Tri-Scene Update

What's new in the triathlon scene? Well, a few things this week that I thought were worth note. -First- Rev3 has started a weekly radio show on BlogTalk Radio at 8pm eastern (that's 6pm mountain). It will be Wednesday nights with Heather Gollnick and Simply Stu doign the interviewing. Tonight is insane. They are interviewing Julie Dibens. Julie Dibens is the only woman to have finished ahead of Chrissy Wellington in 2 years (Boulder Long Course). She won Clearwater and if you want to ask her questions, you can call in! The number to call is here. It should be a great Q&A session! I'm trying to think of something good to ask.

-Second- WTC has started screwing with it's rules again. Remember a few months ago when they came out and said "NO COMPRESSION SOCKS" in Ironman ever ever again? Then a few weeks later, they were like "Ok, you can wear them, we were just being lame". Well, they are back to their old tricks.

They have decided that for the professional athletes they will no longer be awarded a Kona slot unless they are within 5% of the winning time. So if there are two slots and the 2nd place chick isn't within 5% (if Chrissy or Julie are racing then she most likely won't be) then she won't get the slot. If the slot rolls past the 5% time...it's a dead slot.

If that wasn't harsh enough, they also instituted a rule saying that if you aren't within 8% of the winning time, you don't get a paycheck. Your money is redistributed to those who were within the 8%.

The top dudes in the sport (you can guess who I'm talking about) have come forth on twitter saying they support the change. Uhhh, duh? More money for them, they not a developing pro any more. I just wish they would look forward a bit. I'm not cool with the rule. I look up to pro's like Bree Wee who aren't always out there within 8% of Chrissy, but they are still clearly pros, they train like pros, they behave like pros, they race like pros. Plus, the last thing I want is them back in my age group (Eek).

I'm just hoping that Rev3 can grow quickly enough to be an alternative solution to WTC races. I'm thinking that REV3 should bring back "the original" Ironman on Oahu where it all started in the beginning, and call it the "Original World Championships".

I'm not sure how, but there needs to be a way to support the pros in our sport better. We age groupers totally geek out on the pros, and I'm one of them. Did you know that if you make it to the first round of the US Open and you loose, you walk home with $14,000 after taxes? In triathlon, that's a phenomenal day for a top level pro who wins a World Championship. Now, you can't tell me that tennis is more exciting on TV than triathlon, or that more people play recreational tennis than do recreational triathlons?

Help, I'm confused? Maybe this is what I should ask Julie tonight on the Phone....how can we as age groupers support and help the pros make a sustainable living?