Im Lou...

[Running Mommy]

Thank YOU! That is what I'm saying... It just seems like IM is getting "watered down" so to speak. Yes I'm slow. I'm a full value athlete. BUT I never go into a race with a cut off that I'm not sure I could make.
There are certain marathons that I don't run because they have a 6 hour time cut off, and I know I'd be pushing it.
Just like I would never run the Boston marathon on a charity slot. I respect that race too much. I know I'll NEVER be fast enough to qualify, so I respect those who do even more. That race is about qualifying to get in, and the work that runners put into qualifying- or BQing in marathon speak.
And as with what happened in April, I pulled myself off the course because I knew I wouldn't make it in time.
I guess the popularity of IM has made it so that it's on a lot of peoples "to do once before I die list" and the rules are just silly details. "heck, I did the distance, so I'm an Ironman. No matter that I took an hour longer than I was suppose to, they still gave me a medal"...
NO, sorry, you are NOT.
And I blame the race organization for this. THEY should not be giving out medals like that. It smacks those of us who go out there and bust our butts to make it in under 17 in the face. I'm not saying that this person didn't give it their all. But EIGHTEEN hours??!! I'll have to read their RR.

Ok let me edit this to say I just went and read that RR. The lady had a MRSA infection in her hoo haa region (or so it sounded) and raced anyway?? That IMO is just plain DUMB! MRSA can kill you. To go out and do an IM and compromise your system even more?? Yeah I guess you could say she was determined, but I would have pulled the plug. Sometimes Shat happens and you have to DNS. Sucks, but it's life...
And I guess I say kudos for having the moxie to finish, but I stand by my contention that she should not have been given a medal.
I feel for her, really I do. But I know FULL WELL what it feels like to walk past the finishline, hearing Mike Reilly call the kids in, seeing the finishers milling around with their medals, and have to hand in your chip and walk away after 15 hours of fighting the wind, and illness, etc... Yes, sometimes life just SUCKS. But that is what makes us who we are. How we handle our disappointments as well as our triumphs.