Clearwater 70.3 World Championships: Bill Jones
When I completed my race at Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 2010 I was excited about the possibility of earning a spot to Clearwater. That was the second time that I had raced Steelhead and I was able to better my previous years time by 17 minutes, so I was very excited about that. So, earning a spot to Clearwater was ‘doubly’ exciting for me.
As many of you probably know by now, the 70.3 World Championships are moving from Clearwater, Florida to Henderson, Nevada for 2011. There are many opinions about this and here are some of my thoughts after having just qualified and raced this race in November 2010.
Before I went I had heard many different comments about the race in Clearwater. I heard it was flat; I heard it was fast; I heard that drafting was ignored; I heard no penalties were ever given out; I heard the water was too warm for wetsuits; I heard a lot but I had never qualified and this was my last chance to experience it in person, so I was going to go and form my own opinions.
Before I went I read on several online forums and heard many people complaining about the drafting that occurs in Clearwater – and now I know, they are right! There are a few different thoughts to consider if you are lucky enough to earn a spot to Clearwater: 1) Do you go and do the race and try and go fast and enjoy the drafting and go after a Personal Best, or 2) do you not do this race, because it’s not an indication of your individual talent, or 3) do you go and race your own race and not get caught up in the drafting and do the best you can on your own? I’m not arguing for one side or the other, as everyone has their own opinions about racing. But I believe that a lot of people do not come back to Clearwater because of the drafting. I have had conversations with several people and I know they do not go back because of this issue. So, I have to believe that there are a lot of other people that feel the same way. So, to increase the talent level at these major championships I think you have to eliminate any opportunity to blatantly break the rules that have been followed at all other USAT races. After all, we don’t hear these types of complaints at Kona do we?! I have to believe that this is the major reason that the 70.3 Championships were moved to Henderson. The Henderson course, although I have never done it, is very hilly and a very tough bike course – which will make it impossible to draft the hills. If you want to check out the difficulty of the bike course – Check the Pumpkinman or Silverman bike course – as I believe that the World Championships will be run on the exact same roads as these races!
This race date has been moved from November in Clearwater to September in Henderson, it might be a hot one in Nevada! Regardless of my thoughts, I hope you all are able to qualify and experience the Championships, either in Henderson or Kona?!!!
-Bill Jones
