Just wondering if there's an advantage to registering in the Athena category vs. in my age group (45-49) in the women-only triathlon I'm doing next month. There are probably 4 times as many registered in the Athena category as in the age group, so that means there are 4 times as many who could finish ahead of me.

Since I'm hoping only to finish, not win, I don't think it really matters, but my guess is the women registered in the 45-49 group are the skinny, competitive ones, and the slow, fat triathletes register as Athena. Also, I'll only be 5 weeks away from 50 at the time of the race so psychologically it might be better if I don't feel I'm "competing" with 45 year olds!

I guess the question is, do those who qualify as Athena (not a club I'm terribly happy to be a member of) register that way, or do they stick with their age group?