30 years ago today (February 18, 1978) in Honolulu, Hawaii 15 people gather together to compete in what was billed as the toughest human challenge event ever conceived. The idea came about after an argument about who's in the best shape: a swimmer, a cyclists or a runner. John Collins decided to settle this one way by combining all 3 sports into one single race. Who ever was able to Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, and Run 26.2 miles and finished first would be called an "Ironman".
The first person to cross the finish that day was Gordon Haller in a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds. Since then thousands of people around the world have accomplished that spectacular feat as well.
Little did they know what impact they would have on today's global endurance sports market. Today we have 22 WTC branded Ironman triathlon events, in 15 countries on 5 continents and countless other independent iron distance triathlon events around the world.
I remember when I first caught a glimpse of this event on ABC's Wide World of Sports many, many years ago. I was amazed at what those people accomplished, it looked tough. At that time I never had the urge to attempt something like that, no way. Now, many years after seeing that on TV and reading about it I sit here with 3 Ironman races under my belt, WOW! I never imagined I would ever be in shape to attempt this amazing feat but as the Ironman motto states "Anything is Possible".
Triathlons at this race distance are a hot commodity these day as races across North America and Europe continue to sell out in a matter or minutes or with in a few days if that. This has helped fuel new Ironman and Iron distance events around the world. Just in the past few months, we have had at least 6 new races at this distance added to the schedule for 2008.
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• New Iron Distance Race - Beach2Battleship
• Ironman China 2008 Cast in Stone with Haikou Set to Host April Race
Comments (1)
I enjoyed reading this blog. I read an article or part of a book about the first Ironman Hawaii. What an awesome event that has inspired so many to take up the sport, get healthy, or just get in shape. I remember saying, "I just don't want to embarrass myself."
Good blog - thanks.
Posted by Stowe Spivey | February 21, 2008 3:59 PM
Posted on February 21, 2008 15:59