#62: Happy Turkey Trots Day
#62: Happy Turkey Trots Day
A short one.
issue #62: Nov. 22, 2023
All-sporters, it’s the day before Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and apparently everyone stops working halfway through Tuesday during Thanksgiving Week. So we’re keeping it very short and light this week—and I leave you with ‘how Thanksgiving became the biggest day in running.’
For your holiday shopping, check out the Women’s Sports Fan Club collection (paying subscribers, checking out a special discount above).
And, of course, stock up on your Precision Fueling & Hydration for your winter miles with our 15% off code.
- Kelly
The chaos continues
Just because I know you were all waiting: An update on the TriBike Transport mess.
Over the weekend, I got an update from USAT that confirmed a lawyer has filed a class action lawsuit against Horizon/Intelligent, the shipping company that’s holding the 180 bikes, to stop them from selling people’s bikes. A temporary restraining order had previously also been filed to stop them from selling the bikes—but, the lawyer for the shipping company told Triathlete that the temporary restraining order was filed against the wrong company (Horizon) and that they (Intelligent) have nothing to do with the company it was filed against (Horizon) and, anyway, if they (Intelligent) did have something to do with the it, they don’t plan to auction off the bikes. Which is some Suits-level legal logic.
Quick reminder: TriBike owes its shipping company $319,731.27 for a number of international contracts over the summer. Because the company has not been paid, the shipper is instead holding the bikes from the last race they serviced (the World Tri Champs in Pontevedra, Spain)—and they filed a lawsuit last week against TriBike.
USAT is also trying to help people coordinate to donate equipment to other athletes who are racing Daytona and don’t have bikes. And, lawyers are lawyering. And, TriBike is probably not surviving this. And, according to athletes whose bikes are still missing and who have Airtags on them, the Airtags keep moving from Chicago to North Carolina to now L.A.
So, that’s fun.
Who makes the most money?
Actually, a slightly more fun topic, prize money totals for the year. (Even if we can’t really say the year is over and, of course, the PTO rankings might shift a little bit for the year-end bonuses. But still.)
Tri247 has broken it down, but the gist is:
Super League published its top earners for men & women: Leo Bergere ($112,200) and Jeanne Lehair ($105,000) made the most for their SLT seasons.
World Triathlon paid out more: With Beth Potter ($169,100) and Dorian Coninx ($121,550) on top—but a lot of those short-course athletes earn from both Super League & World Tri. So, Cassandra Beaugrand took home $115,100 from World Tri + $58,200 from Super League, Hayden Wilde made $108,800 from World Tri + $80,800 from Super League, and Leo took home another $69,100 from World Tri. Not awful overall.
Ironman prize money is less (and no one’s added up the total numbers yet), but Lucy Charles-Barclay made $125,000 for winning Kona. Next year, of course, the Ironman Pro Series will pay out a lot more overall.
And. And! The big money is still in the PTO. Ashleigh Gentle took the $100K win at one PTO event, the $50K at two events, and will probably make $90K for her second place in the PTO year-end rankings. (That’s $290,000, in case you can’t add.) Kristian Blummenfelt went first, second, third in PTO races + the $100K bonus for topping the rankings = $285,000. But Anne Haug went $100K PTO win, $50K second, $100K PTO bonus for year-end #1 + $65,000 for second at Kona. (That’s $315,000—so maybe Anne really will have ultimately done best.)
All of which is to say, when it’s all said and done and we get the final numbers and add them up, there’ll be 10-20 people who made over $100,000 total in prize money. Which isn’t terrible and gets the job done, but is also minus expenses, etc. (And, of course, we haven’t talked sponsorship money—which tends tends to be roughly (very roughly) the same as prize money for any given athlete, unless they’re injured or wildly popular or there’s some other complicating factor.)
The issue, always, is not these athletes at the top end. It’s, instead, how quickly it drops off after that and how far it drops. 10-20 people do not a whole sport make.
The other stuff
Just a quick round-up of some of the main results and races from the weekend.
Ironman Cozumel: The swim was canceled—which was a bummer for everyone looking for record times, but especially for Sebi Kienle, who was doing his final Ironman ever. (He ended up just off the podium.) Leon Chevalier took first—off his top 5 in Nice—and Gurutze Frades ran a 2:49 for the win.
After a long period of injury and illness, Javi Gomez was back in action (and with a win) at Mossel Bay 70.3. And Emma Pallant-Browne won another (another!) 70.3 there. Plus, in Fortaleza 70.3, Marten Van Riel was the latest short-course athlete to scare all the mid-course athletes with a speedy win.
And Kate Waugh won the long-running Laguna Phuket Triathlon to top off an excellent season—and, apparently, her boyfriend won the men’s race.
The -ish
Other interesting things from around our sports this week that you should know about.
The Olympic Marathon Trials start time controversy is resolved (whew) and the race will now begin at 10 a.m. Of course, the bigger problem is that the overall Trials business model doesn’t really work. (Outside)
This past weekend was also the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, which is an event you didn’t know you cared about until you saw how exciting the team race was (one point separated the teams! fighting for every spot! illness, injury!). And it brought back up the: Why the hell are the women still running 6K when the men are running 10K debate?? (Citius/The Feist)
America’s oldest continuously held ultramarathon (JFK 50) happened too and Seth Ruhling set a new course record. (Outside/Herald Mail)
Should NCAA triathlon change to the Super League supersprint format? (Instagram)
World Tri announced changes to its 2024 schedule: a date move for WTCS Abu Dhabi and some new World Cups. It’s great, but also causes problems for teams who have already been planning. (World Triathlon/Twitter)
Challenge is returning to the U.S. and picked…New Jersey! (Challenge)
Let’s talk about the double standard for female athletes and perceptions of how they can talk/look/respond/present themselves. Certainly, I know nothing about people thinking I’m a bitch. (Tri247)
And I’m sharing the latest triathlon case studies from Precision—of particular note: what Jason West ate and drank during his Cabo 70.3 win! (Precision Fueling & Hydration)
I still don’t fully understand this situation, but: A Russian athlete, Valentina Riasova, was tested in Sept. 2021 and originally banned for six months starting in Sept. 2022—except no one was told and, since it was off-season, no one knew. But then! The Russia Anti-Doping Agency appealed the ban and requested A LONGER BAN. She’s now been given two years, counting time already served. Weird. (Twitter/World Triathlon)
The ultramarathoner who took a car and then claimed third place has now been banned for one year—though she did say, at the time, that it was a big misunderstanding. (New York Times/BBC)
In big misunderstandings where I actually feel really bad for the person: the guy who was struggling with depression, had a bad trip, and almost took down a plane. (New York Times)
Mary Beth Ellis’ 5-year-old daughter was killed earlier this year while crossing the street. She’s now written an op-ed asking the question we should all ask: We know what could prevent pedestrian and cyclist deaths, so why don’t we do those things? (Boston Globe)
Tom Evans was attacked while in S. Africa for the Ultra-Trail Cape Town. (Instagram)
GCN+ is shutting down. Cycling races are moving to Discovery+ and Eurosport. (CyclingNews)
For 24 years, Chris Farley has run a marathon under three hours—but then, sick, he missed that time in New York. His fans have motivated him, though, to try again before the end of the year. (Washington Post)
Palestinian and Israeli teens swam together in the same pool. And then this war came. (New York Times)
One last thing
Really two things. Apparently ice-biking used to be a sport (?)—as seen here in Milwaukee in the 1930s.
And I leave you with this.
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