I have a question. What about the dates I heard of june 25-26th? I guess IMCA and buffalo springs lake are the same day, but would that really matter? I would rather have the race a little earlier so I have more time if I were to qualify for worlds in Hawaii in Oct. to get ready. What do other people think about this? personally, i’m not really a fan of KC.
If Kansas City wasn’t going to be hot and humid enough on July 9, it certainly will be hotter and more humid on August 13.
Actually, I checked on wunderground.com. For July 9, the average high is 90F and average high dewpoint is 72F. For August 13, 82F and 66F.
A: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) conducts 88 national championships every year for its membership of several hundred thousand student athletes. Some championship dates and venues have already been established for the 2007 season. Every championship from March Madness or the College World Series all the way down to any D-III championship is a first class event. An NCAA championship is the pinnacle of any collegiate athlete’s season. Admittedly, the NCAA does not have to secure a bike course or an open water swim venue, but if they can overcome all the controversy that plagues college sports and stage 88 high quality national championships, then you would think our national federation could capably stage one event. (Note: The NAIA also stages multiple national championships at the collegiate level throughout the year)
B: The United States Golf Association (“USGA”) conducts thirteen national championships each year, three of which are professional majors. Some championship venues have been named through 2011. Any competitive golfer, whether a touring professional or a senior amateur, aspires to compete in their respective national championships as these events are the pinnacle of competitive golf in the United States. No bike courses or open water swim venues are involved. However millions of dollars are involved through media and sponsorship while the host area must be prepared for tens of thousands of visitors to the region.
C: USA Triathlon is supposed to conduct a few national championships over the course of the year. More than one, but far fewer than eighty eight. Unlike other governing bodies of sport, USAT does not feel it is critical to set championship dates far in advance. Six months notice appears sufficient to them. Although collegiate athletes or competitive golfers eligible to compete in their respective national championships would not even consider skipping the events, USA Triathlon has difficulty generating excitement for what is supposed to be its crowning event.
I mean, it can’t be the prestige…we are a fringe, small sport the public doesn’t care about. Plus our own participants don’t care about it, so it can’t be that.
Might be a regional thing. I don’t know if they make it their ‘A’ race, but many of the top triathletes from Minnesota regularly race at nationals.
The dates of June 25th-26th were the dates that were to be used if Rochester, NY had gotten the bid. They are the northeastern US city that pulled out of the process. I would have preferred that weekend. I’d get the race over with, I would know if I made worlds, my hsband I could plan our vacations, and I could enjoy the rest of my season. I was hoping it would be Rochester so I could actually drive to the race for a change.
I just got this in my in-box today… looks like Kansas City Aug 13th is the final FINAL place & date… and it looks like I already qualify! I feel SOOOOOO special!!
Your Invitation to USA Triathlon’s National Age Group Championship
Dear Triathletes,
On behalf of USA Triathlon, I want to congratulate you on a fantastic 2004 season. With your outstanding performance in 2004, you are invited to compete among the best in the nation at the 2005 National Age Group Championship to be held August 13, 2005 in Kansas City, Missouri. This event will crown our National Champions in each age group and qualify the top ten (10) in each age group for the 2005 ITU World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 8th and 9th.
Athletes must qualify for the 2005 National Age Group Championship but you have earned your slot with the 2004 Rankings. To learn more about the event and to register for the race, please visit http://www.usatriathlon.org/Events/Champs_AG_national.htm. When you register, make sure to use “2004 Rankings” as your qualifying race.
Congratulations again and we look forward to seeing you in Kansas City when we crown our National Champions!
Sincerely,
USA Triathlon
JEFF DYREK
Race Coordinator
You are receiving this e-mail as a member of USA Triathlon to inform you of upcoming events and activities. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, please e-mail subscription@usatriathlon.org .
USA Triathlon
1365 Garden Of Gods Rd
Suite 250
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
I got the same email from them today.
What is the qualifing criteria? An active email account?
I do typically place in my age group, but I’m really wondering if they sent that to anyone that showed up in the rankings. Meaning, they did 3 or more sactioned races last year.
I think they screwed up (surprise surprise). I got the same e-mail and I’m pretty sure the only way you are supposed to qualify based off of 2004 rankings is to be an All-American or AA Honorable Mention, which I’m not…
I got one of the emails saying I qualified also. Was a surprise.
Are you saying these may not be real?
Dave
I’m not sure. I know that a lot of people (including myself) got that e-mail who as far as they can tell don’t meet the official qualifications for qualifying for Nationals based on rankings that are posted on the USAT website. Some of those people don’t seem to meet any of the other possible ways to qualify either. So either they have changed what you need to do to quaify, which would seem wrong to do, or they e-mailed a lot of people they didn’t intend to.
I just called USAT and talked to Jeff. He said the Emails are real. I asked how folks got invited and he said there was a percentage used. I was not given the number. But, I looked at my age group and I am ranked 441/1603 for M45. So, this would say the top 1/3 rd where invited?
So, for me, this is a real honor. I have worked real hard to get where I am, which will never be number 1. But, living in Calif, not flying on planes, and have never been in humidity, now what do I do? This was not in my plans. I have my first full ironman scheduled for the caliman on Sept 17th. Decisions, decisions. How long does it take to drive from Northern calif to KC? Do folks think this race is worth spending the money and time to do?
Dave
On a different forum someone who was just barely in the top 50% of their AG also posted that they got an invite…so maybe top 50% was the cut-off? But then there is also a post by someone who only raced in one sanctioned race last year who also got the e-mail. So they certainly weren’t even ranked! Either way, I guess they have changed their requirements. Certainly this is much different than in past years.
I am 854 of 2447 just under top 35%. They must have lowered their standards on the assumption that they will have more people show up.
I qualified at a race (taking 2nd in my age group, with 20 finishers in that age group), and got no such email. Sniff…
They may have used a different percentage per age group.
Dave
Ken,
you still qualify, but you must not have been in the top whatever percentage in the rankings. I qualify too by winning my age group at a local race, but I didn't get the email either. Just because you didn't get the email doesn't mean you don't qualify. I think they sent that email out to the people in the rankings because a lot of people probably don't even realize when they qualify.
I was being facetious. I was pretending to pout since I didn’t receive any email (unlike those who ranked somewhere in the top 50%).
Brad,not to beat a dead horse but do you think you could have this thing bass ackwards? How about USAT not wanting to go up against a sold out Ford NYC Triathlon with 2,012 athletes not, in the least, interested in forfeiting their registration to go to Kansas City. You and I know, for a fact, that there is no love lost between some of the board members and the rd of the NYC Triathlon, so I don’t think the consideration was the way you implied.
Bob Sigerson
Brad,not to beat a dead horse but do you think you could have this thing bass ackwards? How about USAT not wanting to go up against a sold out Ford NYC Triathlon with 2,012 athletes not, in the least, interested in forfeiting their registration to go to Kansas City. You and I know, for a fact, that there is no love lost between some of the board members and the rd of the NYC Triathlon, so I don’t think the consideration was the way you implied.
Bob Sigerson
So are you suggesting that USAT could have posted the July 9 date to the public and then immediately said, “Oh Crap!..How could we do such a silly thing…we now have to compete with the NYC race and no one will show up to our National Championship?” (not challenging here, just seeking clarification). We would think they would have been aware of what is going on in the rest of the triathlon nation…But then again, this is USAT we are talking about.
Other big races scheduled for the weekend of July 9-10:
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Carlsbad Triathlon (very competitive San Diego classic, but non-USAT sanctioned…race fills at 1000+ racers)
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Diamond in the Rough Triathlon (Mid atlantic club and olympic championship…along with NYC would take many east coast participants)
Lifetime Fitness is the following week (July 17). With the USAT/ITU saga surrounding this event, perhaps there was sense of obilgation toward the Lifetime Fitness event to not invade the midwest one week before the race (?)
I guess I’m one of the few who is very happy with this. I had signed up for NYC and bought plane tickets prior to the announcement, and was very happy when the date was changed. August is more likely to be pleasant in this part of the world. Even so, for most people the race will be over by 9:30 or so. It’s not like a long course race when you’re running in the hottest part of the day.
One of the things about this and every internet chat group is that people like to vent. That’s OK, maybe you can’t vent at your boss etc. But USAT scrambled and came up with a reasonably accessible location and an **outstanding **RD in the person of Mark Livesay.
Maybe Nationals is a joke for the people that are really good at this sport, but for slightly above average people like me, it’s a great honor to be invited. My kids are very proud and yes Nationals is my A race.
I am prepared to hear moaning about lack of accomodations right at the course and all sorts of petty complaints, so please all of you stay away. Especially in the M40-44 age group. Really, this will suck and you really don’t want to go to worlds anyway.