The athletes competing yesterday trained to swim 2.4 miles, ride 112, and run 26.2. The vast majority of them would have completed it if conditions were safe. It was still a triathlon and they are still triathletes and all can be called Ironman.
This is in regards to the IMFL cancellation. According to Pete, signing up, training for the distance, and having the willingness to compete are enough to make someone an Ironman. Under this logic it follows that if the swim and bike were both cancelled, say due to high winds or cold or something, someone would be an Ironman by just completing a marathon. Taking it one step further, if an entire Ironman race were cancelled the morning of because of a hurricane or something, all the people who would have competed would be legitimately able to call themselves an Ironman. What absurdity.
If I sign up for a tri and there’s no swim, I have not competed in a triathlon. Sucks for me. All the time and money I spent getting to the start line doesn’t suddenly make me a triathlete when I haven’t competed in all three events.
How pervasive is this “everyone is a winner” mentality, and isn’t it kind of sickening?
In my very first HIM, I had the unfortunate experience of having the swim cancelled on me. If anyone asks, I say that my actual first HIM happened about 6 months later when I did succeed in doing the whole thing, but will then tell the story of how I did do an event that was almost a HIM but for the cancelled swim.
If I were in this IMFL situation would probably say the same thing here. Yup, it was a tough day out there, but I would have to go back and try again for a “first ironman”.
No amount of swimming can make up for the fact that the swim portion did not actually appear in the race. I did a local Oly where the swim was canceled. The RD had no qualms stating that the triathlon was canceled and it was becoming a duathlon. I think that’s the correct nomenclature for the situation and I couldn’t have been more pissed. I hate duathlons.
Why do you care so much?? It’s not like once you complete an IM you get retirement benefits when you hit 65years old, and these people are "stealing money from you"If you competed in IMFL this weekend guess what; feel free to tell people you did an Ironman…feel free
You forget the fact that the race was scheduled as a triathlon. If I was a duathlete that didn’t train the swim, I wouldn’t go around and sign up for triathlons hoping that they might cancel the swim. USAT still recognizes the finish in terms of point or for elite license qualification to be a triathlon.
I IMFL because it’s almost about 30-40 minutes “easier” in normal conditions than a race like whistler, CDA, IMWI.
IMCHOO has a swim that was 10+ minutes short, the biek was long, but no longer in terms of duration that one of the more challenging 112mi bike courses. So is that race somehow less of an ironman?
You compete in the course conditions that day. Now if the bike is cancelled? Well, at that point, honestly they might as well cancel the whole event, because then, yes, it’s simply a marathon and no longer even a multisport event.
But again, triatheltes showing up to race a triathlon and have it cancelled is not the same as duathletes racing planned duathlon.
If the bike is cancelled on a duathlon, then it’s just an open run with an optional shoe change.
interesting conversation. me, i don’t call myself anything other than ‘Dave’ but i am a bucket-lister and i don’t see how i’d cross an IM off the bucket-list without doing the whole thing.
All I can say is that those who raced yesterday don’t need their result validated by you or anyone else here.
One thing is clear: this race is not a triathlon.
The athletes competing yesterday trained to swim 2.4 miles, ride 112, and run 26.2. The vast majority of them would have completed it if conditions were safe. It was still a triathlon and they are still triathletes and all can be called Ironman.
This is in regards to the IMFL cancellation. According to Pete, signing up, training for the distance, and having the willingness to compete are enough to make someone an Ironman. Under this logic it follows that if the swim and bike were both cancelled, say due to high winds or cold or something, someone would be an Ironman by just completing a marathon. Taking it one step further, if an entire Ironman race were cancelled the morning of because of a hurricane or something, all the people who would have competed would be legitimately able to call themselves an Ironman. What absurdity.
If I sign up for a tri and there’s no swim, I have not competed in a triathlon. Sucks for me. All the time and money I spent getting to the start line doesn’t suddenly make me a triathlete when I haven’t competed in all three events.
How pervasive is this “everyone is a winner” mentality, and isn’t it kind of sickening?
