Influencers…
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haha how can that be, who’s not interested in beer, DIY and ranting about jobs and injuries 
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worms in a can moment.
On reflection…this could either go one of two ways…she could be swept up in the magic and, irrespective of the outcome, post on social media positively about her journey…
or she could be hauled into the safety boat if she doesn’t make the swim or broiled alive long before she reaches the bike turnaround or stuck in an endless ride against the wind on the way back…and post about the misery…
or (ok three then) all the above and post how unfair the cut offs are and how she feels cheated out of her rightful place on the (finishers) podium…
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When someone can finish last in their age group and close to cut offs and yet ‘qualify’ for the WC… something seems amiss.
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Kona is getting like the whole GeeeeBeeeee thing now; I was only put off that because of the idiots in my ex club getting on the instasnapbooks shouting about how they were racing elite, and crowd funding because they had to “fund themselves” after being “selected” to race for their country or were racing with the brownlees etc. and banging on about how great beetroot.com was after getting a box of beet gels in exchange for 10 weekends at Trade Fairs 
I remember (in the old days ) when the worlds were at Hyde Pk and someone in my AG at my then club did a sub 2 hr Oly to get in, proper achievement and not one “bigup on facie” ! 5 years later and a guy ran around a 30min 5k in a duathlon to get in and spent month “crowd sourcing” to pay his trip. Kona/WC was always as the former, you had to be better than good, almost elite level, or a 45yr old yank on T to get in, now its the same shouty “types” bigging that up after coming 20/25 in an AG barely making cut off (I alluded to it last year when i see the same shouty GeeBee types from my ex club suddenly going to Kona after coming 10/10 at Ironman North Korea)
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I think the crucial thing will be men’s Kona 2024.
It was obvious that 2,200 Kona slots fir women was a massive expansion and this would happen.
But men have gone from c1700 odd Kona slots per year to c2300 every two years.
In other words if the same number want to Q it’s actually harder. But if there are men’s Kona slots in your registration backpack next year then the mystique of Kona is probably gone for good - just means no one’s interested any more.
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that depends on much the event was valued at a participation level in the first place…
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My wife reminded me yesterday of the IM Legacy programme where you have to do 10 (or was it 12) IM’s and then you’d get an entry to the World Champs in Kona to experience this iconic race. Slower athletes who had no chance of finishing near the top of their age group would see this as their only way of getting there. Kona only seemed to have rich Americans, really fast age groupers and some legacy athletes. It seemed special. Now if you pick the “right” IM to enter it seems you’ve got a mighty good chance of getting to go to Kona if you just make it to the finish line and turn up to the prize giving (with an open wallet).
When someone says they’ve qualified for Kona I’d always have thought they were very good racers in their age group without having to ask them. Now for me these stories of endless rolldowns have really made the race lose it’s appeal and I feel sad for legacy athletes who eventually get to Kona and get a very different experience.
This is a very good observation. I look forward to seeing how the next 12 months unfold.
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I’m sure it was Towel who commented after doing it about how disappointing the race was anyway, comment was something like “got to finish , here is your medal now fuck off”.
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so it was a race for the very rich and now it’s a race for the rich…
i don’t think the race was any better or worse for legacy athletes and it is some of those legacy athletes who must be hanging around to pick up a roll down…
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I think the crucial thing is wealth.
Everyone is poorer, literally everyone on a global scale, than they were twenty years ago. All triathlon has to do is survive until the wealth rebounds and be relevant. If kids thirty years ago did a bit of swimming biking and running, triathlon will be okay.
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It’s called IronMAN for a reason
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Nice try…
The proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty has more than halved in the last 20 years.
In fact, rates of extreme poverty have dropped faster than ever before over the last two decades – from 29.5% of the world’s population in 1997 to just 9.1% in 2017.
Data source: World Bank and Gapminder
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Not true at the top end of the scale either…
The ‘middle’ is where it’s felt most. Yes that describes a big chunk.
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Get a life!
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The relevant chunk that enter Ironman races.
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If we are talking global scale, then I’d argue it’s the wealtier chunk who enter ironman races
Distribution of Global Wealth
| Income | Share of global adults |
|---|---|
| <$10,000 | 53.2% |
| $10,000+ | 46.8% |
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here’s the link:
https://www.zippia.com/advice/average-income-worldwide/
median income per household memnber $3,000.
median Ironman entry fee, what, now $700+ after licence and processing fees??? Not sure of this exact figure.
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