Is this really happening?

Monday, November 28th. It was the day after Ironman Cozumel. John crossed the finish line in 9 hours and 35 minutes, a whopping 33 minutes faster than his Ironman Lake Placid time (which was only 5 months ago), and good enough for a 10th place in his age group (of over 300 athletes) and 49th place overall.

Athletes nervously await to see if there will be a roll down slot for them.

This impressive showing was not enough for automatic entry into the 2012 Ironman World Championships, held each year in Kona, Hawaii. There were only 7 slots available in his age group, so we had to hope for a roll down slot.  Yet, this was a long shot, as we needed the slot to roll down to 10th place.

Unlikely.

Earlier in the day, John had tweeted, “Roll down is at 4 pm I don’t expect anything but ya never know. Will keep ya posted.”

Roll down slots are notoriously hard to come by. After all, not many people are willing to turn down a Kona spot after months and months of hard work. I know I wouldn’t!

In case this is new to you, let me explain a bit. A “roll down” slot comes when a qualifying finisher decides to decline his slot for whatever reason. For example, if the 7th place person doesn’t claim his slot for Hawaii, then that space rolls down to 8th place, and so on. If a slot is not taken by anyone in an age group, then it rolls over to the most popular age group in that gender. John’s age group was the most popular at IM Cozumel. (See the bottom of this post for additional explanation of the process.)

Despite the long odds, we had to show up and see what happened. After all, it would suck to find out that 11th place got a slot. So, at 4 p.m., we dutifully arrived at the designated area, and watched, filled with nervous excitement, as the qualifyers from each age group signed up for their slot.

After 45 minutes of agonizing waiting, during which time I squirmed and squished like a 5 year old in desperate need of a bathroom, the the announcer finally called, “We have 3 roll down slots in the male divisions. One for 30-34, one for 35-39 and one for 60-65.”

“Get over there!” I hissed. There were so many people, you had to shove your way to the front. At roll down, they give you all of 3 seconds to say, “Here!” If they don’t hear you, they move on to the next name.

They called a name for the 8th place person in John’s age group. No one said anything. No one stepped forward.

OH. MY. GOD. Please, please, please, 9th place person – don’t be here!

But, I knew that he was there because he was standing, a physical and figurative obstacle, at the counter where you paid for your Kona slot. They said his name. He threw his $750 dollars on the counter, and my heart sank.

I looked at John.

“That’s okay,” he said to me. “It was a long shot anyway.”

He paused. “One slot away. I’ll get it next time.”

My heart sank for him. I struggled to keep from giving the 8th place finisher dirty looks. He earned it, but for John to miss it by only one slot is just heart breaking.

They began calling the names for the 60-65 ambien year old group. One name. No one stepped up. Another name. No one stepped up. Another name. Another name.

OH. MY. GOD. They aren’t here! I thought. I squeezed John’s arm. “They aren’t here,” I whispered, fearful that if I said it too loud, someone would materialize.

Remember, if there is an unclaimed slot in an age group, it rolls over to the most popular age group in that gender. That was John’s age group.

After calling several names, the announcer said, “Okay. Wait a minute.”

And, I knew. The spot was going to roll over to the 35-39 male age group. Just one slot.

John stood at the counter, expectantly, just like the person before him.

I was squirming on my tip toes, my hands in prayer position, pressed so firmly that my wrists started to hurt.

I murmured to myself, “This is happening. This is happening. Oh, dear God, this is happening.”

I managed to keep my enthusiasm in check until I heard her say his name over the microphone.

Just seconds after they called his name.

“John F. Jenkins?” She called.

JOHN.IS.GOING.TO.KONA.

“Woo-hooooo! YES! YES! Thank you, God! Yes!” I screamed, much to the surprise of those around me. I was stamping my feet, hooting, hollering and clapping. I was a one-woman Kona marching band. (Lest you think I exaggerate here, the following day, a woman recognized me as the “person who freaked out at roll down.” Her words, not mine.)

John threw his wallet on the counter, and we hugged. Both of us were crying. Our display was so over-the-top that I noticed an older gentleman standing behind John, who was welling up with tears. He looked at me and said, “You got me. You got me.” He wiped a tear from his cheek.

This is really happening. John will be entered in the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, on October 13, 2012.

My husband is an inspiration to me, as he is to many others. His determination, commitment and hard work over the past two years is almost unbelievable. Heat acclimation, double session workouts, no social life. All of the sacrifice was forgotten the second that woman said, “John F. Jenkins.”

We made it, baby. You are going to Kona! I am so proud of you.

Aloha!

**John’s race report will be coming in the next few days. Come back and look for it!

************************

A little background on the slot allocation process of qualifying for Kona:

This description of the qualification and slot allocation process is take from RunTri.com.

  • The 1500+ race slots are allocated among 27 Ironman qualifying races and 6 Ironman 70.3 events (was 5, but 30 Ironman China slots were awarded to Ironman 70.3 Philippines), as shown above, race by race
  • The slots each race gets (e.g., Wisconsin = 65 slots) are allocated among age-group divisions
  • Each age group in a race gets one slot; the rest are allocated based on number of participants per age group (e.g., if 20% of athletes are M30-34, that AG gets 20% of the remaining slots)
  • The slots in each race’s age-group division are reserved for the top finishers (e.g., the top 6 finishers in M45-49 are entitled to take a slot)
  • It may happen that some athletes will choose to not accept a slot they earned for some reason; any slots not accepted ‘roll down’ to the next finisher(s) who also have the option to accept or pass on the slot.
  • The ‘Roll Down’ process continues until all slots are taken.

 

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