Luck of the Draw, or Not.

One of the most interesting things about getting a lottery spot isn’t the suffocating fear of participating in the event. The most interesting thing has been the response from people in regards to me getting the lottery spot. Initially, I heard a lot of “That’s impressive” and “Wow, I am impressed”. Quite honestly, the most impressive thing that I did in the string of events leading up to being selected for the lottery spot was entering my credit card number correctly on the registration form without getting an error message. Being chosen at random to participate in an event is not an accomplishment. It is kind of like getting free tickets to a James Taylor concert by winning radio contest. All you did was dial the phone and no one should think you are a super star for doing so. The other side of the argument is just as interesting. If you read any message boards or forums geared towards triathletes, you will see that a lottery spot for the Hawaiian Ironman is a very polarizing topic. There are the triathlete snobs out there that think it is appalling to have the Everyman athlete out there along side the people that came by their slot by qualifying. Then there are the normal people that would love to qualify but are not going to turn down a spot in the race if they can get one(that’s me). At the end of the day, I am participating in this race because I have wanted to since I saw Julie Moss crawl to the finish line when I didn’t even know what I triathlon was. I want to prove to myself that I can complete this event. While I think the lottery system can be improved, I believe it is a valuable part of this event and should remain in place as long as this event continues. In my opinion there are only a handful of people that enter this race with a realistic chance of experiencing the glory of winning. Everyone else should look at this as a chance to explore their limits because that is the spirit for which this race was born.