Tuesday, December 12, 2006

101: The new standard tri distance?

That's 101.06 miles - a 1.86mi (3km) swim, followed by a 80.6mi (130km) bike and finishing with a 18.6mi (30km) run for a total distance of 101.06 miles.

A new series of three races and a championship in Texas in 2007, and 20 events promised for 2008.

Sounds very interesting! I like those distances! Well, except for maybe the 3000m swim, but I can survive that. Will this be the new "Ironman Lite"? Without, of course, using that trademarked I-word.

16 comments:

Dr. Iron TriFeist :) said...

Cool! The first race is only an hour or so from my house. Don't know if I'll be ready for that by May but 2008 could be a possibility.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Interesting. The Woodlands is right in my backyard. What's the buzz on the race directors?

Comm's said...

IM-lite sounds right. I guess everyone is looking for a niche. I think Oly's will be the continuing standard for races and 140.6 will always be the Valhalla of triathlon. Interesting concept though. Somewhat refreshing.

21st Century Mom said...

Kind of a cool way to step up without having to double the distance. Sprint-> Oly -> HIM -> 101 -> IM. I like it!

Hermano said...

So far they've got a good looking website and a few known names ... Jonas Colting is one of the race directors. Where did they get those distances? I know that all distances in all races are arbitrary to a certain extent, but it seems odd to make up some new ones and claim they're taking us by storm. The more races the better, though.

Born To Endure said...

I saw this too, I'm so excited about going to Texas...but i'm backing away from the computer...just not sure if I can do two Texas races in one year..:-)

Robin said...

It would be nice if they'd bump up the swim a bit, but it sounds interesting. There's always been a big gap between half-Iron and Iron, and it sounds like this might fill the niche.

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

I just like calling it Ironman-light. te-he-he.

Too bad Tinman is already being used... ;-)

Lisa said...

Hmm.... Texas is a bit far, but it sounds interesting. My sister lives near Sacramento though....

Charles said...

I can't see myself training for IM every year so maybe this will be "lite" enough for annual racing with the occasional bump up to the longer distance. I like it!

Vickie said...

A much more manageable distance, wouldn't you agree? I'm sure it is catering to those not wanting to do a full IM but still wanting to call themselves Ironmen. Maybe something like Aluminum man or something?

Nancy Toby said...

Absolutely! 80 miles on the bike is enough for me!

Manageable depends (for me) on the cutoffs. I emailed them to ask what they would be, but no response yet.

Phil said...

Interesting. I'm wondering if TriDaddy has something to do with this... I estimate, for myself (a mid-pack age-grouper), in my peak fitness, I could finish between 8-9 hours. Just around the time, things start to get hard for IM competitors.

(Updated TriTime Site has 101 distance on it now: http://www.bx3.com/phil/tri/tritime2.asp)

Nancy Toby said...

Oooh, thanks for the update! That made it easy to estimate!

It would be more like 10-11-12 hours for me, but that's a good day's work. Get done before I drop in my tracks!!

If I could find out what the cutoffs are (if they would answer my email!) I might even think about signing up for one!

ShesAlwaysWrite said...

I'm never big on change, and I'd hate for this to become something people do just so they can tell people who aren't in the know they did an Ironman.

But I think it's the perfect distance for people (liiiiiike... me?) working their way towards Iron - can't wait to hear more about it. Hopefully in the time it takes me to get closer to Iron this distance will spread farther than Texas so the rest of us can enjoy it!

Nancy Toby said...

I'm perhaps a little more jaded about the monopolistic grip that the corporate entity Ironman has on long-distance triathlon races - especially when it entails entries a year in advance and very high registration prices. I'm excited to see this series and hope it's very successful!