#85: Why didn't everyone go to St. Anthony's?
#85: Why didn't everyone go to St. Anthony's?
And other questions.
issue #85: May 1, 2024
Presented by Precision Fuel & Hydration:
Happy May Day! I’m semi on vacation after finishing my 100K on Saturday — I finished! 63 miles with 12,300ft of elevation by foot! — so this week’s newsletter is a little short and then we’ll be back.
You can check out my on-the-ground takeaways from UTMB’s Canyons (which went out to paying subscribers this weekend), but in short: It took a long time, I was never going to be 100% prepared for that kind of muscular breakdown, the UTMB scene is not as much of a scene as people are worried about, but it was very competitive and very serious and very big.
And most importantly: I didn’t really have any nutrition issues! (Other than wanting nothing but popsicles in the middle.) Which is something for 15 hours. So I have to commend Precision for their help in the build-up; I think the biggest thing for me was learning enough through the training process that I was able to troubleshoot better throughout the day: Recognizing when salt pills are actually going to help with water absorption and stop the sloshing in my stomach, when I just need to power through and have another gel, when cold water is key. You can see other athletes’ case studies here and start learning yourself.
Now the quick news of the week.
- Kelly
IM Texas: A supposedly fun race I will never do
Every year people complain about the crowds on the bike course at Texas. Every year, at least since it’s been on the Hardy Toll Road, there are huge draft packs because of the flat windy loops with too many people. Every year those crowds of (largely) age-group men impact the pro women’s race, too — because it’s just hard for any athlete to deal with being swarmed by and sucked into groups that size. There are typically crashes, typically lots of arguing, typically people bemoaning that triathlon has gotten ridiculous with hundreds of people riding in giant pelotons.
It’s not that I’m not sympathetic — it does sound shitty. It’s just that it’d be kinda like if I was upset I ran through poison oak at Canyons on Saturday, or if I complained that the trails there were hot and hilly. That’s what I signed up for.
Kat Mathews won her second Texas — which is most impressive because of the calf tear she picked up after T100 Miami. If Kat has taught us anything over the last few years it’s that you do not need to run huge mileage to run fast in Ironman, if you manage it right. Or, at least she doesn’t need to.
The women’s race was a lot closer than last year, though, and Kat won by less (mostly because of the slower run). Penny Slater and Lotte Wilms had excellent races in second and third. But as Tim pointed out in Triathlete: This season is really going to be all about just being fit enough at enough start lines to get the big races done, the points tallied, the series won.
Of course, the story of the day was the first Mexican athlete to win an Ironman race: Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez. He’s won 70.3s before, and as much as it came out of nowhere it didn’t really come out of nowhere. He ran a 2:38 at IM Cozumel before and some other race best splits in 70.3s, but it was his 2:34 course record run here that has now gotten everyone’s attention and that led him to outrun even Patrick Lange in second. (You can also see his top-line fueling numbers from Precision.)
The six Nice spots rolled down to 9th and the Kona spots to 10th. Here are the pro IM World Champs qualifiers.
And the IM Pro Series standings: Fenella Langridge leads the women’s & Patrick leads the men’s.
St. Anthony’s: $10,000 for the winner
Did you realize that the Olympic distance classic, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was paying $10,000 to the winner and paying eight deep? I didn’t. And I have to assume a lot of the pros didn’t. But some did!
Lisa Becharas got her biggest pro win and Marc Dubrick continued to establish himself in the mid-distance (short-non-draft distance?) fields.
Rest of the results here.
Other results
World Cup Chengdu: Max Stapley and Julie Derron took the sprints.
XTERRA World Cup - Greece: The French have gotten really good at XTERRA and it looks like it’s going to be all France podiums this year. Solenne Billouin won her second World Cup, and the Forrisier brothers switched places (first and second).
Challenge Taiwan: Els Visser has now raced three weekends in a row at hot & humid Asia courses, with three excellent results (including a win here), and apparently already six races for this season. Which is a lot for the end of April.
Next up: St. George 70.3
And the hits just keep coming. With 20 IM Pro Series races, at some point we’re gonna have to accept that there’s basically a “big” race every week. But for now: This weekend is the next and the N. American 70.3 Champs in St. George.
A few previous winners on the starts lists: Paula Findlay, Jeannie Metzler making her return to racing, Sam Long. Will likely be a burner, as it always is in St. G.
WATCH: Saturday at 5:50 a.m. PT/8:50 a.m. ET on Outside Watch (in U.S. & Canada) and proseries.ironman.com
And then: WTCS Yokohama & the drama
The final Paris auto-qualifier for the U.S. is also almost here — next weekend, May 11, at WTCS Yokohama. A podium will get an athlete on the Olympic team, and for the women right now it’s Kristen Kasper, Taylor Spivey, Summer Rappaport, and Gwen Jorgensen vying for that spot. (Taylor Knibb is also on the start line, but already has her Olympic spot.)
The big news, though: WTCS Cagliari two weeks later is not an automatic qualifier for the U.S. It is a qualifier for a lot of other countries, though. Katie Zaferes did not have a start in Yokohama because of the points situation and the cap on athletes per country. She now has a start in Cagliari — and it sounds like Gwen Jorgensen had been on that start list, but as the #5 athlete she was pulled and substituted to give Katie a chance.
I have to assume that, given that at least one spot on the U.S. team is going to come down to discretion from the selection committee (ie. they’re just gonna have to pick), they would really like to at least see a WTCS here from Katie, so they can factor that in. But, also, it’s drama.
The -ish
The rest of the news you should know about from our sports this week.
Is Wildflower finally coming back in 2025?! (Instagram)
And after all that controversy around the Malibu Triathlon, the new race in its place (Zuma Beach Triathlon) is now canceled for this year. Which is only funny because it’s terrible. (Triathlete/Slowtwitch)
I’m always 🙄 about social media “polls,” but I do think it’s worth knowing what your audience thinks (even if your audience doesn’t really know why they think that). So it’s useful to know that people aren’t super happy with Ironman coverage — but they’re somewhat wrong in thinking the problem is the commentators. The problem is the information the commentators are given; there should be more data and details and background fed to the people doing the on-air talking, because without any of those things it’s quite hard to talk good. (Instagram)
Canyons also had UTMB Live coverage and the traditional Ironman film crew was out there on the trails shooting breathtaking vistas, etc. Biggest takeaway: Katie Schide in the women’s race. Won by over 50 minutes, 6th overall counting the men at this very large competitive UTMB Major, and just looked like she was out for run. (I would like to state for the record: The race has 12K ft of elevation! Not 10K. Also, just fyi: There was someone out there doing a shoe count…) (Instagram/Outside Run)
Courtney Dauwalter won the Mt. Fuji 100 — one of the competing World Trail Majors, yes, confusing — and was third overall. (World Trail Majors)
Ali Jackson won a stage at the women’s Vuelta (on International Dance Day) and everyone piled on to celebrate. (Instagram)
Mirinda Carfrae is being inducted into the Australia Triathlon Hall of Fame. (Aus Tri)
Emma Jackson is retiring. (Instagram)
Gustav Iden bought a house (and is making a return to racing). (Instagram)
Lionel Sanders fractured a rib. (Youtube)
A couple more of the pieces I did on the U.S. Paralympians: Grace Norman and Kelly Elmlinger. (USAT)
76-year-old Jeannie Rice apparently ran a 3:33:27 at the London Marathon — which, yes, breaks her own age-group world record. (Runner’s World)
I think the idea that marathons are some kind of *new* quarter-life milestone for young adults is incorrect. That ignores the entire previous running boom and previous growth bubbles around marathons as life achievements. I think it is correct that there’s a growth happening right now (a moment, as you will), but I think it’s a little bit because of a delay from the last few years. (The Atlantic)
But also, 840,000 people have applied for entry into the London Marathon next year. (London Marathon)
Caitlin Clark played a lot of different sports as a kid. Just fyi. (Range Widely)
One last thing
Sifan Hassan is all of us in this video. “Why did I decide to do this?”
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