As an age grouper aiming to qualify for Ironman World Championships, what does it really take?
Do you have to go sub 10?
Do you have to spend a certain amount of time training? Per week? Total time in months or years?
Do you have to be a very strong cyclist?
Do you have to have a sub 3:40 marathon?
Do you have to finish the swim in less than 60-70 mins?
Curious to hear what the experience is of those AGers who have qualified or people/coaches who know AGers who qualified.
What does it take?!
What makes or breaks this endeavour?!
Look at the results of the event you are interested in for the last few years. Typically you need to finish in the top 5 or so. See what the splits for those finisher’s are.
As an age grouper aiming to qualify for Ironman World Championships, what does it really take?
Do you have to go sub 10?
Do you have to spend a certain amount of time training? Per week? Total time in months or years?
Do you have to be a very strong cyclist?
Do you have to have a sub 3:40 marathon?
Do you have to finish the swim in less than 60-70 mins?
Curious to hear what the experience is of those AGers who have qualified or people/coaches who know AGers who qualified.
What does it take?!
What makes or breaks this endeavour?!
Haven’t tried, but from readying on ST - a desire to go to france and a lot of $$.
As an age grouper aiming to qualify for Ironman World Championships, what does it really take?
Do you have to go sub 10?
Do you have to spend a certain amount of time training? Per week? Total time in months or years?
Do you have to be a very strong cyclist?
Do you have to have a sub 3:40 marathon?
Do you have to finish the swim in less than 60-70 mins?
Curious to hear what the experience is of those AGers who have qualified or people/coaches who know AGers who qualified.
What does it take?!
What makes or breaks this endeavour?!
Look at the results of the event you are interested in for the last few years. Typically you need to finish in the top 5 or so. See what the splits for those finisher’s are.
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Men 40-45.
Looks like the ironman I’m looking at next year, Lake Placid, top 5 in my age group had an average swim (60-70 mins) then crushed the bike and did very well on the run (ie 3:30 or so marathon).
Partly answers my question: you have to be at least an average swimmer, a very strong cyclist, and a very strong runner.
As an age grouper aiming to qualify for Ironman World Championships, what does it really take?
Do you have to go sub 10?
Do you have to spend a certain amount of time training? Per week? Total time in months or years?
Do you have to be a very strong cyclist?
Do you have to have a sub 3:40 marathon?
Do you have to finish the swim in less than 60-70 mins?
Curious to hear what the experience is of those AGers who have qualified or people/coaches who know AGers who qualified.
What does it take?!
What makes or breaks this endeavour?!
Sub 10? lol…try sub 9.
Nah you’d be competing to win the race at that point! (IMLP)
Certain amount of time training?: Pretty much yes. Hard to find a KQ’er who trains less than 10 hours per week, minimum 500 hours per year. And yes, you’ll need several years of “base” volume or an athletic background (i.e. college athlete or got started early in triathlon).
Strong cyclist: Yes. But what defines a strong cyclist? Plenty of people can lay down a sexy IM bike split and end up walking most of the marathon.
Sub 3:40 marathon? Yes. Depending on the AG, it would be hard to get a slot with anything much over 3:40 on the run.
Swim under 70 mins? No. Again, depending on the AG you could swim 80 mins and still qualify.
What does it take to KQ? I’d say KQ’ers are exceptionally well balanced triathletes. I’d say the exception to that being the gifted runners. A strong run in any triathlon especially IM is what matters most.
What makes or breaks? Consistent training over several years avoiding injury. Also keep BMI low.
Certain amount of time training?: Pretty much yes. Hard to find a KQ’er who trains less than 10 hours per week, minimum 500 hours per year. And yes, you’ll need several years of “base” volume or an athletic background (i.e. college athlete or got started early in triathlon).
Strong cyclist: Yes. But what defines a strong cyclist? Plenty of people can lay down a sexy IM bike split and end up walking most of the marathon.
Sub 3:40 marathon? Yes. Depending on the AG, it would be hard to get a slot with anything much over 3:40 on the run.
Swim under 70 mins? No. Again, depending on the AG you could swim 80 mins and still qualify.
What does it take to KQ? I’d say KQ’ers are exceptionally well balanced triathletes. I’d say the exception to that being the gifted runners. A strong run in any triathlon especially IM is what matters most.
What makes or breaks? Consistent training over several years avoiding injury. Also keep BMI low.
All the races are expected to be very competitive this year for Men’s Kona slots. I KQ’d in 2021 at Placid in that age group but they had like 18 slots that year. You’ll likely have 3 with 0-2 roll downs. I’d estimate 9:30 +/- 20min depending on conditions and who shows up is what will be required. There’s a lot of ways to skin that, but sub 5hrs on the bike is somewhat rare for anyone racing AG on this course. I think you need something like …
55-65 minute swim (it is an incredibly fast swim)
5:05-5:15 bike
3:10-3:20 run
T1 is pretty long, probably going to take 4+ minutes in the best of circumstances.
If at all helpful I did 5:14 on the bike in ‘21 on 3ish w/kg, which I think was 3rd-ish AG, but my CdA is quite low, sub .20, so that result may be difficult to reproduce for you. I ran 3:33 off 2:50ish open fitness, but I did run an extra ~.5mi and suffered pretty bad with my nutrition on the second half (needed salt, which wasn’t on offer … put it in special needs if you use it!). I think in 2017 I ran 3:28 off slightly worse running fitness. Keep in mind the marathon is pretty hilly, so whatever your open running ability is, you wouldn’t do it on this Placid course.
I’m signed up for this year, but am graduating to the m45. Still, I’ve noticed that FOP performances have gotten very fast (more awareness/implementation of good aerodynamics?) and am not anticipating I’ll be competitive vs the KQ crowd. IMLP is pretty awesome though, so you should have a great day regardless. Good luck!
All the races are expected to be very competitive this year for Men’s Kona slots. I KQ’d in 2021 at Placid in that age group but they had like 18 slots that year. You’ll likely have 3 with 0-2 roll downs. I’d estimate 9:30 +/- 20min depending on conditions and who shows up is what will be required. There’s a lot of ways to skin that, but sub 5hrs on the bike is somewhat rare for anyone racing AG on this course. I think you need something like …
55-65 minute swim (it is an incredibly fast swim)
5:05-5:15 bike
3:10-3:20 run
T1 is pretty long, probably going to take 4+ minutes in the best of circumstances.
If at all helpful I did 5:14 on the bike in ‘21 on 3ish w/kg, which I think was 3rd-ish AG, but my CdA is quite low, sub .20, so that result may be difficult to reproduce for you. I ran 3:33 off 2:50ish open fitness, but I did run an extra ~.5mi and suffered pretty bad with my nutrition on the second half (needed salt, which wasn’t on offer … put it in special needs if you use it!). I think in 2017 I ran 3:28 off slightly worse running fitness. Keep in mind the marathon is pretty hilly, so whatever your open running ability is, you wouldn’t do it on this Placid course.
I’m signed up for this year, but am graduating to the m45. Still, I’ve noticed that FOP performances have gotten very fast (more awareness/implementation of good aerodynamics?) and am not anticipating I’ll be competitive vs the KQ crowd. IMLP is pretty awesome though, so you should have a great day regardless. Good luck!
Very helpful response. Thanks for all of the info and good luck to you as well!
Idk if it really comes down to being top in all categories, but for not roll down you need to be top 3-5 in your AG in at least two of the legs.
I can say I qualified in the 30-35 age group a couple years back with a 75 min swim (45th in AG), but had the 3rd fastest bike (4:45) and fastest run (3hrs)
I would also add that picking a course you’re well-suited for can help if you need every possible advantage. If you’re small pick a hilly course. Larger folks will better apply their watts to a flatter course. I’m on the larger side and am best at swimming so FL was a good fit with a hard ocean swim, flat bike, flat run, and non-summer conditions.
I’m an average cyclist but was able to get aero enough to ride a competitive time on low watts. I’m also an average runner but built up the stamina to basically slow down less than my competitors as the race wore on. Anyone you see actually running after about mile 18 is going to be in contention as most are walking by then because they rode too hard.
First you really need to differentiate between Nice and Kona, two entirely different scenarios…
I think the OP refers to qualifying to worlds, not where the worlds take place. Qualifying to worlds in Kona or Nice will require same patterns.
What does it take?
consistency over months/years, no injury, passion for training
support from friends and family
swimming is where you can be “meh†as the portion is small compared to bike/run and you can make up for lost time. This doesn’t mean you can be a weak swimmer, it just means that being FOP or BOP in the swim leg is fine.
biking is crucial. You have to be a strong cyclist such that you can run well off the bike. There is no way around it.
run is crucial because so many things can go wrong during the run (GI issues or bonking). Building running volume is hard because of risk of injury.
Nutrition is vital. You need to fuel effectively during the race. My rule of thumb is 1g CHO/kg/hour. You need to nail this in training during long bike/run.
First time I KQ was when I could train everyday twice a day for 3 years with a full time job. I just enjoyed training so much that I didn’t care about qualifying. It removed any pressure and I had so much fun. It took me much longer to arrange my life around this lifestyle. I moved places, switched jobs, and rearranged my life overall so that I could live like a professional athlete racing as an amateur.
Some resources:
« Coach cox » will give you average finish time per age group per race to KQ
Alan couzens « Kona tables » will tell you training numbers to hit to KQ. You don’t need to hit all numbers at all. I didnt put it the hours he suggests by far and still KQ.
Your biggest limiting factor overall will be time. You need time to train and time to recover/sleep for your body and mind to absorb the training.
First you really need to differentiate between Nice and Kona, two entirely different scenarios…
What do you mean?
It’s early days but so far for both men and women there seems to be a major marked preference for Kona so Nice roll down goes far lower, especially in races a long way from Nice, eg IMNZ Nice men big AG like 40-44 45-49 50-54 rolled close to ‘whoever wants to go’ a 12 13 hour time was enough whereas for Kona women it rolled very little.
Meaning you can game the system a bit by choosing a good qual wc race likely to roll deep.
First you really need to differentiate between Nice and Kona, two entirely different scenarios…
What do you mean?
If you want to qualify for Nice, it’s not hard at all, due to lack of demand from athletes.
If you want to go to Kona in M40-45, then for fast races (IMAZ, IMTX etc.) then you need to be somewhere in the range of 9:00 - 9:30 unless conditions are quite bad.
If you are a strong cyclist then doing a harder race such as IMLP gives you a better chance. The time goal doesn’t matter, you just have to be stronger than others in your AG.
But roughly, yes you should be able to swim about 60 mins and run run 3:30ish. The bike is kind of flexible and gives you some leeway on the other two. For example if you can ride 4:30 then you can get away with both a slower swim and slower run.
Hours per week: for me personally I need to be able to do around 20+ hours per week in the final 3 months if I want the KQ to be “easy”. I could get away with 15h per week but then I am risking being right on the edge of qualification. If I go up to 28-30h per week then it’s pretty easy to KQ even if a few things don’t go to plan. But that is for me, and everyone is different.
You also need a little luck…
First time on full: In AG50, Copenhagen 2019 in 9h50 (15th place), 4 slot, lots of Rolldown, I take the 3rd Slot…
In AG50, Barcelona 2021 in 8h42 (4th place with only 800m of swimming), 2 slot but 2 Rolldown
In AG55, Cervia 2023 in 10:06 (7th place), 3 slot, but the 1,2,3rd already have their slots reserved, 1 rolldown, so I take the 3rd.
You can be bad at swimming (1h15) but you must be in the 5 on the bike and run
So luck plays a big part…
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