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Diane or Erin?

Monday, 28 November 2016 23:10

Diane Hankee deserved to win the Long Distance Athlete of the Year award. But so did Erin Hyndman-Farrens. Convincing arguments can and were made for both athletes.

Why then, did Diane win?

Because she had the most support on the day the awards were ordered. Had the awards been ordered a day or two later, and the debate continued, there is a good chance that Erin would have won.

But if the awards were ordered a day or two after that, and the debate had continued, then it's very possible that Diane would, once again, come out on top.

And so on....

Like the Male Performance of the Year and Male Master awards, these two-person races were almost too close to call.

Here are some of the arguments that favored Hankee:

- Three of the five half IMs she did this year were faster than the PR that Erin set at Timberman (NH) 70.3. Diane's best time of the season was 4:38:51. Erin's was 4:43:13. (Yes, we understand that courses vary and times can be deceiving.)

- Placement. Diane had one win (Liberty - 4:42:30), a 2nd (Muncie - 4:38:51) and a 3rd (Steelhead - 4:41:32, where she finished only 2:06 behiind the women's winner, Molly Smith of Colorado). Erin had one win (Toughman - 4:49:07) and two 3rds (4:43:13 at Timberman, 10:02:29 at Ironman Louisville). Once again, nothing truly definitive here.

It was acknowledged that Diane had demonstrated more speed at 70.3 than did Erin. Also, it appeared that she had faced and beat more credentialed athletes than Hyndman-Farrens, though not by much.

Now, the arguments favoring Erin:

- Her 10:02:29 at Ironman Louisville (3rd place) was a VERY special performance, one that received a POY nomination. Only iron star Michelle Andres has a faster PR among MInnesota women all time.

- Her performance at Timberman 70.3--4:43:13- 3rd place--may be better than it was given credit for. The course is challenging and she finished only 3:13 behind the winner, upstate New York's Amy Farrell, who has been recognized as one of the US's premier amateur long distance racers for more than a decade. Amy has been discussed for US AOY on several occasions.

- Though Erin's win at Toughman was not fast (4:49:07) in historical terms--half of the winning (amateur) times were in the 4:30s, and the average winning range is right around the 4:40 mark--perhaps the fact that the swim was not wetsuit legal should have been given more scrutiny. It's hard to tell how much time was lost because of that.

In the end, the debate was focused on Hankee's consistent 70.3 speed over three races, versus Hyndman-Farrens' POY-nominated IM personal best.

Did we get it right?

Photo - A great shot of Diane and her progeny.