There are some age groupers who can beat pros (I wish but this is not the case for me …this is a theoretical question)and yet they remain amateurs and on the other hand there are pros who can’t win their age group in a given race.
So, I was wondering, What is the benefit to moving up from age group to pro?
What are the necessary qualifications?
the ‘real’ pros are the guys & gals workin 40-60 hrs a week, raising 2.3 kids, paying a mortgage, and dealing with all the other life/family/sports isuess.
those ‘racing’ pros are either gifted and/or hard working athletes, or hard bodies with a nice ‘suggar daddy’
The rules are in the USAT website, but basically you have to place high in a certain number of races. The benefits are that you get to say “I’m a pro triathlete”, you get to start in front, you get to win money, and you can enter almost every IM race (except hawaii) at the last minute (no field limit).
That last perk is the best one IMO, you can enter any race the day of the race.
I agree that there are “pros” who wouldnt do very well as an amateur either. But it is " cool" to tell your friends you are a “pro” and finished 18th in some big race. 18th out of 18th pros. 670th overall(just leave that little detail out). I have raced the Elite wave at some races mainly because I would rather have a tough race against top notch guys than blow away eveyone in my age group. I think guys like Mike Plumb are in the same situation. I finished like 12th at Carlsbad 2 years ago racing elite. I would have won my age group by 2 full minutes. To me thats no fun. At other races I will race age group because the competition is much better. If I were to take out a pro license it would require me to race pro all the time and with job, wife and kids I cant train that much or afford to live on 12k a year. It is fun though, when guys call me or send their resume for sponsorship and I get to call them back and “mention” that I beat them at some race.
b/c going pro is so easy in this sport, meaning you dont need a bunch of sponsors, or need to get recruited (like football or something), the main benefit is being able to enter at the last minute, and those slow pros probably arent making a good living off of being a pro, but are really doing it as a side activity (to being a student, etc…), and use the pro title for fun (hey, im a pro!) and for the race entry. I think those AGers that beat pros arent pros themselves just b/c they happen to be too busy to compete in enough races.
Regardless of how you put it, earning a pro card requires some telent. For sure, it is easy to cherry pick certain races and earn a card that way, but in reality, there is really NO benefit other than the ability to enter a full race AND earning some sponsorships. Becasue no doubt, PRO looks good on an athletic resume.
But financially, nothing. You can be a stud and brag about being a pro. But really, who cares? I see “pro’s” enter local mom and pop tri’s and win races, but get smoked to an oblivian at national events or large IM qualifiers where real talent is. I would be embarrased.
I think that there is a time in the majority of people’s lives who compete and do well when they are completely obsessed with triathlon. I was one of those people. But now, I jus am glad to be able to afford the sport financially and be gifted with the ability to train and put my body through the training.
I saw the rules a long time ago and remembered thinking that even my slow butt could make it if I focused on short distance training for a season then cherry picked the races.
It may actually be worthwhile for some people if they want to jump into an IM at the last minute (last minute being 9 months out for an IM that fills up 12 months before the race)
yeah, we had a small sprint tri out here a couple of weeks ago and a bunch of us were pretty scared as there was a foreign pro who just happened to be around and was entering the race. Blew by him on mile 2 of the bike and didn’t see him till the end of the run. He could run decently and combined with one of the flattest and slowest first 2 miles of my life he caught me. Outkicked me to the line by a second but got a penalty and ended up 8th behind me. We were around 1:40 or so behind the winners.
Whenever you see ITU coverage in magazines it shows mainly the top 10 who are smokin fast. Are there really stragglers who finish 10-15 min down???
the swim pack that misses the bike train is always gonna get beat like a drum in ITU…as for the ironman “pro” that cant grab age group podium…i guess its not that humbling to see that in the results.
There is a financial incentive no one has mentioned. As a pro, a racer gets to write off expenses, travel, massage, home gym, race entries, you name it. In know a woman is good enough to get her pro card, and did it for those reasons…and to be a cool mom doctor pro. It’s worth it to her, even though she will never beat the “real” pros.
You have to be careful writing off expenses, even if they are “ordinary and necessary” triathlon related expenses.
If you don’t show any income from triathlon racing soon the IRS will not allow you to write off your “hobby”.
You know, you don’t have to be a pro to write off triathlon expenses. You can write off hobby expenses to the extent that you earned income from that hobby. So, for example, if you win $500 in a local tri, you can also write off $500 in expenses incurred for tri. So going pro doesn’t necessarily give you a tax advantage that you didn’t already have. However, if it’s “ordinary and necessary” and you are pro, you have a lot better chance of writing off a lot more than you do as a hobby expense.
working in the industry is better. All of my equipment is " nescessary" to my job selling and marketing cycling and triathlon and all my racing expenses are market research!
You’ve got it nailed on that one Paul!
IIRC, it is two years before you need to show some income. I will ask my local IRS agent and find out. I am curious now.
I think it would be fun to turn “pro”. You only need to finish top 10 AND within 10 % of winner’s time in 3 USAT races with at least 200 participants (in 12 month period). If you pick sprint tri’s with lots of newbies and nobody super fast - its doable…why? why not? I think its kinda fun if you can ever catch a pro - so why not be a slow pro and let AG’ers get their kicks catching you? May be slightly embarrassing and may be kinda lame to have slow pros in our sport but not a big deal (in my opinion). You might be able to get “pro-deals” on some equipment - like Zipp wheels. If you can truely enter an IM last day - thats huge - committing to an IM a year in advance is a little hard for me…and sponsorship? No way if you aren’t at least a decent pro…now that last bit is cool - could I really deduct my triathlon expenses for 2 years against other income??? That would be nice - I’d buy a new bike, some race wheels, travel to race…
Anybody know some good cherry pickin (is that non-PC term now?) - races in california? Must be sprints or else I have no chance of getting near 10% of winner. Preferably about 200 people - all riding mountain bikes and running slow - and no super fast people putting me > 10% out?
Also who gives pro-deals on equipment to pathetically slow pro’s?
Thanks
The opposite of your question, but… I remember reading an article in Tri or IT on Pete Kain. He was a second tier pro who couldn’t make any money on races or sponsorships bucause he wasn’t top tier. So he went back to being an AGer. Now he gets sponsor dollars because he is the top of the AGers. (And in my AG btw.)
Pete is also a great guy and in a position of influence as a coach. (and fast) Not all deals are based soley on race resumes. There’s a lot of AGers running around with ‘sponsor’ product because they are good embassadors of the sport and product. Fast or slow, you still gotta represent. Pete represents.
Think about some of the “deserving” pros with good race resumes who can’t seem to get the good sponsorship deals and are constantly changing product. Often these are the same pros who wouldn’t give a AGer the time of day to talk about their equipment or politely listen to the AGers race blow by blow. They may be fast, but if they hole up in Colorado and only come out to Kona once a year, are they really going to influence my purchasing thoughts? I get to run into folks like Pete several times a year and watch him make the equipment look good.
Glad to see Cervelo’s support of the Swedes. Those are some great guys on the up swing.
it’s a tough call. i currently race at the cusp of the two catergories; i usually either win or place in my age (i only race IM or 1/2IM), but i really don’t see myself as good enough to be a real pro. my best ironman is a 9:02, and i’m regularly under 9:15, but i think to be realistic, you need to consistently go under 9. the thing is, i regularly beat pros, and there are some benefits from being one. i have found, however, with my results i can get a place in any race without qualifiication with the exception of Kona. all i need to do is call the race director and email my resume. also, as an age group winner, i can get prizes and benefits of various sorts that you wouldn’t get if you were just the 8th pro or whatever. as i said, it’s a tough call. in my case my main reason for not going pro is that i would be a mediocre pro athlete, and i’d rather beat mediocre pro’s whilst maintaining a career.