Im Lou...

[Running Mommy]

Ok, call me bitter, but I just watched people cross the finish line at IM Lou (Louisville KY) who were declared an Ironman, given a medal and celebrated as if they had done the course in under 17 hours- as the rules state, when they really took WELL over 17 hours.
You see they had to modify the swim course at the last minute because of the flooding up north. Apparently the river current was about 2.5 mph. So they changed the mass start to a time trial start for safety sake. BUT then that meant that the race didn't end at midnight. It ended 17 hours after the last person hit the water, which ended up being 37 minutes later.
Sooo that gave the people who started say 15 minutes before the last swimmer in an extra 15 minutes. Or in one case 18 minutes..
This came to mind as being a possibility so I started taking note of bib #'s just to see, and sure enough we had people listed as 17:18. 17:04 etc..
So I wonder in the end if they will be DQ'ed??

I know this sounds petty and stupid, and it is. But seeing as how last year if I had an extra 10 minutes I would have made it in as well. sigh... Yeah, I can be that petty I guess...

Of course I know that I'd never be able to consider myself an "Ironman finisher at IMAZ 07" because I didn't make it in the alloted time.
Some people try to sugar coat it and say " As far as I'm concerned if you do the distance you are an Ironman". But I'm not one of them. It's part of the challenge- knowing that it's do or die-get in under 17 or try again.
In 2006 I did it, in 2007 I didn't, and I'm going to try again in 08.

I know in the end, it shouldn't matter to me. But I think it just irks me at the thought that there could be people out there flaunting their medals and declaring themselves Ironmen, when really, according to the rules.. they are not...
Maybe I'm bitter because they caught a break??
I heard that everyone made it out of the swim- with nearly a half hour to spare!! Now that NEVER happens! Heck my swim time there may have actually been reasonable!!
Shoot! I should have signed up!
Sigh... Now Wahine- SHE is an IRONMAN!! An Iron STUD even!!

[crazycanuck]

Weeeellll madame RM...You'll be a finisher at IM Western Australia no matter what!!!



C

[Wahine]

I agree with you RM, it's totally not fair. I had a very good friend of mine come up and do IMC on her 50th birthday, she was over time by 10 min. They let her come in over the line and gave her a medal. She gave it back. She didn't get an official finish either. She could've finished at Lou.

[silver]

No that doesn't seem right. I'm not sure if I really understand why they did that. I guess that if they cut off the clock at 17:00 hours, there could have been someone who started last...say 15 minutes in who actually finished in 17:00 (hours) but the finish clock would have been stopped and they still had 15 minutes more time to finish.

Anyway, you all who have completed the distance are still heros to me.

It was incredible to watch the racers finish up! Many had family members cross the line with them, some crying, some strong, some stumbling. wow!!!!

Incredible! the finish was in a neat place too! We talked to a lady who had done IM Florida and another one....Wisconsin maybe? and said that this one was very well done for a first time.

[Running Mommy]

I noticed that it looked like a cool area for the finish as well. They kept showing the neon signs of the hard rock cafe and bowling alley. It seemed a lot like Tempe (IMAZ).
The finish at IMAZ is very near Mill Ave which has a ton of little shops and restaurants.

Silver do you know how the hills are on that course? I had heard that they had some pretty good hills. I might consider this race at some point in the future, but hills always scare this flatlander.

I also heard that people were coming out of the swim covered in a brownish green sludge. It wasn't wetsuit legal apparently.

I'm glad they had a good first time race. I was at IMAZ the first year, and it went pretty good as well. But hard to pull off as they had last minute course changes as well. I do remember the local law enforcement calling Huddle (the race director) and telling him they needed him to stop the race because they were having traffic control issues! This was of course after all the pro's had already gotten out on the bike course.
Uhh yeah sure. I'll just tell them to STOP until you guys get your act together.... Right.....

[KSH]

Well, I knew about the TT start for the swim and for some odd reason I thought they would make everyone come in under 17 hours. So if you started at 7:00 AM your cut off was midnight. Sounds like they didn't track who got in the water first or late. So yea, that's kind of lame that those people who took longer than 17 hours are considered offical finishers. I'm sorry but I wouldn't take the medal. I would feel like I cheated to get it.

The swim was not wetsuit legal, the water was too warm. One of the selling points for me to do it in 2008!

The hills, I have heard they are not so bad. I live in Dallas, TX and it's pretty flat here too. If you read my thread where I say I signed up for IMKY 2008, you will see the review he gave of the hills. It's just all a matter of hill training.

[makbike]

Here is what I heard on the radio this afternoon regarding the start. According to the local guy who participated every participant had to wear a timing device which was actived when they entered the water and recorded their times along the way. I'm not and tri person so I don't know if this is norm but based on what he said in his interview the times were not adjusted. The started was handled the way it was due to river conditions and the point of entry they used was too narrow for all participants to spill into so for safety reasons they sent swimmers out one at at time. I would not doubt that the swimmers came in to shore covered in green slim, heck they were in the Ohio River. I do believe wet suits were premitted for they were asking for volunteers a couple of weeks ago to serve as wetsuit strippers.

To those to participated I tip my hat. For those who will join in the fun in the coming years I say go for it.

[Wahine]

The race would still be called wetsuit permitted or no on race day, depending on water temp. But they would have to have wetsuit strippers ready to go if they needed them.

I'm surprised they had to call for wetsuit strippers so late. That's a prime IM volunteer post. Think about it....

[Running Mommy]

Yep Mak- timing chips are the norm. We wear them on our ankles. There are timing mats throughout the course that record your time when you cross them. If you go on www.ironmanlive.com and click on the Louisville race banner, and then track an athlete, a box will pop up to enter the bib # enter bib 1539- or any random bib #. but then you will see what I mean. It has all the times posted.
I think once you finish the lag time is about 10-15 minutes before it hits the website. It's a very cool feature, and a great way to track your athlete from home. Besides the handy live web cam of course.

Hmmm... I may consider LOU in a couple of years, tho I'm not crazy about swimming in slime. But really the course isn't hilly? I had read recon reports from people training for it saying it was going to be hilly??
I think the humidity might do me in tho! Remember I'm a desert dweller. I thrive in 10% humidity.

[silver]

Here is what I heard on the radio this afternoon regarding the start. According to the local guy who participated every participant had to wear a timing device which was actived when they entered the water and recorded their times along the way. I'm not and tri person so I don't know if this is norm but based on what he said in his interview the times were not adjusted. The started was handled the way it was due to river conditions and the point of entry they used was too narrow for all participants to spill into so for safety reasons they sent swimmers out one at at time. I would not doubt that the swimmers came in to shore covered in green slim, heck they were in the Ohio River. I do believe wet suits were premitted for they were asking for volunteers a couple of weeks ago to serve as wetsuit strippers.

To those to participated I tip my hat. For those who will join in the fun in the coming years I say go for it.

It's normal for races to use that type of timing. They are timed with "chips" computer chips that you wear on my ankle. The chip is activated and your start time is recorded when you cross a mat just before you enter the water. That is your official start time. Then as you progress along the course you cross subsequent mats, recording your progress. This is how we are able to "follow" a participant along the course.

So for instance, say a person started at 7:05 and finished at 12:10 that would be recorded as taking 17:05 total time. Another person could have started at 7:15 and finished at the same time 12:10, but their total time would be 16:55.

I don't think that I'd feel right accepting the medal. I don't know how they could have "fixed" the problem, unless they checked each persons CHIP time as they crossed the finish line.

[silver]

Silver do you know how the hills are on that course? I had heard that they had some pretty good hills. I might consider this race at some point in the future, but hills always scare this flatlander.

I also heard that people were coming out of the swim covered in a brownish green sludge. It wasn't wetsuit legal apparently.

....

I heard consistent rolling hills. That's pretty consistent with what I know of the area.

Yeah, green sludge.....the Ohio River....yuck! I wouldn't swim in it unless I HAD to. But I come out of any open water swim around here with a green brownish sludge. Yeah, don't wear anything white if you want it stay white.

I asked this one lady (this was her third) how she liked the swim and she said that she loved it. Now that could have been simply because 2 miles of it was downstream with strong downstream currents.

[makbike]

I would say, having grown up in the area, that the course was hilly. Yes, there are rollers in this area but some of the roads used are just plan hilly. The IM was the talk at the club ride this evening and everyone agreed the course was, you guessed it . . . hilly.

I would never, never, never swim in the OHIO RIVER!

[Pika]

Interesting topic - It doesn't seem right that there would be official times after 17 hrs regardless of the swim condition- I mean 17 hrs counting from when you actually started. That would keep it fair.
I am certainly no expert as I just watched my first IM- but as we were waiting/hoping for Wahine to pass the 4KM to finish mark - a guy ran by.. really running fast- I expect he would have been looking at a 10.30 hr finish or so- a girl ran along and gave him a gel and said if he picked it up he could make his goal. Another spectator said that was cheating, the girl who gave the gel came back and said quite hautily that "they" had lost his stuff and he hadn't had any gel- the other girl said they always have extras for people and unless she was willing to stand there and give everyone who wanted one a gel - it was cheating. I don't think he was in line for a prize as the frontrunners had passed quite a while before- maybe an agegroup prize??? I dunno- it didn't seem like a big deal to me but I understand rules are rules and one should abide by them- being a total newbie spectator I didn't know that was against the rules- makes sense- I just didn't know.
hopefully next time- that couple will follow them.

[crazycanuck]

THe gent who accepted the gel could have been penalized for accepting outside assitance. That's not fair. Same goes for drafting, blocking & listening to IPODS on the bike/run. THe Tech officials will catch you one day!!! (hopefully it won't be me catching them.grrrr...)

I know for a fact that here in WA at all IM's & HIM's there's aid stations oh so close to eachother with coke, soup, water whatever..

As our coach tells all the folks training with her for any event.. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail..

C

[Running Mommy]

Yeah Pika- What CC said. No outside assistance. Sometimes it seems a bit overboard. One year my friend got a penalty for handing off his sunglasses to his wife on the run. But hey rules are rules. The only people you can accept assistance from are official volunteers. At IMAZ this year I had the keys to the car in my bento on the bike since I had driven to the race site solo. At the mount line I saw my husband and started to hand him the keys, but then I realized what I was doing and pulled my hand back. I didn't want to start my day like that.
And yes, there are PLENTY of things on the course. An aid station every mile on the run that has, gatorade, water, flat coke, chicken broth, grapes, bananas, orange slices, power bars, gels, pretzels, and cookies... Ummm I think that is ENOUGH!! It's like a freaking BUFFET every mile!
That girl was just being obnoxious. Too bad I wasn't there to bring her back to reality. I like it when I'm spectating at a race and someone who is uninformed such as that woman say "I know XXXXX. My brother (sister, mom, dad, spouse, sig other etc) does Ironman" with that haughty look about them. Then I inform them that I do IM as well. Tends to knock em back to reality.
Yes there are rules. Some seem silly or overboard, but they are there to level the playing field. And you never know who is out there gunning for a Kona slot. I think those spots are more coveted than WINNING the thing! Tho if you win, you get a slot as well as some $$...