This morning, during the usual first cup of coffee cruise of the various triathlon related websites I happened upon an article on Xtri.com that really bugged me. The article is titled I, Ron.Man! by a writer named Rob Docherty and is about a guy who gained entry into IM Hawaii this year via a "sponsorship" slot, but failed to finish within the 17 hour cutoff (17:17).
The just of the artricle is that he is still considered an "Ironman" and was even told so by Bob Babbitt at the finish line even though he failed to finish the race within the 17 hour cutoff. I rarely feel the need to comment on things like this I read but this time I wrote the Author of the acticle, rob@xtri.com and stated my opinion that "to be considered an Ironman, you have to actually finish the race withing the confines of the rules, and in this case, a 17 hour cutoff". If time makes no difference then "why not take a week to finish". I also felt a need to comment on my views towards "sponsorship slots" and the notion that he did not earn his spot or even put forth the effort to lick a stamp and pay the $50 bucks or whatever it is to win a lottery slot. At the same time, he only trained a couple of months for it, (He started in mid July) so what do you expect?
Anyway, Rob Docherty rob@xtri.com wrote me back and was pretty hostile about it all. He said that if "he posted my email on his site I would recieve 100 emails against my view and maybe 10 for it". I thought that the this would be a good item for conversation for members of the spowtwitch forum. Feel free to write Rob Docherty with your opinion. rob@xtri.com
So, the question is: "is someone who fails to finish an Ironman withing the cutoff still considered an "Ironman"?
The just of the artricle is that he is still considered an "Ironman" and was even told so by Bob Babbitt at the finish line even though he failed to finish the race within the 17 hour cutoff. I rarely feel the need to comment on things like this I read but this time I wrote the Author of the acticle, rob@xtri.com and stated my opinion that "to be considered an Ironman, you have to actually finish the race withing the confines of the rules, and in this case, a 17 hour cutoff". If time makes no difference then "why not take a week to finish". I also felt a need to comment on my views towards "sponsorship slots" and the notion that he did not earn his spot or even put forth the effort to lick a stamp and pay the $50 bucks or whatever it is to win a lottery slot. At the same time, he only trained a couple of months for it, (He started in mid July) so what do you expect?
Anyway, Rob Docherty rob@xtri.com wrote me back and was pretty hostile about it all. He said that if "he posted my email on his site I would recieve 100 emails against my view and maybe 10 for it". I thought that the this would be a good item for conversation for members of the spowtwitch forum. Feel free to write Rob Docherty with your opinion. rob@xtri.com
So, the question is: "is someone who fails to finish an Ironman withing the cutoff still considered an "Ironman"?