Man... so you want people who invest in their gear to sit out too?

This thread seems pretty useless....

Oops...meant to reply to the OP :(

A couple things.

1. Our local race companies need (lots of) people to race for these things to be viable. I'm pretty sure that none of them think, I hope the fast people don't sign up for this race, we don't need their money......

2. Realistically there are only a handful of people racing for the win, either AG or overall. The vast majority of the field isn't out there to compete for the win and could probably care less whether the first place racer was 10 minutes or 30 minutes ahead of them.

3. We have a local guy who is ranked in the top 20 or so USAT AG rankings. Our birthdays are within a month of each other. I have been racing him for years. When I started racing I was finishing 20+ minutes behind him. Now, I can sometimes see him ahead of me on the horizon. Catching him has been my goal for as long as I have been doing tris and one day I might get there. If he quit racing local races just because he is fast I would be very disappointed, pissed even ;-) .

4. Even though I get my butt handed to me regularly my self worth is not predicated on my finish position at any triathlon. When I get beat (which happens at pretty much every race) I work harder. I also don't have delusions of my own coolness on the rare occasions when I do win something.

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Jason
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Sometimes they don't have a choice. There is only one Olympic race within 50 miles of me and it is really small so it isn't really competitive but fast people do it anyways because they don't want to drive 100 miles to race!!!

This went in an entirely different direction than I expected. In cycling the term refers to someone who has enough points and talent to upgrade categories but sticks around to win/podium more races until they put into a forced upgrade by the USAC rules. Very little sandbagging happens, but nearly every race someone saying that the winner sandbagged. But what you are talking about is quite different and I've never heard the term applied that way.

I bet if you asked around, many of the people would say how cool it was that some pro rider came out and killed the race. Maybe the person who finished 4th isn't so happy, but I doubt if that many people doing the race are nearly as upset about it as you. Some may have found inspiration from it too. I've gotten my ass handed to me hard by some pro cyclists and every time it happens I'm grinning ear to ear for days because it is a privilege and pretty cool experience. In what other sports do you get the chance to face off with professional athletes as an amateur? I consider it a feature, not a bug.

Round my place we call it cherry picking. It's also tough places to not look like a cherry picker based on how the races fall. I'm in a weird middle ground enough where I'm not fast enough win big/important local running races but if it's not ones select few races I'll likely be top 5 usually top 3. And that's very dependent on who shows up, some races are hyper competitive one year and pedestrian the next and visa versa. Unfortunately there are only about 20 of these big races a full calender year which is crowded out but a 100 or so other smaller races. Plus my weird work schedule prevents me from running a lot of the competitive races (which oddly fall on weekday evenings) so I'm squeezing in the smaller races and end up looking like a cherry picker.

But in my opinion, a race is a race, you can't control who shows up and you should have no problem showing up and getting beaten handily by some elite guy that decides to show up. Who knows why they are running that race, maybe it's closer to home, fits into their schedule (training or life), or they know the RD.

word. that's why i never enter a race unless i'm sure i won't win. posin is for posers.

check this out. they call this sandbagger out good. soooo lame.

Our local sprint race series is the LA Tri Series at Bonelli Park. It's not a tiny race, usually 500-700 people. My wife does pretty well there and has even swept the series. This year we saw Michellie Jones was racing (as she has in the past). My wife says "There goes the winner, at least she's a pro and not in my age group". Turns out it was Michellie's first race as an age grouper and she & my wife are in the same group. Michellie smoked the field of course. Carla got 2nd in the age group. After the race we got a picture with Michellie and she was super nice. Carla wasn't disappointed. She can now say that she has raced against and came 2nd to a multi-time world champion. That's pretty cool.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Question: Why was a "pro multi-time world champion who smoked the field (of course)" racing in an age group?

Ughhh, even the kids' parents are whining about it.

She is in the 45-49 age group so maybe she just felt it was time to move in that direction. My point is that we all race against whoever shows up. Sometimes you get lucky and no one faster is there and sometimes you don't.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

I've heard that some pros, upon retiring from the professional ranks, still like to train and compete. Since there's no official "former pro" division, and at many local races there's not an 'elite' category, AG racing is the only option. Of course, there are those who think that once you go pro you can never go back to non-pro.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
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A couple of things, without calling anyone names or anything like that. First, WRT the race you won, do you think any of the field would be upset if your ran again and won it? If I finished 2nd behind you then I would hope that you were running it the next year.

Secondly, I've been that "tool" before, showing up at a local Turkey Trot 5k in a small town, and winning it. I've also podiumed a couple of local tris. I'm certain there were cynical people pointing at those of us on the podium and commenting negatively. Sadly, it's just how some people are (fortunately, most are awesome and make it worth coming back again and again). What they don't know is that four years ago I was 40 pounds heavier and I did my first super sprint on my Gary Fisher mountain bike and came out of T1 with my helmet on backwards. I never even imagined I'd be in the top 50% let alone top 10% of big races. So yes, it's nice to participate and compete in local races.

All of us have back stories and reasons why we got into this sport so the next time your critical of someone doing well at a race, pause and ask yourself, "I wonder what his/her story is". Perhaps even walk up and say hello and congratulations.

I've been to ITU Long Course Worlds...Does that mean I can't race locally?

I only finished mid-pack

jaretj

I dont want to spend the time to find the link but use the search function (upper right) and look for "Cry like a Bitch" I think that is where you meant to post this.

There is a local duathlon in our area that costs about $40 to register for and pulls in maybe 150-200 people for the race. Quite a range of people race in the event, but at least one guy is world class and could qualify for the USA National team in the 10K/13.1/26.4 distances. Wicked fast dude, no one else will be able to beat him. Same guy wins in nearly every other local race, but no one rags on the guy because he is a local, just a very fast one.

I rode my $1,299 road bike for the duathlon, but there were a number of P5s and other very expensive TT bicycles out on the course. I didn't feel like those guys were sandbagging, I beat a few of them in the end.

Personally, if I were some wicked fast pro in a local podunk race I would race as fast as I wanted to but would register as a "special guest" or some category that would not push some other AGer off the podium. Kinda like asking the RD to DQ me like posted earlier, only better. I bet most RDs would have no problem with that.

Again personally, the chances that I would ever be seen as a wicked fast pro are less than zero. The only way I get any attention will be when I am so dang old and slow that I start getting the "Gee, I hope I will still be doing triathlons when I get that old" comments!

So fast people can't do local stuff for fun or to work on things? Or race friends? I have only done tris for 2 years with one year being dedicated to IM, now that is over I am going back to short distance where I don't have to spend 15 hours a week to maybe break the top 10% in my age group. I will spend a lot less money, have more fun, and be home by lunch at a small, local race.

I don't care about winning awards even though I normally podium at local events, I just do it for fun and to see how far I can push myself. I would rather the race directors save their money on a small trophy or finishers medal and either give the newbies better swag or invest it elsewhere in the race. The more people we can get to have active lifestyles the better.

Why don't you take something from these "elites" and do your own race. Or better yet if you can grab one of them after the race ask them for tips. I have never had someone get upset when I asked them how they got fast or improved their times. It is kind of like why people come on this site, learn from others how to improve.

No. I'm just pointing out that if half the competitors are on mountain bikes, you might be in the wrong race with your "gear".

Of course, maybe you also show up at the company picnic softball game with your own bat, your cleats, and eye black. I don't know.

Only if you wear a trucker hat during the run......

I have finished 2nd to her in our local 5 mile Turkey Trot. Makes no difference to me and I think that maybe, just maybe, I can get a bit faster and catch her one of these years. There are also a lot of big names that will race the small sprints in my area (north county/San Diego).

A true 'sandbagger' is the golfer who doesn't turn in his good rounds and then gets a higher handicap for the tournaments.

at my first tri ever, an XTerra offroad tri with a little over 200 participants, the pro/elite guy that won asked the RD to take him off the list so that the 2OA got the overall win.

word.

at local races, i always thought it was cool to have those really fast folks there. gave me something to aspire to a bit...and shamed me into buying a real tri bike!

There are a lot of guys in my AG that love it when I do not race.

Since my wife and I help at a lot of races, I see these folks a lot. I just love when I am body marking them and they make some comment that it is great I am not racing so they have a chance to win.
I always take this as I am lucky now since one of these days, I will get hurt and no one will have to worry about me being in the race anymore.

I no longer race for "position". As folks say, depending on who shows up, podiums do not mean much. But ones time means everything chasing USAT ranking points, which some of us enjoy doing.
So the more studs at a race, the better the potential ranking points, so bring them into any race I do.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

This is absolutely ridiculous. You sound like the people on the train who ask in awe about my TT bike. "Is that carbon fiber?" "The wheels, too?" "How light is that thing?" "How much did it cost?"

Well, yes, it might look shiny but it's a very well used 2008... so cool your jets. Is there a price threshold or is it just whatever kit offends your eye shouldn't be used in a "local" race? Or once the 250th racer signs up you can trot out the "gear"?

-Eric