Laaaaame wrote:
Again, that's not my point at all. Even 99% of those OTQ guys don't stand a chance making the actual team and are doing it for personal achievement.
I'm saying, time trialing and getting a PR on a boring flat course that requires zero strategy with a large pace group that is doing all of the work for you the entire race is not the same as time trialing and getting a PR in a true race environment, even on a generic flat course somewhere else.
The event is designed to make getting the OTQ as easy as possible to achieve legally for those who theoretically have the fitness but not the ability to execute in a "real" race. That's fine for those folks, they deserve a chance to see if they can make it in an optimized time trial setup. But that's precisely what it is - an optimized means to an end. They won't have any of the same advantages in the actual trials race, or any other race they do besides this one. Part of the fun of racing is having to figure it out on your own and deal with the unique circumstances of the race that happen that day. Maybe you have to choose between two packs or toughing it out solo for a while. God forbid you have to drink from a regular cup of gatorade like a pleb.
For everyone who is NOT remotely close to making the OTQ and is just using the race as an easy time trial experiment, I just think it's an unnecessary and kind of laaaaame way to claim a PR.
Tell me you're someone who lives near Duluth or Sacramento without telling me you live near Duluth or Sacramento. If you lived in say Connecticut, or if this race was a shorter drive from you, you'd feel different.