I thought for cancelled races they have a random draw of the slots for the participants?

Its funny because as you know, my run is kind of bad for my age group (55-59...lots of studs), but I was out running and feeling good and was thinking, "I wonder if I can shuffle out 42km again....I did 100/100 so that should be good enough mileage to get through without hurting myself....and what if WTC had more slots at IM Tremblant from all these cancellations. My swim and bike are competitive....I have time!!!!"

But I got back home, looked at my trainer and shook my head and went back to doing a bunch of stuff for work. But for a fleeting moment a little bit of momentary excitement, but after all, its that little bit of hope that keeps a lot of this going.

Was actually thinking about how this will affect qualifying for next year as well. South Africa got pushed to November correct? So now it will qualify for Kona 2021? But then they will also have the race, presumably, again in March 2021, which also sends athletes to Kona 2021. And that might not be the only race that will wind up in this situation.

Yesterday I received an email from Ironman asking me if I want to move my Legacy slot in 2020 Kona IM

They could probably fill the race with Legacy Slots in one day....

Yes but Legacy athletes do not live on the Moon. they are like you and me, living the same crap. no swimming pools, no out cycling...just running. how can you possibly prepare a race like Kona in this situation? without mentioning the disruption of your life around, job, family, etc.
i can not imagine Kona 2020 happening, if not with aliens from another planet

Out of interest - why wouldn't people be out on the roads cycling? (I assume this is what 'out cycling' was referring to)

My gym and pool is open as normal, I cycle on my trainer and outside, I run at gym, on my treadmill and outside as normal

I am not a resident of the moon

because cycling is a dangerous sport
with an accident you would represent another problem on top of saturated hospitals with corona
at the moment in italy intensive care is full
imagine a cyclist arriving because he was having fun training...

right
one month ago we were also like you
not today

and unfortunately the virus may come to your area because according to you, you are not on the moon

It isn't just a question of which races are feeder races for Kona 2020 vs 2021, I suspect that the whole qualifying dynamic will change in terms of who targets which races.

2020 Kona would likely be easier for the races which still hold qualifiers, while some athletes would just put off until 2021 their qualifying attempt.

I thought for cancelled races they have a random draw of the slots for the participants?

Will it be this way for the pros? So Kona at the pro level will be dertmined by a lottery this year?

I am 99.9999% sure that anyone who has done 12 Ironmans to get in line for a legacy slot, if offered a Kona slot would take it on zero prep and just go do it whether they have any swim training or not. Because that is how these people are wired. Most of them do it because they enjoy it, not exclusively for performance (like straight up qualifiers). I'd hazard to guess that many will keep doing triathlon even after they go to Kona.

Messick could likely fill most of the field with legacy athetes and those that qualified up to Taupo and if there are any further age group qualifiers up to Aug 31. A good chunk of the qualifying year was already done by March 7th anyway. Not that hard to fill the rest with legacy applicants and maybe have a slightly smaller field.

I will actually make a more tangible response by posting a question to Cementbottle, the original poster on this thread.

in 2006, Cementbottle qualified for Kona at Ironman Lake Placid. He went to Kona and 4 days before the race he had a crash in Kona and broke his pelvis. He had to watch all his friends race while on crutches. We all thought that he would have no problem qualifying once he recoreved, but his recovery took him longer and he did several more Ironmans. He's on a hiatus from sport with career and family but intends to get back on it and try to attack the legacy program to punch his ticket to Kona.

So to Cementbottle, I think you did 7 Ironmans and let's say tomorrow Messick gives you a slot as a legacy athlete (forget you are not at 12 yet). Would you take the spot for Kona this fall off only a few months worth of running in the last 6 years or so and zero bike and run? I am sure I know the answer.

Not every pool on the planet is closed and not every triathlete is living under the same restrictions as many here on ST.Where I am it is business as usual and it is one of the major triathlon areas in Oz.Sure many people might not be able to swim in pools and have a perfect preparation but lake and ocean swimming covers that for a huge percentage of people around the world.Most of these athletes would happily go to Kona less prepared because "Racing" Kona was never in the equation,they just want to say they have done it.

Maybe go back to some previous races to add spots haha!!! I missed KQ by one place so I'd really like that idea!!!

then I am in the 0.00001%
because I received the email to go this year but I am not going to accept it. given the corona situation at least where I live

Most of Europe (Spain, Italy, France.......) cannot now swim because all the pools are closed, they cannot run or ride outdoors because the Corona lockdown bans them.

In a nanosecond, fuck yeah I'd take the slot. Even though I'm 80 lbs overweight and have a VERY difficult home situation, I'd make the time and take that Kona slot!! And yes, I do hope to get back to racing once the kids are older and I'm closer to retirement.

Assuming someone was training for an IM before the whole Covid-19 thing, and they had the ability to continue their bike and run training (I realize that's not the case for some countries now); it would only take a few weeks of being back in the pool to be able to do the 2.4mi (times might be slow, but completing a relatively easy swim like Kona wouldn't be a problem).

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

.And that is going to last how long?There are thousands of athletes all over the world who could quite easily find the training time and venues to train in. How many have trainers for their bikes and treadmills to run on? What do you think all the athletes who are scheduled to race all the late year races are going to do? You have given up very quickly.

I don't have a dog in this fight but just want to point out that not as many of us have treadmills in our houses as trainers for bikes. Many rely on gyms for treadmills when the weather gets bad and even my apartment's tiny two treadmill gym is shut down til March 31. If our city goes into some sort of lockdown, I will keep running outside and risk enforcement. Or keep running and see what they got :)

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

It would be fun to see everyone post how they are training through these conditions.I would love to see everyone's out of the box thinking and imagination at work.Maybe we should all just go full Ashley Horner and do squats until we can't squat no more. :-)

I moved from a 1 bedroom apartment to a house last year around this time and one of the first things we did was build a home gym in the tiny garage. I'll probably come out of this in better shape than going in tbh.

My primary source of training (swimming) is dead as everything is bolted shut.

So training is morning 40-60 min run daily. Evening bike rollers 30-60 min + Concept2 rowing erg (kind of replaces a bit of swimming and adds to biking) for 30 min doing intervals. Rough plan is 2-2.5 hrs per day. Probably do daily lat pulldowns and leg extensions to keep swimming muscles activated (I generally do that 5x per week to complement swimming anyway). I can do this all at home in the basement, however plan to run outdoors and as soon as it gets a bit warmer ride outdoors as I doubt we will have outdoor bike and run restrictions in Canada as in Europe and I won't see a single person doing that and I don't think I will be a hazard to the medical system, as I have only been to hospital three times in 50 years of bike riding.