Here is an idea. Why don’t they send off the pro field in two waves (mens, womens) about an hour before the AGer’s? They can then open up the pro waves to more pro athletes, providing more exposure for the sport. They can give special invites to people like Simon Whitfield and Barb Lindquist and make the event more exciting and marketable. It will take care of the problems that the pro women have with the AG men swarming around them on the bike as well. And, more on topic, open up MORE AG slots, better exposure, better event! It’s win, win.
There really should be a different way of qualifying. I have had a hard time in the past just getting into the races that have spots. That’s why I turned pro. Same thing for Heather Gollnick. They should reserve a few Entries in the qualifying races for “racers” and have a system of qualifying for that title. It’s sad to see hard working athletes get left out of the races because the CEO’s took all the spots 12 months in advance.
Thanks, clm. While I knew that Ralph’s was an A race for me, I never really thought about nor expected to be heading to Kona as a result.
Kona is truly the icing for me…I’m gonna try and make it the best damn icing I can, but I’m just thrilled to be going.
And, yes, I do think that some of the folks who go 11+ hours are really good athletes…let’s just see if that guy’s opinion changes as he gets up in years!
I qualified at IMCdA last summer with a 10:30…I consider myself better than average (62nd of 1700 overall at CdA). 10:30 at CdA was hard because it was approaching 100 degrees and we had some hills…
I went 11:11 at Kona because I was simply enjoying the view…It was easy on that day.
Of course, I’m 33 years old, 5’10" and 146 pounds…My body was designed for this stuff.
I have much more respect for the older, physically-challenged, or those raising a family who race Ironman.
Having qualified, it simply confirmed for me how much LUCK is involved…I look forward to the day when I’m half the Ironman of Dev…
The problem is that IMH is supposedly the World Championship. They don’t let the common man in the Superbowl, the NBA Finals, or the World Series, so why do they do it in Hawaii? I
Yes, but in other sports amatuers don’t get to compete with professionals. Triathlon is different. It is driven by the comon man. You can’t compare it to sports like football, baseball, and basketball.
Why not just change to make it so that the only way to qualify for Kona is to qualify at a full IM. Having completed three half and two full IMs, I am convinced that they are very different races and I just do not believe that being fast at one has a significant relation to being fast at the other.
How is this relevant to this topic? Move those qualifying spots from the half’s to the fulls – thus allowing more competitors from the full IM’s to qualify.
What do the fast half’s IMers do? I know that there is a competitive half IM series now and think it is a great idea. But why not run a half championship, possibly the day before the full championships or at a completely different time?
Just my thoughts, but would this not accomplish two important things – keep the need to qualify legit and create a greater opportunity for those who commit their training time to the full distance to qualify.
FYI – I do not in anyway think less of the commitment of those who focus on half’s. I just find that they are such different training and race experiences that I just have a hard time reconciling that you can qualify for the IM championships at a half.
They should also allow slots to be good for 2 IM’s. The above avg AGer can’t expect to do well in canada and do well in hawaii. A few yeah but not all. When you get your slot you, if they implemented this, need to tell them what year, this or next and your in. I think boston’s qualifing times are good for 16months from date of qualifing.
I agree that getting rid of the slots at 1/2 Iron races is a good idea. Same rationale they probably used when they got rid of slots at olympic distance races. It does not make sense to qualify at another distance. Can you qual for Boston by running a half? Can you make the olympic swimming team in the 1500 mtr free by winning the 400 free at trials? Enuff said.
I think there are several reasons that Kona spots are offered over the 1/2IM distance: For most people, it is difficult to race more than 1 IM per year WTC is a business. Having qualifying spots in the half increases the demand and popularity over that distance which = $$$
I think it is good to have qualifying spots in half distance. More races can be offered and more people can attend those races and hope they qualify. Sure, Half IM require different training than IM distance. But the rules are the same for all.
To expand on the idea of 2 waves, why not two Ironman Hawaii’s? The demand is there. It could be the same weekend as the “championship” or any other time of the year…no bad weather.
How about an automatic slot to anyone completing 10 Ironmans without qualifying? It would be nice to see these folks get a shot at it. Or 15 if 10 is too easy…
