Age groupers who are psuedo age groupers

Triathlon Forum
21

I’m annoyed with the publicity that is given to age groupers who break records, prime example:

“Trent Chapman from Sydney Australia was the first age grouper home, finishing in eighth position overall in a time of 8:47:33, which is also a new course record for the 30-34 category which has stood since 1993.”

Trent Chapman raced the ITU world cup series and made the world champs teams in the ealry part of this decade, he has the had the benefit of years training and racing as a Pro at the highest level of the sport. He also made sacrifices in terms of carreer and money, so its not all one way. He retires and goes into private life decides to give it a go again. Trains hard, shows up and posts 8:47 and then people bang on about how he broke the record most likely set by a guy who had a full time job and did not have the benfit of 10 plus years as an elite athelte.

Yes he is an age grouper by the rules of the sport, but he is an age grouper in name only, should he be allowed to race as an age grouper, well yes as the rules say he can, my own view, is that there needs to be a category for open male and female, for ex pros and age groupers who are age groupers in name only.

Is it fair to the people who balance work and life to have records broken and Kona slots gobbled up by ex pros who want another shot. Well yes it is in a world where you either put up or shut up, but surely the ex pro would rather be competing against a field of his peers as opposed to smashing the genuine age grouper. After all it is the age grouper who keeps this sport alive.

Maybe this is all bitterness as I can’t go fast enough to get a Kona slot, once it was 10 hours, then 9;45 and now 9:30 then the ex pro comes along and takes it down to 9:15, yes he made the sacrifice that I did not (plus he had talent) but surely the creation of the open category makes sense.
Uhm…once he becomes an AG’er again, he is one of those AGers that keeps the sport alive. He’s out there paying his money, working a regular job, etc. just like the rest of us.

I know. What if everyone that qualifies for Kona and goes, can’t qualify again for three years? I would guess that after a couple years of all the qualifiers not being eligible, it might make it easier for joe schlub to qualify.

John

22

Substitute Trent Chapman with the name Steve Larsen, and do a thread search. You will get all the arguements that you can handle…I suppose you will not be happy until no pros can race AG ever, and there is an ironman slot for the first guy with the screen name Liver_life…

Get over it, peopel get their asses kicked all the time, and don’t whine about it. It is a big world, and you have to accept that there other people faster, smarter, luckier, better looking, and everything else there is to compare…Step up and be a man about it, and give the top people their props when they are due… I bet the 55 year old Dave Scott kicks you ass too, does he still have to race open in your world???

1 Like
23

Maybe this is all bitterness as I can’t go fast enough to get a Kona slot, once it was 10 hours, then 9;45 and now 9:30 then the ex pro comes along and takes it down to 9:15, yes he made the sacrifice that I did not (plus he had talent) but surely the creation of the open category makes sense.

Dude, I might be with you. I’d love to have a shot at Kona too. Figure out a way to knock out folks with high VO2 max and who train more than 10 hours per week so that qualifying times rise to 11 hour range and I’ll completely support you.

24

I’m annoyed with the publicity that is given to age groupers who break records, prime example:

“Trent Chapman from Sydney Australia was the first age grouper home, finishing in eighth position overall in a time of 8:47:33, which is also a new course record for the 30-34 category which has stood since 1993.”

Trent Chapman raced the ITU world cup series and made the world champs teams in the ealry part of this decade, he has the had the benefit of years training and racing as a Pro at the highest level of the sport. He also made sacrifices in terms of carreer and money, so its not all one way. He retires and goes into private life decides to give it a go again. Trains hard, shows up and posts 8:47 and then people bang on about how he broke the record most likely set by a guy who had a full time job and did not have the benfit of 10 plus years as an elite athelte.

Yes he is an age grouper by the rules of the sport, but he is an age grouper in name only, should he be allowed to race as an age grouper, well yes as the rules say he can, my own view, is that there needs to be a category for open male and female, for ex pros and age groupers who are age groupers in name only.

Is it fair to the people who balance work and life to have records broken and Kona slots gobbled up by ex pros who want another shot. Well yes it is in a world where you either put up or shut up, but surely the ex pro would rather be competing against a field of his peers as opposed to smashing the genuine age grouper. After all it is the age grouper who keeps this sport alive.

Maybe this is all bitterness as I can’t go fast enough to get a Kona slot, once it was 10 hours, then 9;45 and now 9:30 then the ex pro comes along and takes it down to 9:15, yes he made the sacrifice that I did not (plus he had talent) but surely the creation of the open category makes sense.

I agree totally with the OP. A few months ago I raced a 5km and Tom Evans won my age group, knocking me down to third.I really really wanted that second place medal and I don’t think it is fair that I was cheated out of it. I rode home in a whaaaaaambulance.

25

“Yay! I won my AG because the 8 people in my AG who were faster than me had the sack to race the open wave.”

Maybe races should start having an engraver onsite who could customize everyone’s finisher’s medal with their own category, although they might have to make the medals bigger:"

Mine would be:

1st place<\huge font>:
41 year olds named Kyle with 2 dogs and 2 kids<\tiny font>

That way, my friends and family would think “Man, he wins every race he does! What a stud!”

26

WOW, I think there is a thread called Cry Like a Little Bitch somewhere on ST.

You should have posted this there.

Here you go, to make it easy for you to move it.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2276566;search_string=cry%20like;#2276566

27

No kidding this jackass should get a job selling wetsuits or something. :slight_smile:

Damn, I need to learn how to put that in pink and use those emoticons.

28

Age Groups are dumb anyway. There are two categories: Male and Female. Each has a winner, podium, and top 10.

Everyone else was just there. If you beat your PB, awesome. If you had a tough day but finished anyway, good for you.

Last year Dr Tommy beat me by just under 1.5hrs at Oliver, and Andriy beat me by a little less at Victoria. I’m fairly certain I never even looked up the AG rankings - just the Overall, and by gender.

Age groups are stupid.

29

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...i?post=489077#489077

and for all that bitchen’ how did Steve do in Hawaii that year? I don’t remember him taking down the age group.

Actually, I don’t see many “retired” Pros taking age groups in Hawaii. Good genes or not, they have the same time restraints as the other AGers. I think most still race because the love the sport, not the “thrill” of winning the AG ranks.

30

Let’s see…what do get for being pro. Hmm

10 minute lead start
Easier entry in to races
Oh and you can have your bike shoes in the pedals in T1

I don’t know why anyone would turn pro. I suppose there is the measly cash for winning.

Perhaps a NASCAR division should be created for all the whiners

31

This seems appropriate:

http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/blame.jpg
.

32

I think you have missed the point entirely, I have prensted the pros and cons of each scenario, I clearly feel strongly on where I think it should go, my point is if the ex pro reflects any other former elite he or she wants genuine competition and they would most likely get that if they raced in a seperate category, if and when the slowed down to a point where the could no compete then they would happily slip back into AG comp.

As we do the saem race a sthme we get our butts kicked by them anyway. Chapman would have most likely won the category of open male anyway and it would have been a better way to do it.

I sincerley doubt that there ar many ex pros or elite AG who would not jump at the chance as thye are in a grey area themselves race pro, get your butt kicked, race AG you kick everybody elses butt

33

Oh yeah that is exactly what I said, what is it about internet forums where people selectivley take whatever part of post they want and ignore everything else to support their own argument.

It has nothing to do with who trains more it is about ensuring that the sport has something to offer for everybody not just the elite and semi elite. This includes making it more rewarding for the ex pro

34

You need to take a good look at your priorities. Even if they did outlaw pros in the AG ranks I would bet you’d still bitch about someone who beat the pants off you.

“More money for better gear!”
“Only works 2 days per week!”
“Went to that cool camp!”
“Gets to train all year round!”

Suck it up.

35

You’re either an athlete or you are not. If you are an athlete, you don’t complain about getting beaten by a better man. If you are not an athlete, you have no business bitchin’ about what the athletes do.

36

At what point did I say that, it does not matter caus right now I am not good enough to qualify anyway, the point is these guys have a right under the rules to compete as it stands and at no point have I argued that.

What I think is that the addition of the open category would give them more and the AG more. If you gave him the chance would he take it to race OM probably.

Have I taken away from his 8:47 time no, pats on the back to him, it just a phoney AG time in my view. As for step up and be a man about it, at what poitn was this a post about me complaining about Chapmna taking my slot, not until you made it that way. It s not about that.

This is a minority sport and yes we have had a boom phase, keep going with your attitude and we end up with a sport for a very small elite group who complain about the rest of the world not caring about their sport and or the lack of coverage it gets

37

Oh yeah that is exactly what I said, what is it about internet forums where people selectivley take whatever part of post they want and ignore everything else to support their own argument.

It has nothing to do with who trains more it is about ensuring that the sport has something to offer for everybody not just the elite and semi elite. This includes making it more rewarding for the ex pro

Sorry, now I realize your concern is only for the bored ex-pro.

38

Gee what a mature and reasoned response, this post was about the pros and cons of an open male female wave for the few select people who fit into this category. Why to make it better for everybody.

We get wonderful responses about bitching like a little girl, from somebody who then adds his coaching business link to his post, awesome marketing there.

Continue to totally ignore the subject of the post and attack me for not being fast enough, please continue to demonstrate your mastery of comprehension and your ability to form a logical argument

39

Oh yeah that is exactly what I said, what is it about internet forums where people selectivley take whatever part of post they want and ignore everything else to support their own argument.

It has nothing to do with who trains more it is about ensuring that the sport has something to offer for everybody not just the elite and semi elite. This includes making it more rewarding for the ex pro
Maybe you should cry about this to your mother, I’ll bet she’ll care.

All the rest of us are worrying about making ourselves into better athletes so we can go out and do our own personal best. At the end of the day, that’s all you’ve got, everything else is just fluff.

40

Alternatively, you could think: wow, this is a guy now working full time and yet able to go 8h47 in an Ironman. That’s a great target! So, that’s what you can do with talent and motivation? I better start working as hard…

just a thought…