History Ironman Triathlon

aloha tower original bike-to-run transition site

the idea original ironman triathlon arose during awards ceremony 1977 oʻahu perimeter relay. among participants representatives of both mid-pacific road runners , waikiki swim club, members had long been debating athletes more fit, runners or swimmers. on occasion, u.s. navy commander john collins pointed out recent article in sports illustrated magazine had declared eddy merckx, great belgian cyclist, had highest recorded oxygen uptake of athlete ever measured, perhaps cyclists more fit anyone. collins , wife judy collins had taken part in triathlons staged in 1974 , 1975 san diego track club in , around mission bay, california, 1975 optimist sports fiesta triathlon in coronado, california. number of other military athletes in attendance familiar san diego races, understood concept when collins suggested debate should settled through race combining 3 existing long-distance competitions on island: waikiki roughwater swim (2.4 mi./3.86 km), around-oahu bike race (115 mi./185.07 km; two-day event) , honolulu marathon (26.219 mi./42.195 km).

until point, no 1 present had ever done bike race. collins calculated shaving 3 miles (4.8 km) off course , riding counter-clockwise around island, bike leg start @ finish of waikiki rough water , end @ aloha tower, traditional start of honolulu marathon. prior racing, each athlete received 3 sheets of paper listing few rules , course description. handwritten on last page exhortation: swim 2.4 miles! bike 112 miles! run 26.2 miles! brag rest of life , registered trademark.

with nod local runner notorious demanding workouts, collins said, whoever finishes first, ll call him iron man. each of racers had own support crew supply water, food , encouragement during event. of fifteen men start off in morning on february 18, 1978, twelve completed race. gordon haller, navy communications specialist, first earn title ironman completing course time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, 58 seconds. runner-up john dunbar, navy seal, led after second transition , had chance win ran out of water on marathon course; support crew resorted giving him beer instead.

with no further marketing efforts, race gathered many 50 athletes in 1979. race, however, postponed day because of bad weather conditions. fifteen competitors started off race sunday morning. san diego s tom warren won in 11 hours, 15 minutes, 56 seconds. lyn lemaire, championship cyclist boston, placed sixth overall , became first ironwoman . collins planned on changing race relay event draw more participants, sports illustrated s journalist barry mcdermott, in area cover golf tournament, discovered race , wrote ten-page account of it. during following year, hundreds of curious participants contacted collins.

start & finish of ironman world championship on aliʻi drive in kailua-kona hawaii


valerie silk , wtc

around 1979 collins no longer wanted direct ironman race , approached nautilus fitness center owners hank grundman , valerie silk taking on control of race. grundman had extended club’s facilities many of ironman competitors. following couple s divorce in 1981 silk received ownership of ironman. year moved competition less urbanized hawaiʻi island (called big island) , in 1982 moved race date february october; result of change there 2 ironman triathlon events in 1982.

a milestone in marketing of legend , history of race happened in february 1982. julie moss, college student competing gather research exercise physiology thesis, moved toward finish line in first place. neared finish, severe fatigue , dehydration set in, , fell, yards away finish line. although kathleen mccartney passed women’s title, moss nevertheless crawled finish line. performance broadcast worldwide , created ironman mantra finishing victory. end of year race had maxed out @ 1,000 participants, lottery used fill field while turning away 1,000 interested participants.

in 1990, of lew friedland, dr. james p. gills acquired , purchased hawaii triathlon corporation, owner of ironman brand, $3 million silk. ironman brand, gills established world triathlon corporation intention of furthering sport of triathlon , increasing prize money triathletes.

a number of non-wtc full distance triathlons have been held since mid-1990s. limited number of wtc-sanctioned events, , limited number of entries available per race, have combined growth in sport has created demand these non-trademarked events. many of them share 2.4-mile (3.9 km), 112-mile (180 km), 26.2-mile (42.2 km) format ironman triathlon. originally, many used ironman name. due aggressive trademark protection, of these races no longer use word ironman .