I’ve raced Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon a few times now and was aiming to make it my qualifying race next year. At the race expo, they had the Ironman 70.3 signs promoting the new championship event. Does this mean that the half-iron distance races will no longer be qualifiers for Kona?
two theories on this one… and Ralph’s for next year at least gives us an example of one…
-
at the current IM Kona 1/2 IM qualifiers going forward… same number of slots to IM Kona in addition to 100 slots to 70.3
-
the above scenario until the WTC and IMNA slot contracts run out… Ralph’s will only have it’s 20 IM Kona slots for 2006. In 2007 it will only serve as a qualifier for the half champs…
my theory per scenario two… the half qualifiers get sick fast next year in all age groups… already planning on Ralph’s, 1/2 Vineman and perhaps one more myself.
From what I heard, WTC are planning to host the world championships in ½ ironman. This could mean that all ½ ironmen under WTC will qualify for this event, which I think will be held in California. But that is just the rumours I heard.
Cheers,
Henrik
It’s already been annoucned, and will be called the Ironman 70.2! 1/2 IMs will only have qualifying slots for this and not Kona, the first Championship will be held in November 2006 in Florida, Panama City I believe. Go to Ironmanlive.com for full details.
Definitive answer at the moment: We don’t know.
There is no official word yet on whether races like Buffalo Springs will have Kona slots next year.
It would seem to be prettty clear by both the GTG and the 70.3 annnouncement that the WTC is moving to expand the scope of their business by adding more IM’s and also creating a new series. The “problem” is that there are only so many Kona slots to go around and you can add more IM’s if you have the slots taken by 1/2’s. At the same time, they probably think that they can create a bigger pool to sell to sponosors if they can group a bigger set of races. Remember, they couldn’t find a title sponsor for Kona last year, which is a real problem for them.
While they are probably letting their 1/2 IM “partners” have Kona slots in '06, It is reasonable to assume that 1/2’s will no longer have Kona spots after that and that those Kona spots will go to new IM races, like the one in MD/VA that was proposed last year.
A new 70.3 series (whose champs are heading towards Claremont, FL, according to the Claremont press) will allow WTC to pool more athletes for sponsor sells and free up slots for Kona that can allow them to grow more IM’s.
Here’s the scoop: Bottom line–California will retain Kona slots in 2006, Florida Half won’t…seems sorta screwy if you ask me and confusing as hell.
The Ford California Half Ironman and the Ford Florida Half Ironman are now part of the new Ironman 70.3 series.
For the first time ever, athletes who complete a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and a 13.1-mile run, totaling 70.3 miles, will have the unique opportunity to qualify for a world championship at that distance. All Ironman 70.3 events will culminate at the World Championship event in Florida scheduled for November 2006.
There will be 100 slots allotted for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship at each qualifying event, and new events are scheduled at venues including Baja and Cancun.
The Ford Ironman 70.3 California will take place for the fifth year on March 18, 2006, in Oceanside, California. The Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida will take place on May 21, 2006, in Orlando for the third consecutive year.
Both events will feature 100 qualifying spots each to the 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The California event will also feature 20 qualifying spots to the 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship held annually in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
The Florida event will not feature Ironman full-distance World Championship spots in 2006.
Apparently Eagleman (1/2) will have Kona slots in '06 as well.
Anybody think that it is kind of cheap to give out Kona slots via half IM races? I believe that Kona slots should be earned in a full IM only. I don’t think the Boston Marathon gives out spots based on a 10K race time.
Anybody think that it is kind of cheap to give out Kona slots via half IM races? I believe that Kona slots should be earned in a full IM only. I don’t think the Boston Marathon gives out spots based on a 10K race time.
Yes, I do think it’s a bit cheap(er?) - about $200 difference. (just kidding) I do see your point. Seriously though, races are freakin’ expensive - I recently signed up for IMAZ and it was almost $450 after all was said and done. I know Kona would be an even larger bill, but hey… I would have no shame qualifying in a cheaper, shorter race - you still have 3 1/2 months after BSLT to ramp up to the full distance… and it’s not like a walk in the park to qualify in Lubbock either.
Lots of speculation on the posts above but here are some facts:
World Championships will not be in Claremont or Panama City … Clearwater is the town that has been released in the media already (exact dates are not final)
Vineman Half, Lubbock, Blackwater, & Ralphs will all have Kona spots and 70.3 spots next year … none of us know what the future holds in 2007 for Kona spots. Only speculation …
Anybody think that it is kind of cheap to give out Kona slots via half IM races? I believe that Kona slots should be earned in a full IM only. I don’t think the Boston Marathon gives out spots based on a 10K race time.
Maybe you are right, but why don’t they look at getting rid of the lottery first. It would leave more slots for all the people actually putting in the hard work to qualify. Kona is supposed be for the best in the world. I just get a kick out of the person who does one sprint, gets a lottery slot, and then races with the best. That is kinda cheap in my opinion.
Anybody think that it is kind of cheap to give out Kona slots via half IM races? I believe that Kona slots should be earned in a full IM only. I don’t think the Boston Marathon gives out spots based on a 10K race time.
No. For years most of the spots were used for halfs or even shorter (It wasn’t that long ago St. Anthony’s and Memphis in May had spots). One IM is not real great for your body, two in the same year even worse. Besides I think it is good to get great athletes from a variety of distances at Kona. It is just as hard to go sub 2:00 Olympic as sub 10:00 IM.
Maybe you are right, but why don’t they look at getting rid of the lottery first. It would leave more slots for all the people actually putting in the hard work to qualify. Kona is supposed be for the best in the world. I just get a kick out of the person who does one sprint, gets a lottery slot, and then races with the best. That is kinda cheap in my opinion.
Great point. And for that matter, nix the e-bay slots. (Though they did sell for $30k + - maybe if you’re willing to foot that kind of money, it’s ok…who knows)
No, but the London Marathon qualification can be by a half marathon time.
Maybe you are right, but why don’t they look at getting rid of the lottery first. It would leave more slots for all the people actually putting in the hard work to qualify. Kona is supposed be for the best in the world. I just get a kick out of the person who does one sprint, gets a lottery slot, and then races with the best. That is kinda cheap in my opinion.
---------------------- 
A few things -
-
There is no ‘do a sprint, then race with the best’. If you win a lottery slot, you have to show proof of having completed a half ironman race within the year prior to Kona.
-
There was a requirement, when Kona was sold to WTC, that there needs to be a way for ‘common man’ entrants to make it into the race, i.e. the lottery.
-
The Ebay slots are almost entirely a charitable deduction, and are few in number - just a drop in the bucket.
-
There isn’t a fixed number of slots - if WTC wants to put on another 5 IM length races worldwide, and have 50 slots available per race, they will just increase the Kona slot count, just like any other race increasing the field size. What’s another 200 swimmers added to a 2000 person mass start?