Granted I haven't done a bajillion IMs. But I've sat through the Awards ceremonies with friends after spectating a handful of times including and my own races. I honestly feel like losing your slot because you may not have been able to show up to the Award's ceremony is antiquated and quite analog. This could definitely all be confirmed electronically. It's not like 70.3s are throwing gourmet dinner banquets following a race, at least in the US.

Appreciate the write-up. Was hoping somebody would talk about the *race itself* after all the hand wringing in the build up.

Curious about the slot rolldown - doing by email seems terribly inefficient. Also agonizing for those hoping for a rolldown (thinking also in terms of a sustainable process because I imagine any races that do go off will look like this for a while). You would think they would do it via a Zoom call the day of or following day? Would be easy to coordinate.

This is the second master class that a expert professional in the medical field and a serious triathlete like all of us has exposed with facts, reasons, stats, etc. of why racing now is so unsafe and irresponsible, not only to us the triathletes but even more to our families and communities, but deaf ears or not comments it’s what I’m seeing from all the complainers.

I get it people, the need we have to race, push ourselves to the next level, but come on, this is ego and proud talking. There’s OTHER’S people live at risk whose bodies a weaker than yours.

(It reminds me the other thread about zwifters C racers complaining of A racers messing up their race dynamics with the “everybody deserve a medal argument”)

This is the second master class that a expert professional in the medical field and a serious triathlete like all of us has exposed with facts, reasons, stats, etc. of why racing now is so unsafe and irresponsible, not only to us the triathletes but even more to our families and communities, but deaf ears or not comments it’s what I’m seeing from all the complainers.

I get it people, the need we have to race, push ourselves to the next level, but come on, this is ego and proud talking. There’s OTHER’S people live at risk whose bodies a weaker than yours.

(It reminds me the other thread about zwifters C racers complaining of A racers messing up their race dynamics with the “everybody deserve a medal argument”)

Thanks for the write up. How was the aid station setup and ease of getting what you wanted?

Thanks for the write up. How was the aid station setup and ease of getting what you wanted?

I'm sorry you misinterpreted my Open Zwift Letter as an "everybody deserves a medal argument". You couldn't be any more wrong. Perhaps if you re-read it you'll see the singular crux of my complaint is that cyclists are not following the rules. Zwift has set up a very clear very simple set of rules to determine an A/B/C/D race categorization system. Ignorant or rude/inconsiderate riders choosing not to follow these rules are ruining the race experience for others. And because following the rules is based on an honor system, it's unfortunately being abused. This has absolutely nothing to do with medals. Categorization protocols exist to create a fair and level playing field for good sportsmanship. This is why USA Cycling has categorization system, Ironman has Age Groups, etc. Categorization systems have nothing to do with "everybody getting a medal".

In the case of Ironman Arizona, the experts have rules and guidelines in place that the race organizers must and are following to safely host the event.

Without intelligent, proper structure and rules we have chaos.

The relevant medical, State, County and City experts in AZ said the race was safe to proceed, under safety protocols. Time for us to defer to the experts in charge, not random people who aren't in charge of making the official calls for the State, County and City. Stop forum shopping for experts that match your personal beliefs.

False equivalence.
What is the quality of exposure, quantity and duration?
Social distance, hygiene, and masks are helpful in reducing infection but imperfect.
In IM events, several hundreds to thousands of people coalesce from having traveled nationally and internationally, encountering innumerable people in airplanes, hotels, functions, with a high intensivity of regional/national/international contacts over several days. If you are “rolling the dice” per se for each individual exposure, how many times is the dice being rolled, exponentially compounded by the number of athletes, volunteers, industry and hospitality participants? I am not just talking about the buzz-by on the bike from non-draft distances.
And all this occurring while COVID-19 infections are on the rise nationally and internationally, with a resurgence at a time when we need the pandemic controlled the most—before winter and flu season, when clinical diagnoses will be confounded, heath care stressed, and populations less able to distance.

You mock masks (not OK and irresponsible), or maybe just mocking me (funny, and OK)—standard “surgical-style” masks are only about 40% effective, but when both participants are wearing masks, protection is increased, and when distanced, protected even further. Why do you think we wear these “less effective” masks when performing surgical procedures?—it is primarily to prevent us, the operator, from spreading our germs to the patient—very good for that function, and less so for personal protection (which is the arena of N95 or higher, respirator masks). By wearing any type of mask or face covering, we are showing that we care for the well-being of people around us amid a pandemic. It is unfortunate N95 masks are not widely available—they are prioritized for health care settings. For personal use, we use KN-95 masks, which are not used in US health care and are widely available—not quite as good as N95, but generally more protective than standard masks and face coverings.

I’ll stop posting on this matter.
Take care. Wishing you all well.

Zoom seems easy, until someone doesn’t know how to use the mute button or can’t figure out how to unmute themselves to claim their slot.

Does anyone know the slot breakdown for the race?

Bryan,
janski made a comment earlier in the thread (post #260) about issues with one of the bottles he grabbed at an aid station still being sealed. Did you grab any bottles on the bike course? Were the bottles still sealed? I am planning on doing IM Florida and would like to plan accordingly. Screwing off the caps, taking off the seals, and then rescrewing the caps could be hazardous on the fly. Thanks

I did not, however I believe I read that they plan was to NOT have volunteers touch the bottles in that fashion. So I think they intended for you to stop and open it yourself. During the race, I'm sure some volunteers started opening them as people like complained, but I'm just guessing.

Hear you on that - although not too difficult to navigate by muting all (and then allowing individuals to unmute) and also allowing people to use the chat feature instead of voice if they prefer (or can’t figure out how to unmute).

You could also setup a simple online system where participants can proactively log their intent to take or decline their slot if offered. Then people can skip the Zoom meeting altogether if they choose. Race rep at the rolldown Zoom meeting then just refers to that system in addition to the live responses as they roll through the rolldown.

Not criticizing and appreciate the plane is being flown while it’s built, just pointing out that of all the logistical challenges that a COVID race has to tackle, the rolldown process seems like one of the simpler ones given the technology all of us are now using day to day to navigate the same. Frankly a manual offline email process seems like WAY more work.

Hear you on that - although not too difficult to navigate by muting all (and then allowing individuals to unmute) and also allowing people to use the chat feature instead of voice if they prefer (or can’t figure out how to unmute).

You could also setup a simple online system where participants can proactively log their intent to take or decline their slot if offered. Then people can skip the Zoom meeting altogether if they choose. Race rep at the rolldown Zoom meeting then just refers to that system in addition to the live responses as they roll through the rolldown.

Not criticizing and appreciate the plane is being flown while it’s built, just pointing out that of all the logistical challenges that a COVID race has to tackle, the rolldown process seems like one of the simpler ones given the technology all of us are now using day to day to navigate the same. Frankly a manual offline email process seems like WAY more work.