How about this - assume the winner of each qualifying race is a top pro having a good day. Make the qualifying times be a percentage of the winning time. That would balance out the quick and slow courses. The actual percentage required would vary by age group.
Of course, there would then be the temptation to try and find the most obscure races with the weakest pro fields…
Because we are all equal and all get A’s just for entering and anyone who doesn’t agree is an intolerant elitist. Qualifying times is bad for the self esteem of those not willing to train too hard, and we can’t have that, it just wouldn’t be right.
Opps, sorry I forgot, everyone should get the top medal in any race they enter. :o)
Dave
This has absolutely NOTHING to do with money…With a marathon, they can simply line the athletes up further from the start line. With a tri, the transition area in most places can only be so big. Most tris have a field limit because that’s all they can fit in transition. There is also a limit to the # of bikes you can put out on the course and be safe. MUCH different than a marathon.
So, if you have a time qualification, what happens if 10,000 people qualify under the time guidelines and you have room in transition for only 2000???
It’s just not feasible. People get angry when they get shut out of our races, thinking it’s some arbitrary number I’ve imposed. It’s not. That’s the number of people I can fit in my transition area, and there’s just a finite amount of room. It’s also the # we feel comfortable putting on the bike course…Pretty simple.
Look at Kona a few years ago when they moved transition…they were able to come up with a bit more room…Voila, a few more qualifying spots for the race…
It’d be GREAT to have it based on time qualification, and we could take 10,000 people if they all qualfied. Lots o’ $$$$$$$$$$.
Don’t always assume that the reason behind this stuff is $$$$$$…
BTW, some of the races DO have qualifying time standards: Age group Nationals, Halfmax Championships, etc. The biggest potential issue is the the issue outlined above. Not sure what happens if 4000 decide they’ll go to the Championships when there is only room for 2000 in transition…
Where are there qualifying time standards for AG nationals? I read it was either 1st place in your AG, or top 10%, at a USAT event.
Dave
My bad… it’s NOT for Age Group nationals…But, HalfMax Championships is offers both a time-based qualification and a % of age group qualification…
Okay, I had heard of that.
Dave
Any of the USAT championships, Hawaii, things like this. Folks seems to always say they want these events to truely meet a standard. I know that I am very proud of my Boston qualification, not because I got a roll down spot or something, but that
Dave
"basically every person there has met a minimum standard and they truely are the best. "
Not true. There are many racers who got in to the Boston Marathon on a charity bib, not by qualifying time.
Yep, many, but whats the percentage? Pretty small I believe.
Dave
Agreed, I race run races similar to bike races. I would rather win then make it a Time Trial. Time is not important in races only placing. Maybe then there should be a way to move through the ranks similar to baseball. You could have races of all lengths that are A, AA, AAA, and so forth. You have to beat your peers to move up to the next group. Even force the RD to uphold their higher standard. If they receive good/bad reviews then they get moved up or down in class.
Another idea…base it only on Age Graded times.
What if you qualified on a course that had a net downhill :). Is that legal Just Kidding. Great run last weekend!!! And you should be proud.
Long Jumpers and sprinters can’t have wind and they need a specific standard to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
The CIM is one of the few courses that market they are one of the fastest to qualify for Boston. Napa is another one thats fast.
Another thing I do enjoy with these run races is I can do age grading and compete against others at work and we can all be on a level playing field. If distances could be accurate on Tri courses, maybe we could consider the same thing, but, I dont know if I have ever been on the same course with the same swim distance twice. :o)
Dave
This topic often comes up and I don’t understand why it isn’t as simple as this: each country has a premier IM race that can only be entered by qualifying at lesser IMs or 1/2 IMs in that country (as Aust does). This event would then become the official IM championship for that country To qualify for the “world championship” at Kona, you can only do so via a country’s championship race (not the other rats and mice ones held within that country) various ways to decide what each country’s number of Kona slots are - be it population, number of registered triathletes etc. I also don’t see a problem with foreign nationals qualifying at local country championships if they are prepared to make the effort to race there.
To me this would make the system both fairer and also more prestigious, both at the country IM championship and Kona.
Maybe I am too simple
So true. Seen it in marathons where a lot of the runners around here are just chosing fast and uninteresting marathons to try and BQ. I always suggest interesting and maybe not as easy marathons.