It’s funny how people really want awards. For exemple, I just finished IM Lanzarote and people at work are congradulating me for being the second canadian. We were only 9 canadians in a european race and I was 195 ovr and 50 ag. Finishing 2nd canadian means nothing, finishing does…for me. When I first entered triathlon I discovered age group categories and was quite surprised. For me, you either get an ovr all podium or not. In my mind you can split man and woman and maybe the pros and amateurs. The award ceremony would be a lot more interesting without all those categories.
I dont say it’s wrong to create all those categories and prices since it encourages people but why do people need them? People ask for weight categories, time rewards (for ex if you finish an IM is less then 13h), etc. it’s getting kinda ridiculous. When you’re not able to compete with the best, you compete against yourself which is great and doesn’t need any rewards My favorite part of an IM is the end of it, the last racers to come in, the strugglers as Tom D called them in a great editorial. They sure got a lot of courage and they dont need any rewards other than having finished.
Who thinks all those categories are necessary and who thinks not?
"The award ceremony would be a lot more interesting without all those categories. "
Actual it would not be. The award ceremony would be a lot shorter and a lot less interesting. I would imagine that only a select few would stay to watch if only 6 or so people were getting awards.
the age group system is pretty key in determining Hawaii qualifying slots today. What would be your proposal for an alternative qualifying system. Top ~ 20 overall male/female pro/amateur finishers qualify for Hawaii? I’m not saying that would not be a fair system…in fact, it would likely create a more competitive amateur race in Kona, but it would likely not be as diverse of a race field in terms of age distribution.
we don’t. age groups are completely arbitrary. As far as awards, the thing that really cracks me up are the finisher’s medals. I’d rather have a nicer t-shirt.
you see the same sort of mentality in other accomplishments like climbing. Create a category that you can be first in. I’ve seen write-ups like “First canadian woman 30 to climb everest”.
Yeah I was also thinking of that…I think I would put categories for qualifying races but only for spots, no podiums or medals. The category could actually stay so people can compare themselves but no need for awards.
I was also thinking about the 20 first option. Hawaii would only have the best like most sports World Championship but that would take most of the magic out.
I agree with you 100%. I train and race for the fun/challenge of it. I’m sure if I thought of enough qualifiers, I could win every race I entered (First 38 year old that weighs less than 140 lbs that is from the US that is married with kids etc.) Yippee, I won my category!!!
I think that some people like the categories, and honestly that’s cool. Whatever keeps people interested in staying healthy. I just don’t understand it.
I couldn’t care less about having 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes in each age category. However, I like the age groups so that I can see where I finished with respect to other woman my age. Knowing that I’m 1.5 hours behind the top woman doesn’t really tell me much about how I’m doing.
There is a big difference in natural physical ability between someone at 25 and someone at 50.
If you want the 50 year olds to race, they have to have something to strive for, a goal. They have to have someone to compare to. Someone whose results could be achived…
totally agree w/ you about the hokie medals and bad t-shirts alot of races give out. i good do without some of those.
just out of curiosity, have any of the folks posting on this thread won there age group or at least finished in the top 3 in their AG in a race with say 500 or more people in it. For folks who have a competitive streak in them and some level of atheltic talent, but are not fast enough to compete with the pro’s it can be pretty motivating to set a goal like “I want to win my age group at a big race.” I definitely think this is a noteworthy sense of accomplishment. The age rgoup winners at a race like Columbia or Eagleman are pretty damn fast and very competitive. Some of these races within the race are very impressive in their own right and would go away if there were no age groups.
i just realized that I used ‘there’ in a place where I should have used ‘their’ in my previous post. To all those in the Dirty Secrets thread who confessed a pet peeve about this, I’m really not a stupid person, I just don’t proofread my posts.
you see the same sort of mentality in other accomplishments like climbing. Create a category that you can be first in. I’ve seen write-ups like “First canadian woman 30 to climb everest”.
Hey, in college I was the top white American in the triple jump at our league indoor championships one year. Really meant a lot to me, too.
Your “opinion” is a vast unfounded generalization…unless, of course, you are only speaking for yourself. That is why I asked the question “To whom,” which you have not answered.
I compete in races because they are fun and because they give me a good reason to train. I am not in immediate danger of winning any AG awards even if they go five deep like at Ann Arbor this Sunday. But, even though I am not going to “win” anything, I am going as fast as I can and trying to finish as well as I can. The AG placings are a really simple way of letting you see how well you are doing against others of similar potential and seeing whether you are improving or not. In every race that I have been in, there have also been overall placings so you can learn how well you did against the entire field if that is the only thing that you think is important. Since this is the case, why do away with AG categories and awards?
I also said it would “probably” mean more…I didn’t say it would definitely mean more to everybody.
So what’s a bigger accomplishment… Winning an olympic gold medal, or winning your age group at the local podunk race with < 200 people in the event?? Unless your local podunk race is filled with world class athlete’s, then I’m going to go with the olympic medal being more prestigous since it is a bit more elusive. I’m wililng to make another vast unfounded generalization… that is, most sane people would agree with that.
twist that around as much as you like. It’s not going to change MY OPINION that half the field coming home with a medal at a local race tends to cheapens the hardware.
Having said that…I can certainly see the need for masters and junior age groups. However, I don’t think that there needs to be several age groups for people between the ages of (or around) 18-40. Again…that is just my opinion. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong.
I wish I could be made of as pure and righteous stuff as you. But, alas, I can only strive for such purity of purpose. In the mean time, how would the awards ceremony be more interesting. Before the age group awards we get the overall finish awards. Doing it your way sure would make the ceremonies shorter but I don’t see how they would be more interesting. And no the “strugglers” who finish don’t “need” any other reward but, dude, knowing that if you keep training harder and better you might not only get the reward of finishing but maybe an AG placing…hell, that keeps an old guy goin’ And really, don’t think of it as one race with lots of age groups…think of it as lots of races between men and women in the same age range.