The Ironman format remains unchanged, and the Hawaiian Ironman is still regarded as the most honored and prestigious triathlon event to win worldwide...
Although thousands of athletes worldwide compete at an Ironman event each year, the vast majority aim simply to just finish the course if they are first timers, or set a PR (personal record) time if they've raced this distance before. Only very talented athletes realistically compete for a spot in Hawaii [the World Championship], and just finishing an Ironman race is often the highlight of many triathletes' career.
I think she gets some bragging rights for such a great accomplishment, so I asked her to write up something for my blog. She sent me this interesting explanation of the race, how you qualify, and what her goals are:
Ironman (capital “I”) is a registered trademark of the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). WTC owns some Ironman races and licenses other triathlons to become official Ironman races. Although “ironman” is generally used synonymously with "2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile [run]", there are non-Ironman brand races of these same distances, but legally, they cannot be called Ironman or even ironman (I think they now use the term “full-distance”). Only Ironman brand races have qualifying spots for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. There are currently 22 Ironman races all over the world; most of the Ironman races in North America (7 races this year) will have a total of 70 Hawaii spots for age group athletes, while some of the international Ironmans have fewer participants and thus give away fewer spots to Hawaii. My age group (W35-39, usually the largest of the female age groups) usually has 4 spots. Most Ironman races have over 2000 participants and I believe the Hawaii race usually has about 1500-1600. In addition, there are about 30 half Ironman (exactly half of the full-distance: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) races internationally each year and about 8 of these offer qualifying spots for Hawaii with each age group having only 1-2 spots. Hawaii spots do “roll-down” so if someone passes on the spot or has already qualified at another race, the spot rolls down to the next place.
After my 2nd Ironman in 2007 when I was 7th in my age group, I realized I could possibly qualify for Hawaii if I could put together a good enough race (“good enough” is vague, I know, but generally for me it means not losing too much time on the bike portion and then, since running is my strength, running the marathon I know I’m capable of. After 4 Ironmans, I still have not run a good Ironman marathon but hopefully this year I have it more figured out!). In my last 3 Ironman races, I’ve been close to qualifying but just not quite close enough.
So in order to qualify, you have to finish high enough in your age group to get a qualifying spot either outright or via a roll-down. In my race this past weekend [a half-Ironman], I finished 3rd in my age group and there were 2 Hawaii spots (I expected only 1). The girl in 2nd place had already qualified so the spot rolled down to me and I took it! :) Half Ironman races with Hawaii spots are usually very competitive so I wasn’t even thinking about qualifying at this race. [My husband] and I just wanted to do this race in Hawaii because we love Hawaii. My main goal was to qualify at the Ironman I’m doing this July in Lake Placid. Even though the pressure is now off for Lake Placid, I still want to have a really strong race there and approach the race as if I’m still trying to qualify. I’m not going to change my training plan or take it easy in the race because I want to put together that “good enough” race. Doing the Hawaii Ironman will be a bonus, more for the experience of being there and participating, with no expectations or time goals.
Impressive!
Such dedication is indeed impressive. Success (finishing!) requires many virtues that apply elsewhere in life: defining goals objectively; persistence; and ambition.
ReplyDelete> "My age group (W35-39, usually the largest of the female age groups) . . ."
I had a close friend, Patricia, who was a triathlete in her late thirties. She said the hardest part for her was the swimming. She was so lean that she had trouble staying afloat. She did best on the running and the bicycling. She ran and biked in the hills here in Portland.
She was the manager of a hospital chem lab. In her "spare time" she also was a mountain climber, and eventually became an instructor. She loved the technical aspects of it -- and reveled in being surrounded by so many fit, intelligent men! She was living life fully.
I greatly admire athletes who are motivated selfishly.
Thanks for the post, Amy!
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