Does this make the 70.3 and 5150 championships just another race?
hrmmm - points chasing for AG kona slots anyone?
/vomit
haha yea, im guessing this is their strategy to try and increase participation in the (failing) 5150 series, but what happens if the 5150 championship winner isn’t at (or near) the top of the series AG winner?
I know this has been hashed out in other threads, but the fundamental problem with the 5150 series is - that the overwhelming majority of them take an inordinate amount of resources to get to for a 2 hour race.
Why would I travel 4+ hours for a 2 hour race, when I can do a summer full of them and never have to sleep in a hotel?
so you would be a “WTC world Champion”, not recognize by any federation in the world, it’s like walmart issuing world Best shopper awards
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a few of the Kona AG winners already refer to themselves as World Champions. Ick.
so it would get even more complicated,
Athlete x wins kona AG and now is world Champion, Athlete Y wins ranking points and is world Champion, that’s a lot of WC walking around in speedos
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so it would get even more complicated,
Athlete x wins kona AG and now is world Champion, Athlete Y wins ranking points and is world Champion, that’s a lot of WC walking around in speedos
will they have WC of 5150, 70.3, and IM? As well as the series championships, Hy-Vee, Vegas, Kona? THAT will be alot of WC!
no it is one WC for all distance under WTC
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a few of the Kona AG winners already refer to themselves as World Champions. Ick.
Not any worse than Itu long course championship winners refereing themselves as World Champions… That race is so watered down most age groups you just show up at qualifier
and your in. So neither are really world champions… Kona is becoming world champions of the 1% because the 99% can’t afford the entry fee to 2 ironman races in a year anymore.
Why would I travel 4+ hours for a 2 hour race, when I can do a summer full of them and never have to sleep in a hotel?
If all it is to you is a race, then yes the increase in resources required isn’t worth it. But, the 5150’s and several other oly distance races that require huge travel expenses aren’t* just *races (or if they are you’re spoiled/ I would totally agree that it’s not worth it).
Collegiate Nationals requires more logistical support for one race than most schools require for the remainder of their races combined. I know of at least a few west coast schools that drove trailers of bikes 30+ hrs to Tuscaloosa, flew the rest of their team, coordinated transportation for everyone once in the city, got hotel rooms and food planned for huge teams of athletes, etc. My school had things relatively easy with ~10 athletes and an 8 1/2 hr drive, but still it’s not trivial sorting out transportation, lodging, etc. for that many people on a budget. Us Collegiate athletes solve way more logistics issues, jump through way more hoops, and commit (relatively speaking) way more of their time and resources in getting to Nationals than 99.9% of everyone else puts into getting to any other race. Is it worth it? Hell yeah. It’s not just a race. It’s the experience. Getting to travel with friends. Getting to race with friends.* Getting* to race with people from across the country who provide a level of competition far greater than that which you are accustomed to. It’s a privilege, and one that you pay for with extra effort, money, etc. I had a shitty race at Nationals, but I had more fun that weekend than I had in all of the local races I did this year combined.
Being the only one in my tri club who has done some 5150’s I understand your sentiment–nobody will come race with me for exactly the reason you mention. They say the exact same thing. I can’t help but think, though, that if they just tried one high production value race they would be hooked. I know I am. That’s not to say the local races aren’t great–they are. Many of them are better events than some of the 5150’s I’ve raced, but there’s just something about going all in on one race (regardless of distance), putting all your eggs in one (race’s) basket and laying it all on the line that gives a rush like nothing else.
Zack, why does it have to be a High production, $$$ to go all out, i go all the way every time i step on the starting line, WTC or Joe Blow production, some of the better triathletes don’t race the high production events, or have $5k bikes,
$$$ production has nothing to do with field quality
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It’s a mental thing. I’m just saying you focus it on one race. Knowing that I’ve committed more time-wise, and financially to one race affects the way I think about the race. It feels like there’s “more on the line.” It’s the difference between “training” and “training for something.” That’s all I’m saying. Of course, some people don’t do better when they put a lot of pressure on themselves, but for me it works…
a few of the Kona AG winners already refer to themselves as World Champions. Ick.
“World Champion®” would be more appropriate.
I knew a dude who won his age group at the sprint race at AG Nats a few years ago, and he referred to himself as “The Champ” for a while after that.
I find no additional satisfaction in winning my age group. I don’t care how many people I beat, I only care about how many people beat me…
I listened to IM Talk while on the trainer today. Interview with Andrew Messick and he talked about this possibly in 2012. AG’er rankings using IM - 70.3 & 5150.
He mentioned possible Kona slots tied to rankings. The guys did not pursue that.
I don’t like that idea.
If you could win that, you prolly can qualify for Kona without doing it by racing a bunch of WTC events all around the country (globe) to collect points.
Does this make the 70.3 and 5150 championships just another race?
Let me guess…Now I will start seeing M-dot logos with their “rank” tattooed onto their ankle?
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