IM Chatanooga
I'm excited about this race. I was 99% sure next year would be an off year, but now I'm only 90% sure.
The course looks fast...surprising for that terrain, but they found a relatively flat bike and run course.
A number of things are enticing:
50 Kona slots...higher chance for those close enough to sniff a KQ but not quite there.
Downstream swim - benefits the average to below average swimmer (not me unfortunately for this race).
Timing...with only a few weeks between this and Kona...many of the fast AGers will not likely race IMChoo and IMKona so the pointy end of the field may be a bit less pointy. Couple that with the 50 slots and a KQ starts to look a lot more likely.
On a similar note...I have a contrarian theory as it relates to those hunting for a KQ. As the new races pop up and folks strategize on how to maximize their chances they will find that everyone else in their shoes is doing the same thing. As a result, perhaps some of the formerly 'difficult to qualify' races will now in fact be easier.
Discuss.
Comments
Re Kona --
I know what it's like in among the younger AGs, but I can tell you that in 40-49 AG's you can assume that everyone at the pointy end is very fast, there are many of them, and you need to bring your AAA+++ game to any race. No such thing as cherrypicking
Now, get off my lawn!!
I'm probably not in for this race next year, but this offers me an IM branded race 8 hours away from my house which is nice. Next closest IM race is IMLP at about 9:00 but with traffic (95N stinks)...My point is, a race in this location might again ease up on the IMLP draw kind of like IMMT did two years ago.
Plus it doesn't hurt that it's only 1.5 hour drive from here too
I thought I had my plan all laid out for next year, but now I'm not so sure!
In terms of KQ, lots and lots of talk about IM going to an AG points qualification system instead of current method. You can't just keep adding races indefinitely and have them all roughly have the same number of slots, presumably there's some maximum capacity for Kona that they can't stretch forever.
The 50 KQ slots thing of course though is just a first-year draw, they did the same for Whistler this year to try an draw people from Challenge, expect normal slots the following year if we are still on the slot system.As for the race itself, I see this as a possible death knell to IMLOU. They serve roughly the same geographic region (~4 hours apart), have very similar swim formats, and from what I gather, Chattanooga is quite a bit more scenic and with a much greater probability of better weather than IMLOU. The average high for IMLOU's date is 89 degrees, the average daily high for Chattanooga's race is 79 degrees. There's a pretty big difference between spending your day in the 70s versus the upper the 80s and 90s.
Considering IMLOU already likely has the slowest sell out on the US circuit, I wonder about it's long term future if this new race takes off. I don't expect LOU to get axed right away, but St George taught us that WTC isn't afraid to pull the plug on venues that are even moderately successful, seems to be their model is sell-out or bust.
I'm actually have lunch with Joanne right now and talking about doing a camp out there along our WI, LT, LP format. I could probably get a good rate on 2x 10yo to work the camp with her...
Love the mention of great road surface... Course sounds fast.
The date is too close to KONA only 2 weeks.
REF KONA slots I thought 50 was the norm? They have 100 at Canada this year and 75 at IMMT..... WTC was bumping them up on the inaugural event like they did for IMTX first year and then pulling the number back to 50.
Very Interested in IMCHOO
Meandering thoughts on hearing about another new Ironman...Where will it all end ??? There are now 13 North American WTC IM races, 30 around the world... 68,000 competitors, majority or races sell pout in hours or minutes, etc...The big limiter of slots to Kona is the size of the Pier on which the bikes sit. With creative use of the space around the hotel next door, they might be able to get as many as 300 more bikes in there. Let's say an upper limit of 1800 AG slots, apart from pros, lottery, comps to sponsors, etc. ... There is a minimum of 22 slots needed to give one to each AG, but I doubt that would fly with 30-, 40-, and 50 somethings. So let's say 50 is the number needed to keep interest up among the paying customers. That yields a max of 1800/50 or 36 races. Given the pace of new races the past 2-3 years, we are indeed butting up against the day when something other than slots at all IM races will be the way to qualify for Kona... We've already got 3 regional championships, Europe, NA, and Asia-Pacific. Is a two step process in the future? Or maybe two levels of races, some which are qualifiers and some which are not? Or a multi-year process, some rolling method of points earned in multiple races over a 2, 3, or 4 year time frame?
The mind boggles, the wallet empties.
Pulled this off the slowtwitch thread -- Evidently it was posted by the race director Brian Myrick
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/265712445
Any idea when they open to register?
Rich will the camp be same weekend as IMMT?
Husband doing that and I am childcare/Sherpa/Cheering
Any thoughts on water chop?
I am NOT a swimmer!!!!