Ironman Anniversary.

[Chris Hobson]

Yesterday, Sunday 18th February was the fortieth anniversary of the very first ironman triathlon. A man called John Collins suggested staging a race that included the 2.4 mile Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the 112 mile Round the Island bike race and the 26.2 mile Honolulu Marathon combined into a single event. Collins said that whoever won it would be declared the Iron Man. He found fifteen athletes who were prepared to give it a go and the first one took place in Hawaii on February 18th 1978. There were twelve finishers and it was won by Gordon Haller in eleven hours and forty seven minutes.

 

[Wirrallass]

This is a titbit of interesting information Chris ~ thanks for sharing. Without rummagjng through numerous threads didnt you compete in an Iron Man yourself and out of curiosity what's the latest least time anyone has completed the I.M?

WL

 

[Chris Hobson]

I did an unofficial ironman distance race, The Outlaw, in July last year. My avatar is my finishing picture. I have been planning to do another one, The Lakesman, this year but some unexpected health problems mean that I might not be able to do it. I will be disappointed but I think that at the age of 59 I just have to accept that the wheels are going to fall off from time to time.

The fastest man over the 140.6 distance is Jan Frodeno who, in 2016, did Challenge Roth in 7:35:39. The fastest woman is Chrissie Wellington who did Challenge Roth in 08:18:13 in 2011. The fastest man for an official Ironman is Tim Don who did Ironman Florianapolis in Brazil in 7:40:23. I couldn't work out the best woman's time for an official Ironman from the data that I was looking at, I suspect that it might be Chrissie Wellington too.