Racing in Clydesdale Division

I think it depends on what sort of competition you want.  If you want to race against people that are 250+ and you are 203 lbs, then you will probably blow them out of the water, be FOP and maybe even take home some hardware.  If you want to race against 185 lb guys, the competition is gonna be a stiffer and you might not be FOP.

Bear is right and the division was intended for large-frame guys/gals but so what.  Just becuase that is what is was intended for does not mean that is who races in that division.  I doubt there are many 275 lb men in who choose to race AG.

BTW, I don't know if there are USAT rules for clyde weight limits or if this an RD call but the first triathlon I ever did (1998) the clyde division was >230 lbs.  There were only 5 people in that division....I placed 3rd!  The next year they changed it to >210 and there were about 25 to 30 people in the division....I was BOP and have been there ever since.

I'm 290 and I don't really care what division you race in.  There will always be people right at the weight cut-off just as there are people right at the AG limits. 

I was suprised to learn that M-dot IM events don't have a clyde/athena division.  I wonder why?  :-)  Maybe they don't think many 250 guys like me (at my last 2 IMs) would be doing an IM.

~Mike

I hve to admit that I always thought of clyde/athena as a 'special' category for us full-figured gals.  Then I read on BT that it was not for guys like me at all...it was for "big and lean" not "big and not-so-lean".

~Mike

2007, 2008 and 2009 IMKY did not offer a clyde/athena division....but IMKY has always been the red-headed stepchild or Rodney Dangerfield of M-dot races. 

I still remember the first time I saw a flyer for a triathlon, the Rocketman.  I had no idea there was such a thing as a triathlon besides that race they did in Hawaii that I saw on the Wide World of Sports when I was a kid.  I read thru the flyer and was getting excited thinking I wanted to do it when I saw the divisions and read "230 lbs".  My heart fell becuase I thought that was the maximum you were allowed to weigh and I was way over 230 lbs.  I kept studying the flyer and finally figured out that people over 230 lbs could actually do the race!  I was so excited I'd found a sport that I could actually participate in and, not only that, they have a special category for big guys like me! 

So maybe the "intent" of C/A is not for fat boys but that is ther perception of many people.  Over the years I can't tell you the number of people that chuckle when I tell them about triathlons and mention that I race "clydesdale".   Why is clyde funny?  Because when people invision thuroughbreds and clydesdales they envision Kenyans and guys like me on the same course....and that is funny! 

So you guys who put on a few pounds before a race so you can race with the fat boys go right ahead.  Us fat boys/girls never expect to win anything athletic anyway.  :-)

~Mike

Although I qualify, I don't honestly get why people race as Clydes/Athenas.  Is it really for the chance at a better relative placement or the crapty medal you might earn?

I just have a hard time envision the conversation I might have with someone after placing in the clydesale division.  I think I'd have to have that canned "this kind of horse, not this kind of horse" response printed out on a flyer I could hand them.

tri_d00d - 2009-09-02 8:32 AM according to hockeyhand's logs, he cycled 2000 miles in an hour. you'll win every division at that speed, so no worries!!!

	1h 02m 51s 2005.00 miles 19.09 Mi/hr	Avg HR: 147 Max HR: 161
6:28 AM

Or.. make clydes the AG class but have a 'hummingbird" class for the little people.  haha

BTW, don't assume all 250 lb clydes look like suma wrestlers.  Here's a pic of me at an IM that I weighed in at 254 lbs.

~Mike

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