Not sure how to ask this politely.....

Why do you want to go to Kona?

Is "Kona" an experience you want to have?
Is it an athletic goal?
Does it matter that the qualification this year came much easier than normal?
Does it matter that you made extra financial sacrifices? But not necessarily extra sacrifices related to training?


I have the same issues (sort of).
I am racing Kona this year with the hopes of a podium.

There will definitely be quotation marks next to any "podium" I might get.
Without Aussies and most Europeans- is it really "Kona?"

Yet Kona is a decent vacation spot.

And what better "A" races might this year have in store for me?

Do it. Life isnt to sit back and think I wish I did that.

it's I'm glad I did that.

Go dude

I agree...go for it.
And I dont necessarily buy the idea that qualification is easier. For a lot of folks, training for the past 18 months has been in the tank. A successful qualifying effort might hurt as much, or more, as qualifying in a "normal" year.

Condo it but don't expect a big roll down. I think any semi serious European athlete that qualifies will take it and hope rules change by October which is likely

Keep in mind that Sept 1 onwards is the opening week for Western hemisphere international biz. With Vaccines really rolling out well in much of Europe I don't see why US Govt will keep that door shut

My mother won her AG group at Australian time trials.

I ask:
"Out of how many?"
Her:
"1, it's bloody hard to race bikes as a woman at 75..."
Well....
Maybe!!!


But sorry-
30th out of 150 is probably NOT as hard as 5th out of 250.( Or whatever the numbers would have been in previous years).

I won my AG at Tulsa this year by 30 minutes.
I am not any better now than other years when I trained as hard and finished much lower.
At least not 30 minutes better!!

Some good questions.

For me, I want to KQ fit with a good race performance and good time. Finishing 30th in 12.xx and "qualifying" for a World Champs spot seems a bit pointless. I'm not sure what it represents and means to an individual if it's done unfit with insufficient training?

Congrats to your mom! I hope I can still pin a number on when I'm 75 and I'd take 1st out of one any day over the alternatives.

I get that the KQ bar is probably lower in this outlier year, but the potential energy available to achieve that KQ is also lower for many.

I don't think it's fair to say the KQ was easy for the person who could still manage 25+ hours training a week compared to the guy or girl who barely got 15 hours in and KQ'd anyway, roll down shmoll down.

For the OP, there's no need to consider an asterisk beside any eventual KQ.
Race your guts out against whoever shows up and take what your genetics/training/conditions of the day give you, just like any race.

Just an anecdote, but most club mates and friends I talk to would take the gamble and accept a slot. In the grander scheme of things taking a slot that's even 75% at risk seems acceptable to most. If you, like many, are considering the trip to Europe for a slot there are probably as many Euros willing to spend money on an uncertain slot.

A friend will race Tallinn next weekend with a KQ in mind, I'll report back what the slot situation was like.

With your friend is one example….mine experienced another…Kalmar 2019 AG 50 no rolldown …. And I forced my friend to go to the ceremony cause of his top10.

Right now most of the races here are canceled, so people who show up are there for a reason.

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-shoki

General comment: once racing restarted (here in Poland) after the first wave in 2020, finishing times went down big time. Not sure about Ironman and KQs, but people seem to have used the time well, many also benefitting from working from home and/or moving out to their country homes. I'd say the same of 2021.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

I think you are spot on. The people I know who were serious continued to train like races were still happening. A few stopped but more because of personal reasons. Heck, I slowed down a few months from catching covid/ going through a renovation and getting married. I've ramped back up and I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life right now. I'm not sure how that translate to a race, but itching to find out.

If you do decide to travel to Europe plan your route and look at restrictions.

Free movement is dependant of having received both vaccines at least 2 weeks before you travel. The vaccine must also be approved by the European bodies not US. There have been cases here where people had the wrong batch (Indian rather than EU) of Astra Zeneca vaccines and were refused travel.

You still have to have PCR tests and in some cases a vaccine health pass.

"There will definitely be quotation marks next to any "podium" I might get.
Without Aussies and most Europeans- is it really "Kona?""
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Several times I have had some really nice results and a friend will say something like "well, such and such wasn't there" or "it was a weak age group this year", etc. I just smile and say I can't beat anyone who isn't there.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

He's proposing this course of action on the very basis that it will be easier!
To say this year is harder is nonsense. This year is this year. Do slower athletes regularly claim to be more worthy because the race is harder for them? No, they don't. And to be honest, that's a far more credible claim. It's easier for a really good athlete to finish in 9 or 10hrs than a much weaker athlete, pushing as hard as they can to finish in 13 or 14hrs. It's not about how hard the race was or how hard the training was. It's about where you finished and how that translates into qualification. If his rationale for picking a race is that most, or all, of his competitors in the race won't be competitors for qualification, then he's very specifically trying to find an easy route to qualification. To claim otherwise would be idiotic.

So, I'm inclined to agree with the earlier poster who asked why he wanted to go to Kona in the first place. If it's because he wants to evaluate his ability against his peers, but not actually competing against them, what's the point. If he just wants to race there regardless...fine!

I would say if you're in race condition go for it. But do it mostly for the experience of racing in Europe!

I am American and raced IM Copenhagen in 2018 mostly because it was a dream to race my bike overseas in Europe. It was awesome! I was 5th in my AG (F 45-49). I've been 3rd and 4th at US Ironmans in my AG. The Europeans are mighty! It felt like there are more top-end (fast) athletes overall. They ride their bikes a lot better than us. Their bike handling skills are amazing compared to us. The cut off time at Copenhagen was less than our cut-off times here. The Euros come prepared to race. If you are going to solely nab a Kona slot, the competition will be fierce over there. I wouldn't count on it unless you are 100% trained and prepared and generally a fast athlete in the pointy end. I also watch the results closely on many of the other European Ironmans.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I can answer this from the point of view of a “roll down rookie” for 70.3 worlds this year. I’m passionate about our sport and am a locally fast athlete, but on my best day I’m a top 10-15 percent guy at big races. I targeted 2015 Chicago ITU Sprint Worlds because it was driving distance and we weren’t in a position to fly to races. At Nationals I had my best race ever and grabbed literally the last roll down spot in my AG. The Worlds experience was incredible, even if my goal was to not be the last American in the AG.

Same with 70.3 this year. Normally I am not sniffing a qualification spot. Had my best long race, got a COVID roll down, and am absolutely going. It’ll be like Tri Disney World for a nerd like me!

I think if the experience is what the OP wants, do it. I want to race a Kona in my lifetime. I don’t see how this plan is that different from the old lottery or the Legacy spots.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Wish you the best for a race in Europe, but you must be advised that :
-europeean races have less Kona slots than US. Any country has, in fact !
-I personnaly don’t know anybody who will refuse his slot. Of course this is very restrictive but I’m used to assist to ceremonies, and the roll down, if happening, never go farer than the 10th place of the cat

Good luck

Did you figure out why you had a bad race at Tulsa? And what have you been doing to correct it since then?

If you can't legitimately answer the questions above, I wouldn't do it.

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blog

If you have the time and funds available, it could be a fun adventure. I've only raced in Europe once but it was a great experience. But I wouldn't do this thinking it was going to be a way to get a KQ you otherwise wouldn't be in competition for, or you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment. Go and plan to have a great race in a great location. And maybe a KQ rolls down as the icing on the cake, but probably not so don't make that the goal.

Hopefully this will be a reference point for you:

Not sure about Kona, but at the June/July 70.3 Ironman races in France (Andorra/ Sables d'Olonnes/etc.), slots for 70.3 Worlds in St George Utah rolled down big time. Like 20th in the bigger AGs.
I took mine (I am French, living in France). I am still trying to manage to get a travel exemption to the US, but I am hoping it will work and/or the US will lift travel restrictions. As someone mentioned in the thread, September 1st is back to business for everyone in Europe, and business interests will take back over IMHO. I am not the only one who did that, follow the facebook threads on the topic on the IM Worlds/Kona page.

European fields are very competitive and some will want to go to Kona no matter what, but this year, slots will roll down for sure.

Also interesting to note, in the middle of Ironman Lanzarote, the organisers decided to increase the number of slots.

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It doesn't get easier, you just get slower
https://mymsracesironman.home.blog/

I would assess how fast you are and plan to finish. A lot of factors like travel stress, jetlag, cost, etc...I'm an American living in the UK and thought about the same thing, but know how fast European racing can be. I'm sure the US races are competitive, but I've found over the years that there are more "competitive" racers here. For example, in the 40-45 year old field you might get 300 participants and, perhaps, in a US race you get 250 out of 300 "bucket list" participants (your addressable market is 50). Not really going for KQ. In Europe, it may be more like 220 out of 300 (addressable market is 80). There are so many athletes who were semi pro or competitive cyclists who crush IM courses and don't need to run very fast to have a KQ.

A good source for previous Kona Qualification data: https://www.coachcox.co.uk/...nship-qualification/

In races like Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Frankfurt top 20 are all sub 9:30-9:45

I agree with all of your points. The only additional perspective I’ll add is that the 70.3 worlds slots are rolling down like crazy in the US too. St. George is not Kona, of course, and I have a few slower friends who have received emails and gotten 70.3 Worlds offered to them by Ironman.

This has been my experience as well having done multiple races back home and now here in the US. You just have to walk around the day before at the sign-in to feel it. Then you really see it on the bike descents on the course! There are just more people who are serious about getting a certain time or a KQ vs just finishing relative to in the US.

This.

The CoachCox website is great for this type of research. While a great 'idea' I think there are a few factors working against you. While maybe a debbie downer, just being a bit 'realistic'.

A) You've basically got till Aug 22nd to race. After that (to be best of my knowledge anything is automatically for 2022) and looking at Finland/Frankfurt or Copenhagen. Frankfurt has a delta of at 12 minutes over baseline with Tallinn and Copenhagen being more than 20 minutes. So they're fast. And you'll be racing a new course? With a lot of travel.. have you traveled for a big race... and a big 'A' race before? You might be dealing with not staying at very logistically easy places (those having been booked up long in advance) which will add to stress. Just be realistic about the logistics.

B) How did rolldown at IM UK work (I dont know)? looks like 17 slots... I see all UK athletes, so they all accepted a slot to Kona 2021 which, at thta time (and now) they cannot legally travel to. So it would seem people are accepting slots and either hoping restrictions are lifted or 'great, in the bank for 2022 when IM allows me to defer when I cant legally get into the country'. (Or IM just doesnt give a F... which is possible and takes their money). So I'm not sure you'll find a wash of spots rolling very deep (again not sure... maybe someone who did IM UK can chime in). Its generally my finding here (another American in UK) that when offered a slot at UK/EU race.... you take it.

That said, I hope everyone some day has their chance to race Kona if its their dream so best of luck to the OP!

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Taylor Rogers

2024: IM Hamburg