Why the British are better triathletes ... (Page 2)

I see most people on the way home from work running with backpacks on and bikes dodging lorries (trucks) every day. So when they do get to the race venue with closed roads (sometimes) and carrying nothing no backpack, it's like a little vacation for them. A stroll in the park.

I've done a couple of IM races in Europe.  There is definitely a different vibe than races in the US.

In the US, we (talking the global "we") want instant gratification and we don't want to have to earn something before we get the gratification.  I believe in Europe the thought is I won't do "that" (whatever "that" may be), until I can do it well.

Let's take marathon for example.  Not that many years ago the cut off time was generally 6 hours.  That kept me from doing a marathon because at the time, I didn't feel I had the time to train properly to finish in 6 hours.

Now the cut off is generally 8 hours.  When I was into backbacking, it was generally accepted that a backbacker could travel a mile in 20-22 minutes.  Not a forced march pace, but a decent hiking pace.

An 8 hour marathon is about an 18 minute mile.  Just slightly slower than a backpacker's pace and without a loaded backpack.

"We" want the gratification of telling people we completed a marathon because we were able to collect a finisher's medal.  The day after a European IM, you don't see a large crowd of people draped in finisher's shirts, medals, and finisher caps roaming the streets like you do after a US IM.  They got their gratification the day before when they crossed the finish line.