new Lottery for Kona (Page 4)

*I would think* that a very high percentage of people who already have 12 IM finishes have already raced Kona.  It is my understanding that if you have ever raced Kona, you are no longer eligible for the 12 finishes rule.  That would make the list considerably shorter.

Very surprised by some of the comments on this thread.  First of all, I have never entered the lottery as I always wanted to qualify outright.  This is a personal choice however and its very disheartening to me that people think this race should be about only those that qualify.  I absolutely do not begrudge the lottery winners whatsoever.  This race did NOT start as a World Championship race and its still a field of 2000+ amateurs.  This is not the PGA Championship, where you must be a professional to play.  Professional triathletes still have to qualify, this means there are guys that can legit go 8:20 in an Ironman and not be Kona eligible.  So that 41 year old type A part time jock, full time lawyer that goes 10:20 and "qualifies" gets in before the 8:20 pro trying earn a living in the sport.  I don't hear pro's griping about this, what gives the lawyer the right to gripe about a lottery winner, or as it seems will soon be the case a, "loyalty" participant?   It isn't the best 2000 triathletes in world and never has been.  Deal with it.  If not for a bunch of crazy weekend warrior athletes this race/sport would not exist.  We would all do well to remember this, the "everyman" effectively gave a bunch of good but not great single sport athletes a means to compete as world class athletes.  They gave us office slugs a goal to try to reach or for some a second chance to become an athlete. 

The other aspect of this is that WTC is still a business.  After 3 less than stellar IMs, I had all but given up the dream of qualifying and as I said didn't really want to go via lottery.  The lure of continuing to do IM races and never getting a payoff was more than I was willing to sacrifice.  A "loyalty" basically locks me in for probably a lifetime.  I now feel as though I can continue to try to qualify, but if I fall short, I would very likely take my loyalty spot.  For those that think 12 Ironmans is easy, I suggest you come back after you have finished 3.  12 is a lot! And takes a lot of sacrifice over a long period of time.  Finally, as to the supply of 12x finishers outpacing the number eligible slots.  WTC still controls the gates.  They can add another step in qualifying, they can raise prices, they can do a lot of things before needing to rethink the rule.  In the meantime, they just cut the legs out from under some of the other race organizers trying to nibble off market share.

Nothing bad about this change in my opinion.    

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