If triathlon is a race for devotees, the Ironman Triathlon World Championship defeats logic. It encompasses three endurance races and, although it’s basically a triathlon, it’s also much more than that. A classical triathlon comprises a 4km (2.5mi ) swim, a 120km (74.5mi) ride, and a 30km (18.7mi) run. The Hawaii Ironman Triathlon is a little tougher: 3.86km (2.4mi) swim, 180.2km (112mi) bike ride, and 42.2km (26.2mi) run. The race’s time limit is seventeen hours, and its average, twelve. How do you feel after the Ironman? Tore down, no doubt. But let’s start at the beginning.
We must go back thirty years in time to learn about the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon’s origins. In 1978, astronaut John Collins set out to find out who were the strongest athletes –swimmers, riders, or runners. Thus, he put together three long-distance competitions already existing on the island: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (3.85km/ 2.4mi), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (180.2km/ 112mi; originally a two-day event), and the Honolulu Marathon (42.195km/ 26.2mi). The first editions were held in Waikiki, but in 1981, the competition was moved from Honolulu to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii’s Big Island, where it’s still held on the Saturday closest to the full moon.
100,000 bucks can be a lure into Ironman. But beyond money, this race has become a Mecca for triathletes, a race they should come to at least once in their lives. Thousands of sportsmen and women struggle to become an Iron Man/ Woman every year, like the current time-record holder (8:04:08), Belgian Luc van Lierde, who became the first European male winner in 1996. Or like last year’s male winner Chris McCormack, known affectionately to the triathlon community as “Macca.” And this is the line where we should start feeling proud, as he was sponsored by Orbea. Not only did McCormack wear the Orca triathlon apparel, but he also rode an Ordu, Orbea’s time-trial bike. We’d tested it in the wind tunnel, we’d tested it in the velodrome… If you want to know more about it, enter and have a look at the fastest bicycle on Earth.
The Ironman’s organisers and those of regular triathlons aren’t the same. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in 1989. The Ironman around the globe, on the other hand, is sponsored by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). WTC is the owner of numerous “Ironman” and related trademarks used both in connection with the Ironman race series and in conjunction with various goods and services. However, WTC Ironman races are not sanctioned by ITU and are therefore not official triathlon world championships. ITU’s triathlons are long-distance or Challenge events, never “Ironman.”
Triathlon reached its zenith in 2000, when it was put on the Olympic programme. It’d be shown to the world and add fans to those it had already fascinated. 2003 marked the 25th anniversary of the first Ironman. The anniversary edition drew 1,500 triathletes from all over the world.
Taking part in this legendary multisport race is by no means easy. If racing can be tougher than climbing uphill with your bike’s chain broken, being admitted into it is quite a feat. Qualifying events are held worldwide throughout the year –in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Canada, the US, South Africa, or France. They admit pros and amateurs, divided into group ages and selected even by drawing lots! If you register, they’ll take you in, even if you’re not as fit as required. If you wind up panting and exhausted, that’s not the organisers’ problem!
To reach the Ironman you need to be astonishingly capable of self-sacrifice and have trained for two years. Do you think that’s impossible? Visit the official website of the man who’s finished the Ironman Lanzarote and climbed Mount McKinley. It’s the one in Alaska, yes. There’s always someone strong enough to go a long way. And there’re some who can go even farther: some athletes find regular Ironman distances too short, and so more extreme formats have evolved. There’re triple, quadruple, quintuple, 10 and 15× events, whose distances are multiples of those in the original Ironman triathlon. Imagine the 15x Ironman: a 60km (36mi) swim, a 2,700km (1,680mi) bike ride, and a 630 (393) run. Can you believe this? It’s beyond human limits!
We’ve already mentioned “Macca,” who won the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon last year. (He’s the man who teaches us how to put the Orca neoprene suit on). McCormack also won the Ironman Australia in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. The other stars are Kate Major, who took the Ironman 70.3 (“half ironman”) in Florida in 2005 and came in third in last year’s edition of the Hawaii Ironman; Craig Alexander, who clocked the best time in the Ironman run last year; Hillary Biscay, who finished third in the Hawaii Ironman 5x last year; Cameron Brown, who won the 2007 and 2008 Bonita New Zealand Ironman and European Ironman Championships in 2006; and, last but not least, Belinda Granger, the winner of the 7x Hawaii Ironman.
Orca and Ordu will be their strongest allies, although what they’ll really need is oxygen. To breathe, to dodge obstacles, to come to the finish line in the first place, to be #1. Completing the Ironman is quite an achievement in its own right, but we want more. Good luck to you all!