BMI vs. Weight to measure clydsdale (Page 2)

That was me...

from the thread "competing as a clyde when not nessesary"

This question seems to come up about once a month.

First, you need to understand what the category of Athena/Clydesdale was intended for and not what it has become (or the perception (yours, as the OP) of what the category is)

This is a Clydesdale: 

Big, strong and muscular, but kind of slow..

and racing against this:


The Clydesdale will have a hard time beating a smaller, faster, leaner horse (most of the time), which is why the category was created.  To give big people (like football players and body builders) a chance to compete against people of similar stature and not just against the smaller, leaner marathon runners that are in the same age group and 50 pounds lighter.

This is not a Clydesdale:

but according to your question, (How do you feel about people entering a division they may not need to be in), is what you think should only be racing the category.   Because I bet the Clydsale horse above would beat this horse in a race.

Second, and most importantly, Its a race - not a self esteem event where you get a reward for just showing up.  You never should be upset if someone who qualifies for your category, is faster than you, wins.  It would be like a 44 y/o complaining that the person who won the AG is really 39 but b/c their birthday is 12/30, that puts them in the 40-44 AG.

Personally, my opinion is you should be proud of the clyde that came in 2nd overall, congratulate him and use that as a motivator that you can do it too.  A competitive Clyde category is not a bad thing.

Be happy with the accomplishments that you made and be proud of the fact that you completed a triathlon, gave all that you could and left it all on the course.  That should be enough.  Another racers accomplishment shouldnt effect your enjoyment of the race.

Last month, someone else posted this and I think it is fitting...

"Medals tarnish over time. Memories last forever"

Compete against yourself. Winning will take care of itself. I have not did a tri yet, but have dis 5 duathlons in cluding the sport race at the nationals in Richmond. Weight plays a part but believe in yourself and do not handicap yourself before you start. I like coming in at the finish with the "regular joes" at the nationals with a 5 k time of 20 minutes 40 seconds. I finished 6 in my age
(42) out of 30-35. 32nd overall at 5' 10" 226 lbs and seeing the guy in front bragging because he beat a guy he weighs 70 lbs less than. I weighed 406 lbs with mini strokes in 2006. Don't we do this for ourselves. I get upset when the people running the event sees someone obviously weighs 185 but registers as a clydesdale. Then I get motivated and my main goal is to blow their time away. Concentrate on personal records the rest will take care of itself.