As www.islandstats.com reported on Sunday July 21st, Tyler Butterfield earned a seventh place finish at Ironman 70.3 Racine, earning a valuable 750 points from the race.
Butterfield’s current total of 3880 Kona Pro Rankings (KPR) points puts him in 33rd position in the pro rankings, a system in which the top 40 men as of July 28th, 2013 will automatically qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona. A final 10 qualifiers will then earn entry as of August 25th, 2013.
Next on Butterfield’s race calendar is Ironman 70.3 Calgary on July 28TH another 500‐point race, with the aim of earning enough additional points to secure a Kona start in the July qualifying round, as the early entry would allow for a more focused training build for the World Championship.
The alternative would involve a scramble for points in late season races–perhaps even another full Ironman–to score a spot on the Kona start line, which could ultimately detract from a strong performance in the race. While Butterfield’s current ranking does bode well for early qualification, a strong performance in Calgary would guard against slipping out of the top 40, as the final race weekend prior to the qualification cutoff–which includes two full distance Ironman races and numerous Ironman 70.3’s–will surely see a number of athletes attempting to tip the points tally in their favor.
