A few things to fill my time

I seem to waste at least 30 seconds every day looking at the IMTX website to see if they have posted course information. Alas, every day I am disappointed. So, every time I see a thread on a forum talking about IMTX, I click on it thinking that it'll have some insider info. Usually its a waste of time, but occasionally I get a little insight. Anyway, while researching (wasting time) today, I found this interesting little fact:

WTC media relations stated last week that there are 1508 Texans registered for the race (it sold out at around 2500 entries).

Currently the record for most residents of one state to complete a single race was 2009 IM Wisconsin, with 655 Wisconsin residents finishing. Unless there some sort of catastrophic number of DNFs at IMTX, this meaningless record stands to be absolutely shattered. Everything is bigger in Texas.

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Here's another story that caught my attention. Kelly Williamson recently won the Steelhead 70.3, but stopped about 10 meters from the finish and waited for a couple minutes before claiming her victory. Why? To allow the 3rd and 4th place women to finish within 8% of her finishing time, ensuring they get paid.

Which brings me to the finish...let me flash back to pre-race on the beach.

Karen had jokingly said as the 4 of us stood there, "So, ladies, lets all get paid today! No super hero's out there today, are there?" (To which I thought, "Well, hell, I hope I am a super hero today! I want to win!") There is currently a rule intact which states that to take home any prize money, a professional must finish within 8% of the winners time. While I can respect the rule in that it is aiming to 'raise the bar' for us professionals, I would also like to see those who show up get paid, especially when the field consists of only 4 women. After Karen said this, the idea kept creeping back into my head throughout the race. So, as I approached the finish line, I figured why not take this opportunity to at least try to allow us to all get a paycheck. I did not know the exact spread, but when I came to the line, the clock said "4:15" (which was 4:13 as we had gone 2 minutes back) and upon a quick calculation, I realized this was going to mean they would need to be within about 18 minutes. I slowed down, high fived a few spectators, then about 5 meters from the finish line, stopped and waited. People looked around, a bit confused, but I knew what I was doing and simply held there for 2 minutes or so. Not knowing the exact spread, and knowing that Heather was likely not too far behind, I decided not to push my luck too much and crossed. While a bit anti-climactic for my first 70.3 win, it still felt incredible to break the tape, while also showing some respect to my fellow competitors.

Admirable move by Kelly. Read the rest of her account of the race here.