fumanchu282 wrote:
Why doesn’t Triathlon have categories like bike racing does? It would allow many more AGers to actually “race” rather than just finish, and there’s a place for people with different experiences and volumes of training to participate and not get tailed off the back.
Some other threads are going on about the future of tri, one-and-done people who don't seem motivated to go faster, etc. Wouldn't this help change the "finisher" culture to a "race" culture and be good for the sport?
Also, some are talking about how it seems pretty exorbitant to pay USAT for what we’re getting now, but if they (or someone) managed the "upgrade points" and facilitated a competitive structure like this, I’d see a lot more value there.
For example, Olympic distance might be structured something like:
Pro
Cat 1 - winner goes 2hr or sub
Cat 2 - winner goes ~2:15
Cat 3 - winner goes ~2:30
Cat 4 - winner goes ~2:45
Cat 5 - winner goes ~3:00
Just a suggestion to start the conversation, I'm sure others will have different opinions. But think about how much more room there is for competition in a structure like that. And hey, it makes it make sense for AGers of all speeds to spend more $$$ on a few seconds of aero gains...
And for the older folks, there can still be Masters categories etc. Seems like cycling has this figured out, so what am I missing here?
I think more races just need an elite category. You have to register for the category instead of as an age group athlete. When you sign up for the elite category you forfeit all chances to place in your age group regardless of how you do; similarly only those in the elite category are eligible for the overall win and the awards associated with that. I have done several races like this and it is way better then simply doing age group waves.
Similarly Ironman needs to make a new start group for elite althetes. That way faster athletes can start first; similar to how pros get to start before the age groupers. This way we can get back to doing wave starts and not this silly rolling start garbage, the first person across the line should be the overall winner, not someone who started 2hrs later. To get into the elite wave you would need to submit either a swim time or an overall time, and there would need to be a minimum for both. That way no super fast swimmer and slow runner can be in that wave; similarly no slow swimmer and fast runner could be either.