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If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned it? (Page 4)
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| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned it? | Rss Feed  |
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 2013-09-04 7:42 AM in reply to: nancylee |
Member  5452    NC |  Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earnedOriginally posted by nancylee You did the training, you finished the race, ... . 1. Maybe, maybe not. 2. No, you didn't. |
| 2013-09-05 11:36 AM in reply to: 0 |
Expert 1170 Berkley, MI | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by kstater39 Amazing how we can get so elitist when maybe we should thrive on each others accomplishments progressing the sport. This. I understand cut-off's and requirements due to course safety and the like. I get it. But, if you complete the distance then you completed the distance. I would and will never take away from someone's accomplishments due to how long it took them to finish. Things happen. If you go out and run 26.2 miles in a race but miss the cut off, I do not think that means that you did not just run a marathon. If you do a complete 140.6 miles in an Iron distanced race, but do it in over 17 hours, I would still consider that person an Ironman. They finish 140.6 miles. And while they do not have an official time for their effort - they are still very much a part of the Ironman story. My dear friend completed Ironman Florida... in 17 hours and 6 minutes. She has no official finish time, but she did the full 140.6 miles (actually 2 miles more since that is why she missed the finish cut off as she got lost alone in the dark out there). While people spend so much time cutting each other down, my friend included because she is so mad at herself... I remind my friend that shedid something that very few ever will do. She put her body through 140.6+ miles and kept on going to finish the JOURNEY. If people are doing this for a title... then they are doing it for a different reason that I am. For me it is about growth not status. . Edited by })i({RunnerGirl 2013-09-05 11:40 AM |
| 2013-09-05 11:39 AM in reply to: switch |
Expert 1170 Berkley, MI | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by switch Originally posted by Leegoocrap Originally posted by kstater39 The only real ironman are Kona finishers who finish in sub 9:30. Everyone who finishes an ironman with less than 4000 ft elevation on the bike, swim in a wetsuit, or run less than a 4 hour marathon should be ashamed. Amazing how we can get so elitist when maybe we should thrive on each others accomplishments progressing the sport. A 4 hour marathon seems a little forgiving... I think Deb did a good job of phrasing the original question. There are some people on this board who can't even fathom doing tris to "just" finish. These are often the same people who have lost track of how many race t-shirts and medals and have very serious performance goals. They are coming at it from a different place, but their place is OK too. The performance spectrum of people doing tris is a big bell curve and people two standard deviations below and above the mean are very different athletes. It is inconceivable to those trying to make cut-offs how people could get bummed by getting a 9:56 IM, but it is very real, and it just a totally different thing (Nice job Nate). The reasons we do this sport are as personal as our goals for given races. A sub four marathon is a huge achievement for some and a -poor-WTF-happened race failure for others. We can certainly applaud each other's accomplishments in the sport and encourage each other, but I "thrive" on setting and achieving my own goals. Maybe that makes me a selfish tri preck; I just think of it as part of being an athlete. ^^^ OK you said it so much better than I! :-) |
| 2013-09-05 11:39 AM in reply to: })i({RunnerGirl |
Member 5452 NC | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by })i({RunnerGirl If you do a complete 140.6 miles in an Iron distanced race, but do it in over 17 hours, I would still consider that person an Ironman. They finish 140.6 miles. And while they do not have an official time for their effort - they are still very much a part of the Ironman story. Why is the time requirement any less important than the distance? |
| 2013-09-05 11:51 AM in reply to: Goosedog |
Expert 1170 Berkley, MI | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by Goosedog Originally posted by })i({RunnerGirl If you do a complete 140.6 miles in an Iron distanced race, but do it in over 17 hours, I would still consider that person an Ironman. They finish 140.6 miles. And while they do not have an official time for their effort - they are still very much a part of the Ironman story. Why is the time requirement any less important than the distance? Valid question. The cut off's themselves vary by race organizer. I come from the place that if someone knows that they will not finish in 17 hours for a 140.6 mile race, then they should probably pick a non-17 hour requirement race. If you know that you cannot run a 5 hour marathon, don't sign up for a race that requires you to run it in 4.5 hours. But if you know these things and still sign up and still toe the line and finish the distance, I will not take away the accomplishment of finishing the distance. They physically did the distance. I wasn't really addressing the OP's point of "did you finish the race or earn the medal". I was more discussing the post I was quoting from, that we are quick to tear down sometimes. I guess I am speaking in broader terms than the OP's question ;-) |
| 2013-09-05 11:57 AM in reply to: })i({RunnerGirl |
Expert 1416 San Luis Obispo, CA | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned To further derail the discussion: If somebody did a "self-supported" 140.6 (swam 2.4 in a pool, rode 112 around their town, then ran 26.2), are they considered an "Ironman"? |
| 2013-09-05 12:14 PM in reply to: })i({RunnerGirl |
Extreme Veteran 3025 Maryland | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by })i({RunnerGirl Originally posted by Goosedog Valid question. The cut off's themselves vary by race organizer. I come from the place that if someone knows that they will not finish in 17 hours for a 140.6 mile race, then they should probably pick a non-17 hour requirement race. If you know that you cannot run a 5 hour marathon, don't sign up for a race that requires you to run it in 4.5 hours. But if you know these things and still sign up and still toe the line and finish the distance, I will not take away the accomplishment of finishing the distance. They physically did the distance. I wasn't really addressing the OP's point of "did you finish the race or earn the medal". I was more discussing the post I was quoting from, that we are quick to tear down sometimes. I guess I am speaking in broader terms than the OP's question ;-) Originally posted by })i({RunnerGirl If you do a complete 140.6 miles in an Iron distanced race, but do it in over 17 hours, I would still consider that person an Ironman. They finish 140.6 miles. And while they do not have an official time for their effort - they are still very much a part of the Ironman story. Why is the time requirement any less important than the distance?
And if you enter a race with a time requirement, and do not make the cutoff, you did not complete the race. Therefore, you are not an Ironman. Otherwise I become an Ironman every week via my normal training. |
| 2013-09-05 12:21 PM in reply to: 0 |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by blbriley To further derail the discussion: If somebody did a "self-supported" 140.6 (swam 2.4 in a pool, rode 112 around their town, then ran 26.2), are they considered an "Ironman"? Taking it even farther off the rails: What if they completed those distances over the course of several days? Let's say I swim 2.4 today, bike 56 each of the next two days, then run 8-9 miles each day the three days after that? Oh! I have a better one: I raced IMFL in 2010. How long can I call myself an Ironman before I have to do another one to "renew"?
ETA: Answering Deb's question in the OP...No, I wouldn't feel like I earned it, and wouldn't accept it. I don't hold others to the same expectation, though. Everyone does these events for their own reasons, so everyone has different goals and expectations. What I consider an accomplishment for myself, someone else might view as a dismal failure if they did the same thing. Who am I to tell them how to feel? Edited by TriMyBest 2013-09-05 12:26 PM |
| 2013-09-05 12:37 PM in reply to: TriMyBest |
| 39 | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned We need to remember that for the majority of all participants this is a hobby. A hobby that some take far too seriously. The cut offs are in place so that the race organizers don't have to stay till the morning for the last few slow yet dedicated athletes to finish. I would go further and state that some of the athletes who finish towards the cut off have put in far more effort and mental toughness than some of the athletes who have finished long before them. In my opinion, if a race organizer allows an athlete to stay on the course a little longer than the posted cut off, that is simply good customer service. You finished the distance, you are an IRONMAN, end of story. |
| 2013-09-05 12:39 PM in reply to: tjudson |
Member 5452 NC | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by tjudson You finished the distance, you are an IRONMAN, end of story. What if you had to pull yourself off course with only two miles to go, or 20 yards? Still an IRONMAN? |
| 2013-09-05 12:48 PM in reply to: tjudson |
Extreme Veteran 3025 Maryland | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by tjudson We need to remember that for the majority of all participants this is a hobby. A hobby that some take far too seriously. The cut offs are in place so that the race organizers don't have to stay till the morning for the last few slow yet dedicated athletes to finish. I would go further and state that some of the athletes who finish towards the cut off have put in far more effort and mental toughness than some of the athletes who have finished long before them. In my opinion, if a race organizer allows an athlete to stay on the course a little longer than the posted cut off, that is simply good customer service. You finished the distance, you are an IRONMAN, end of story. I call BS. There is a set of criteria, you must fulfill the criteria. If you don't fullfill the criteria you have failed. It doesn't matter if the criteria are arbitrary, they exist and you must follow them. And thats wonderful if they put in more effort, doesn't make them Ironman. I bet its alot harder for me to climb Alpe D'Huez than Chris Froome. If I go ride the course that doesn't mean I completed the Tour de France. |
| 2013-09-05 12:50 PM in reply to: 0 |
Member 5452 NC | Subject: RE: If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned Originally posted by dmiller5 If you don't fullfill the criteria you have failed. To follow this, it's perfectly ok to fail. It doesn't make you less of a person, or whatever, but if the accomplishment requires certain criteria be met, and you fail to meet them, then you didn't accomplish the goal. And that's fine. Edited by Goosedog 2013-09-05 12:51 PM |
| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » If you miss the race's cutoff time but they still give you a medal, do you feel like you earned it? | Rss Feed |
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