The thing that strikes me about Chris Legh effort is that he was, more than likely, past the point of making the decision to DNF. I applaud that toughness that propelled him forward at all costs. Obviously he is paying for it today, but I agree that he answers only to his conscience for has action.

The pros and even elite ag are racing at levels, mentally and physically, beyond my way of thinking.

And it sounds like the conditions where really tough yesterday.

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First let me say that I do not agree with the positions taken by those that think Pro's that DNF are losers. Secondly hind-sight is twenty-twenty, and as such I would suggest that Chris Legh should have DNF'd rather than risk health problems.

You are absolutely correct in saying it is their decision, one we should not second guess. The parallel would be the Pros second guessing decisions we make in our jobs. I don't know about the rest of the forum but I for one do not appreciate the uniformed second guessing my decisions in my work place.

All that to say that I agree with you.

"don't you all think that Chris Legh should have 'really' DNFed in kona 1997? Or should he have just gone on the way he did to please a bunch of dudes watching the race on ironmanlive and make sure no one on slowtwitch would give him shit?"

Francois, I am very dissapointed in you. You, as the triathlon encyclopedia should know that there was no Ironmanlive in 1997.

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Greatness

"The One"

yes, I know that, that was just to make a point. Not even sure slowtwitch existed in 1997 either.
I knew someone would point that out...

Sorry, I thought it as obvious that I was giving you a hard time.

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Greatness

"The One"

Francios, I posted a new topic on how Pluto was a loser. Stated how he was a loser and gave nonfactual evidence to get my point across. He replied saying that he was just wondering and should not of posted the title the way he did. Consequently,I gave him the benifit of the doubt and deleted my post. Guess what, he never went back and changed the title in his post...................These guys are not worth the effort of replying to. You are a clas act......as so is Bjorn and many others,we know it here...thats enough

yes, it was ;-)
no worries... (didn't want to lose to tri encyclopedia title, that's all...)

"Yes" should be capitalized.;)

Dave

ah, f..k ya'll! ;-) how'bout dat?

LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Dave

Although I can think of two races where I could actually finish. Almere, holland in 98...3rd flat at km150...could have ridden on the rim for 30km and run.
Florida 2002. Had a stomach ulcer (and subsequent surgery 2 months later) and couldn't keep things in, but didn't feel so bad, so could have walked for 30km (ran ok for 10km with kotland) and finish in 13hrs or so.

Would it make me feel better about my race? no. would it prevent jerks from giving me shit? not even close...actually, even if I have a good race, I'll probably hear "so what drugs are you using now".

:-)

Bjorn lives of the sport. he did what was in his best interests.

Before you say anything, i know that it's considered poor grammatical form to start a sentence with although ;-)

thanks. hehehe

Maybe you can give him some DNF lessons.

thanks for your participation sevans.
at least, I try...

Was going to post the same thing about Chris Legh this morning on the other thread but never had time, not surprised to see someone brought this up later. I don't agree with anyone DNF'ing just because they won't have a good time but when you are a pro you have other commitments after IMH that are worth saving yourself for or in Chris's case saving your life. You can say that Legh is/was hindsight now, but maybe all of us learned a lesson from his mistake.

I also think that pro's race on the ragged edge of pushing themselves too far where alot of AG's don't (yes I know the top AG's push hard too). As far as comments from the masses about coulda, woulda, shoulda there will always be armchair quarterbacks in every sport who have no idea what it takes to perfom at the level that a pro does.The same as the average joe who has no idea how hard an IM race is and how much harder it is at IMH...good post.

I think by definition, being a FAN in any sport gives you the right to second guess pros, coaches, refs and event organizers in any sport. Go to work on Monday morning and everyone is second guessing Bill Parcells, Joe Torre, Brett Favre or Curt Schilling (sp ?). This is what fans do. Get over it. So there will be some endurance sport fans who second guess Pros for dropping out when the going gets tough (Paula Radcliffe in the Olympic 10K) , and supporting others such as Bjorn, who drops out so as not to further damage an existing injury (and immediatly goes public while the race is still in progress to explain his situation...what a class act)! This is the perogative of the fan, who happens to pay the "gate" for entry to spectate. In the case of triathlon, the fans pay the age group entry fees and buy the equipment of the sponsors that to some extent makes pro racing possible.

I wouldn't doubt that a lot of pros look at the Chris Legh case as a cautionary tale. I know it makes me just a bit more cognizant of what my body is doing. As you've pointed out, Francois, these folks are racing at their limits. It doesn't take too much to send them over the edge, I'm sure.

These folks judging the DNF are the same types who take pleasure in the fact that they can "blow the doors off some dude riding the $5000 bike" with their old steel framed touring bike, as if it somehow makes them a better person for being able to do so. They judge without facts.

I agree that if you are making a living from the sport then you should expect scrutiny. Most pros (in any sport) are happy to get media and public adulation. The flip side is when you do poorly you will probably get bagged by the same people. That's life in pro sport.

Having said that, personally I'm loathe to call any pro a loser as I have seen what it takes to get to that level.

Well, you may be pleased to know that this ancient shibboleth is on the slide - those 'rules' are being loosened as English shuffles towards being a global language.

So feel free to use those qualifying conjunctions at the start of sentences.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

This is interesting. This year at IM NZ I was hanging out with Chris Legh most the week prior to the race. He was there for a week to help out some aussie AGers in their race prep.

To cut a long story short in the race I had some ugly GI issues which meant that I wasn't able to keep any food down. At 10k in to the run I bailed as I could no longer see. I guess I could have walked it. The thing was my goal was 8:55 to 9:15. I was pretty devastated (for months after as well) and it was my first DNF.

Chris was one of the first people to say I did the right thing in bailing out and saving my health. He's a top guy, and he has had so many problems as a result of being too hard on himself. It's better to race to achieve your goals than waste yourself.

Although I can probably infer 90% of the story, as someone who's relatively new to triatlhon, I'd love it if someone could post some background on the Chris Legh story (even Francois - I can probably get through his bad grammar ;).



Thanks

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I'm not looking to get flamed here, so take this for what it's worth.

Basically, we (AG's) pay pro-triathlete's salaries, because we buy stuff from their sponsors, and the better they do, the more likely we are to buy what they sponsory, and the more sponsorship they will get. If a pro-triathlete goes out so hard that he blows up and can not finish, then didn't he either fail to prepare properly or fail to race smartly? Either way, unless he gets some sort of unpredictable injury or sickness, isn't it his fault that he wasn't able to finish or to finish in the top couple places? I understand that the pro-triathlete race motivation is different than the average AG triathlete, but isn't this sport all about suffering/enduring through an event that requires tremendous effort, fitness, and race smarts as well? I don't necessarily blame an athlete for deciding that he will hurt himself by forcing a finish, but I do blame him for putting himself in that position by lack of preparation or poor raceday tactics or something else under his control. I also don't agree with an athlete representing a sponsor by not finishing just because he is so far out of the placements that his paycheck is going to be small. I don't know if that happens or not, but if it does, I don't know how anyone could justify that. Given all this, don't AG's who follow and contribute to, and buy big ticket products have a right to complain a little if these guys are giving up?

Please tell me where my reasoning is faulty.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

In 1997 Chris, and someone correct me if I am wrong, had trouble digesting and keep food down. He got off the bike about 3rd and slowly slipped back to 7th, where he was placed when he collapsed about 150m short of the line. He had surgery a few days later as due to extreme dehydration a major part of his lower intestine 'died' and needed to be removed. He has had a variety of surgical procedures since, and from kona results (with the exception of his 8th (?) place in 98) he appears to perhaps struggle in exteme heat, perhaps due to difficulty absorbing fluid.

I think it was all told in triathlete magazine a few months ago.