I can’t believe this race allocates 44 Kona slots to Hawaii residents and only 24 to AGers. This doesn’t seem very fair to me.
What is wrong with this? The Hawaii residents have to put up with all the racers, I see nothing wrong with them getting a little back.
So should Wisconsin residents get 75% of Kona slots at Ironmoo? This has got to be by far the easiest way to get to Kona.
In all fairness, no one forces you go there if you don’t believe in the “rewards” of the event.
It used to have even more slots for Big Island and Hawaii residents…
ST seems to have so many who think they have a better business model. Wonder why none of them ever show us how their ideas make a better race by putting one on. :o)
What is wrong with this? The Hawaii residents have to put up with all the racers, I see nothing wrong with them getting a little back.
“Put up with”? Yeah, I bet the local economy HATES the triathlon. And the tourism board that gets free publicity through the airing of the race on NBC, they must be livid.
I believe it’s a bit tougher for them to fly out to other IM races just so they can race in there backyards. I don’t see any problem with this.
ST seems to have so many who think they have a better business model. Wonder why none of them ever show us how their ideas make a better race by putting one on. :o)
I don’t know what you people are talking about??? Who said anything about a better business model or being forced to race in Hawaii. My only point is it doesn’t seem all that fair when you get beat by a bunch of people in you AG but still get a Kona slot based on your state of residence. I would think that living and training in the state that the race takes place is enough of an advantage.
Who ever said life was fair? :o)
I have read in the past the locals would rather not have the race there anymore.
I think what is worse is that there are still 70.3 races with Kona slots period. You race Ironman to qualify for the Ironman “World Championships”.
+1. I think 70.3 should only award Clearwater spots with maybe an spot reserved to the overall winner.
Why? Potts never did a full until Kona and came in 7th or 8th that year.
As a lottery person, you need to do a 70.3 before you go to Kona.
If I plan to go to Kona by qualifying, I would rather qualify via 70.3 so I’m not burnt out for Kona. Or at least do Arizona so you have a full years recovery.
As far as I know, only 2 70.3 races have spots, California 70.3 and Hawaii 70.3.
No, that’s nonsense. Every single local I’ve spoken to this week loves the race week, atmosphere and the huge income it brings in.
Why? Potts never did a full until Kona and came in 7th or 8th that year.
As a lottery person, you need to do a 70.3 before you go to Kona.
If I plan to go to Kona by qualifying, I would rather qualify via 70.3 so I’m not burnt out for Kona. Or at least do Arizona so you have a full years recovery.
As far as I know, only 2 70.3 races have spots, California 70.3 and Hawaii 70.3.
Sure, I can see the benefit to qualifying at a 70.3 and not having to shell yourself to qualify, but that isn’t really the point. I would say that a 70.3 race is VASTLY different than an IM and I have seen folks who rock at 70.3 races, crumble at IM races. They are 2 different races and in my opinion you should only be able to qualify for the World Championships at a full IM.
What I would do is use the 70.3’s as qualifiers for the full IM races. That would be pretty cool and a sure fire money maker for the 70.3’s
I actually tend to think just the opposite…having to race an Ironman to qualify for an Ironman means that you have a lot of age groupers who are beat up and have used up allotted time b/f the “World Championship.” I believe Slowman actually wrote on this one time and how IM to qualify for an IM actually lessens the competitiveness in Kona.
I agree that before you do a full IM, you should have to have a 7 hour (not to be an elitist) or better 70.3. But if you win your AG or are a pro and win a 70.3, I think that earns you a right to compete at a world level in an IM. Anyone that trains hard enough to win their AG in a 70.3, will most likely put in the time to “compete” at Kona.
St Croix has them also
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I actually tend to think just the opposite…having to race an Ironman to qualify for an Ironman means that you have a lot of age groupers who are beat up and have used up allotted time b/f the “World Championship.” I believe Slowman actually wrote on this one time and how IM to qualify for an IM actually lessens the competitiveness in Kona.
So as it is now. You have some folks who can qualify at a 70.3 while the vast majority cannot. So those 70.3 folks aren’t going to be nearly as beat up as the folks who qualified at an IM. What does that do to your competitive theory?
And then we could talk about the people that qualified last year for this years race. Don’t they also have a competitive advantage?
The whole thing should be revamped. I would love to see everyone qualify the year previous. That way everyone can come into the race rested. As it is now, some folks should be far more rested than others. So your competitiveness is already skewed.