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The IRONMAN Story. The single-day endurance event now known as IRONMAN was the brainchild of Judy and John Collins, a couple who moved from California to Hawai'i in 1975. The Collins family had participated in the Mission Bay Triathlon in San Diego on 25 September 1974.
Jan 8, 2024 · Here’s a graphical overview of the Ironman history, showing the number of races and their geographical distribution (click for a hi-res file): Main developments: In the early years, Hawaii was the only Ironman event. After Honolulu from 1978 to 1980 the location was moved to Kona on Big Island.
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km).
- Ironman Beginnings
- For The Love of The Sport
- Courses Contemplated
- The First Event Announcement
- The Iron Man Gets Its Name
- The Class of 1978
- The First Ironman Triathlon
Though triathlon was beginning to gain traction as a participation sport in California in the mid-1970s, it was the Ironman that broke through the young sport’s minority foundations and brought multi-discipline racing into the popular consciousness. It’s toughness, its character and its inspirational athletes would mean that before long, everyone h...
It’s often reported that the idea for the first Ironman came about as a challenge to see whether swimmers, cyclists or runners were the best endurance athletes, a debate brought about in jocular discussions of five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx’s superior VO2 max. In reality, the event’s conception was simply about giving the endurance com...
The format was decided upon during a quiet table talk during a Running Relays awards ceremony on Valentines Day, Judy trying to decide on a fitting bike route for her long-distance triathlon – the first-ever on Hawaii – and John discussing aerobic sport and an article about cyclists’ oxygen uptakes with run and swimmer friends. Then the conversatio...
The Collinses decided the event would take place in February 1978 after the following year’s Oahu Perimeter Relays and their around-the-island triathlon event was announced even before it has a name. The couple stood together at the lectern of the 1977 Waikiki Swim Club banquet on 23 October to give the world its first insight into what would becom...
In early 1978, the event got its name. “We knew a long distance runner who could keep going and going,” said Judy. “His nickname was ‘Iron Man’. We would have to keep going and going to get around the island in our triathlon. Our event name went on our triathlon logo, The Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon.” The date was set for February 1978 and missing ...
The appeal of the Ironman brought in 18 entrants in that first year. That start list included John Collins, but not Judy who had crashed in the lead up to the event in a year where she’d posted personal-best times. The list also included US Navy Seal, John Dunbar, and Gordon Haller, a Naval Reserve lieutenant. Despite no competitor having the Ironm...
The inaugural Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon was held on 18 February 1978 on Oahu. An informal, low-key affair, the event was a far cry from the pomp and ceremony that surrounds Kona today. So it was that following a pre-race meeting in the Collins’ living room, 18 intrepid athletes headed out into a windy February morning in the rainy season and onto...
Jun 29, 2023 · The first Ironman triathlon took place on February 18, 1978, on the island of Oahu. There were only 15 participants, and the race was largely unknown outside of Hawaii. The winner of the race was Gordon Haller, who completed the course in just over 11 hours.
Jan 11, 2024 · One of the most iconic moments in triathlon history was the creation of the Hawaii Ironman race. In 1978, Navy Commander John Collins and his wife Judy devised a grueling endurance event that encompassed a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a full marathon run of 26.2 miles.
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Oct 4, 2010 · With Ironman, things are much clearer: in 1977 a group of athletes in Honolulu were discussing the relative skill and endurance demands of cycling, running and swimming.
