#95: Why is Roth so fast?
World records v. world's best
issue #95: July 10, 2024
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All-sporters, I’m running pretty behind this week — this might be the latest this newsletter has ever gone out — and I won’t be making it to Ironman Lake Placid after all (just been too sick for too long), which is kinda a shame and kinda a relief that I don’t have to try to do an Ironman off very little training.
But in between the coughing fits, we’ve got a lot of big news and big races this week from the get-dirty excitement of off-road XTERRA races to the road world records in Roth. Let’s get to it!
- Kelly
Roth: Where records are set because we expect records
If somehow you missed the news: New record times for the 140.6-mile distance were set this weekend in Germany.
Technically speaking (though no one seems particularly concerned about this), Magnus Ditlev’s 7:23:24 Roth win was NOT the fastest ever time for this distance. That comes courtesy of Kristian Blummenfelt’s IM Cozumel in 2021 (7:21:11) — though we largely acknowledge Cozumel’s downhill swim is dumb, so up-for-debate on what counts and what doesn’t.
But, still. Ditlev’s 46:23 swim, 3:59:25 bike, and 2:34:18 run were the fastest “iron-distance” outside of that year’s asterisk’d Cozumel.
And, then we have: Anne Haug’s 8:02:38. Which, IMO, is even more impressive.
You all, she’s 41 years old! And she ran a 2:38:52 marathon, which has to be one of the best triathlon runs in history.
Plus, while records across the board have been falling quickly in the last few years (it’s actually hard to keep record lists updated), the women’s world record was one of those that had seemed stuck for years and then jumped ahead in huge leaps. Until Chrissie Wellington broke it in 2009 & then 2011, it had sat around 8:45 for a long time. Then Chrissie brought it down to 8:18, and it sat there for another decade. Until Daniela Ryf took ten minutes off it last year. And now here we are: Wondering if sub-8 really is possible?!
So, why is Roth so fast?
The course is certainly on the faster side of courses out there, but I wouldn’t say it’s specifically designed for speed — no pancake flat time trial on the bike, dirt paths on the run. In fact, I found the slightly rolling bike very European in that my American brain was hesitating briefly into every roundabout, chicane, and small historic town; you’d need to practice it.
There’s also definitely some drafting on the two loops and some benefit from motos, sure, but not more than other races and less than plenty. This is no IM Texas or Brazil, where it’s just pelotons coasting through loops. So that’s not really a huge factor.
The weather is OK, but it’s July in Europe, which can also be not ideal.
The roads are fast, that’s true, well-maintained and smooth asphalt. So that helps. But is that it?
When you look at the sheer number of records that have been set here and the factual specifics of the course and location, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that records are set simply because Roth is set up for records to be set.
Bonuses get paid for course and world records. Athletes show up looking to target fast times, and everyone is focused on and racing for that. Roads are, of course, fully closed and the front of the race is accommodated to make sure they can move quickly and nothing slows them down. I don’t mean that in terms of drafting; I mean that when the focus isn’t on ensuring the front pros can go as fast as possible, there end up being so many small things they have to deal with: aid stations not ready, changing tents or gates still closed or locked, stopping to search for transition bags, slowing down to dodge age-groupers. It adds up. I think, at Roth, it adds up in reverse.
Athletes believe they can go fast here, so they go fast here.
World records v. world’s best
A short aside:
Official world records are not kept in triathlon, because (unlike in running, for example) courses are not ratified/certified. That means what you call 140.6 miles might not be the same as what I call 140.6 miles. Or your 140.6 miles might be all downhill.
Ironman does keep course records and “world’s best” times, but only for Ironman-brand events — of which Challenge Roth, certainly, is not one.
And that’s not even getting into whether or how one-off exhibitions like the Sub7/Sub8 or Jan’s staged record effort count if they’re not really races and not conducted via race rules.
Your quasi-weekly Olympics updates
The only thing weird about Taylor Knibb announcing she’ll be giving up her place in the Olympic road race (to focus on triathlon & the time trial) is that she didn’t announce it earlier.
Now that track & field world rankings are finalized, the U.S. Olympic distance running teams are also finalized — and everyone loves the 5th place woman in the 10,000m getting the call from her coach that she’s going to Paris.
I dunno if you watched any of the swim-offs in the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials for the final spots on the team after two athletes tied, but they were *intense.*
It’s still better than just opting to not fill your country’s Olympic spots.
A short rant about not filling out your full Olympic team
Great Britain track & field is under a lot of criticism right now for choosing not to send people to Paris who are otherwise qualified — ie. the woman who earned her spot in the hammer throw via her top 20 ranking in the world will not get to go to the Olympics because Team GB declined her spot (which will then roll to another country); GB has said they will only send athletes who have the potential to be top 8.
And then the British officials doubled down on this, arguing that “an athlete getting to the Olympics with little chance of qualifying from their heat or pool, does not have a significant impact on inspiring the nation, and therefore does not merit public funding.”
This is dumb — both for moral reasons but also for practical ones. And while Britain is not the only country to have adopted this kind of policy, they are doing it at a scale that makes the stupidity hard to ignore.
First off, this is counter to the very principles of the Olympic Games (for whatever those are worth) that competing is itself the goal and that the best from all over must come together.
It actually does have “a significant impact on inspiring the nation” to have more athletes widely represented. The more entry points for people to engage, the more possibilities there are to see themselves; if they see no hammer throwers in the Games from Britain, how are they supposed to believe that Britain gives a shit about developing hammer throwers.
It’s one thing for a governing body to have the right to fill out their country’s xxx number of allocated spots however they choose to fill them out. However, I am not sure this gives that governing body the right to take away an individual athlete’s earned spot to compete. ie. If there are three spots and 10 athletes who are qualified, by all means, pick your three; but if one athlete has earned one spot, then is it not that athlete’s spot by right?
If you’re not going to fund those athletes, then don’t fund them — but they should have the right to fund themselves to get to the Olympics.
Besides, you don’t actually know who’s going to be top 8. Duh. And now you’re giving that spot to another country. Which seems counterproductive to the goal of optimizing performance for your own country.
And, anyway, even if your *only* goal is medals then how do you think you develop future medalists?! It’s not by keeping them at home where they won’t get Games-level experience…
Personally, I actually think if a country/governing body turns down the Olympics’ allocated or designated slots, there should be some kind of penalty.
Mark your calendars
WTCS Hamburg: Such an odd one this weekend — given the Olympic race in three weeks. Which makes it a mix of people who didn’t make the Olympic team but have something to prove (Vince Luis, Gwen Jorgensen, Katie Zaferes) & people who did make the Paris team but want to get one last tune-up or something (Pierre LeCorre, Morgan Pearson, Beth Potter, Kate Waugh). Start lists here.
IM Vitoria: Another weekend, another IM Pro Series. This one with a bunch of the big European names back: Kat Matthews on the return after the DQ/DNF at Hamburg, Sam Laidlow making his season Ironman debut.
WATCH: On proseries.ironman.com or Outside Watch at 10:30 p.m. PT on Saturday/1:30 a.m. ET on Sunday
XTERRA World Cup Quebec: For those in the know, the XTERRA World Cup series this year has been full of the kind of racing we all look for: current and former world champs, fast and who knows what could happen, back-and-forth lead changes. And now the World Cup heads to Quebec, where $20,000 is on the line. Maybe most interestingly, Tim O’Donnell is joining the European XTERRA experts to try his hand at this off-road thing. Start lists here & check out the Youtube preview to get you in the XTERRA spirit.
All results from the weekend: Challenge Roth, World Triathlon - World Cup Tiszaujvaros, Ecuador 70.3
The -ish
The rest of the news you should know about from our sports this week.
There were other world records this weekend! Like breaking the 37-year-old high jump record. (Instagram)
And the 1500m! Oooh boy. Not only did Faith Kipyegon run 3:49.04 to break her own world record in the 1500m, but there were three other national records run in the race behind her, too. Again, it was not that long ago that women running 3:50 was rare. Now, it’s….much less rare. (Instagram)
I’m not even going to try to explain what’s happening in the Tour except to say it seems like it’s finally heating up, and I agree that the gravel was very gravely. Cavendish has won 35 stages in his life, the team with the smallest budget has won the most this year (thanks to their Eritrean sprinter), and Ashley Gruber’s daily photo diaries are the main way I follow the day-to-day. (Velo/Instagram/CyclingNews)
Fyi, the women’s Giro is also happening right now and hits the big climbs this weekend. Which feels like a deliberately poor timing choice on the part of the UCI. There are a lot of days in the year we could have bike races, they don’t need to be at the same time. (Escape Collective)
This August is the last edition of Ironman Canada in Penticton (though tbf it has moved around, to Whistler, back to Penticton). (Facebook)
While Morro Bay 70.3 is also gone (oh, West Coast races), Wildflower is officially back for May 2-4, 2025. Want more info? Check out our Q&A with the race director. (Instagram/Triathlonish)
The course is up for 70.3 Worlds. (Ironman)
Fernanda Keller and Kathleen McCartney will be this year’s Ironman Hall of Fame inductees. (Ironman)
Paula Findlay pulled out of T100 London for somewhat obvious reasons + it’s her wedding. (I tried to race right before my wedding and it was totally a great idea until it really wasn’t.) Looks like Laura Madsen got Paula’s spot. (Instagram)
Chris Nikic also finished Roth, and I think they kept the finish open for him as far as I can tell — though it’s a much earlier cutoff time there and also much less strict. (Instagram)
In the same way the U.S. is using one of the supertri teams to create a space for development athletes, it looks like the Brownlees are hoping to do the same for GB athletes on their own Brownlee team. (Tri247)
I got a marketing email from Ironman that told me I could come ‘race with the pros,’ and it was cool to see them really leaning into marketing and understanding the benefit the pros can offer. A lot of credit for the huge amount of attention being paid to the pros now has to be given to the PTO pushing that forward, for all that I’m skeptical of their business plan. (Ironman)
Skye Moench’s discussion of the PTO working on its maternity policy for T100 contracted athletes is interesting. Full episode here. (Instagram/Feisty Tri)
This is a weird quandry around Brit Tri insurance no longer covering international athletes racing in the UK. (Triathlon Magazine)
There are two newsletters I always make sure to read every week and one of them is Mile & Stone — which is all about the business, industry, and trends in the booming world of trail running. Kinda like Triathlonish but European and for trail running. (Mile & Stone)
Those guys also pointed me in the direction of this fascinating breakdown of Western States revenue and expenses. (We Are Trail)
Crossfit Games are going to include a swim & run this year, which is always fun to watch. (Youtube)
And if you’re trying to keep track of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest drama: Joey Chestnut held his own exhibition event at the same time as Nathan’s (since he was banned) but only ate 57 dogs, Miki Sudo crushed the women’s record with 51 dogs + buns in 10 minutes, but her husband is being accused of cheating in his own eating. Drama. (USA Today/New York Times/Daily Caller)
One last thing
The Olympic torch scaled Mont Blanc.
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Watch the XTERRA World Cup series **LIVE** here
Oh yeah and Anne Haug is just amazing! Watching her run is incredible!
UGH!
TeamGB not letting people who actually qualified for the Olympics, GO TO THE OLYMPICS is so so infuriating. And such bad press! It makes them look soooo snooty! Top twenty IN THE WORLD?!? NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?!? (you pompous twat 🙄)
Really not a good look.