This is debatable 
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My point exactly. The emotional distress this has caused me! 
I went to go pick my tt bike from my mate’s shop just now. Traffic was backed up just getting out of my end of the town. Would’ve been chaos with all the grockles in Exmouth as it’s proper sunny. So less than 2 mins in, I just turned around, went home and had some lunch!
Bike will have to wait for this evening. I’ll be quicker running over and riding back.
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I think this is a good idea. A discount on the IM if booked at same time or within X number of months form 70.3???
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Presumably in those days demand for places at IM Oz outstripped supply? How many IM events are there in Australia now? 3 or 4?
There must be massively more racing slots available in IM races now than there was when I did my first race in 2006. In those days there was a lot less events to choose from and fields were generally capped at lower levels than they are now.
Back then it was also quite unusual to do more than one IM in a year unless you qualified for Kona (and even then a large proportion of the Kona field qualified at HIMs).
So now you’ve got more races and more people doing multiple events. I think with people’s finances getting tighter you’ll probably find that they go back to doing fewer branded events in a year and the one and dones are moving on to other things (ultras? 
).
I think there’ll be a natural contraction in the number of events, but they’ll still end up with more participants than they had 10-15 years ago 
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I would imagine as Business they did not have a good year globally & $$$$$
their premier event devalued ( Kona) moved locations lack of take up in slots.
CEO leaves
2024 races cancelled or change of distance in Europe & US.
tragic events @ Hamburg +Ireland
PTO muscling in on middle distance events
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They will still have more folk racing at IM Championship level from the 2 Nice/Kona days than the old 1 day Kona. The back office bean counters will be happy and won’t be calling for a return to 1 day Kona.
Oh and 1 World Championship athlete pays near double an athlete in a normal race in entry fees.
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I personally don’t think it’ll make that much difference. There’s so many parkruns around that area that whilst Battersea Park will be popular if it goes ahead, I don’t think the people who currently pay to enter more official events will stop entering those. The Sri Chinmoy events are only a few quid anyway. And the field who generally run these are top notch, looking for certified times.
No matter what people say, parkruns are not an official 5k and the times are largely meaningless, other than a comparison week to week. The proposed BP one is a prime case in point. Based on the submitted route, it’s going to be 4.8ish km. There’s a reason the officially certified 5k’s in the park have the finish line about 200m past the start line (so you pass it twice in “2 and a bit laps”). Parkrun are proposing 2 laps with the start and finish in the same place.
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Yes, IIRC the capacity at Forster was always thought to be about 1,000 - 1,200 but that obviously got sent higher when IM went full $$$.
I think Oz is at 3 fulls right now, Cairns, Port M and WA.
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True but they’d have twice the logistics and Greta tears as well?
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I think a ParkRun in Battersea Park would be hugely popular because there aren’t any in the area at the moment. I’ve never done a ParkRun because there aren’t any nearby. This part of South London is a bit of a ParkRun desert, but it’s got a huge potential audience
And I think it’s very short termist. Kona might get full for the men next year as the venue still has the pull , but seeing how they’ve been giving away female slots for Kona, I can’t see Nice next year getting anywhere near full.
Part of the prestige was the challenge in qualifying. That was true for both men and women. That illusion is now gone. For the men, it’s not a free for all this year so not completely derailed (plus, loads had already “qualified” and paid when they assumed it was Kona), but with how it’s been for women this year, what’s the incentive for them to pay twice as much for the WC when the bog standard Nice race a month or two before will have no greater barriers to entry, other than 
, than this “WC”. I can see the same for the men in 2025 wherever the non-Kona race ends up.
You also have to remember the big hit to “power couples”. I used to read about quite a few couples who’d both end up racing Kona. That was a massive cost saver for relevant people. The split location killed that also.
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I used to jog down to official Battersea Park 5ks as my warm up. It was about 2.5k. You’re about the same,if not less, from Clapham Common aren’t you? Is Battersea Park really that much closer?
I don’t disagree it’ll be popular, but I’m just saying I don’t think it’ll particularly hurt the paid entry events. If I was ever wanting to actually really test myself and record a time, I never contemplated parkrun. It was more just something to do if I had nothing else on
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There’s also the kerching from a 2 day 70.3 WC
Nice, StG had big fields and there were a lot of people wanting slots at Finland a couple of months ago.
Moving it round keeps it fresh, I’d fancy Taupo but CBA to drag my bike halfway around the world!
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70.3 worlds has always been more “participation” for me. It had a regional aspect, with an inevitable outcome that the field was more heavily weighted to those from the nearby countries who could get there easier. There was also a “destination” aspect for some, but in terms of qualifying if you were half decent you could find a way to get in. I mean, I did it! There are more races and a bigger number of slots so the numbers were just more favourable to eventually get in.
Kona was different. You had to be properly properly good, both male and female. Before my spate of injuries, it was a huge allure. There was part of the lure of Kona that fuelled the hours I put in, even if it wasn’t something I thought about consciously. But there was always a “what if” niggle in the back of my mind. If I’d ever lucked into a KQ there would have been no hesitation and I’d have figured out the money and logistics one way or another. That mystique has all but gone in my mind.
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Ironman has managed to survive in various corporate guises since 1978; it will just have to find an ‘even keel’ after the peak years. That may not involve PE in the future, and there may be fewer events, as there were in the 80-00s.
But why wasn’t that the default option anyway, you’re a triathlete!
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He could probably have thrown a swim in too somewhere, right?
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haha. It was when i dropped it off.
Honest, but boring, answer is i was going trial getting the bike in the boot of the car, either with the seats up or ‘posting’ it through the middle of the back seat as i’ve not got round to getting a bike rack. Then i can put all the family stuff up in the roof box.
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So option b) is you ride to Tenby while the family drive the car?
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I agree with your comments, but as you say it’s actually achievable for more people and they can then say they’re racing a world championship and Brownlee, Ryf… will be there. Most of their friends won’t have a clue but hear WC.
And it’s significantly less commitment to training.