Thursday, November 12, 2009

New Event in 2010 Spring Race Series


Super Sprint Triathlon

I saw this on Chuckie V's blog and think its a great idea.

Triathlon, by its very design, is an endurance sport. In general, the capacity to go fast is inferior to the ability to last. But it needn't be this way.

And so it is I hereby propose a true sprint triathlon, the Tri-Dash. And this is what I have in mind…

First, the rules. Then the events.

The rules are essentially like any other swim-bike-run triathlon but for one primary difference: there are no transition areas or transitions. That is to say each of three events is a separate entity, occurring as its own competition. Each event is separated by a number of hours, though all three of these events are to take place in the course of a single day. The results of each event are judged not on a points system (as per decathlon, heptathlon, etc) but strictly by time standards. Athletes qualify for the final through a round of qualifying heats. There would be a women's race and a men's race, of course.

The events…

The Swim: The swim consists of a single 100-meter freestyle sprint, from the blocks. It takes place in an Olympic-regulation-size 50-meter pool and each athlete competes in his or her own lane.

The Ride: The ride consists of a 1-kilometer flat, straight time-trial. Tri(athletes) are to start individually from a standing start.

The Run: The run consists of a single 400-meter dash. It takes place on a 400-meter track and essentially follows the rules as that of the International Olympic Committee's track and field rules: each athlete competes in his or her own lane against seven other runners.

How I see things…
Fast and fun! Any male capable of breaking 3-minutes would likely be deemed "world-class" and perhaps can consider himself one of the truly fastest triathletes in the world. Female times would likely hover within seconds of the male individual event times.

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