#63: Race transfers for everyone!

And other things that could save the mid-size RD.

Nov 29, 2023

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issue #63: Nov. 29, 2023

This week’s issue is presented by:

All-sporters, I will be at CIM (the marathon) this Sunday—watching, not running—so if you’re there, let me know and I’ll cheer for you. And in the spirit of marathoning this fall/winter, here are some last-minute marathon tips from my partners at Precision Fuel & Hydration and some advice on how to stay hydrated during a marathon (one of the keys being to *start* out hydrated).

I would also say, personally, since I’ve been tracking more of what I’m eating and drinking during workouts, I’m realizing I really do not get in as many grams as I think I do, especially when it’s cold. Be ye not so stupid.

I also just booked my flights for Endurance Exchange at the start of January and for the Feisty Business Accelerator pre-conference. I think I’ve never been to Charlotte, but now I’m not 100% sure.

A reminder: The audio version of this weekly Wednesday newsletter is just a little perk for our paying subscribers to make it easier for them to get all their triathlon-ish news without having to read. And to get that set up right, I had to change how this was sent out (but, don’t worry, you’re still all getting all the best no balls news every Wednesday).

Now, on to lots of “ish” things this week.

- Kelly

What medium-sized races could (should?) learn from CIM

The California International Marathon (CIM) is this weekend and, because of the cut-off date for the Olympic Marathon Trials, it’s the last race for U.S. runners to earn their Olympic Trials qualifying time. And since CIM is known for being the place that people get that OTQ, it’s been a vibe since before vibes were a thing. In 2018, 99 women ran under the then-OTQ of 2:45. In 2019, it was 72 women. Last year, 44 women ran under the new harder standard of 2:37—and 12 of them came through in the last 60 seconds. (Yes, guys chase OTQs here too, but it particularly attracts large groups of women getting after it.)

It’s a whole goddamn thing in Sacramento.

If you just want to cry a bunch, here are photos of all the women making the cut-off in the last 90 seconds during the 2019 race. Here’s the last woman who made it last year under the new harder 2:37 qualifying time. Just try not to scream-cry at her video. Here’s the very very last OTQ woman who crawled across the line in 2018.

This isn’t an accident, nor am I telling you this just because it’s one of my favorite things in our sports. I think CIM has done two very specific things that other mid-sized races can learn from:

They’ve embraced their role.
When I ran CIM nine years ago it was just a decent big-small, small-big marathon. Only 18 women ran under 2:45. There were about 6,300 athletes total. Yes, I know women’s running has also grown exponentially in depth since then, but the race, itself, was fine, nothing spectacular, a perfectly good large-ish local marathon. You’d never heard of it.

Then, somewhere along the way, people realized it was flat and even slightly downhill, it tended to have good weather (if it didn’t rain), it was big enough you’d have people to run with but not so big that it’s a pain-in-the-ass — and so it started to attract runners going for fast qualifying times. And here’s what CIM did that I think other RDs can learn from: They embraced that and nurtured it.

CIM doesn’t get the flashiest biggest names of the World Marathon Majors and they don’t do appearance money (to my knowledge), but they have nice policies for their elites and sub-elites, they treat the fast amateurs who make up their front core as if they’re semi-pros, give them a few extra perks, do what they can to encourage them to come. They know they have OTQ-hungry runners now and so they set up pacers for those times if they can—which are times fast enough that most races won’t and don’t have pacers. (The three guys who paced 2019 are actually friends, former triathletes, and went a little viral.) They have a bell and fanfare at the OTQ time, the BQ times, they know what they are there for and so they deliver. Getting the USATF championship designation helped.

[For comparison, at last year’s CIM there were 1,223 athletes out of ~ 8,000 who ran under 3 hours. At this year’s New York Marathon there were 1,375 athletes out of ~51,300 who ran under 3 hours. It’s disproportionate in Sac.]

Of course, the natural appeal of each race is going to be different, but CIM understood what it had and did what it could to cultivate that appeal. Sure, there are also a ton of first-time marathoners; sure, it’s popular regionally for everyone. But that’s not how you sustain a race year-after-year. At a time when most events this size (large but not so large they had extra cash flow the last few years) are struggling or going out of business around here, CIM sells out at 8,000 runners months in advance.
They accommodate transfers.

I signed up for CIM this year. And I signed up my husband. Not because I was sure I would be able to run it (I was not sure and I am not running it; he is), but because it was low-risk. I had no travel costs and I knew that if I couldn’t run it I’d be able to just give/sell my bib to someone.

CIM lets you transfer your bib to anyone for any reason during the transfer window (which closes about a week before race day). I sold mine to a friend for $100 and the race charged her a $40 transfer fee—but still, not a bad deal for either of us.

Yes, I’ve heard some people complaining about not being able to get a fair price for their unused bib two weeks out from race day (*unimpressed emoji face*), and I heard about some people buying bibs from runners who were dropping out and then trying to sell them at a mark-up. But, I dunno, I think this is a little bit looking a gift horse in the mouth and little bit trying to create a controversy where there is none. WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO SELL OR BUY A BIB FOR AN IRONMAN TWO WEEKS BEFORE RACE DAY FOR ANY PRICE? No.

This policy is actually incredibly racer-friendly and smart. And because it exists, people sign up without worry (it’s why I did). It helps the race sell out, gets cash into the RDs’ hands, and creates a sense of demand & urgency. It’s also 100% in keeping with what we know are trends that mid- and large-sized race directors will have to adopt in the new post-pandemic mass participation events era: You’re going to need to have more flexible, more athlete-friendly policies. People do not want to be locked into plans anymore, but you need the guaranteed cash flow to keep bills paid. Consider doing what CIM has done.

There’s been a lot (!) of talk about races struggling. Especially around here, we’ve lost so so many of our local staple races. The BIG races are mostly going to survive, but they still have a lot of liabilities on the books. The tiny ones mostly didn’t survive, but new mom-and-pops are popping up now. It’s the medium and medium-big ones that are still teetering and that are so necessary to keep this whole ecosystem afloat.

I know CIM is on the bigger side of those medium races at this point, but I think there’s still some things to learn from it—and I hope RDs do.

Who was triathlete of the year?

OK, back to triathlon. As we get closer to the end of the year—and all the big races are over anyway—we will tiptoe our way to this debate. FYI, there is a correct answer.

The rest of the best

Challenge Canberra: The only big race of the past weekend, which came down to a sprint finish where Els Visser topped Fenella Langridge—and, of course, threw up. Obviously, we’re only talking about this because of the photo.

What’s coming up still

Ironman Western Australia: And now this upcoming weekend, with Lisa Norden and Fenella closing out their post-Kona push, and Daniel Baekkegard trying to hold off an Australian contingent.
Indian Wells 70.3: And here, in California, it’s the standard last race of the season, which is colder than you think it’s going to be and attracts the standard 58 North American male pros. Who do you have: Sam Long, Jackson Laundry, Trevor Foley, or Matt McElroy, or one of the other 54 guys? My vote is for a run battle between Tamara Jewett and Jackie Hering.
Next weekend will close out with the big name splashy Bahrain 70.3. Will Ali Brownlee start?
And what about CLASH Daytona? Sadly, there is no pro race this year.

The -ish

Maybe it’s because there’s so little triathlon and so much “ish” this time of year, but I feel like the amount of things worth knowing about in our sports is quite long right now.

As always, the Ultraman World Champs were over the Thanksgiving weekend. Simon Cochrane, who has the world’s best time for an Ultraman (under 20 hours!), set a new course record on the world championship course in Hawaii. That won out over Amy Robitaille’s 25:55—which made her the first woman and the second person across the line. Interestingly, Canadian women were second and third overall. (Triathlon Magazine Canada)
It’s the end of the season! Sorta! So, who is already qualified for Nice & Kona for 2024? (And, yes, I am aware there were only 307 women who finished Ironman Arizona last weekend. I told you that would happen because of the timing around Kona and the demographics of who does those races. Chill out.) (TriRating)
USAT announced the state championship calendar and (hot take!) I think you should only be allowed to be the “state champion” in your own state. (USAT)
In the least shocking race news ever: Ironman Ireland is canceled for 2024 and the foreseeable future. (Irish Times)
It was a big week for the “rules are rules” crowd: After running a 2:17 at the Philadelphia Marathon (which is just under the 2:18 OTQ for men), Ethan Hermann was DQ’d because his coach, who was cheering at an aid station, picked up Ethan’s bottle off the table and handed it to him. Clearly an unfair advantage! Clearly worth filing a protest over 6th place and destroying the personal victory of qualifying for the Olympic Trials! Rules are rules! (Citius Mag)
The Swimming World Champs in February (which is different than the Swimming Olympic Trials and than the short-course meters world champs in December) is drawing an odd group of athletes. (Twitter)
In case you were wondering when the various U.S. Olympic Trials are next year, I went down this hole on Monday, so let me help you out:
- Marathon trials: Feb. 3, Orlando
- Swimming trials: June 15-23, Indianapolis (diving is at the same time but in Tennessee *shrug emoji)
- Track and field trials: June 21-30, Eugene
- Gymnastics trials: June 27-30, Minneapolis
Apparently USA Track & Field had a $6.7 million deficit last year. (Runner’s World)
This weekend is also the lottery draw for Western States. (Brief primer: you get more lottery tickets every year you don’t get selected, but there are very limited spots and more and more people who want in. Here are your odds this year.) And it turns out, qualifying races are still verified manually and there are people still who fake their races. (Twitter)
Who is in the wrong at this Spanish cross-country race? (Twitter)
Is there going to be a Saudi-backed pro cycling league? (Cyclist)
Mountain biking is trying a number of new things to promote female cyclists and get more women on bikes. (Escape Collection)
The bike boom is over—if it ever really happened, IMO. (Escape Collective)
Bradley Wiggins is at risk of bankruptcy and is selling off the trademarks for his own name (“Wiggo” and “Wiggins”), which makes me wonder how much one gets for the trademark of one’s own name. (Cycling Weekly)
Joe Skipper owes British Tri his entry fee for Ibiza—and hasn’t paid (isn’t paying?). (Tri247)
The UCI is threatening to ban riders from the Cyclocross World Championship race if they don’t also do the World Cup races, because what we really need is fewer people racing cyclocross at the championship level. (CyclingNews)
And the organization is upping its fine for “non-compliant clothing” (ie. overly long socks) to $2,300. (VeloNews)
365 marathons in 365 days. (Youtube)
Peloton’s Thanksgiving Day world record attempt at the largest live virtual ride appears to have crashed because “the number of members trying to join overwhelmed our technical infrastructure,” which is only funny because the number of people trying to join was kinda the whole point. (Business Insider)

One last thing

In completely pointless things, but aren’t you curious: It appears women can do this “challenge” and many men can’t. (Click video to see.)

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