Published October 12, 2011 12:55PM
Dedicate yourself to Ironman and you can race at Kona. That was the message that came out of the recent IM Talk podcast with WTC CEO Andrew Messick. Messick explained that as part of a change to the current lottery programme, anyone who has completed twelve or more Ironman races will automatically qualify for a Kona spot.
“We’re changing how our lottery works,” Messick explained. “For athletes who have done 12 or more Ironman over their career – and who are still racing – we are going to make sure that they have a chance to race Kona.
“It might take a little bit of time to cycle them all in but we feel that you should have an opportunity to race Kona once in your life if you’re a serious triathlete, are serious about the sport, are dedicated and are loyal but you just happen not to be fast. I believe that being a long term triathlete and demonstrating by doing twelve or more fulls…you deserve it as much as people who are super quick.
“We’ll start by the people who have done the most and start ticking them off every year and eventually we’ll get through all of them.
“The long term people who are committed to us will get the chance to come here.”