Every October many of the world’s best professional and amateur iron-distance triathletes from all over the world find themselves on the Big Island of Hawaii for one thing and one thing only, the Ironman World Championship race. Why? Why Not? For some it’s an opportunity to be crowned world champion for others it’s an opportunity to challenge themselves in one of the toughest, one day sporting events staged every year on the Big Island. This year will be the 31st running of the Ironman event in Hawaii.
The challenge for day take athletes on a 2.4 mile ocean swim Kauilia-Kona Bay, then a grueling 112 mile bike ride on the west side of the island through lava fields on their way to Hawi and back and then a 26.2 mile marathon run through tough and challenging lava-covered terrain. As the Ironman motto states “Anything is Possible” and on Saturday, October 10th 2009 there will be a lot of adrenaline and testosterone in Kona to see if that’s true when they go out to conquer the amazing challenge the Big Island has in store for them to become an Ironman once again.
Here is analytical breakdown of this year’s field for the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship race (according to athlete listing on Ironman.com).
| Professional's | ||||
| 104 Male Pro's | 54 Female Pro's | |||
| Athletes by Age Group | ||||
| M18-24 | 41 | W18-24 | 31 | |
| M25-29 | 116 | W25-29 | 58 | |
| M30-34 | 202 | W30-34 | 93 | |
| M35-39 | 252 | W35-39 | 94 | |
| M40-44 | 266 | W40-44 | 90 | |
| M45-49 | 182 | W45-49 | 54 | |
| M50-54 | 103 | W50-54 | 42 | |
| M55-59 | 61 | W55-59 | 32 | |
| M60-64 | 47 | W60-64 | 18 | |
| M65-69 | 36 | W65-69 | 4 | |
| M70-74 | 25 | W70-74 | 3 | |
| M75-79 | 10 | W75-79 | 1 | |
| M80+ | 1 | |||
| Total Male Participants | 1,352 | Total Female Participants | 511 | |
| Total Participants | 1,863 |
Age with most testosterone:
- Male: 42 - 63 competitors
- Female: 40 - 32 competitors
Youngest Competitors (no one under 20 like last year):
- Ryann Fraser - Female, Age 20 from Canada
(who qualified when she was 18 and just so happens to be Graham Fraser's daughter who is the President of North America Sports)
"I’ve always wanted to do Hawaii, so I decided it was time! When I did Canada in 2007 I qualified, but didn’t take my spot because I was going to work for the event in Hawaii. Diana Bertsch (the race director) told me that I was welcome to come back whenever and take my spot.. so I am! After spending a weekend out in San Diego around mid August, I talked with Paula Newby Fraser, my coach and figured out a game plan." - Ryann Fraser
- Jonathan Fecik, Masashige Tomita - Male, Age 20 from the USA and Japan
- Philip Graves - Male, Age 20 from Great Britain racing as a Pro
Eldest Competitors:
- Robert Southwell - Male, Age 80 from Australia
- Sister Madonna Buder - Female, Age 79 from the USA
Top 5 Countries Represented at this years race:
- 741 form the USA (39.8%)
- 222 from Germany (11.9%)
- 137 from Australia (7.4%)
- 101 from Canada (5.4%)
- 74 from Japan (4.0%)
Total number of Countries represented: 64
Number of Athletes by Continent:
Africa - 19
Asia - 98
Europe - 649
North America - 857
Oceania - 182
South America - 53
Unknown - 5
Number of Ironman qualifying races for the 2009 Ironman World Championship race: 21
Stayed tuned for additional coverage of this year's 2009 Ironman World Championship race including a preview of this years contenders.
