Thoughts on Ironman "World Championships" Awards Dinner

Triathlon Forum
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Here are some of my thoughts on how the awards dinner at Kona went off. Frankly, this is the World Championships, or so it is supposed to be. At least the ITU treats world’s like a real world championships. The WTC as custodian of Kona while doing a great job with the “banquet” side of things needs to ‘raise the bar’ for this to be a real world championships from an awards perspective.

Before I note any points, I am all for 17 hour finishers, those raising piles of $$$$$ for charity challenges, recognition of sponsors, special interest stories, human drama etc etc. I love this stuff and eat it up. As a mid pack age grouper in Kona, this is the life I live. I raise money for three different charities over the course of the year etc etc, but watering down the world championships with this stuff takes away from its value. I love all this stuff at Ironman North America events. The “you are an Ironman” life goal stuff is cool…

But the Awards Dinner needs to be ELITEST. Its gotta be about Norman, Michelle, Desiree, Lisa, Faris and Macca. This is what the WC’s is all about. The best of the best in the sport. More time was devoted to CAsey Cortis and the Janus Charity Challenge than the pro part of the awards. I’d like to see a slot for the previous world champ, handing off his “crown to the new champ”. Natasha Badmann, the second winningest Ironman Kona champ of all time (tied with Dave Scott and Mark Allen with 6 wins), was barely mentioned, hanging off in 10th place at the end of the pro podium. She deserves more air time than that.

Kona needs to be more about the top guys and gals in the sport. Michelle and Norman both made inspiring speeches. I am sure the “fans” in the room would like to hear “from the eyes of Macca” what it was like to try and close on Norman being 4 min down in the energy lab…or Lisa running from 15th up to 3rd and running out of real estate…or Desiree, catapulting to the second highest step in this sport after many strong races at other venues. It might even be nice to bring up the top three overall amateurs (age groupers).

Pro triathletes have a hard enough time earning a living in this sport. At least on the biggest day of the year, they should get more time in the spotlight. The Janus Charity Challenge got more time than Macca-Faris-Desiree and Lisa combined, and that is non optimal for a world championship. At the Ironman North America Mdot “love-ins” all the other stuff is fine and highly desireable, but the pros deserve more at the World Championships Awards.

I understand that the sponsors pay a lot to make these events happen, but there is lots of room for the sponsors to be recognized without watering down the pro awards.

sincerely

Dev

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Repeat after me: Kona is not a World Championship. Kona is a race run by a for-profit business.

By the way, well done on your race. Must be very satisfying.

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Dev,

Years ago it used to be that way - it was an evening to celebrate the achievments of the best. However, something happened along the way. The quote below is from Tricia Richter( TriBaby) commenting on another hot thread about finishline antics, but sums up rather nicely what Iroman to a degree has become and I instantly thought about the quote as I read through your post:

“they’ve turned Ironman into this schizophrenic thing where it isn’t entirely about the race and the competition, but it’s not entirely about the fuzzy warm feel-good human drama either. The murkiness is maddening.”

Fleck

P.S. Tricia if you are reading this, I hope you don’t mind me quoteing you here.

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See why we didn’t shell out $40 last night!

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I wasn’t there but I agree with you Dev. As great as all the other stories are it almost seems the “race” is lost in all the sponsorship, human interest stories etc. The TV coverage of Hawaii over the last few years IMHO does not show nearly enough of the race. I understand why they do it …I just wish they would focus more on the “racing” part of the event because I enjoy hearing about that stuff as do a lot of other people I know.

btw .congrats on your race!

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Fleck, you got it. I don’t think they need an ounce of the “love in” feel good crap at Kona. Everyone got there (or 95%) by some form of merit. They are already Ironmen and Ironwomen. They don’t need to be told about it. As much as I respect Sister Madonna, she got more air time for being last finisher than Desiree Ficker got. That just is not correct. Natasha Badmann was barely mentioned. Who knows, this might be her last race in Kona. They did mention both Fernanda Keller and Ken Glah, for their 20th and 23rd Kona’s respectively, which I thought was totally awesome. I guess the entire non mentioning of Natasha rubbed me the wrong way. In 8 trips to Kona, she has a second, 6 wins and a tenth.

Cathy, good call. Part of my trip to Kona was about being a triathlon fan. Like I told you when I was running on the course, “i’m in the friggin world championships”. On race day, I got to be in the stadium that Norman and Michelle were playing in, being a fan first and athlete second. As I rode out to Hawi, into a fierce heading while bolted in the aerobars (Natasha Badmann style…no sitting up, no standing…), my biggest thrill was seeing the parade of champions, former champions and aspiring champions, riding back the other way, with the hover of NBC helicopters overhead (it must be an A race, when the play the Star Spangled Banner and have network coverage…they were just missing the F-15 flypast like in Boston…although Norman was a good replacement). My competitors may have been suffering in misery from the elements, but I felt that I had a backstage pass to meet John Lennon at a Beatles concert. After that, the low recognition of the pro race at the awards dinner was a big downer.

Ken, thanks, for the good words, and I agree with you that Kona is run by a business, but they really can do more to make it a legit “world championship”. It just takes more vision. Like any company, you can tactically chase the low hanging fruit of today’s revenue (recognize current sponsors), but the real corporations that succeed in the business world are those with a strategic vision. Elevating the event to a real “world championship” and properly packaging in that manner takes more strategic vision, than is currently on display. Don’t get me wrong there are 9 out of 10 exceptional things about this event, but they can do a bit more to elevate its status and prestige towards a real world championship.

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While I think fund raising is an incredibly important part of this sport and ANY activity, do the rewards at the carb loader instead. BUT, the awards banquet should be just that. Best of the best up there. I have gone to three of them and I feel like I am at a company picnic and they are handing out top three in the water balloon toss. Top three should give their account of what the day was like. Some will talk a lot, some very little. But I think it would be enjoyable.

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Orcaman, the “theme” that you see on display on the TV coverage is the same theme on display at the awards. I believe that there might be more dollars available to WTC by promoting the world championship side of things more aggressively than the human interest stuff. They don’t need to cut out the human interests stuff entirely, but the pros deserve more and without the pros there really is no story. Otherwise people would be flocking to race at Esprit, or Chesapeakeman, or Almere. Everyone wants to get to Kona because of the race that the pros have made it, not because some other 40 year old businessman, or 34 year old mother of quadtriplets make it. The battles between Dave and Mark, Michele and Natasha, Erin and Paula are what makes this race special. The pros are the goose that laid the golden egg.

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Agree with your thoughts posted.

I’ve been there 3x and never once have attended the carbo dinner/pre-race stuff or the awards banquet - I’ve never had any interest in that stuff. I like to keep the true images of the pros zooming down from Hawi rather than the speeches, feel good stories, seeing Mike Reilly dance to bad intro music… I’d rather be snorkeling and/or downing beers. In a way, I’m glad you posted that the celebrations aren’t that great, now I know that I really didn’t miss anything.

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“As a mid pack age grouper in Kona, this is the life I live.”

What did you go… 9:47… that’s “mid pack age grouper”?!

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Good points all around, though I might debate the Sister Madonna issue with you—oldest female finisher ever, 76 years old and still out there. Amazing. Think of all the 76 year old people you know and how many of them are in any kind of shape to walk from the couch to the bathroom, let alone 140.6 miles through the lava fields…she deserves all the attention she can get. Indeed, who knows if it’s her last go in Kona…

But the points are well made overall. Having been to two Kona awards dinners, it is sad that more time isn’t spent hearing the comments of the top 2 or three pros…the insights would certainly be more beneficial than hearing a lot of the other drivel that tends to take place there. The suggestion regarding the charity awards taking place at the carbo dinner as opposed to the awards dinner is an excellent one, and I think more folks should forward that request to IMNA and WTC—the awards dinner should be about what happened at the race, and not much else…

And again, very big congratulations on your race Saturday. You rocked it, man.

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Babysitter…10:20, which only gets you ~550th place in Kona…yes, this is mid pack at the show.

OK, I’ll concede on Sister Madonna. She’s a great ambassador for the sport and I’ve been amazed by her speed and grace. I just know so many pros struggling to barely pay for groceries, that the emphasis is just a bit skewed.

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Agreed on all couts. Frankly, the Janus Caharity challenge monologue is just brutal.

The other thing I’d say is Ben Fertig should not be given a microphone. I suppose we could ammend that statement by requiring him to attend at least basic Toastmasters for a good year or so. That guy is awful. Probably a heck of a nice person, but his public speaking skills are horrible.

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Mid-pack at Kona. Isn’t that kind like saying mid-pack at the Olympics? Still bloody good, don’t sell yourself short.

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Every awards banquet I have attend at a WTC event has been a similar feel. I think even the qualifying races need less BS, more RACE stuff.

The worst experience I remember was IMNZ04 (I think?) and they started an auction for charity. 99% of the people in the room were disinterested… and looking for the exit.

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“but I felt that I had a backstage pass to meet John Lennon at a Beatles concert.” I appreciate reading this because I have also experienced the feeling. It is moments like this that I wish every triathlete could experience once. To say Kona is not a real world championship doesn’t seem fair. It’s the biggest thing going for the fastest qualifiers at this distance. I would say the same for Oly worlds or Duathlon Worlds.

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Oh, you’re no mid-packer DEv, you’re a bona-fide stud!

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…10:20, which only gets you ~550th place in Kona…yes, this is mid pack at the show.

mid-pack at THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD… for scrubs like me, that’s still fairly damned impressive. Where did you finish in the AG ? bet that wasn’t mid-pack…

As one of my running buddies observed when I squeaked out a qualifier for a mere national champs, “I’d give my left nut for that”… though of course I couldn’t afford to lose the testosterone :wink:

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Orcaman, the “theme” that you see on display on the TV coverage is the same theme on display at the awards. I believe that there might be more dollars available to WTC by promoting the world championship side of things more aggressively than the human interest stuff. They don’t need to cut out the human interests stuff entirely, but the pros deserve more and without the pros there really is no story. Otherwise people would be flocking to race at Esprit, or Chesapeakeman, or Almere. Everyone wants to get to Kona because of the race that the pros have made it, not because some other 40 year old businessman, or 34 year old mother of quadtriplets make it. The battles between Dave and Mark, Michele and Natasha, Erin and Paula are what makes this race special. The pros are the goose that laid the golden egg.

Dev,

If they had a 34 yr old mother of Quadtriplets (would that be 12?) there, that should be the story! Man, that has gotta hurt!

:wink:

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I think I was around 75th in 40-44, way back in our age group. Seriously, it is all relative. A buddy of mine that runs 3;20ish often was running a few sub 7 miles when he was feeling great and getting passed. The talent is amazing. 51 year old grandmothers passing you on the bike etc etc. The best age groupers are all racing. I told a friend of mine that every city in the world has their 1-5 best athletes there. You can get on the podium at the local race, but all those local podium guys show up and then you are 200th, 500th or 1000th!

The funny thing about the feel good stuff is that pretty well everyone I spoke to who was at the awards, is not there to get an award. They are there to cheer on the best who are the winners. We were there as fans to recognize their achievements. The participation culture is cool, but the best of the best need to be celebrated. The participation needs to play second fiddle at this race. To a person, no one needs to be told that they are an Ironman at the awards. You get that at the finish line.