There are races anyone can register for; there are races you have to enter a lottery for; and then there are races you have to QUALIFY for. On today's episode, Coach John Mayfield and Pro Triathlete Elizabeth James discuss the smattering of exclusive events where a spot on the start line requires more than dollars. How do the race entry lotteries work? What is the qualification standard for Boston or New York? What's the best way to get a slot to the IRONMAN World Championship? If you aspire to race Kona, Boston, Western States, USA Triathlon Nationals, Escape from Alcatraz, 70.3 Worlds, Challenge Roth, or another prestigious endurance event, you'll want to tune in for all the tips to secure your spot! At TriDot, we trust 2Toms to keep us moving! 2Toms provides revolutionary products to prevent issues from chafing, blisters, odors and sweat. To make the switch to 2Toms, head to Medi-Dyne.com and use the code “TRIDOT” to save 20 percent on your entire order. Join the TriDot Crew at CLASH Daytona in December! Use code TRIDOTDAYTONA for 10% off any event! Register now at https://clash-usa.com/clash-daytona. And don’t forget to sign up to get updates and early access to the TriDot Mark Allen Edition to be released Fall 2022: https://tridot.com/mark-allen-signup/
TriDot Podcast .158
The Quest to Qualify – Kona, Boston, & Other Dream Races
Intro: This is the TriDot podcast. TriDot uses your training data and genetic profile, combined with predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize your training, giving you better results in less time with fewer injuries. Our podcast is here to educate, inspire, and entertain. We’ll talk all things triathlon with expert coaches and special guests. Join the conversation and let’s improve together.
Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast! Fun show today! I’ve got two TriDot coaches here to walk us through the minefield of things you have to qualify for, or get into via some sort of lottery: Kona, Boston, USA Triathlon Nationals, Escape From Alcatraz, 70.3 Worlds, PATAGONMAN, Challenge Roth, Ironman, All World Athlete status, pro cards – does that cover it? Is that everything, guys? Is that all of them? We’ll find out soon. Joining us for this conversation is pro triathlete and coach, Elizabeth James. Elizabeth is a USAT Level II and Ironman U certified coach, who quickly rose through the triathlon ranks using TriDot, from a beginner, to a top age grouper, to a professional triathlete. She’s a Kona and Boston Marathon qualifier – lucky for us today – who has coached triathletes with TriDot since 2014. Elizabeth, welcome back to the show!
Elizabeth James: Thank you so much! Goodness, this is such an exciting time of year, with the number of big events happening now, and then registration for other major events just opening. So I really can’t wait for today’s main set to dive into all these different cool things people can qualify or register for.
Andrew: Also joining us is Coach John Mayfield. John is a USAT Level II and Ironman U certified coach who leads TriDot’s athlete services, ambassador, and coaching programs. He has coached hundreds of athletes ranging from first-timers to Kona qualifiers and professional triathletes. John has been using TriDot since 2010 and coaching with TriDot since 2012. John, thanks for joining us!
John Mayfield: Glad to have qualified to be here!
Andrew: I'm Andrew the Average Triathlete, Voice of the People and Captain of the Middle of the Pack. As always we'll roll through our warmup question, settle in for our main set topic, and then wind things down with our cooldown. Fun cooldown today, I have two TriDot athletes who are racing 70.3 Waco and raising funds for a great cause as they do it, so I can’t wait to hear about that on the cooldown.
We have the coolest opportunity lined up for December of this year, 2022, to end the season racing CLASH Daytona. The team from CLASH Endurance is giving TriDot Nation our own portion of the RV camping area. So basically you register for the race, you book a campsite, you get yourself there with an RV, and you hang out with other TriDotters all weekend long. We’ll be staying right on the shores of Lake Lloyd; that’s the lake INSIDE of Daytona International Speedway. You can bring your own RV, or you can rent one from one of the partner RV rental websites. I rented an RV for TriDot coach Jeff Raines and myself from RVshare.com, and the coolest thing is Jeff and I will show up on Thursday and our RV will be there waiting for us in our camping spot. No RV driving required. It will no doubt be an adventure, camping, hanging, racing, and cheering each other in Daytona. You can register for the race at CLASH-USA.com using the code TRIDOTDAYTONA for 10% off any and all of the races you’ll be doing. When you register, make sure you put down that you are with TriDot if you plan on camping with us. I plan on racing the sprint on Saturday and doing a relay for the middle distance on Sunday. I may even throw the Friday night Jingle Jog 5K in there as well, who knows? Either way, this is going to be a special weekend. So consider this to be your invitation to the TriDot party.
Warm up theme: Time to warm up! Let’s get moving.
Andrew: The triathlon community is mostly crammed full of upbeat, friendly, and positive personalities. Maybe it’s the exercise-induced endorphins, or maybe it’s just something about endurance sports that just attracts nice folks. All I know is, without fail, when I’m sharing a story about a new tri friend my wife has not heard of yet, I almost always find myself saying, “Yeah, they’re just the nicest person.” That said, it’s not all gumdrops and jelly beans. As nice as we tend to be, triathletes can still have some quirks that can make us slightly annoying and are worth poking fun at. So John, Elizabeth, from the unfathomable amount of hours that you two have spent around triathletes, what is your triathlete pet peeve? John Mayfield?
John: I won’t necessarily say this is my pet peeve, but for those unaware, Andrew prepares what we refer to as a “format” for each one of these podcasts, it’s notes and questions and that sort of thing. We can do some homework, and hopefully sound somewhat educated prior to recording those.
Andrew: A prepared podcast is a good podcast!
John: Oftentimes they’re blank and we fill it in. Granted, I’ve noted several times I struggle with answers for warmup questions, so Andrew has started making suggestions for me. Andrew and I have spent an unfathomable amount of time around athletes and at races, so he suggested that not only do I share a story or a pet peeve, but I rant about people who cover their saddle and bars overnight before a race. At a lot of these races, you have go and drop your bike off the night before the race, and covers are prohibited. You can’t have a full bike cover. But a lot of times people will cover sections of their bike, which is all well and good. But I always just laugh that the most frequent things we see covered, one would be the saddle, and then two would be the aerobars, handlebars, that sort of thing. Which makes a little bit of sense, but it’s always a kind of head-scratcher. You’re coming out of the water, it’s swim, bike run. Is the rant starting? Can you hear it in my voice, Andrew? Is this what you wanted me to do?
Andrew: The rant is starting!
John: I feel it welling up within me. So yeah, we’re swimming, and then we wear these kits that effectively have a diaper that are going to be full of water, and the first place it’s going to go is onto that saddle. So not really quite sure the saddle needs to be dry. Most of them are leather or plastic or some sort of material that it will fare in the overnight humidity, rain, whatever is thrown at it quite well. Same thing with the aerobars, shifters. Those things get funky with all sorts of stuff a lot worse than dew or rain with sports drinks, sweat, blood, snot, all that kind of stuff that’s going to eventually end up on it during the race. So I’m not quite sure why they need to be nice and dry overnight.
Andrew: Moving on to Elizabeth! Elizabeth, what is your triathlete pet peeve?
Elizabeth: Triathletes that brag about their high training volume. I know that the majority of our listeners are smarter than this, and they understand that quality training over just sheer quantity is going to make them better. But it still gets under my skin just a little bit when somebody’s bragging about doing a large number of training hours just for the sake of logging more hours. If they’re logging more hours than another training partner just to be on top of the Strava leader board, not because it’s beneficial for their development or their progress towards their goals. That just drives me nuts, that they’ve always got to one-up and be like, “Oh, well I did one more hour than you this week,” or, “I did just two more miles,” so that they’re on top of the leader board, whether they needed to or probably didn’t. That’s a pet peeve of mine. Quality training, that’s what we’re striving for, not all of the accumulation metrics in training.
John: And they like to brag about their injuries, as well.
Andrew: Those folks have obviously not listened to the TriDot podcast. So I’ll keep it short here, mine is just the triathlete who litters, whether it’s training or racing. There’s some popular local routes near where I live, and if I’m out on a Saturday morning riding one of those routes and I see a gel wrapper on the road, I know that was a fellow cyclist or triathlete, and it’s like, “C’mon!” We are people that enjoy the outdoors. We do a lot of things outdoors, so let’s be good stewards of the outdoors. It’s very, very easy to take that trash, put it in a jersey pocket, or wait for an aid station on race day, or wait for a coffee stop or water stop when you’re out there riding. There’s no reason for us as triathletes to be littering with the couple things. That GU wrapper is not going to mess up your jersey pocket. It’s not going to add any weight to your training day. So when you’re out there, just don’t littler. Just be a good steward of the earth, of the environment, and save that trash for the trash.
We’re going to throw this question out to you. Do you have your own John Mayfield‑esque rant that you want to give to us on Facebook? Go find the post. Every single Monday, we throw out our warmup question to you, our listeners. So find the post on the I AM TriDot Facebook group asking you: what is your triathlete pet peeve? And keep it civil, people. Keep it civil. No calling out names, no tagging people in your rant.
Main set theme: On to the main set. Going in 3…2…1…
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There are races that anyone can register for, and there are races that you have to enter a lottery for, and then there are races you have to qualify for. Today, Coach John Mayfield and pro triathlete Elizabeth James will be talking all about those extra-cool events where a spot on the start line is not guaranteed. John, Elizabeth, let’s start with some encouraging real-life athlete stories. Tell me about a time that you had an athlete identify a goal to qualify for a specific race, you coached them to accomplish that goal, and you watched that dream come to pass for them. Elizabeth, let’s start with you.
Elizabeth: It is so hard to choose here! It makes me wonder if this is what parents feel like when they’re asked about their kids. They don’t have a favorite –
Andrew: Or do they?
Elizabeth: Well I don’t know, maybe they do – but they just have so much love and excitement for what each of their kids is doing. But talking about athlete accomplishments just gets me super fired up, because I absolutely love goal setting. I love striving for big, challenging endeavors, and it just gets me so excited when I have the honor to be part of an athlete’s journey, when they go for something like qualifying for a specific event. Can you tell I’m stalling a little bit as I try to choose which story to tell? Goodness, there’s so many to choose from! Let’s go with Jen Wilder though. In 2021, she had the goal to qualify for 70.3 Worlds. It was going to be here in the U.S. in St. George, a great opportunity for her to be able to travel to the World Championship for 70.3 Worlds and compete there. And she did accomplish that goal at 70.3 Texas in April last year. That was just such a special race, I was so glad that I was able to be there, and have the opportunity to cheer her on as she raced on the course. Then last fall she was in St. George for the 70.3 Championships at six months pregnant. Soon after qualifying in Galveston she found out that she was expecting her first baby. We continued to work together through the remainder of the year, and modified some things in training, but she was able to be on the start line at 70.3 Worlds, racing with a baby on board. So her goal for 2022 was to get back to 70.3 Worlds, back to St. George, and compete again post-baby, where she’d have the opportunity to race a little faster without her daughter on board. And she did it. Earlier this year she was able to race well, race strong, qualify again. I know that has been a challenging journey for her, to come back to training after giving birth, both from the physical perspective just being able to prioritize the time and care for her daughter. But Jen is just amazing. In June she qualified, and she’ll be returning to Utah for round two later this year. Kudos to her. It’s always exciting to qualify for those big events, and to have her be able to do that back-to-back as she went through a pregnancy and the birth of her first child is amazing.
Andrew: We don’t swear on the TriDot podcast lightly, but it’s pretty badass, if you ask me.
Elizabeth: For sure!
Andrew: All of our female athletes – I see Instagram videos of Gwen Jorgensen and some others, Mirinda Carfrae training while pregnant – it just blows my mind what they’re physically able to do with baby on board, as you put it. Great story there, Elizabeth. John, what are you going to follow that up with?
John: I think the only thing I can follow that up with is actually bragging on Elizabeth, and sharing a story from several years ago.
Andrew: Sure! Do that!
John: She and I had the privilege of racing Ironman Texas together back in 2017, and Elizabeth had the goal to make the podium. She achieved that goal but came in third. There were two Kona qualification slots in the age group, and being an early-season race, both of those slots were taken. Had there been a rolldown, she’d have been right there ready for it. That didn’t happen on that day for her, but I think she got a taste of it. I think it provided some of that confidence to know that it was within her grasp. So being who she is she signed up for another race later in the year, trained as diligently as she always has, and raced Ironman Chattanooga in the fall. Ironman Texas was in the spring, trained for several months preparing for Chattanooga, picked a course that suited her and set her up for success, and had an amazing race. I had the privilege of being there on site, wasn’t racing the second time but I was there with her. She had a good swim, good bike, and then she did her thing that she does on the run. There were a few specific times where she was just doing what she does, and it was a realization for me, I vividly remember it was like, “Yep, she’s got it. She’s gonna do it. She’s a couple slots back but she’s got them right where she wants them, she’s got them on the ropes. And it’s done. Sorry, you’re not gonna win, it’s Elizabeth’s day.” Sure enough, with a couple miles to go she took over first place, and ran down that chute with her signature finish, the fist pumps and all, which was just amazing to see her celebrate. Then one of my probably five favorite all-time triathlon photos was immediately thereafter. It’s a picture of she and I. She’s giving me a big hug, and I’m giving her a big hug, she’s got an ice pack down her jersey, and just a very special day for me. Then to have the privilege of being there the next day at the awards ceremony when she was asked if she wanted her slot, and of course in true Elizabeth James fashion, she jumped up and screamed “YES!” and ran up there and claimed her spot. As she even mentioned in her story, she’s a huge fan of setting goals. She does it as well as anyone. If she sets something, she achieves them, and it’s been a privilege to be there for some of those.
Andrew: And she’s loved Chattanooga ever since, that’s for sure.
Elizabeth: Yes.
Andrew: Before we get too deep into talking about the races you have to qualify for, I want to talk about the races you get into via a lottery system. Things like the New York Marathon, Escape From Alcatraz, and PATAGONMAN all come to mind for me. Shout out to TriDot coach Louise Strydom from South Africa. I know she just got into the lottery for PATAGONMAN and will be racing in Argentina coming up. How do these lottery systems work, and what do these athletes need to know about them?
Elizabeth: Well, I’m glad that we’re discussing events that have a lottery system, as I would say that’s some of the very unique or prestigious races have adopted this practice for registration because the event is so popular. Because so many people are interested in it, they aren’t able to grant entry to everybody that wants to participate. For example, in 2019 the Boston Marathon had over 30,000 runners. That’s a huge field already, but that’s not even close to how many people wanted to be there. The New York City Triathlon adopted a lottery system in 2011. Kona actually used to have a lottery system where you would pay $50 to put your name in for a drawing. That was only for a short amount of time, until it was deemed illegal gambling in some states since you actually had to pay an entry fee to enter the lottery. Then today, races like Western States Ultramarathon, the Leadville 100, Big Sur Marathon, they all have registrations that include a lottery portion for some of the registration. There’s a lot of events out there that have this lottery system, but it actually isn’t a very easy question to answer because each race is a little bit unique. Sure, you sign up to have your name selected, but every race doesn’t offer the same amount of chances for each entry. It’s really important to do your research. If there’s an event that you’re interested in, you really need to take the time to understand the registration system, and how the lottery might work for that particular event. So like for the Chicago Marathon, that was one that I was very interested in racing a couple years ago. For Chicago, there are some guaranteed entries based on a submitted half or full marathon time, and then there are some lottery entries. So you can either enter by running a qualifying time, or you can take your chances with luck and just hope for an entry. Then you’ve got Western States. Western States registration is super unique. The top ten men and women from the previous year are granted a spot, then there’s some spots for other elite athletes, then you’ve got these golden ticket races across the country that award two spots for the fastest men and women at those races. You’ve got a couple race sponsor spots, then you have the lottery. But it’s not just one entry per person, it’s one entry the first year that you put your name in, then after that it’s double the number of tickets each year that you enter, if you’re not selected the previous year. So your probability goes up each year that you continue to enter but you haven’t been selected. That sounds like an appealing way to do it. For the first-time entry though, I think last year you had a 1.3% chance of being selected if it was the first year that you entered, so a super-slim possibility. So if you want to race at Western States you’re likely going to need to be in the drawing for a number of years. In fact, this is what one of my training partners is doing right now. He entered the lottery a couple years ago with the idea in mind that three to seven years after he puts that first entry in, hopefully he’ll actually get the opportunity to race it. So you’ve got to understand those things and really plan ahead for the events that you would really be interested in doing.
Andrew: Let’s move on to the races you have to qualify for. I’m going to go through a list here of some of the major ones. I’d love to start simply just by identifying them, and hearing exactly what we have to do to qualify for each of these. Now this is not a totally comprehensive list, I’m sure there’s some great ones out there that we’re going to miss today. But the premise and the concepts for qualifying should be similar. Really trying to hit the most popular ones, let’s start with the Big Kahuna. How do we qualify for Kona?
Elizabeth: To qualify for Kona, each Ironman event and the 70.3 Hawaii has a predetermined, fixed number of slots that will be given to the finishers of that event for the World Championship race in Kona. The total number of slots are allocated to each age group, typically in five-year increments, based on the number of participants that are in each age division there. A slot is reserved for each age group that has someone registered in that division, and the number of slots per age group is determined by the number of registrations. What I mean by that is if male 18-24 has some registrations, but only a small percentage, they might get one slot. But male 40-44 may have a larger percentage of those registrations, so they would have three or maybe even four slots in that particular race. From there it even gets a little more detailed, because if there isn’t a finisher in that particular age group – let’s say someone is registered, but they weren’t able to complete the race, either didn’t start or didn’t finish – that slot that was originally going to be allotted to that age group is now awarded to another age group in that same gender. Additionally, if the slots awarded to that particular age group are not claimed by the top finishers – either because they’ve already earned a spot, or maybe they wouldn’t be able to attend the race in Kona, or maybe they just didn’t attend the awards ceremony – then that slot is rolled down to the next eligible finisher in that age group. So the awards ceremony follows a very specific protocol for allocating the slots to the fastest athletes in each age group to get those spots for Kona.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s always interesting to me when we’re on site at the Ironman races –this isn’t something that’s even on my radar, knowing that I’m going to finish in the middle of the pack for my age group – but this is always a big talking point for a lot of our athletes is, ahead of time trying to figure out, “How many slots are in my age group, where do I have to place?” Because it is a little different each race, since it goes off of a percentage of the athletes in your age group.
Elizabeth: Some people will even go to the lengths of – and maybe I have done this too – when they’re racing an age group, looking at “Who am I competing against? How many people already have their slot to Kona? What spot do I need to get behind some of these other finishers? How far could it roll down?” and really doing the math behind determining the probability of a spot.
John: Then there’s obviously the alternative to qualifying is the Legacy Program. Elizabeth mentioned the lottery that went for a number of years, then Ironman got their wrist slapped by the Department of Justice. Out of that was born the Legacy Program, which allows those athletes of any ability to be able to race in the World Championships. That’s the alternative for those that may not be as fast but have lots of longevity. Originally it was just race twelve, then you can apply and be accepted, there’s some validation after that. Some new rules now say that you have to have twelve YEARS, so I believe it’s only one per year counts. I think this starts next year, so if you weren’t racing your twelfth this year, you’re going to be subject to that rule of you have to have a twelve-year span in there. It’s a great way to reward longevity and those that continue to support Ironman, and continue to work towards that ambition of racing on the Big Island and taking part of that experience but just don’t have the means of qualifying.
Andrew: The other Ironman event that a lot of folks like to qualify for – Elizabeth, your story at the top of the main set was about this race – Ironman 70.3 Worlds. The really cool thing about 70.3 Worlds is that it moves every single year, it’s not always just in Kona. I’ve had friends race this in Taupo, I’ve had friends race this in Nice, France, I’ve had friends race this in St. George. Next year, at the time we’re recording and releasing this podcast, it’s in Finland I believe. So really, really cool that it moves, and you have the chance to take part in an Ironman Championship in a different location. Is there anything different about qualifying for 70.3 Worlds?
Elizabeth: This is largely the same process that is used for the Kona qualifications, but over the past few years additional slots have become available through the Women for Tri organization, really to encourage more women into championship events. We saw this in last year’s St. George event, where there were an additional thousand slots awarded to top finishing females at select races. Then Andrew, as you mentioned for Finland next year in 2023, that is going to feature a dedicated men’s and women’s day of racing, which will enable Ironman to offer an additional amount of slots, as well through the Women for Tri organization.
Andrew: Now, there are some big race producers other than Ironman, and one of them is the Challenge Family. Challenge Family has their annual championship that is kind of their version of Kona, and it is called The Championship, it’s in Samorin, Slovakia. If I’m mispronouncing that, please forgive me. Is there anything different about qualifying for this? Samorin, it’s a really cool location. If you watch races like the Collins Cup, that’s where the Collins Cup is held every single year, so really interesting-looking race course, and it is a world championship for the Challenge Family, which is a great race producer. How does somebody qualify for that?
Elizabeth: Like the Ironman World Championship event, slots for this are allocated to the top finishers in each age group. But unlike Ironman, it’s a set number. It’s the top six in each age group. So to qualify for the Challenge Family Championship, you need to finish in the top six in your age group in any full or middle-distance Challenge Family race. Then slots are able to roll down, but they don’t roll down indefinitely. They’ll roll down to 12th place in the age group.
John: The CLASH races that are offered in the U.S. also qualify for that. A couple years ago they somewhat separated, with the Challenge races being more in the European and other markets, CLASH being in the U.S. markets, which they’ve expanded. Originally it was just CLASH Daytona, but now there’s several other offerings, they’re growing from there. Each one of those will also qualify for The Championship. As we’ve been participating in races like Challenge Daytona, CLASH Daytona, and CLASH Miami over the last several years, we’ve had several athletes that have qualified for The Championship over there.
Andrew: Okay, so moving into the premier marathon event. Really popular even amongst triathletes, people love setting Boston as a qualification goal. Qualifying for Boston definitely has the similar merit as qualifying for Kona. Big dream, big goal, a lot of people are gunning for that. How do we qualify, Elizabeth, for the Boston Marathon?
Elizabeth: Boston has a pretty straightforward system for registrations. Each age bracket, mostly in five-year increments again, has a qualifying time. If you hit that qualifying standard in any certified marathon, then you are eligible to apply for the Boston Marathon. But here’s where it gets a little bit into the details. Even if you run a qualifying time, you may not be eligible for registration that year. Just because you're eligible to apply doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re eligible to run in the upcoming marathon. Boston has had to do a year-to-year adjustment of the qualifying time based on the number of athletes that are applying to run in the upcoming marathon. So registration begins with athletes who ran 20 or more minutes faster than their qualifying time. Once those athletes apply and are confirmed, then registration opens for those that are 10 or more minutes faster, then 5 or more minutes faster, then those that hit their qualifying time if there’s still availability in the race. This varies year to year. In 2021 Boston was limited to a smaller field, so the cutoff for registration was actually 7 minutes and 47 seconds faster than your age‑group qualifying time. So a 41‑year-old male hoping to run Boston, their qualifying time was 3:10, but you actually had to have posted a time just over 3:02 to be granted a confirmed registration and a bib to run in Boston that year. Then in 2022, when they were able to expand the field size again, everyone who ran a qualifying time and applied, hit that qualifying standard, was accepted. So there’s the standards for qualification, then you just want to make sure that you run a little bit faster than that, and hope not everybody is running a whole lot faster than that.
John: Sometimes it takes a lot faster. And I will say this really demonstrates the need for normalization. This is something we’ve demonstrated in our remote racing, where we really level the playing field. We can have athletes racing in different environments, on different courses, but we’re able to normalize those results to have apples-to-apples results. So as Elizabeth mentioned, it’s a 26.2‑mile certified course, but it doesn’t really matter what that course is. Those qualifying times are the same. So you can have a very difficult course in a very difficult environment, and you still have to hit that same qualifying time as if you do a completely, or even a net-downhill course in a very comfortable environment. So clearly a very flat, maybe even slightly net-downhill course in a very cool environment is going to be easier than a very challenging, very hilly course in a hot, arid, elevation-type course. But those qualifying times don’t change. So your odds of being seven minutes faster than your qualifying time are much better at that flat course in a great environment, as opposed to going out and racing a very difficult marathon. Unfortunately, they don’t give you any credit. There’s no discount off your time if you go and race the hardest marathon there is. Your qualifying time is still the same as if you’re doing that easier course. It’s still a marathon, but obviously the course itself and the conditions of the course can really impact those finishing times.
Elizabeth: That’s just why you’ve got to run multiple marathons every year. Do your flat, fast one to get the qualifying –
Andrew: Do you though?
John: Is that why you do it?
Elizabeth: – and then the harder ones where you’re not worried about getting 20 minutes under.
Andrew: Yeah, my marathon experience is exclusive to Ironman so far. Although – I told Elizabeth this when I was training for Ironman Waco – just getting in those longer runs and seeing what my splits were and how I felt, it did make me wonder, if I raced a marathon, what would my time be. I don’t think I would be a BQ, but I think I would do okay. Maybe another goal for another day. Moving us on to USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals, we’re going to talk about USAT Age Group Nationals here. Whatever country you’re listening from, a lot of the national governing bodies have some form of this. It might be called something different, the qualification standards might be a little bit different, the process might be a little bit different. We’ll use USAT Age Group Nationals as an example, then you can obviously go to the website for your governing body to find out exactly how to do it where you live. But for our American listeners, Elizabeth, how do we qualify for USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals? And there’s actually a few different races at these.
Elizabeth: Yeah, there’s a couple different ways that you can qualify for Age Group Nationals, but the main thing here is that you must finish a USAT-sanctioned age‑group triathlon. It can be of any distance. It can be a super-sprint, it can be a full Ironman, it can be an off‑road race, it can be one that’s just your typical on‑road triathlon as well. Then based on the sanctioned race that you do, if you finish in the top 10% of your age group in any of those eligible races, then you have qualified for Age Group Nationals. If the race that you’re doing happens to be a regional Olympic-distance championship or a special Olympic-distance qualifier race and you finish within the top third – so top 33% of your age group at one of those events – then that also qualifies you for Age Group Nationals. If you are there at Age Group Nationals one year and you finish in the top third, then you are invited back to race again the next year. The final way that you can qualify for Age Group Nationals is to be a part of Team USA, or identified as an All American athlete. Then we’re getting into all the criteria for Team USA and All American and how to be named that. Those are great goals that athletes can set too, but we’ll just keep it simple for now and say that it’s based on athlete performance in the sanctioned races that you do the year before. So top performances in any of the USAT-sanctioned races is going to get you a qualification for Age Group Nationals.
John: So I actually had my first experience with Age Group Nationals this year. Of all the years, all the races I’ve been too, I’ve actually never been to Age Group Nationals. But I went up to Milwaukee this year, and I’ve got to say I was very impressed. It was very well run, it was a lot of athletes. It was in Milwaukee this year, which was a fantastic host city. The swim venue was amazing, and the city itself was great. Travel was easy. For all the athletes that had racing there, everything I saw, everything went very, very smooth. So if you qualify, I would say definitely add that to the list of races to check out.
Andrew: Yeah John, I saw a lot of your pictures, and Coach Joanna Nami was there as well. You guys did an event with TriDot Coach Mike Allen and TriDot Coach Michellie Jones. I saw a lot of the pictures on social media, and I was like, “Is Milwaukee beautiful??”
John: It was, yeah!
Andrew: It’s not that I thought poorly of the city of Milwaukee, I just never really thought about the city of Milwaukee. But seeing images from that swim venue, I was like, “Man, do I want to go race in Milwaukee?”
John: Yeah, especially that time of year. The weather was great. It got warm in the afternoon, but it was very, very nice evenings and mornings.
Andrew: So I said, when we started this, we weren’t going to touch on every single race that has qualification. There’s just too many of them, so we’re just trying to hit some of the big ones here. Are there any really cool races that I missed, that you want to mention how to qualify for them?
Elizabeth: I’ve got another couple that I want to mention. This is where I get excited about these things. Another big one in running that we haven’t mentioned yet is the Olympic trials. The Olympic Committee has identified a specific time for men and women to strive for to be eligible to run in the trials. So if you’ve got your Boston qualifier looking to shave some more time off your marathon time, another goal might be to make it to the Olympic trials and run in that. We’ve talked about World Championships for 70.3, for Ironman, but we haven’t yet mentioned as many things for our off‑road triathletes, so Xterra Worlds would be another one. When this podcast comes out, I believe that has just taken place in Italy. Similar to world championship events for 70.3 and for the full-distance Ironman, this is a slot allocation process too, so you can earn your way into Xterrra Worlds. What else we’ve got for our mountain bikers and endurance junkies, one that has always intrigued me except that I’m terrified of mountain biking and hurting myself and breaking bones, is Leadman. This is where athletes complete all five of the Leadville races, including the 100‑mile mountain bike event, then the 100‑mile run the following weekend. So it’s a series of all five events, and for those that are daring enough to do all five of them, including those two 100‑mile events, they earn the title of Leadman. Then we talked a little bit about the Western States lottery, but to take it one step further, doing the Grand Slam is an ultrarunner’s dream. You have to complete the Vermont 100, the Leadville 100, the Wasatch 100, and then Western States, all in the same calendar year. Those are just a few more, putting those out there as some big goals that athletes can set. I’m going to stop there though. I might be getting myself in trouble. I imagine that I might be getting a few messages from spouses of our listeners that aren’t as thrilled with these ideas as I might be, or maybe some of our athletes listening are like, “No, don’t give them another idea!” Every time one of my training partners, Mark, and I get together and start talking about, “Oh, we should do this!” both Charles and his wife Abrea are just shaking their heads like, “Oh my gosh, why do we let them talk to each other, they’re just going to encourage another stupid event. Where else are we going to travel to for NOT vacation, but another race?”
Andrew: The Grand Slam I am more interested in is the breakfast Grand Slam at Denny’s.
Elizabeth: I thought you were going to make a tennis reference there.
Andrew: Oh yeah!
Elizabeth: You just went right to breakfast.
Andrew: Yeah, you know, it’s that time. When we talk about these races, some of these, like USAT Nationals for example, might be easier for the everyday athlete to qualify for. I’ve qualified for that one myself. I haven’t done it yet, but have qualified. Others, like Kona, can be very difficult to qualify for. How can we walk the line of dreaming big with our goals, but also being realistic about what we and our fitness are capable of?
Elizabeth: Here, I’d say dream big. Be a little bit unrealistic. If you want it badly enough and you’re willing to do what it takes to make it happen, go for it. When I started running marathons, I desperately wanted to qualify for Boston. It was one of the goals that I had as I was lining up for my first one. I knew it wasn’t going to happen on that first one, but it was something I wanted to do someday. And if you take a look, the first few marathons that I did, it definitely would seem like an unrealistic goal, looking at the times. I actually had a running coach tell me that I was wasting my time attempting for a Boston-qualifying marathon. Now that’s here and done, I’m happy to say that I’ve done that multiple times. Racing as a pro triathlete was a goal that I kept to myself for quite a while, because that was deemed to be an unrealistic goal. To be honest, I’ve got some rather unrealistic things journaled right now that I’m working to accomplish during my pro career. So I’d say dream big! Why not? Maybe you’re not there yet, maybe it’s going to take more than one season, but I think it’s absolutely fantastic to have that big goal. If you can take some of the fun out of it and look at it from a more practical standpoint, people can look at past qualifying times, get an idea of how close you are, chat with past qualifiers, chat with a coach. Year to year, that isn’t a bad approach. I joked about looking at it from a practical standpoint, but honestly I am rather practical when it comes to my goals for each season, looking at what progress I can make year by year. But I’d say have that dream goal, have that long-term vision, hang on to it real tight. Then set some smaller goals, some process goals you can work on on a daily basis, some goals for each season that you can continue to work toward that get you excited, get you out of bed every morning to train. Yeah, I’d be an advocate for dreaming big and maybe being a little bit unrealistic with what you hope to accomplish.
Andrew: A more specific version of this question probably applies specifically to Kona, because again that is just the Big Kahuna of races to qualify for, for triathletes. The question I often hear is, “How fast do I have to be to qualify for Kona?”
Elizabeth: Just faster than the other people in your age group that day. That’s how I’d answer that one.
John: That’s true, but really what it comes to is you have to be faster than everyone else at the awards ceremony, because it’s a must-be-present-to-win kind of thing. You can go and win your age group, but if you don’t show up to the awards ceremony and claim that spot, then be willing to throw down the plastic, then it’s all for naught as far as your qualification goes. You have to be the fastest person with a credit card, with enough limit on your credit card, the following day at the ceremonies. We’ve seen that before where athletes get up there, and they find out the price and they’re like, “I’m out, that’s out of my price range.” Or maybe there’s not enough limit on the credit card. I’ve actually seen that happen, because you pay immediately. It’s like, “Here’s your slot, now go pay the lady.” I’ve seen that before. I want to say this year, the 2022 Kona entry fee was $1,200 and change, something like that. It’s a pretty penny. So be ready, make sure you’ve got your debit card limit adjusted, because last thing you want is your debit card to get declined as you’re claiming your slot.
Andrew: There are some strategies for maximizing our chances to qualify for these races. Just like before, I’m going to walk through that same list of the bigger races. We’re just going to fly through, and I want you guys to hit me with just the 411 big-ticket tips on how to qualify for each of these. What are the things that you implement with your athletes when they set these races as a goal? John, kick us off with Kona. What are some strategies for trying to qualify for Kona?
John: Something to be aware of is, very few athletes will qualify for Kona on their first attempt. Some will. They come out, they’re fantastic athletes, they’re just super strong. A lot of those guys come from a background of swim, bike, and run and just have an advantage there. But the vast majority of folks that are qualifying for Kona have made multiple attempts at it. It’s a little different, but think about how Mark Allen took six times before he won his first Ironman World Championship. That’s very common as well. I’m not sure that anyone has actually won Kona on their first attempt. So same thing, in qualifying for Kona, there’s just a certain amount of experience that has to be gained. That can be somewhat, to a degree, shortened by working with a coach and working with people that have been there and know that, but there’s just something to it that you have to experience for yourself. Just know that it’s going to often take multiple attempts at it. It may be your second or third, it may be your tenth. That’s also going to be a great barometer to know if this is something that is within your realm. You’ll see where you place, you’ll get a feel for how much room for improvement that you have, and then you can decide from there, “Is this something that I want to continue to pursue, or is this something that maybe isn’t in the cards for me?” That’s kind of the case for me. I know I’ve got some meat on the bone as far as my Ironman racing goes, but it’s not enough meat that it’s going to get me to a Kona qualification. That’s not necessarily my goal, my ambition.
Something else that is a little bit different when trying to qualify – again, it’s not like Boston where you just have to hit a certain time – you have to beat the other people in the race. There’s much more of a competition in that you have to race the field that is there. That’s one of the things that really makes it challenging and complicated. Especially now, post-pandemic, age groups are not required in body marking, so you may not even know who your competition is. You may have somebody that’s ten yards ahead of you on that run course, and with the rolling starts you don’t know when they started, you don’t know how old they are, so they may or may not be in your age group, which really complicates that. Even still, you have to race the folks that are there. There may be a whole bunch of elite athletes that show up, making it very difficult, or you may get lucky and show up and the field may be a little bit soft. It just kind of depends on what is there.
Something that’s real exciting, Elizabeth mentioned this earlier, is the Women for Tri. It was recently announced that for the 2023 Ironman World Championship, there’s going to be 1,200 additional slots allocated, and a lot of these are being lumped into just a few races. The vast majority of races are going to have 55 qualifications each. There are a few that are regional championships and that sort of thing that are going to have some extra. So like Ironman Arizona coming up, that normal allocation of 55 slots, but there are a hundred extra Women for Tri slots, so there’ll probably be something like 130 women qualifying at that race. Ironman Texas has 100 general slots and an additional 65 slots for women. Tulsa has 75 slots, so a little bit extra there on top of that normal 55. Coeur D’Alene next year, 55 normal slots and 100 extra Women for Tri. That’s also the case with Ironman Lake Placid, 55 general and then 100 additional Women for Tri slots. These are a great opportunity for some of those women that maybe have been on the cusp for a while. Select one of these races, and those odds could go up. I say COULD go up, because that’s one of those pretty common strategies. I’m sure there’s going to be quite the female turnout. I would anticipate some of these that have a hundred extra Women for Tri slots are going to see a nice bump in female registrations for those races. A great opportunity there for those women to gain those slots.
Andrew: I will say that a lot of the tips that you’ve shared are similar for 70.3 Worlds and for the Challenge Family championship in Slovakia, so we won’t dive separately into each of those. So from the Big Kahuna in the triathlon world which is Kona, the Big Kahuna in the running world is Boston. Elizabeth, what are your tips for somebody looking to earn their Boston qualification?
Elizabeth: Here, it may be to an athlete’s advantage to run a certified course that’s advertised as “flat and fast”. John was mentioning this earlier, that Boston has those specific qualifying times, and as long as you’re running a certified course, it doesn’t matter if that course is hilly or if it’s one that is a downhill course. So downhill events like Tunnel Hill or the California International Marathon are very popular choices for people that are looking to gain that Boston qualifying time. Some events like the BQ.2 are specifically designed to help runners achieve the goal of qualifying, and they set up a flat, looped course. Sometimes runners can set up their own nutrition, kind of their own aid station, to pick up along the way. So if a Boston qualifying time is something that you’re really gunning for, there are races that are trying to accommodate for that. Additionally, choosing weather conditions that are favorable for faster running times is an important consideration. I like to race a late summer marathon in the northern states just before registration was opening for Boston, or one that was early fall that would qualify me for the following year’s registration. So train during the heat of the summer, travel a little bit north, get those cooler conditions that are more favorable for faster running times, and use that to my advantage. Then I’d say the last thing that I would recommend is looking into a pace group that might be available with the marathon. A large number of marathons will have pace groups that are dedicated to the Boston qualifying times, and running with a pacer and a group of runners that are also going for that specific goal time can just be extremely helpful in the event itself, and really push you toward accomplishing that goal.
Andrew: USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals – again I mentioned this, John, you talked about how beautiful Milwaukee is, and how great it is to race there – I think this is a possibility for a lot of us. A lot of us, almost any of us on the right event at the right day could potentially qualify for Age Group Nationals. What are the strategies here for trying to do so?
Elizabeth: I’d say that knowing where your regional events are located. For us here in Texas, Tri Waco is one of them. That gives you a greater probability. I mean, it’s dependent on the total number of athletes, but a greater possibility of snagging that qualifying spot, because instead of needing to finish in the top 10% of your age group at a local event, in these regional qualifiers you need to finish in the top third, the top 33% of your age group. So knowing that gives you an opportunity to race events that might have more slots available for Age Group Nationals. Additionally, because the shorter-distance races don’t require as much recovery time, you could race more frequently. If you’re able to race more shorter-distance events in a season, you’ve got more opportunities to qualify. If you didn’t get that qualifying time, then try again. That was not intended as a pun, but I can guarantee if [Jeff] Raines was on this podcast, he would have made it into one. But yeah, TRI again to get to Age Group Nationals.
Andrew: There are some events out there, Challenge Roth is the first one that comes to mind, where anyone can enter, but they sell out so fast that it does take some strategizing to get your spot. How can we increase our odds of getting into events that are known to sell out hyper-fast?
John: Set an alarm. This was a strategy that worked for two of the athletes that I work with that will be racing in Roth next year. They live in Kentucky, so with the time difference I think they were up at something like 3:30 in the morning.
Andrew: This feels like a Berry and Courtney Baxter story.
John: It is the Baxters. They got up very early, and they were both able to snag some slots, along with her brother. So it’s going to be a family affair out there at Challenge Roth.
Elizabeth: Yeah, I would second that. Just be ready to pull the trigger on registration. Know when it opens, be at the computer. Not quite the same as Challenge Roth, but the Lincoln, Nebraska marathon would sell out very quickly.
Andrew: Does it!
Elizabeth: Charles and I stayed up until midnight on the night that it opened one year, just to make sure that we got in. We put our registration in at 12:01 and then went to bed, happily knowing that we would be racing that May.
Andrew: Yeah, two other notes here. I’ll say I was looking at Challenge Roth when I was looking for my first Ironman. Part of me wanted to stay close to home and that’s what I ended up doing, but part of me also wanted to make it a crazy bucket list race that I traveled for. So I was looking at Roth, and there are actually travel agencies that will coordinate your trip. They’ll book places for you to stay, they’ll book the travel to and from the airports to the race site, they’ll take care of your family on race day, help them to get to different locations on the race course to spectate for you. But since they are a travel agency that specializes in some of those big races, and Challenge Roth is one of them, they have guaranteed spots. When I was actually doing my research on Challenge Roth, there was a travel agency I was looking at. The race was sold out, and they still had spots. You pay for it, you pay for them to do your whole trip, but they had spots. I’ve looked into that for Wimbledon, to go watch Wimbledon tennis. So for a lot of things, and Challenge Roth isn’t the only one, if there’s big sell-out-quickly kind of things in your life, start checking around and Googling around for some travel agencies, because a lot of times they’ll have some slots for you if you’re willing to book your trip through them. The other one here is fundraising. John, can you tell us a little bit about that?
John: There are opportunities to race in different events, even Kona. You can raise money for the Ironman Foundation, for example. It’s a lot. Last time I saw, I believe you had to raise $50,000 for the Ironman Foundation. But if that’s something that you have the ability to do, you have the network to raise $50,000, then you too can race in Kona!
Cool down theme: Great set everyone! Let’s cool down.
Andrew: It’s a tale dating back more than a century, a bitter rivalry pitting America’s elite military academies and service members against one another. It’s Army vs. Navy, West Point vs. Annapolis. And on October 16, 2022, at half-Ironman in Waco, Texas, it will manifest itself as Andy v. John. Andy Riise from the U.S. Army, and John Macaskill from the U.S. Navy will be trying to swim, bike, and run faster than the other, all while raising $133,000 for Warrior Rising. A half-Ironman for a good cause, I cannot wait to hear all about it. So first of all, gentlemen, thank you for your service. It is an honor to have you on the show today, and it will be a blast to track your race in Waco. So I’ve got to start with this. Why this? How in the world did you land on the idea of racing each other at a half-Ironman?
Andy Riise: So my good friend Jason Van Camp is the founder and executive director for Warrior Rising, which is a veteran’s service organization non‑profit that helps veterans and in the best way possible, that help them help themselves by starting their own businesses, live the American dream, take their hard-earned leadership skills and give back to our communities and country. So the best way to help “vetrepreneurs”, as we call them, is to be able to help infuse them with a little bit of cash, a little bit of money. So Jason and I have been wanting to do some fundraising activities for a while now, and we had the opportunity with me settling here in Texas. We got together at Rice University about six months ago and we just hatched this idea. We wanted to do something in conjunction with the Army-Navy game, which Warrior Rising does every single year. So we thought, “Hey, why don’t we do a head-to-head competition of some kind between you and somebody from the Navy?” I’m like, “I got the perfect guy, this dude named John Macaskill.” John and I had done work with Jason through his profit, which is called Mission Six Zero, together. Obviously we graduated from different service academies, him the lesser and mine the greater, and we had this awesome banter going back and forth on social media, even though we had never met. We had met through a mutual friend, John Holley, shout out to him who is a Navy vet. We went through a transition program at Stanford together, and other folks like John O’Grady, who introduced John like, “Hey, you guys are both in the same space. You guys are both special operations guys, you’re retiring at the same time, you guys should get together.” So we became friends and friendly rivals that way too.
Andrew: Sure, cool. It’s gotta be.
Andy Riise: Yeah, this is the type of guy John is. I don’t think I even talked to him. I left him a voice note that was kind of like the five W’s, and he immediately got back to me and said, “Hey, yes, I’m in it.” And John’s going to tell you his story. It’s not like he doesn’t have a lot going on, being a father, trying to be a vetrepreneur himself, and so and so forth. So we’re kind of in this space where we’re both trying to figure it out, in this next phase of our lives. And I think frankly, John and I talked about this, really we both needed it. We both are goal-oriented dudes, we’re both competitive, we both were in jobs where we had to be tactical athletes, and I kind of lost my way. I needed a higher and harder goal to be able to get myself physically, mentally, socially back on track. And man, this has just been that and some more. So the whole idea was to not only be able to help vetrepreneurs raise $133,000, but John and I also want to inspire people to go do hard things, and grow through that process, and inspire anybody who, whether your hard thing is doing a half-Ironman, or starting a business, or going back to school, or leaving that job you’ve been thinking about leaving for a while, that you go do hard things, that you can get better because of that, if you do that deliberately and intentionally.
John Macaskill: Yeah, on my side, when Andy called me after that conversation with Jason and was like, “Hey, you want to do a half-Ironman with me?” I said, “Absolutely. Yeah, let’s do it.” One, I’m always looking for an excuse to beat Army, so this gave me that opportunity. But in all seriousness, just like Andy said, in the SEAL teams it’s part of your job to stay in good shape. There’s even a part of your day allotted to physical training at work. It’s not like you have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to do it. But then Andy and I both retired within the last two years. I’m a father of three young children, and trying to get into the entrepreneurial space – it’s a busy life, and one of the first things to drop off that schedule is your physical training. So when Andy called me up, this did in fact give me an opportunity to put that high, hard goal like he mentioned on my calendar, and figure out how am I going to reach that high, hard goal? And TriDot supported that. The training routine that is there, I don’t have to think about it, I just open up my TriDot app every day and it’s right there, and it’s awesome. My gosh, it takes all that thinking and calculation out of it. It’s all done for you, so it’s been awesome. I can tell I have more energy in my day. Even though I’m putting time on the bike and the run and the swim, I have more energy because I’m doing the physical training, so I’m able to be a better father, a better husband, and a better entrepreneur, ironically.
Andrew: That’s very, very interesting. I do wonder, for both of you guys, have you done a triathlon before, or are you jumping into the deep end with a half-Ironman for charity?
Andy Riise: No, it’s the first time go. I’m a rookie, man. And everybody’s telling me, like, “Have you never done a sprint or Olympic before?” I’m like, “No, what’s that?”
Andrew: They have shorter ones, you know!
Andy Riise: Yeah, you got to have shorter ones, right? But to check that block, I did each of those in my own neighborhood. I signed up on my own. But John is actually the veteran of, he used to wake up in the morning and just for his physical training session go do a half-Ironman.
John Macaskill: Not true. But I have done one, I have done multiple triathlons, but I’ve done one half-Ironman, and that was the SuperFrog back in 2008 or something. Yeah, I’m not even sure if that race still exists, but again this was when I was 20‑something, maybe early 30’s, and again where being in the SEAL teams, you had to be in good shape. So like two weeks before somebody’s like, “Hey, why don’t you do this race?” I was like, “Sure, I’ll do it!” I mean, I’ve gotten in a 20‑mile bike ride on a road bike, and maybe a few runs here or there specifically training. And I did okay, but the run after the bike, I was surprised just how difficult that was.
Andrew: Yeah, it’s so different.
John Macaskill: Because I grew up running, and I was like, “Oh yeah, the run will be fine, I’ll get the run no problem.” And I got off that bike, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got tree trunks for legs, what happened?”
Andrew: When did running get this hard?
John Macaskill: Right?
Andrew: So the race is fun. The Army vs. Navy competition is what grabs the headline, but the real mission here is raising funds and supporting Warrior Rising. So tell us all about it. What is Warrior Rising?
John Macaskill: So Warrior Rising is a veteran non‑profit founded by a friend of mine and Andy’s, Jason Van Camp. He’s a former Green Beret, also a classmate of Andy’s, and a football player there at West Point. We were all classmates, again, just from different academies. But Warrior Rising, the mission there is to give a hand up to veterans as they’re wanting to start a business of their own. Veterans and their spouses, really empower them through grants, through mentorship, through information and that kind of thing. Really that’s the best way to do it. Rather than giving them just handouts, it’s giving them the knowledge, like teaching the man to fish, right? That’s what Warrior Rising is doing. It’s empowering veterans to start their own businesses, and henceforth after that hiring other veterans. It’s this virtuous cycle where veterans help one another continually, because that is one of the really sad crises in this country is veteran unemployment, veteran loss of mission, loss of identity, loss of purpose. Well, this kind of helps with all of that. So that’s a quick down and dirty on Warrior Rising. Andy, you got anything else?
Andy Riise: No, and this is a big part of the 16 vetrepreneurs that were featured in the business shower that we just had this last weekend down in San Antonio, which was really cool, because it’s obviously the big “why”, the big purpose behind what we’re doing. To be able to actually put a name to a face, get to know them, learn about their businesses, meet some of their family, this really stoked that fire in terms of why do we do what we’re doing. Some of them didn’t even know why we were raising money, and it was cool, it was, “Hey, I’m doing this for you! We’re busting our butts so that you guys can make this business grow and become a thing.” And even though they could only have one winner yesterday, everybody’s winning because Warrior Rising just does a phenomenal job supporting them with not even money, but the resources, the mentorship, the community, and that’s an ongoing thing. There’s just been so many great success stories so far, and some amazing vetrepreneurs who have been really successful since their time in service. But we all made comments like, we’re still trying to continue to serve each other and serve our communities, and I think that’s a cool thing.
Andrew: So I know TriDot founder Jeff Booher is fully behind what you’re doing, and our team at TriDot will be watching and cheering. So for our athletes listening, how can they best support you, and most importantly how can they give to the cause?
John Macaskill: On the Warrior Rising website, like you mentioned before, there’s a whole section of that website dedicated to the race, and on there you can actually donate to either one of us. Ultimately it comes all to Warrior Rising, but the fundraising is part of the race too, right? So there’s the race on October 16, there’s the race in how much money we raise, and there’s a race in how many miles we do training between the bike, running, and swimming. So it’s a big all‑around competition, but you can go to the website, it’s warriorrising.org/armyvnavy2022, that’s how you can get to the actual donation site, and you can check out the different ways to donate on there. It’s fun too, because you can donate a flat rate for the race, or you can donate per mile that we do in the race, it’s 70.3 miles. We both hope to finish, but for one reason or another – maybe, like I said before you hit record, I’ve had multiple flats the past few days, and –maybe we don’t finish. So you can donate per mile that we actually complete in the race, or you can donate some fraction of a dollar per mile that we do in training. Then the last thing, Andrew, is during the race there’s going to be an opportunity – because it’s going to live streaming on the Warrior Rising website, or at least partially – you can donate to either help us or hurt us. Kind of like in the Hunger Games.
Andrew: That’s different!
John Macaskill: During the transition, you may donate a pizza to one of us, which could be a help or a hurt. Or you have us do 25 pushups or something to hinder us, but that’s going to be another fun way to get people to watch while we’re doing it, and to donate and raise extra money.
Andrew: Well that’s it for today folks! I want to thank TriDot coach John Mayfield and pro triathlete Elizabeth James for talking to us about qualifying for different events. Shout out to 2Toms for keeping us moving. To make the switch to 2Toms, head to medi-dyne.com and use the code TRIDOT to save 20% on your entire order. If you want to join us at CLASH Daytona or CLASH Miami coming up, register using TRITDOTDAYTONA or TRIDOTMIAMI for 10% off your race registration. You can double the fun by booking a camping spot and joining the TriDot RV party at the race track. Thanks so much for joining! We’ll have a new show coming your way soon. Until then, happy training!
Outro: Thanks for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and share the TriDot podcast with your triathlon crew. For more great tri content and community, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Ready to optimize your training? Head to TriDot.com and start your free trial today! TriDot – the obvious and automatic choice for triathlon training.