Super write up and great race @Matthew_Spooner
Blimey, Rick Stein has dropped some weight! 
Fantastic report and amazing execution @Matthew_Spooner
Come to Wales and show us how it’s done 
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Nice report Matt and we’ll done again - I loved seeing your time splits moving through the field!
I swim slowly for the entertainment value 
It would be so boring if I came out of the swim near the front, then saw no one on the bike or run
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That was a really enjoyable read and report of your trip to Kona and the race itself. Thanks for sharing it and well done on a superbly executed race.
That’s a fantastic race report
Your a brill cyclist, and a very very good runner.
Running 1.5 k as soon as you wake up is bizarre … but if it works for you.
Great pics too
I’m touching a lot of wood… however, I have never had to visit the toilet on any event fro a crap… stopped for a pee a few time, however, I usually just piss in my pants in a race… practice for when I get older
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Thanks, it’s often said that when you achieve a goal like this that it is an anticlimax, however, for me, I am still on a high. I may or may not go back, however, it’s by no means the end of a journey, I am busy planning my next adventure
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Great write up Matt and well done
Well done @Matthew_Spooner , enjoyed following your journey & reading your Kona experience.
In IM races do you have to take the drafting penlty at the next penalty tent you come to?
Bike course:
Blue Card
1st BLUE CARD- Penalty 5:00 2nd BLUE CARD- Penalty 10:00 3rd BLUE CARD- DSQ Penalty
Penalty served in a penalty tent on the bike course
Yellow Card
60 second Stop and Go penalty served next to the referee.
Red Card
Disqualification (DSQ).
/—-
THE RACE OFFICIAL WILL:
- Notify you that you have received either a BLUE CARD for drafting and littering or a YELLOW CARD for any other penalty. The official will show you the corresponding-colored card.
- Instruct you to report to the next penalty tent (PT) on the course. There will be at least two PTs on the course.
THE ATHLETE WILL:
- Report to the next PT and tell the PT Official whether you were shown a BLUE CARD or a YELLOW CARD. If you fail to report to the next PT, you will be disqualified.
——Athletes Guide IM Cascais
No penalty information given for the other legs or transition, interestingly.
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and off to Nice you go in 2023 - well, one sex anyway.
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GTN said that was happening a few days ago but I’m not sure they believed it!
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So all men that qualified thinking they were going to Kona in 2023 are going to Nice instead?
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seems that way. Imagine if you’d already dropped a deposit on hotels etc
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That’s mental. Think of all the people the turned down a Kona 23 slot that would’ve bitten your hand off for a Nice slot!
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Isn’t @TROSaracen due to race?
That’s massive though
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didn’t @Matthew_Spooner already book his hotel? I’m sure lots of folk would’ve anyway
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Yeah, TRO is due to go next year, not sure about Matt, he went this year but think he fancied it next year. I’ve got a mate who has qualified as well. Actually, Matt just signed up for Wales didn’t he, the weekend before?
I’d be pretty miffed if I’d qualified and paid for the Kona experience and think I’d be expecting the opportunity to wait another year, they’ll get some grief over this if they don’t.
Long term I think it’s for the best and think it will end up maybe on a 3-year rotation with Kona and possibly St George and\or somewhere else. But, as Pacha says I think I’d rather do Nice for convenience sake.
Although, as per the article, races around early September might suffer.
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