one loop around big island, run from Hawi to Kona airport (basically the Kona bike course but running it).
Best of luck to all the athletes.
So in the vein of speculation, how fast do we think Cam Wurf could do this??? We need to start a campaign to get Cam over !!! Anyone who can race Paris Roubaix and then grab his running shoes and go for a half marathon needs to be in Kona on this weekend!!!
Unfortunately it looks like the management of Ultraman has lost their way and is running this long running iconic race and series into the ground. I have heard from some competitors about why, will not go into it here. But the numbers and quality of athletes does not lie.
this championship race is down under 20 now, couple women will probably be top overall. Big question is who is footing the bill for this HITS type of field nowadays??
Now imagine if Wurf and Sanders were both doing this race, we would be locked in on it every hour and there would be 1000’s watching, not 10’s…Sad really…
I could tell you many stories about why they have failed miserably ay Ultraman HQ but I have decided that after many years of battling with them it is just not worth it anymore. I am not a popular boy with the Ultraman team in Hawaii as I was so vocal about stupid and vindictive shit they have done over the years but suffice to say that if they had played nice, weren’t so difficult to deal with and the business model for licensing Ultraman events wasn’t so bad they would have many races around the world included in their series and it would be an awesome World Championship. It is very sad indeed.
The costs of these events doesn’t help though and I know Jen Annette crowdfunded $20k CDN to get there this year. An old mate of mine who is a doctor in New York spent $25kUSD for one of his Hawaii Ultra Tri adventures. That is just obscene!
Remember when this board destroyed Danielle Lewis for trying to crowdfund her first year as a pro? I do!
Feels kinda odd that an established Pro would try to crowdfund something, but at this point I’m not surprised. I just ran the numbers on my 9 days in Hawai’i and whoa folks it is Spenny!
I THINK (being an outsider but knowing lots of people in the Ultra world) that the biggest “mistake” is asking for qualification by doing another Ultraman. Putting aside the wear and tear on the body it is time and money in a short duration that makes it prohibitive to others.
I am a “fan” of this endurance event. Many of my friends have raced and won or been on the podium. Almost all of them said to me (when I was still doing Ironmans), “you could easily do it”. If all these finisher of ultraman think that anyone moderately competent at IM can do Ultraman, then what is the need to ask to do another ultraman “just to be at the start line”.
Further to the above, its not like it is a race on a closed course with aid stations, neutral support etc. Literally you and I can go to Kona and do the exact thing. We just call Cam Wurf and Lionel and say we’re doing it on open roads and we have some friends with rentals cars leap frogging us and giving us support. Talbot could just arrange for a smackdown between Cam and Lionel and do all the filming and put the thing on youtube as a massive off season overtraining lark !!! What’s stopping that other than their race schedules (OK maybe that’s what stops it, but no one at Ultraman can stop that)
Thanks for posting this. From what I see almost no one under 39 years old doing this so Cam Wurf would perfectly fit in at 41 but Lionel’s too young for the Senior’s tour!!!
So only 15 people left now? @ThailandUltras@monty surely there are more than 20 people around the world who want to do this. Its too cool a concept to have this few crazy people who want in.
Cool to see a local athlete from NC doing this- Ariel Aponte. I don’t even know if he’s been in the sport except post covid, he literally would come into the tri shop as often as he could and just ask questions on training / gear / history of the sport. Super studly athlete an even better person.
As we both said, there is a culture that runs this series that alienates athletes and their crews. They pretend to be this holistic hippy dippy type, but reality is most leave with a bad taste. And with such a small pool of athletes to pull from, you really need folks to keep showing up year after year until they physically cannot anymore. then you have a relay to keep them involved and part of the group…Just saw Babbit do an interview with the leader, and she on day 1 stated one and done.
A once inconic race and series is soon to be gone I’m afraid. At any rate these fields have lost most everyones interest in watching or participating already, so dead on the vine as they say…
Having crewed at the race in the past, and having followed it for more than 20 years, I don’t see any names that I know at all. And you’re right, the same people used to go back year after year after year and none of them have gone back for quite a while.
It has been like that for years now,ever since they UB515 and then Ultra515 Canada started. They are so damned petty that they are destroying their own races. They do allow a few “special cases” in without doing an official Ultraman,like Pro’s Kate Bevilaqua and Jen Annette but others have had to go to one of the three US qualifiers,especially athletes who have finished UM Australia. The break up with the Hawaiian’s and Ultraman Australia was particularly bitter so they refuse to recognize any new finishers.
From the Ultraman Worlds website… So You Want to apply for Ultraman Worlds on the Big Island? – Ultraman World Championships
“If you are interested in participating in Ultraman Worlds on the Big Island, there are a few MINIMUM requirements that MUST be met before your application will be considered. This event is by invitation only; thus, your qualifications will determine if you are invited or not. First and foremost, you must have completed one of the OFFICIAL Ultraman events at some time in your life. Once a finisher, always a finisher. Finishing any unlicensed event calling themselves an “Ultraman” doesn’t cut it.”
