#64: The Best Athlete & Race & Performance of the Year

As decreed by me.

Dec 06, 2023

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issue #64: Dec. 6, 2023

This week’s issue is presented by:

If you’re getting ready for the end of the year, then you should know that I sent out a short little Q&A to paying subscribers this past weekend with a sports psychology researcher on some new things I learned about goal-setting. You should also check out our partner Precision Fuel & Hydration’s case studies to see what works (and what doesn’t) as you look back on your season—including what Emma Pallant-Browne ate & drank in her Mossel Bay 70.3 win a couple weeks ago.

And, we’ve picked our next Book Club book: ‘Out of Thin Air’—about Ethiopian runners and running culture. It was a finalist for Sports Book of the Year last year and won the Margaret Mead award. The author, who is also an anthropologist and researcher on Ethiopian running culture, is going to talk to our paying subscribers for a Book Club Q&A in mid-January. So get reading over the holidays!

Now, the serious business.

- Kelly

The super official, very formal 2023 Triathlonish Awards of the Year

It became clear after last week’s “athlete of the year” poll that I really should have caveated more. I should have given my usual speech: short-course & long-course aren’t the same and it’s hard to truly compare them, there’s a difference between one amazing performance and many pretty good ones, what even is “best” in that context, and (my mistake) I didn’t actually give you a comprehensive list of the top five athletes of the year—I just slipped my pick for best in there. All fair criticisms.

So, instead, now, here are my super official lists of the many different things one could potentially have been best at this past year.

Most consistent of the year: It kind of has to go to Anne Haug & Magnus Ditlev with their numerous top-level podiums all season (PTO Opens, IM World Champs, Roth). Hayden Wilde and Cassandre Beaugrand were also consistently consistent on the short circuit, but had a few big small misses.

Performance of the year: Lucy Charles-Barclay finally winning Kona, Daniela Ryf’s world record at Challenge Roth (8:08:21), or maybe Sam Laidlow’s Nice just because of how surprising it was.

Comeback of the year: Of course, obviously, Kat Matthews’ podium at Oceanside 70.3 and then following that up with the win at Ironman Texas. But, I also think, in a lot of ways, Morgan Pearson’s Olympic qualification (5th place) at the Paris Test Event after not rolling onto the start list until the night before after being injured was one of the most impressive returns to form.

Race of the year: The absolutely wild men’s World Triathlon Championship Final. Wild.

Season of the year: You think this is the same as the most consistent, but it’s not. Consistent means you’re solid and can be counted on. Best season means you’ve stacked the most impressive all-around season, but you don’t necessarily have one killer race. And that award goes to…Beth Potter!

Athlete of the year: However, I have to give the athlete of the year to Taylor Knibb. When you consider her range (locking in her Olympic team spot with a 5th place at the Paris Test Event, winning the PTO U.S. Open and the 70.3 world title, and then the 4th in Kona at her first Ironman), and doing it all after surgery and injury at the start of the season. Plus, athlete of the year also should capture the moment, time, and place we’re in, how a person can personify the potential and future and spirit of 2023—and, with that in mind, Taylor has to be the athlete of 2023.

OK, now you can tell me all the ways I’m wrong. But be nice, because I get tired of people being mean and stupid.

A place for every race?

Speaking of the spirit of the moment.

Corinne Malcolm announced this week that she had been kicked off the commentating team for UTMB for being “too outspoken.” It’s true that she’s definitely pushed loudly for equal coverage and support for the female athletes in the event (and, from what I’ve heard from people on the ground there, it takes some pushing to make sure the full women’s race gets covered) and she’s consistently advocated for the things she believes in.

Obviously, I don’t know how this firing went down. I’ve generally always found Corinne’s positions to be right and I have frequently believed those stances to be necessary, but I also know companies can be picky about the bad things you say about them publicly. And I know that the French couple who runs this oh-so-very French race can be picky about those things, too.

The problem for UTMB, of course, is that this is just another thing that they can’t seem to get right, another argument against them corporatizing the sport of trail running. More athletes are saying they won’t race UTMB now, and more races are saying their race won’t be a UTMB Index race. I get it. You have to do what you think is right.

Personally, I think, I feel about UTMB the same way I felt about Kona 10 years ago (which is when I decided I wanted to do Kona once): I want to see what it’s like before it’s too late or else how can I really have an opinion; I’m fascinated by the idea of 2,500 athletes running around a mountain through four countries; I’m not sure I can do it. I also feel like trail running is going through the exact same issues that triathlon went through 10-15 years ago, and so maybe I don’t necessarily think that working through the issues means the death of the sport. I think it’s growing pains. But I also hope they learn from our mistakes and don’t repeat them. I hope they realize there’s a place for all kinds of races and they don’t destroy that ecosystem: You need the small local ones just as much as the big corporate ones. And you need all the kinds of people, the trouble-makers and the weirdos and the mainstream weekend warriors who don’t know about any of this. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can build a whole sport with only one kind of athlete.

READ: Q&A: The Story Behind UTMB

Patagonman: Scenic as always. Word is weather was great for the day, but epic, cold, all the things. Laura Siddall and Jan Stepinski won.
CLASH Daytona: The USAT Long Course Nationals had a former Olympic swim medalist and a former NHL player. And Don White finished his 60 multisport events for turning 60 years old.
Ironman Western Australia: It was a fast day (good wind) and lots of records. Lisa Norden set a world record for a 140.6 bike (4:21:15) but Fenella Langridge held her off for an overall course record (8:29:43) and her first Ironman win. And Daniel Baekkegard (7:34:23) also broke Ali Brownlee’s course record.
Indian Wells 70.3: Maybe the most interesting result of the weekend to me was that The Norwegians dominated in SoCal—and it wasn’t those Norwegians. It was Solveig Loevseth and Casper Stornes winning (with two more Norwegians behind him). This, to me, is some of the first evidence that the system works for more than just two guys and maybe that it works for women too. Or maybe it just shows that it works for 70.3s. A question for 2024.

The -ish

A bunch of stuff in our sports worth knowing about this week.

At the California International Marathon this past weekend, 26 men ran under the Olympic Trials standard (2:18) and 14 women did (2:37)—which, with the deadline now past, brings the total number of athletes to 226 men and 173 women. You can watch the final qualifiers at CIM cross the line here and here (always good video) and Fast Women has a number of the good stories. Plus, it’s worth noting that while the women’s time dropped a lot from the last Olympic cycle (from 2:45 down to 2:37) the number of women who ran under 2:37 rose from just 82 women four years ago to 173 now. People will step up if you give them a means, pathway, and opportunity to do so. (Twitter/Instagram/Fast Women)
That being said: Standing on the sidelines at CIM was a weird experience. There were literally (not an exaggeration) a couple hundred men before I saw the first woman, and then she was hidden tucked inside a man pack, and then it was another 100 men before the next woman. There were, ultimately, 218 men who ran under 2:30 and just the first woman did. And, standing there, it all sort of started to blur, fit men wearing the same clothes running fast. I think it was partially because the race doesn’t do a separate elite start, there’s no gap after the elite women and before the amateur men, they just get swallowed up; I’m more used to triathlon where the waves are mixed a bit to counter drafting and to space out packs; the last race I spectated was Kona (which was opposite); and the Marathon Majors all start the elite and sub-elite women first to give them space (even when I was thrown into the elite field at the L.A. Marathon so the pro women had some filler women to beat, we went before everyone else, it was actually kinda terrifying). All of which made this, in a lot of ways, the most bizarre thing I’ve ever watched: Just so so so many men running a marathon in the 2:20s. After you’d seen 1,000 people go by, you started to feel like it was finally the main bulk of “regular” runners, but in reality you were watching the low-2:50 marathoners at that point. Messes with your head.
It was also the Valencia Marathon in Spain, which is also always stupid fast in stupid ways. You wanna talk about messing with your head? 28 men broke 2:08. So that’s fun. (Let’sRun)
I thoroughly am very confused by the Olympic qualifying for the marathon—not by how the U.S. will pick its team, but how each country gets its quota spots and how you, individually, qualify to be good enough for your country to pick you for a spot. The IOC made it insanely complicated with a ranking points system in addition to certain times at certain races, but after that Valencia race a lot of the global quota spots have now been allocated. (Citius Mag/Twitter)
The Running Event was last week in Austin. Here’s a sneak peek at the hottest new shoes. (Women’s Running)
There’s also a Shark Tank-style competition for tri innovations at Endurance Exchange in January, if you’re going to be there. Pitch your ideas. (USAT)
There was a new 5,000m NCAA record this past weekend, too. After winning XC Champs, Parker Valby was the first NCAA woman to break 15 minutes indoor. (Runner’s World)
And a new women’s 24-Hour World Record. Miho Nakata ran 167.996 miles—only beating Camille Herron’s existing record by 246 meters at the end of 24 hours of running. And Camille congratulated her. (iRunFar/Instgaram)
There are new UltraSwim33.3 events for 2024. (UltraSwim33.3)
And a new head of Brit Tri, who comes from some kind of retail brand we don’t have here. Along with the athletes named to the national team—and I gather there are some notable names missing—and the first two official Team GB Olympic athletes (Alex Yee and Beth Potter). (Brit Tri/Twitter)
Mary Cain’s lawsuit against Nike was settled for $20 million. (Oregon Live)
Can hot drinks help you perform in cold weather? I also thought this was interesting from Precision: Are runners worse at fueling than triathletes? (Having come from running, it took me a long time to even want to carry gels.) (Precision Fuel & Hydration)
Look, this whole ‘runners are using ketchup to fuel’ thing that was going around last week. FFS, it was an entirely made-up marketing campaign from Heinz; no one actually does that. Hell of a marketing campaign, though, to induce runners on the internets to all talk about a thing that isn’t real. That’s what’s known, in marketing and PR circles, as “earned media.” (New York Times)
Another thing I suspect was the product of very good behind-the-scenes PR people: All the ‘Strava is the new dating app’ conversation the last two weeks. And then, bam, on the heels of that earned media, Strava introduces DM messaging. Though, I think we all know this is what guys will use it for (if that IG story hasn’t erased yet). (Strava/Instagram Stories)
Daniela Ryf has started a fund and will be running her first auction this week to raise money for foundation projects in Kenya. (Instagram)
And maybe the most interesting piece of triathlon news this week: It appears the Malibu City Council is poised to approve the only city permit for a triathlon to the previous owner of the Malibu Triathlon—who sold the race to Super League last year. It sounds like there was some outmanuevuering at the City Council committee level (which I’m guessing the new Malibu Tri owners didn’t know was a possibility) and now the council is ready to approve a contract with the previous owner, who started a new foundation to put on a new triathlon that looks a lot like the original triathlon. That would, effectively, mean NO Super League Malibu Triathlon because there is only one permit available and dude is taking it. If that happens, it would be not great for Super League, especially given they just hired a U.S. head and rebranded all their big acquired U.S. races to push a Triathlon Majors. (I was looking to speak with that U.S. head at the start of the new year, so fingers crossed.) I don’t totally understand, in all this, how the contract selling the original Malibu Tri race to Super League didn’t include a non-compete to stop this from happening, as is standard in these types of contracts, and I don’t totally understand dude’s end game—but I do know that my husband’s idea of a business that’s political consulting, lobbying, and government management for endurance sports companies and race directors would do well. (Triathlon Magazine Canada)
Check out Super League’s new Youtube podcast interviews with Johnny Brownlee and the much-awaited one with Georgia Taylor-Brown. (Youtube)
And Joe Skipper’s explanation of his crazy health issues. When my vision went out from a migraine for the first time in my life a few years ago, I was also pretty sure I had a detached cornea and then possibly that I was dying. (Youtube)
What’s the difference between pro athletes and pro influencers? Not as much as you think and it probably depends on who you ask. (TrailRunner)

One last thing

Worth watching how they made this cool Olympic athlete photo shoot.

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