#1: Will the PTO succeed?
Let's get into the weeds.
issue 1: Sept. 21, 2022
Welcome. This is the first Triathlonish newsletter and the goal was/is to cover our sports with analysis, commentary, and news. Think of it as the endurance-y sports-y things triathlon-type people are talking about right now this week. The triathlon-ish things you need to know (if you will).
I was split, then, on whether to begin with a more general let’s-all-get-to-know-each-other newsletter, like ‘hey, Kona’s coming up.’ Ease ourselves in. But the future of media is niche and so we might as well get that out of the way right now.
Let’s go ahead and start with the weediest of in-the-weeds topics: The PTO, also known as the Pro Triathletes Organisation (British spelling).
- Kelly
P.S. Future newsletters will likely be much shorter.
Everything’s bigger in Texas
It’s Wednesday and I’m still thinking about the fact that on Saturday, at the PTO’s U.S. Open in the empty suburbs of Dallas, Ashleigh Gentle made up 8 minutes out of T2 in just 18K (that’s a little more than 11 miles, my American audience) to win against the top athletes at this distance in the world. She ran four minutes faster than any other woman in the field and six minutes faster than anyone else in the top 10 and also, just in case you were curious, faster than 15 of the men the next day.
That’s not the sort of dominance you would expect to see against the best women’s field this year. (And yes, I’m counting St. George.) It’s a shame she won’t be running away with the 70.3 world title in October (more on that below), but I’m sure the quarter-million dollars she’s banked so far this year will ease that a bit.
(Photo: Courtesy of the PTO)
Surely, I thought, the men’s race on Sunday won’t be as exciting.
**cue whomp whomp**
I know, I know we’ve been saying Collin Chartier was one to watch out for. But I think we meant next year or some time in the future. I don’t think we meant….now. Technically, I was rooting for Sam Long to hold onto the lead in the slugfest of a run between the two of them and Magnus Ditlev. But I did appreciate that when Collin was asked post-race if this $100K was the biggest win of his career (it was), he responded, ‘So far. Well, Kona’s in three weeks, so.’
May we all live our lives with that kind quiet optimism.
___
If the most important fact coming out of the weekend was that Taylor Knibb and Lucy Charles-Barclay are definitively back from injury to round out the podium (hallelujah!), then only slightly less important was this: The PTO has officially finished its first full year of broadcast events. How did it do?
Need a quick primer on the PTO? Here’s what I wrote for Triathlete when they launched. In short: It is a loose organizing of athletes, with the plan to funnel huge amounts of money into big events and turn the broadcasts into revenue and star makers—à la mainstream spectator sports.
If this weekend’s race in Dallas was a fairly standard PTO event to date, then it delivered a fairly standard PTO experience: Absolutely insane racing, aggressively fine broadcast.
Before I get a dozen emails from the PTO board telling me how great the production was, I say this with love: I want the PTO to succeed. And in order to succeed they need the best athletes regularly meeting head-to-head and delivering dramatic races (done), and then they need an exciting product that will tell that story to the masses (so close).
Since I’ve already offered up my paid assistance to them, here now are my free suggestions instead:
Get some graphics on screen. Belinda Granger and Vicky Holland have found a second calling in commentating, they’re great, but it’s still way too difficult to tell what’s happening in the race. We need more leaderboards and splits on screen (please, in miles at a U.S. race in a U.S. market) and athlete trackers and where’s that heart rate and power data we were promised? I know it’s difficult, but Super League can do it, Clash can do it. Put Apple Airtags on the athletes for all I care — but you’ve got to make it easier to follow.
That goes for the camera shots, too. You know what’s boring? Watching one person ride a bike by themselves. Yes, there are lots of feelings about the drafting benefits that come from riding behind a front moto, but (again) you gotta make this more fun to watch: more cameras angles, side angles, split screens, drones, following athletes farther back in the field. We shouldn’t have seen Ashleigh for the first time when she was running into 3rd place.
Put the races in more exciting locations. You know what else is boring? Watching people run by themselves through an abandoned-looking condo complex. Not that I have anything against the suburbs of Dallas (OK, that’s not true), but it’s hard to create excitement when the course looks mostly empty. I mean, there appeared to be someone doing a wedding photo shoot during the men’s race. The only way to solve this is to stick the race downtown somewhere, in a hub, create a VIP experience, and make it seem exciting. Then it’ll be exciting. And, please, race directors everywhere: stop talking about triathlon festivals.
Market it like it’s triathlon, not like it’s wrestling. While the PTO has done a great job with longform videos and with setting up their own media and press shoots (here’s a fun behind-the-scenes video from Dallas), so much of the pre-race marketing itself has been framed as drama and rivalries and made-up shit-talking. It’s weird. It’s not authentic, and it’s not very triathlon.
A lot of what the PTO is doing is amazing and rumor is there are new 2023 Open races about to be announced (at a longer distance?). I know small changes/adjustments have also been made in response to feedback. But more than anything, I want them to give the athlete members an actual say. Take the pros’ feedback. If it is an athlete-led organization, then the athlete board shouldn’t be just advisory; it should get a vote on things. Triathletes are a smart group. (Generally speaking.) They have opinions about every part of how this could be done best. Listen to them.
Speaking of Super League
Over in California, there was another big money, big broadcast race this past weekend. I can’t make heads or tails of the teams in Super League (I think the sharks are winning??), but I appreciate the exciting broadcast and format and the whole general experience. I also appreciated that Taylor Spivey won in her hometown and that Vasco Vilaca got second after a seal attack the day before. (There is some debate about whether he hit the seal first, but I can’t tell; you can watch the full video here.) But mostly I appreciated that sometime-pro cyclist, sometime-Ironman champ Cam Wurf continues to be the most interesting guy in any sport—hopping into a sprint eliminator Super League format just because he lives nearby. As Tim said, clearly Cam was super worried about it.
Who runs the 70.3 Worlds? Girls!
Or women, as it were.
With so many women specializing in the mid-distance (because of money, that’s why) and with Olympic champ Flora Duffy officially getting a wildcard to the 70.3 World Championships (which I’m not going to take credit for helping to happen, but I’m not going to not take credit), I was full-on excited about Asleigh v. Flora v. Taylor v. Lucy v. Paula v. Holly (omg). But then Asleigh’s coach told me she won’t be racing 70.3 Worlds this year because it conflicts with her and Josh Amberger’s wedding. And while usually I’m not a big fan of weddings as A Thing, I get why flying back and forth from the U.S. to Australia is a bit of a deal-breaker.
Now, I have no idea who’s going to win the women’s race—the men’s will be won by Gustav Iden—and isn’t that what makes it so exciting.
Oh, you want to hear about Kona…
Weird. Is it, like, a big deal or something?
I’ll have full Kona predictions next week, because there’s nothing that marks a long-awaited return to the Big Island like wild speculation. The important updates, though: A handful of pros are out simply because it’s too expensive and the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t make sense anymore (see PTO money above). Ali Brownlee’s out with an injury, which has to make this the worst 36 months in a long time for him. Mirinda Carfrae confirmed she’s definitely out. Lucy CB confirmed she’s definitely in. Lionel decided to still give it a go. And Linsey Corbin’s final Kona isn’t going the way she planned, which I was really sad about for her, had been quite looking forward to her 140.6-mile goodbye party.
Most importantly, though: How the hell are the logistics on this two-day, double-the-people thing going to work?
Brad Culp, over at Triathlete, has the rest of the results from this past weekend, including that video making the rounds on social of the thousand-person group ride that was Ironman Italy. (I’m not even sure what the people in that race were supposed to do. It was a weird, rescheduled for weather, situation, and unless you’re willing to pay more for smaller fields, then stop complaining about drafting.) (Triathlete/Twitter)
The craziest result this week, though? The new 24-hour running world record: 198.6 miles. Which is why, when the New York Times says that super-ultra running races are dying, I’m like, ‘Are they though?’ (iRunFar/New York Times)
I’m thinking about including a section here every week for upcoming races and how to watch (since it’s hard to keep track of all the streaming platforms). Thoughts? This weekend: Berlin Marathon will be only available on FloSports in the U.S. (starting at 3am ET on Sunday morning), Augusta 70.3 will be on Outside TV (starting at 6:30am ET on Sunday), and I don’t think World Tri has broadcasting. (FloSports/Outside TV)
I know it’s a little late, but a lot of friends at #IMMoo sent me the photo of the amazing merch there. (Instagram)
Why aren’t triathlon relays more of a competitive thing here? In Roth, the relay is a hotly contested division. When I saw Oceanside 70.3 will have relays in the spring, I totally thought about going all-in to win it. Let’s make relays competitive! (Ironman)
More and more races, including the Boston Marathon and now a number of Boston qualifiers, are starting to add non-binary divisions. Which is cool; there is zero reason for anyone to have a problem with this. (Washington Post/New York Times)
In other latest news: Sitting all day (even if you exercise) is bad for you, but weekend warrior-ing is good for you. (Washington Post/Outside)
The downside of weight training while barefoot is…wait for it…you could drop a weight on your foot. (New York Times)
Killian Jornet released basically his entire training log. If you’re into that kind of thing. (mtn athlete)
And of course, we all want to train the Norwegian way. Fortunately, Mikal Iden, who took Lionel and Collin under his wing, now has his own sports performance coaching company. And I so so want to try to convince him to coach me. (Triathlete/Instagram/MI Sports Performance)
This profile of Kristian Blummenfelt in his home town of Bergen made me like him even more. Which I didn’t think was possible. (Red Bull)
As someone who cries almost exclusively before and after Ironmans, I feel this podcast on why outdoor sports make us cry. (Outside)
Though I dare you not to cry when Johnny Agar and his dad finally become an Ironman. (Twitter)
Why do we put ourselves through all of this anyway? For the mid-race epiphanies of course. (Medium)
One last thing
After I wrote a piece about why we should stop giving women ‘safety’ tips for working out solo, a friend sent me this on Facebook. And it is perfect.
"...so much of the pre-race marketing itself has been framed as drama and rivalries and made-up shit-talking. It’s weird. It’s not authentic, and it’s not very triathlon."
This. The trash talking fake drama is bizarre and awkward to watch. Who do they think they're going to draw to the sport with this stuff in 2022?
That said, I wanted to say I enjoyed and appreciated the 'tri scoop' bulleted notes with links.
With you on PTO. I’d much rather they succeed than the venture capitalists and sport-washers in other formats. I think a big challenge is finding the right niche - to make athletes the stars they have to race frequently but that means shorter distances. Which in turn creates the challenge of a rule set that works for high-speed racing without drafting.