come train in Florida in mid summer. Its hot as satans butt crack and probably just as humid. You will get to Kona and be like oh, just another training day on a saturday mid August.

I dont know how you cold weather or dry weather folks do it. Ive raced some oly distances in the Keys and I might as well have been in the dang amazon rain forest. I didnt know I was capable of the amount of sweat I lost

Are you sure that’s the first time?! I swear every day there’s someone with an opinion here telling someone else “you know Fouc-ault!”

Haha, well played

It’s not semantics as you drew a causal relationship there where none of existed

Nonetheless, I Actually I agree that Kona caters to certain athletes as would every other possible course catering to a different type of athlete. I’m not even against rotating it. I just don’t think that is the only reason to rotate it. My point was more that how many past winners do you look at and say, meh, they only won because the race was held in Kona, if it had been held in _________, then _________ would have won.

But let's be clear here, it's definitely not a "World Championships" in the truest sense. For the WC of an outdoor sport to be held in the same location with same weather every year is nuts, and not seen in any other outdoor sport I can think of.

What about the ability to perform in rainy conditions, in colder weather, on hillier courses and so on?

Having said all that, if I ever qualify I will go, once only mind :-)
.

So because Kona is too hard, people should stop going?

While I get what you are saying for those that have been to Kona 3 times or more and still get crushed by the course every time, what about those who have never been or just went once? Should they not try to improve themselves so they can do better at Kona or qualify?

What’s so bad about people following their dreams? Some people like torture.... let them torture themselves.

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blog

ou8acrakcer2: "Holy crap - I just found this really really small fiddle. I am going to play it for you."

Now that is some funny stuff right there!

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Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

This.

Full disclosure - I'm one of Kileyay's social media connections, who yes, spectacularly failed at Kona, and obviously (gasp!) blogged all about it.

Here are five points to add to the conversation. None of which prove any point; I just like to see myself type.

1. People in sport are motivated by different things. For some it's running a set distance on a track and beating only themselves. For others it's racing against people. For those that choose the latter, until there's a better proving ground for iron-distance racing, Kona it is.

2. I have two friends who PR'd last year at Kona, and one who secured another AG podium this year. I consider myself in a competitive class with these people, so I had to believe that I too could have had a good day racing against the best.

3. I ended my blog saying I'd be back to Kona...not because "It's Kona," but because if we can't look at our toughest days, learn from them, and use that strength to fight other battles - what's the point? I had a choice in Kona; I got to be tough on my own terms, with great privilege, and in a safe environment. If I'm faced with a challenge I didn't sign up for (illness, tragedy, etc.), I don't get to say, "Well, I won't do that again because it was hard." Saying I'll get back to Kona is more metaphorical than anything else - it's setting a goal, working hard, and achieving it - it doesn't have to be Kona but whatever fires you up. As previous stated, I enjoy seeing how I stack up against people at iron-distance...so...

4. I declined a 70.3 Worlds spot partially because I'm in agreement on many points made in the OP.

5. Love or hate it, Kona is a big part of the history and popularity of triathlon. Being dismissive of the event as being "terrible for the sport" doesn't seem fair. There are many people who've watched the struggles on TV and been motivated to get in shape, try something new, or challenge themselves - I happen to be one of those people - and I'm a better, not worse, person for it. I swam as a young kid but do not come from a swimming, running, or biking background. Without Kona's notoriety and popularity, I'm unsure where I would have learned about the sport - one I love doing more than any other hobby I've had.

6. If Kileyay doesn't disclose he raced Kona the post has zero merit, calling out the brag there is unwarranted.

 I just don’t think that is the only reason to rotate it.

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To hold a "world championship" event and not rotate doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me. You SHOULD rotate it simply because it is the world championships. But this is why it's a mixed world championship and mixed in with a private companies "race", so that they can play on "tradition" to not want to move it, etc. I think the best win that can accomodate the same hot/humid/windy/heat conditions that may not be factored in if event was held in Denmark or Brazil, or Aussie, or Mediterrain.....Where yes conditions help you win it, but it's not the *same* conditions pretty much year after year.

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

Yeah I think he's talking about a particular set of people that think they can podium their AG at Kona and keep sucking.

IMO here's the sequence:

1st KQ: Kona is the victory lap, just take it easy and enjoy the day. Soak it all in. (this is my plan if I can KQ)
2nd KQ: Ok see if you can execute a good race there
3rd, 4th, 5th......keep banging your head against the wall if it's obvious you don't do well in those conditions (obviously this is not applicable if you had a good race in your 1st, 2nd or even 3rd try)

Honestly... almost every year a "runner" wins. There is absolutely no way to prove it and a lot of people will disagree... but my n=1 is that almost every single year where a "runner" (i.e. Lange, Crowie the first 2 times, etc.) wins by running everyone down, I think on a moderate temperature course, they would have likely missed the podium and an uber-biker would have won. The uber-bikers are just that much faster and would be able to hold everyone off if it wasn't so hot. Might also help if the draft length is longer (i.e. Challenge).

Honest question - what long distance (half or longer) races are out there that you could categorize as being more worth it than a WTC race? I'm not asking sarcasticly in a defending-Ironman way, just asking in all sincerity as someone who isn't aware of many other good long distance races. I'm trying to broaden my horizons.

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Ever Grateful, Ever True.
Boiler Up.
Hammer Down.
Hail Purdue

And there would still only be one winner, many would suffer in the race as described by Kiley. I am responding to his post that thevrace sucks for all those outside the winners to which my response is who cares??? Every championship sucks for the non winners

I think it's the fact that KONA is a manufactured dream.

you, sir, are an inspiration. thank you for this post

Let's focus on 3rd, 4th, 5th
You go to Kona because you want an AG podium!
You are not good with (or at drafting).
You don't run especially well in humidity.
Your chance of a podium is not very good.

Do you continue to go?

Do you focus on something else?

So are strip clubs - and people seem to still spend a ton of money at those while also causing them to get divorced. So Kona is basically like a big hot expensive destination strip club. Im ok with that.

The day they move IM World Champs from Kona is the day WTC valuation is cut in half (as in the company is worth less).

From a business standpoint it would be a future harvard business school case study on one of the worst decisions ever made if they started rotating. 100% absurd to think this is practical in any way you look at it.

I've been to Kona 10 times (not bragging just making a point). Its been a couple years since I have qualified and I am certain if the race was not in Kona I would not be trying to get back.

Time to get a bit of common sense on this topic. Wimbledon will never be held in Brazil ! or anywhere else. And before people comment Wimbledon is not a WC rest assured it is seen that way by those who play there similar to how everyone see kona whether we call it a WC or not. Take it from Kona and that evaporates immediately

This entire thread is full of people who do not get it.

Time to revise that prediction. It will be in Kona on 10/10/2020.

Hello kileyay and All,

Nice essay .... but ...

Do your really expect humans to stop lining up and paying to go to Kona?

Does not it 'sell out' every year now .... with an additional hurdle of having to qualify?

Your essay will provide incentive to aspirants by showing how difficult the race is.

Cyclists love to suffer ... http://www.cyclingweekly.com/...ean-to-suffer-356111

Consider professional football brain and body injuries ......

How about cage fighting ..... ?







Are these sports going away ...... ?

I think not.

Kileyay wrote in part: "This race made me feel like shit. And still does. Including the fact that I haven't been back since."

Do I read that right ..... including the fact that you feel like shit because you have not been back yet?



Good luck next time!

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

[Hi, Steve]

I think maybe how I would phrase it for AG athletes - without the flare that Kiley does - is that Kona is a great goal and there is a lot of reason to enjoy the process and then the actual experience in the race. BUT, the race itself is extremely difficult from a condition, competition, and race dynamic approach that many people who KQ are totally unprepared for what is about to hit them.

As is typical with the entire sport, Kona has a way of making people pull out every excuse in the book as to why Kona served them up a beatdown. The drafting in Kona is for real, although this year seemed much better than last year (in my opinion) but when people suggest that is the only way to get to a podium, they are simply wrong. Do some people get to the podium in Kona by drafting? Sure. Do most or even half or 25%? I highly doubt it. Not to plug my own result this year, but I finished 11th in 35-39 and the race looked pretty damn clean up there. I only wish I was a better swimmer and biker to have been more a part of it.

But for people that blow up there, either once or year after year, and provide only excuses about the competition being the factor that led to their poor result, well, there's not much that needs to be said. A lot of ego's get buried out on the lava fields once people realize that they aren't the fastest one in town anymore.

So go for it. Enjoy the process. And then enjoy the island. It's just another race, after all.

Aren’t most dreams manufactured in some way? I wanted to be in the Olympics as a swimmer and play in the World Cup when I was growing up. I could argue those dreams were manufactured.

Kona is similar to a lot of other sports big races/matches/games/events/etc. Do you know how many swimmers have killed themselves for years just to get a senior national cut or Olympic trials cut and then when they finally make it, they crumble at the race?

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Spectacular.

Very True. The junkies just keep getting strung along. First its building to finish a HIM, then to finish a full IM, then the pursuit of the elusive KQ performance. For so many, that's the holy grail (see the # of "how many K slots will they have at XX race" threads here on ST)....at least until it's finally in their hands. Despite their best intentions to "just enjoy the atmosphere," few actually walk away from Kona satisfied with their performance. Some seem to get stuck in the vicious cycle of KQ pursuit, IMWC disappointment until they're broken physically, mentally, or financially to the point they can't continue the pursuit.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Kona IS NOT hard to finish.
Kona is a great 1 time victory lap after you have KQed.
Kona is a great vacation. A fun race to "participate" in.

Kona is NOT, however, a very good world 140.6 age group championship.
The drafting and the humidity make it a very different race from every other 140.6 race.
Not "harder" just more arbitrary and arguably "unfair."

Kona is the AG group championship for float/draft/humid run!!!!

Shouldn't we have a 140.6 championship for swim/bike/run?