So then why is kanute in T100?
Who?
Kanute was offered a T100 contract for 2024 which he took. The year didn’t go well and he earned little from the PTO. Did he start with Henderson after that? No T100s in 2025.
Failed to get a start in IMWC Nice. On the plus side he KQ’d in Arizona. I suggest making top 10 in the IM Pro Series this year is an achievable target ($10k) 
Sorry, I meant why not. He can’t really hang on the bike then run. I figure the bikes by him are being done at a higher effort than someone planning to run hard after
As a good friend of @BenKanute Im pretty sure the main reason is he values KONA way more than anything else. But I’ll let him chime in.
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I’m just cynical, my father used to ask me why I was so negative…but I think it’s because people and organizations continue to meet my really low expectations of them…
Why do you think it’s whataboutery? Triathlon applies the same rules to amateurs today. That is part of the appeal. I can tell you that 20 meter draft zones isn’t going to add 10,000 more viewers per race.
When it comes to fast male amateur triathletes, dear Triathlon Jesus, please stop having these people say age groupers? The way to fix that is to extend the gap between the women’s pro field and those men an additional 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes, hell make it 10, are meaningful. But not in a negative way for anyone.
I think you’re spot on with a lot of what you are saying.. And yes it’s clear that some of the PTN guys are 100% driving a one sided theory..
circle back the need to go to CAT like system for tri like in cycling. Pro men/women mass start like ye olde days, cause it would be exciting for a female to win overall by the rare chance. They can probably hang on the swim but not long for the bike. Then delay to cat 1 AG by 10 mins, at best they will pick off BOP female pros.
I’m not really sure of the question. The debate seems to be if I’m in T100 or not, and at the same time what my issue is 
.
To clarify, I see Kona as the biggest race in our sport (Olympics at around the same level) with the hype, prestige, and eyes on it. It has the history behind it too to make it interesting. I really enjoyed t100 although I never feel like I really clicked at one. It’s just hard to fully commit to that series with all of the travel.
I’m for the 20m draft zone, not because of fairness, but because of race dynamics. 20m or longer lets people feel like they can break up a pack easier and so they will try. We don’t have that issue on the swim and run. You can break things up on both of those with the right effort. Plus, logistically, the draft zone is way easier to play with than the swim or run. I would love races to make the swim more challenging with beach starts, surf, lowering the wetsuit cutoff etc. And if you want something to complain about with making the run harder, take away super shoes first
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Out of curiosity, would you rather see the swim made 50% longer to make it more relevant or a 20m draft zone. Which do you think would be a better change?
I realize it’s not going to happen, but just seeing the response gives some indication of the underlying reasoning.
The swim going longer would be great as it makes it more important. Honestly, it would majorly change the race. The group makeup would be similar just bigger gaps between. More incentive to push. However without a bigger draft zone, it still would have some similar race dynamics. Would most likely heavily penalize the slower swimmers
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thank you for chiming in!
I’m not sure HOKA would love that 
Hoka doesn’t care about triathlon anymore…
hoka still makes non plated shoes too still… so he is ok. To bring this up with difficulty and making the race fair, xterra is probably best, but too bad that series is on its deathbed
HOKA dropped him and about 90 % of the triathletes..
HOKA has moved away from triathlon.
Interesting. Why do you think that is?
Were they the run course sponsor this past Kona? I’m not even sure.
Laundry and Becharas on the need for a 20m draft zone, from @8:30:
haha “On the record” haha
The rumor has it.. That IRONMAN simply wanted too much money for the renewal (not surprised) and HOKA decided they would would just leave instead.. So knowing they wouldn’t get the “LOVE” from ironman leveraging all the “HOKA” athletes I would imagine they simply didn’t see the point..
Let’s be honest. If you are going to sponsor an athlete with the understanding that so called athlete will be uses a lot by IRONMAN in footage, stories and posts that really helps. But if that goes away. Then it’s hard to justify the expense to just relay soloy on that athlete to do all the marketing lift..
It’s why companies like Specialize always seem to care about triathlon around the Olympics.. That extra leverage is what really makes it worth the sponsorship.
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Yeah it’s expensive. A couple years ago, they wanted EMJ to have a shower station as you exited out of the water in T1 at Kona. They wanted $250k….
Can’t imagine what the cost for the swim, bike, run course is. $1M or more?