t change my plans, motivation, or training but definitely something I’ve wondered.

I've raised plenty of iron Man events but I've never been to Kona and I will say that this weekend felt just like a regular race to me... I do love St George as a venue though. Plenty of accommodations parking was relatively easy and free for a spectators and the only downside was the ability to spectate the bike at multiple points and the swim.

Wrong, the legacy participants only want to go there -because- its the big show. If its not the W/C with all the excitement around it, no one is gonna spend $$$$$ to go there and fry their brains on a lava field.

My dear Kona,

I know we've been married for 40 years, and we were pretty much dating on Oahu for four years before that, but I haven't had any action from you for three years and well, I had this one night stand and sorry but,....now I think I want to be with her.

I know she's young and had brief unsuccessful relationship with another Ironman previously, but I think maybe, she might stay around this time and make me happy, at least for a couple of years. At least I hope so. She had thing this short-term relationship thing going recently which she seemed pretty committed to. Not even sure whether she'll try to maintain that while I'm with her.

To be honest, I'm unsure what the future will be for this new relationship, or how long it will last, or where I'll move on to should it not work out.

Maybe we could have a fling every few years to keep the flame flickering? Possibly in the hope of getting back together if this new relationship doesn't work out?

yours,

WC

Some people will always be the oldest in the AG at every venue in that case: either 54,59,64,69 etc. and thus be in disadvantage relative to those who are 50,55,60,65,70 etc.

Agree.
5 years is ideal if you are bottom age group, awful for those top.

KONA is the GOLDEN GOOSE. It is the dream that people aspire for. It is why there is a LEGACY list of people doing 15 Ironman's for their 1 shot of going to KONA. It is HISTORY. KONA so much more than a world championship for 99% of the people that have no chance of winning anything. Yipee....I qualified to race in St. George. Take away the dream of Kona and Ironman means nothing to so many.