Want to get really noticed? Do what these pros do:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/Cupcakes_with_Rachel_Joyce_4537.html


http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=5215107#5215107


Find a niche and market yourself. You don't need to win races/make money at races to get noticed by a lot of people.


Good luck to you and your cause!

I can understand doing this if it weren't a free market, but it is a free market. Why lock in on one company that is clearly making decisions you don't support when there are other companies that exist in the free market that are trying to do exactly as you propose?

Before I get the "There is no company the size of WTC! how am I supposed to earn money?", I have always stood by the notion and continue to stand by the notion that consumers vote with their wallet. My guess is that people are not only willing to spend $700 on a race, but they aren't willing to consider the fact that they get nothing out of it, Including a professional athlete field.

I would consider it in the interest of the professional athlete field to not focus on putting all of the eggs in one basket (WTC), but to propose to the other companies a business model that would provide a more attractive prize purse to professional athletes. If there are more companies with more attractive prize purses, that would not only make the race industry more competitive, but that would provide a more diversified opportunity at prize purses for professionals. IF WTC had no pros racing for them, I am quite certain that people would choose other races.

I feel like the "Petition against WTC" is beating a dead horse. Take the path of least resistance:
-Choose another company and figure out a business model to bring in more athletes that would support a pro field.

I agree with you. we vote with our money. I stated this in one of my blogs a few days ago. I know that I'm not going to race WTC next year,and have decided not to race IM Chattanooga partially because of the decision by WTC. I hope that Challenge announces some more races for next year.

I think that pros should have done something about this a long time ago instead of chasing points for kona if you don't think you can do well there. After all, you can't pay your bills with points!

I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE.

Thanks for clarifying your position on this, Mike. You had me a little confused (easy to do) on one of your earlier blog posts, when you asked folks not to sign up for WTC events if they didn't agree with you. Sounds like now you are telling other pro's (not age groupers) to skip WTC events to protest the lack of a pro payout.

It goes for both AG and pros alike. If you dont agree with the changes, don't sign up for their races. If you agree or are indifferent, then continue to sign up for their races. Every entry is a vote in agreement with WTC. If you sign up for a Challenge race or a Rev3 race instead, you are casting a vote that you don't agree with WTC and their decisions.

I understand that people may not agree with me or just don't care, but I, for one, will be taking a stand and am trying to rally people behind me. Lots of people ask the question why the pros don't take action... so I am. If I succeed, that's great, if not at least it is good press and brings attention to a relevant issue.

"I feel that having money at these races that lost their purses is needed to help up and coming athletes find their spot in professional fields. It would be very difficult for a new pro to get established and noticed by sponsors."

in my opinion, you're making the wrong argument. nobody owes you a living. i don't. ironman doesn't. age-group competitors don't. your value is not intrinsic. it's earned. in my opinion, ironman lake placid ought to have a prize purse, because if competitors pay $700 to show up, and the community of lake placid pays tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in either direct payments or abated services, and sponsors pay like amounts, it ought not to be for a purely amateur race. the race is wealthy enough to afford a full suite of competitor classes, including those who set the standard for what is achievable. (you.)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Had to google you.

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______________________________________________

I *heart* weak, dumb ass people...

BINGO. No one owes you a living because you can race for 8 hours and win a race. You need to find another way to earn money, make yourself marketable, find ways to make companies want to pay you sponsorship money. This would be like me saying "I have a degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering (which I do) and going to a company I have zero experience in for their technology and saying "Pay me because I have a degree". The world doesn't work this way. You chose to become a pro, you chose to try to make a career out of Triathlon KNOWING that it doesn't pay well and now you want the industry to change so that you can pay your bills. Now that is hilarious

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

i hope the second part of my point isn't lost. nobody owes a living to professional athlete, he has to carve out his living according to market value. but that's half my argument. the second half is that the contestants who buy entries are owed a complete race, and if it's a 400-person race a pro prize purse is probably not part of that race experience, but if it's a 3000-person race, with a $400 or $800 entry fee, a pro prize purse is very likely part of that race experience.

i often hear the argument from an age group contestant that he doesn't care if there's a pro purse or not. what that contestant doesn't understand is that he wouldn't have a race or a sport at all had everybody looked at the sport that way.

there is a number of ways you can fund a pro field, but the stature of a sport, and of a race, in some way depends on having standard setters at the top. we would be worse off, not better, had there been no mark allen, dave scott, greg welch, julie moss, erin baker in our sport.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

You are right dan, nobody owes pros anything. I read your article on the subject a couple days ago and like the analogy you used with the farmer paying his workers. I just am not as eloquent in my wording I guess.

If the city of lake placid pays that much money to have the race come to it's door step, I would imagine that Louisville, Madison, Panama City Beach, and Lake Tahoe do too. I've heard that louisville donates its police force for the entire day to block roads and reroute traffic. That is a huge expense. AG pay $650 to race Louisville. So why should Lake Placid be the only one that keeps its prize $?

Okay... you have a great degree and it probably involved more school than I would want to go through. And because of that, you are making more $.

Let's just say that your employer came to you and all your coworkers one day and was like: "we are keeping your workload the same but cutting you opportunity for making money and advancing up the corporate ladder by 50%. If you want to keep making the same amount of money at the end of the day you must find another full time job with another company."

You would be smart to start looking elsewhere... which is what a lot of pros are doing. You will probably see an increase in pros at Challenge races and, if they are smart, increase use of social media.

I'm not asking to be rich, and I personally don't think any athlete should be making millions when people like doctors, nurses, teachers, and engineers do a lot more for society. And that is exactly why I will never be just an athlete... I will continue working at least part time to be a benefit to society.

You either don't pay attention to IM racing at all, or just don't care. This guy is the future of IM racing at the very very front of the field (see top 10 in world) in 5-7 years (he's already racing well at LC racing).

ETA: I've also home stayed Mike for 2 years with our local 70.3 and also worked/talked with him previously through a coach I was employed by. He's the kind of athlete that is going to be pinched by WTC's new decision, but he's also the future of IM racing (if the future can survive). He's not the known name right now, but he will be in 3-4 years when he's winning or making podium on big time race events.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

yeah I here what you are saying. If my options changed, I would look for another job. The difference is I have a skill that is in demand and there are plenty of jobs for it. I can move about, I studied hard because I knew the degree would bring money. As a professional triathlete, all of the pros knew the risk and knew that there was a big chance of not making any money.

You decided to work for yourself the moment you became a professional athlete. That means it's up to you to find the money, whether you move to Challenge races, find sponsorships, or work part time. I don't work for myself, so the risk of me not having money is low (and depends on the economy)

If I ever get my pro card, I will still remain an engineer. I don't want the pro lifestyle nor do I want my money being determined by WTC or Challenge. Good luck to you, and I'm glad you are still contributing to society in whatever way you find.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

From a personal perspective, whether or not there is a pro purse or pros in a particular race doesn't influence my decision one way or another to do that race. I think it is a bit of a shame that WTC is not doing more to promote the professional triathlete but at the same time, I don't think professional triathlon will never have a wider acceptance in the US sports media world because it is not football, basketball, or baseball.

Now . . all that aside, the issue I have with the quote above is that Rev3 offered rather generous purses the last couple years including a very generous season purse. The result? Hardly any pros showed up. They were too busy chasing points for Kona. So I think the pros need to make up their mind. Do they want dollars offered up by whomever is willing to offer them or be on the start line for Kona knowing worldwide only a very small group has the chance to place in Kona?

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

You just found a new fan!

I'm a triathlete that has exclusively done LC triathlons the last 4 or so years and its probably a little of both...not paying attention and not caring.

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______________________________________________

I *heart* weak, dumb ass people...

I would actually argue that the Rev3 pro races were actually more competitive than the IM 70.3 races in the same time frames/regions.

Yes you neither pay attention to the pro side nor likely care (and that's not bad). But Mike was the 2013 USAT Elite Rookie of the year, so he has some backing behind his name some. He's not just a pro who milked the system to say he's a "pro". He's got the results to back it up.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Thanks brooks! I appreciate the compliment!

I couldnt agree with you more. I did several rev3 races a cpuple years ago and had some on my schedule for this year too. It is sad that rev3 didn't get the support from the triathlon community. I look forward to racing challenge races next year and not getting my pro membership to race with WTC "refunded" to me in the form of a paycheck!

So we are clear, you have a bias here. Not saying he can't be top 10 in the world, and wish him nothing but the best, but I just don't see it. You should know better than most that the racing will only get faster with more and more ex-ITU athletes coming to long course. Maybe I'm just missing his high top end speed. He's certainly no Lionel Sanders. (Pls note I'm not Canadian so I have no blind devotion to the colonel)
And I support his cause and that of up and coming pros.

Yes... rev3 races were stacked! Rev3 Quassy was basically a pre-world championship race that people like Rinny, jesse tomas, etc show up

Not necessarily that he doesn't understand it. Perhaps that he simply doesn't believe it. It's one thing to have been there and tell people how the sport developed. It's another to say you know how things would have developed if factors had been different.

Regardless of how triathlon might have developed back in the day, I don't think that history should be a shackle to how it develops now. It is a worldwide established sport. The doomsday scenarios about it withering on the vine if we don't all "support our pros" are absurd. Existing pros get old and slow down/retire. Others will always be there to take their place