WSJ Triathlon Article

The fastest growing forms of triathlon are those where the requirements are a bit lax: There are triathlons for kids, relay triathlons completed by teams of two or three, "Clydesdale" divisions for men who weigh more than 200 pounds, and events that allow contestants to run less than two miles or swim with the aid of a Styrofoam noodle.

People still have to run,swim,bike.  Doesn't matter if they are a Clydesdale or not.  What does a Bit Lax mean?

I bet the author of the article is a disgruntled golfer/bridge player.

Ok, were they kidding about the Noodle comment? Seriously? Are there races that do this? If they do, I have to agree with that part of the article.

You can get upset, but I don't necessarily like relays either for shorter races unless there is a reason (recovery, not ready for long distance, etc).

Ms. Rossman contacted me earlier this summer, wanting to interview me for an article she was writing on sprint triathlons. We swapped voice mails but never hooked up. I'm assuming she got my contact info off of this website, and that this is the article.

She does focus on the money aspect, doesn't she? I guess it IS the WSJ.

My last tri was a mini-sprint, 200yd/8mi/2mi, very beginner friendly, tons of kids. Just can't understand why they needed the relay option in something so short. Actually, I have trouble with the relay concept altogether. If you want to run, there are running events. Ditto swim and bike. If you want to tri, do all three.

Still, they don't particularly bother me, so live and let live. BTW, I beat all of the relay teams in this mini.

Thanks bear, at least you knew what I was trying to say.

I had some friends do the realy for our local half-iron. They would have done the whole, but had just bought bikes and were not ready. I did not have a problem with this, they would have done a whole Olympic, but that wasn't the option.

IMHO, I think its great for beginners to feel comfortable at sprint or mini sprint. However, if flotation devices are permitted for "safety reaons" I dont think its very safe for them to participate in the first place-and the orgainzers have to worry about people who cant swim. Take some lessons, practice, then participate.

I believe Danskin does.  IMO, although I'm slow, I'm a serious enough racer that thinking of looking out there and seeing a bunch of people floating along with noodles, just kinda creeps me out.  More power to them, but I just wouldn't do a race where they allowed something like that.

However, I feel pretty much the same way about a pool swim.  If I'm not jumping into some body of water with about a million other people, it just wouldn't feel right.

I also believe that some of the kid specific triathlons allow noodles.  However, this one makes more sense to me - as kids, hopefully at least, are in it just for the fun of it.

You know, I just don't get why this is such a big deal.

Running - you have kids "fun runs", 5k, 10k, half-mary, mary, ultra-mary - and infinite variations, and people do whatever they want to.  It doesn't reduce the respect for the marathon runner that someone else did a 5k.

So, what's the big deal with different distances/formats in triathlon?

The Danskin doesn't allow racers to swim with noodles. They do have a program called "Swim Angels", where volunteers with noodles are spaced around the course. If anyone panics or has trouble, they can grab a noodle and stay near an angel, but they aren't allowed to make forward progress with the noodle -- just rest. I saw a very few of the 1700 racers in my Danskin making use of the Angel program - it seems to be more of a backup safety measure, and is probably a wise idea in a race where about half the participants are first-timers.

I, for one, think sprints are great. Knowing this distance existed is a perfect goal for a beginner who's out of shape, and it's still a good distance for even experienced athletes to work on speed, transitions, etc. I have to laugh at anyone who considers even a short triathlon "soft". When I was training up for my first race, people would be impressed at the word "triathlon" and then ask about the distances. When I said "half-mile swim, 12-mile bike, 5K run", many people would dismissively say "oh! yeah, that's no problem." However, I don't think any one of these people could have raced with me on race day. It's one thing to say "that sounds easy," and quite another to put in the hundreds and hundreds of training hours that make you able to show a decent performance over any race distance. The race is great, but after all, don't we get a lot more out of the ongoing training and conditioning than out of race day itself?

Oh, ok. That is different. I was under the impression, it was "hey, come do our race even if you can't swim. You can use a noodle! and then call yourself a triathlete!"

I'd sum up the tone of the writer as "snarky". She's got a chip on her shoulder about something having to do with triathlon, or athletics in general.

Maybe I did something to offend her at Cayuga Lake this year.

I think this exposure is good for our sport and it only means that regarding of the format (distance) we are gaining "lots" of attention out there! Who cares if someone spend $15,000.00 on equipment and training or only $500.00 We all have different goals, purchasing power and personal preferences (like in any other activity in life) Who cares if someone call him/herself an ironman, triathlete or even superman. At the end the day, the only thing that matters is the growth of our sport, having more and better races as well as having more people living healthier lives.

Great point! More races, more fun for everyone.

That's what made me guffaw.

Not everyone runner runs marathons. Not every triathlete does Ironmans.

Unless, of course, you are talking to someone who "ran a 5k marathon once".