The qualification procedure would be the same as Hawaii (x number of slots at each event, lottery etc). People who qualify for hawaii could also check the HIMWC box and sign up for both races.
Make it in June/July so people who race Hawaii could also peak for this race.
Finally make it in Italy, Greece, Portugal or South Africa or some other cool place (read: none US, IMNA has enough events) on a fast course so we’d see some fast times (3:4x) from the pros.
Yeah I thought about that after I posted. Fast is just more appealing to the crowds. When people look at race results the don’t always take into considerations the difficulty of the course.
Seeing someone ride 2:02 for 90k or run 1:08 for a half-marathon during a HIM looks a lot more impressive and super-human on paper than saying “he ran 1:15 on a really tough course”.
The US Half Ironman Championships are a joke. Weren’t there two separate championships? And in neither the top pros showed up. Seeing on insidetri that some age-grouper is the US half-im champion is pretty pathetic.
The Inaugural US Half Championships shouldn’t be expected to max out the entry capacity (I think it was supposed to be ~1k) it’s first year. Every race has to earn its buzz and that takes time.
The race was specifically set up for the AGers, NOT the pros…so dinging them for a lack of the latter is completely unfair, and so is dissing the winner. That was the whole F-ing point: a qualifier-only AG championship. The USAT long course (halfIM) nationals race at CATS a few weeks prior crowning any “national” AG champs is what’s pathetic…anyone can get into CATS. At least the US Half organizers tried to do something like USAT’s OD AG champs event in Shreveport.
There were NOT 2 separate championships. There was a Championship class which involved the qualifiers and was eligible for the absolutely unreal amt of AG-ONLY prize $$ being put up, and then there was a general entry class for anyone who wanted to do a half that day. If you’re going to have separate classes, why not separate prizes? Someday when the Championship division attracts enough entries to be self-supporting they can do away with the gen’l entry division (or hold a lottery for those spots) but until then it’s perfectly reasonable to try and get more ppl out there to make the race financially viable, don’t you think?
The US Half event is a model for what you want, IMHO. The course requires a nice mix of speed and power on the bike and esp. the run. And Max Events is well known for that most elusive of event characteristics: accurate course measurement.
Something like 1/3 the field went under 5hrs at the US Half in the Championship class. Find me another non-Pro race with a stat like that.
It kinda, sorta does exist. Its called the long distance world championships, held in Portugal (I think), this year. I believe the distances are dependant on the local organizers, but its always been 1/2 IM or longer, but not a full IM. Personally I’m in favor of not requiring a specific distance, just a range (some what longer than Oly and shorter than IM.
Also, wasn’t the 2003 Muncie endurathon the official US 1/2 IM championships?
I think Muncie was the U.S. long-course nationals in '02 and '03. As I recall, Muncie hosted the world long course championships a few years ago and I believe LVL, Helldriver and a few others showed up.
You are correct about Muncie. It was the World LCWC in 1996 with Greg and Karen going 3:47:05 and 4:11:00 respectively.The event has been the USAT National LCC many time, most recently 97, 02,03.
However, it was a whole new designation in 04 as the Pro/Elite USAT National LCC. Prize money was for Pro’s and Ag’s.
Sorry, I do not know the plan for 05.
The real problem is calling anything a World championship. That term is reserved, legally, by WTC and ITU. The agreement worked out between the two does not allow anyone else to use the term in the triathlon world.
We can have a national Half championship, sanctioned by USAT, but to get a world title, you would first have to work things out another party. Usually, this means lots of $$$.
It actually happend last weekend. A few buddies and I got together in Minneapolis. One was from Brazil and another was from London.
So, we figure that was enough to justify the title. But, we went a step further and invited Martians and other forms of life. It was the 1st Annual UNIVERSE 1/2 Ironman Championships!!!
I set the course record at measley 5:07. Unfortunately, not too many people showed up (including all the fast people)…so I’m now the Universe 1/2 Ironman winner.
;o)
I find the titles of these things sooooo humorous. Who cares what it’s called? Your race is only as good as the competitors who show up. If someone wants to be king of their own race, that’s fine. But, every dog has its day. Perception is reality, I guess.
If I want to bill a tri as the USAT or ITU world championship I would need their permission. But anybody can call a tri a World championship as long as they don’t mention or use the santioning bodies.
Gentleman, you can call it whatever you like. But, you had better be prepared to defend yourself. The court battle between WTC Vs. ITU in 96-98 cost both of them a fare penny. The rights for the words ‘triathlon world championship’ are now share by the two. This is a matter of record which Trimag covered back then.
Anytime I have been the RD of a designated event, worlds or nationals, the very lengthy agreement has been strict on the language use of the name in the exact form as awarded. Any deviation will get you a nasty call or letter- I have accidentally received both- so don’t tell me just launch a race.
If you put a good chunk of money out there in the prize purse you would get a very good race field that would likley feature the best from both the short-course/ITU world and the long-distance IM types. It’s the perfect meeting ground.
We plan to accomplish 2005 or 2006 in Berlin this half Ironman, with which also qualification places for Hawaii will be assign. The citizen of Berlin senate have a large interest and also on the sponsor level we are with the plans very far progressed. The world union plans even to accomplish this event as Halbdistanz HIM.
USAT and the ITU have not done thier markeing homework. There is a USAT National Half-Iron Championships. In 2004 it was CATS in Arkansas. The World Long Course Championships are ITU authoirezed but use the international distances 4K,120K,30K (I believe) and in 2005 are in Fredericia Denmark. US Half Championships was invented by Ultramax and bears no relationship to any USAT or ITU sanctioned championship. Each USAT region has a half-iron championship and many have Iron distance championships which are qualifiers for the Team USA and the ITU world Championships in Denmark.
