TBL's Tara Costa to race Kona

Looks like she's signed up to do all three Rev3 events

You mean like everyone else that races The World Championship?

Touche..........IM Kona is a marketing wh**e.  See also, IM tatoo thread.

nm

Looks like Tara went for Rev3 last year. 

She did the Olympic and finished in 3:03:53.  http://iifvaweb1.iifdata.com/Knoxville2010/Athletes/AthleteResults.aspx?raceId=915&athleteId=128947

But I didn't see her in the results for the half or full.

The dates she lists are for last years races.  It's possible that NBC said, hey instead of doing the Rev3 races which we have no stake in, do Kona which we do have a stake in.  Or she decided it wasn't for her.  Since she said she was doing Kona, I assume it's the former.

Met her at that race after the finish. She's really, really nice. She had time for everyone that approached her and was genuinely interested in what they had to say.

During the run I was passing a couple dressed in matching trisuits and said "I've got $10 on her!". I had no idea who she was. Saw them after the race, realized she was the racer from TBL and went up to say "hi" and to make sure they weren't offended. They weren't, they thought it was funny.  Then she looked at my BT kit and said "I just registered for that site! I love it!"

So, she's a BTer and you're required to cheer for her.

BTW, she's not the first TBL contestant we've heard of that uses the site.  The ones I've been told of prefer to do so anonymously, but they're here.

I think it's great.  Good for her and good for the sport.

If everyone had to qualify, then yeah, she should too.  But, since they have human interest stories anyways, I think hers is a good interesting one and deserves to be there.

I think a lot of the BL contestants are whiners, but I really like her.

there have been several BL contestants over the seasons that I really liked to watch and she was one of them (along with Sam and Koli and Mike, who had the younger brother at home etc). I would be glad to watch Tara as Human interest story and it is also really good motivation for people working on weightloss.

If I remember right, isn't Tara the one who, on her first episode, said something like "toughen up buttercup, you're not the only fat girl anymore" to her teammate Laura? set the tone for her entire season!

I've got pictures of her and Mike at this race, just can't figure out how to post them from my iPhone. She was a little chunkier then than she appears in recent photos so she continues to lose.

I was a fan of Tara too, total Bad @$$ when it came to challenges.  Considering she is starting her foundation (which if I remember correctly she used the $5k she won to help start) I think Kona is excellent exposure.  I'm glad she's trying to use her fame for some good!

I, for one, will be cheering for her!

You mean legit qualify or lottery.  Have you seen the requirements to "qualify" at Kona?  Imagine getting into the Boston Marathon x100 on the hardness level.

I think this is great for the sport but Matt didn't finish last year... only missed it by 3 minutes.  He did say he wasn't as conditioned as he wanted to be at that time.  I think it's a bit premature to think she will rock this.  This is the superbowl of triathlon for a reason. 

LOL! That's awesome!

I'm probably the toughest critic on Tara...but she knows that as well... 

IM is all about the profit and while I wish there was just a *few* more lottery slots....   I got nothing to stand on..cause if I qualify...I'd be in.

The thing I like about triathlon unlike the other sports is that once the cannon goes off...well  Kona will be Kona for everyone, regardless of who you are or how you got in.  I've had friends who have missed the cutoffs and been crushed, only to come back the next year and finish.

Tara should be able to finish...its going to be close...and I sure hope she is doing a lot of bike training!  She should be able to make it past all the cutoff times based on her past times in the lower distance races.  Not going to be easy...but if it was easy it wouldn't be Kona, it would be the Florida IM.

So I say...Good for her!  I'm there to help her in anyway...if I can't go...let a mate go instead. 

Its just over 5 months...and I'll be watching the computer screen like I was last year...amazed at the finish!