Back at the soaking wet end to T.I.V6, huddled in The Barn were a few hardy competitors, d.p., and myself. I took the opportunity to open up Trans Iowa for criticism. These esteemed competitors included winners of past Trans Iowas, and former finishers of the event. It also included a couple of first timers as well. Most assembled had a pretty good field of experiences in ultra-endurance events. I knew d.p. and I would be getting some "no b.s" feed back, and I also knew it could be devastating to listen to, but that is the risk I was willing to take to see where d.p. and I could tweak out the T.I. experience to be better.
Fully expecting to hear the worst, I was floored when I didn't hear what I thought I would. The only thing that really came out of this "meeting" was that registration needed to be tweaked. Certainly, it was apparent that something needed to be done, since our roster was being mostly taken up by veterans of the event, leaving little room for "new blood". But what the assembled brain trust had in mind was that instead of honoring past participation, we should honor past finishers. There were fewer of these folks, and it was thought that such a heady accomplishment should be "rewarded", (if coming back to a 300 plus mile beat down can be called that!), by having first right of refusal to any available roster spots in future Trans Iowas.
So, first of all, this is being addressed now. Go to the Trans Iowa V7 site and go to "Race Details And Registration". There you will see how we are inviting the past finishers of Trans Iowa to take a spot on the upcoming Trans Iowa.
Of course, as explained on the site, I do not expect all 48 finishers to take a spot on the roster, but d.p. and I did decide to expand the limits of the roster anyway. Now we are going to cap it off at 100. Again, past finishers get first dibs starting now, but what ever is left over come November 1st will be divided evenly amongst Veterans and Rookies. Those spots will be divied up in the traditional post card manner we have been using of recent years. Wait until I say "go" to do that, but expect that to occur in mid-November. Of course, that announcement will go out via the T.I.V7 site, Facebook, and Twitter.
This is Phase One of registration, and if there are any questions or comments, just leave a comment on this post and I'll get right back to you. Look for "Phase Two" to kick in about a month and a half from now!
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