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"Ironman Triathlon" is a trademark of the World Triathlon Corporation. Due to the popularity of the Ironman Triathlon, several other events have been established around the world to serve as qualifying events for the world championship venue in Hawaii. The generic name for competitions having the same format and distances as the Ironman is Iron Distance Triathlon; there are also various other triathlons of a similar format but shorter distances.
The Ironman Triathlon was the first major competition of its kind. The first Ironman Triathlons were held in Honolulu, Hawaii from February 1978 to 1980. In 1981, the competition was moved to the less urbanized Big Island by Valerie Silk. The following year, Silk moved the race date from February to October. There were two Ironman Triathlons in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du as a result of the change.
The idea for the original Iron Man Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams). Among the participants were numerous representatives of both the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers. On this occasion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins pointed out that a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine had declared that Eddy Mercyx, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. Cdr. Collins and his wife, Judy, had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club in and around Mission Bay, California, as well as the Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in Coronado, California, in 1975. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with the San Diego races, so they understood the concept when Cdr. Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island: the WaikikiWaikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. The name means fetched water in Hawaiian for springs that fed wetlands that once separated Waikiki from the interior. Waikiki ha Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi./3.85 km), the Around- OahuO‘ahu is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous island in the state of Hawai‘i. Total land area is 608 mile² (1,575 km²). The city of Honolulu—largest city, state capital, and main deepwater marine port for the State of Hawai‘i—is loc Bike Race (115 miles; originally a two-day event) and the Honolulu MarathonThe Honolulu Marathon is one of the world's largest marathons. It takes place annually in Honolulu, Hawaii on the second Sunday in December. On average, about 25,000 runners finish the Honolulu Marathon each year. In recent years it has consistently place (26.2 mi./42.195 km). It is worth noting that no one present had ever done the bike race; Cdr. Collins calculated that by shaving 3 miles off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the Aloha Tower, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon. With a nod to a local runner who was notorious for his demanding workouts, Collins said, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Of the fifteen men to start off the in early morning on February 18th, 1978, twelve completed the race and the world's first Ironman, Gordon Haller , completed in 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 58 seconds.
With no further marketing efforts, the race gathered as many as fifty athletes the following year. The race, however, was postponed a day because of bad weather conditions--only fifteen competitors started off the race Sunday morning. San Diego's Tom Warren , age thirty-five, won in 11 hours, 15 minutes, and 56 seconds. Lyn Lemaire , a championship cyclist from Boston, placed sixth overall and became the first "Ironwoman."
Collins planned on changing the race into a relay event to draw more participants, but Sports Illustrated'sSports Illustrated is a popular weekly American sports magazine owned by media giant Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers, the third highest magazine circulation in the United States, and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 journalist Barry McDermott , in the area to cover a golf tournament, discovered the race and wrote a ten-page account of it. During the following year hundreds of curious participants contacted Collins.
The Ironman Triathlon inspired the addition of the triathlon sport (though over shorter distances) at the 2000 Summer OlympicsGames of the XXVII Olympiad Nations participating199 Athletes participating10,651(6,582 men, 4,069 women) Events300 in 28 sports Opening ceremonies September 15, 2000 Closing ceremonies October 1, 2000 Officially opened by William Deane Athlete's Oath Rec in Sydney.