Ironman Hawaii is considered one of the world’s most demanding endurance competitions. In addition to the mental and physical demands on athletes resulting from the length of the race course, they are additionally challenged by the climatic conditions in the Hawaiian lava desert during the race. The Ho’o-Mumuku winds, unpredictable gusty crosswinds with speeds of up to 80 km/h, can significantly influence the course of the race, especially on the bike course, where, as in all Ironman races, slipstreaming is prohibited. Both during cycling and on the largely shadeless running course, participants are exposed to temperatures sometimes considerably above 30 °C and high humidity.
"Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles. Brag for the rest of your life!"
"Swim 3.8 km, bike 180 km, run 42.2 km. Brag about it for the rest of your life!"
Most of the participants are in Hawaii for acclimatization one week before the competition, the program starts on Saturday before the competition with a swim training at Kailua Pier and a 5 km run on Sunday. From Tuesday before the race is the registration of participants with collection of starting documents, in the afternoon starts the parade of nations: In a parade of participants led by teenage soldiers from Hawaii, athletes grouped by nationality parade together with bands down Alii Drive to the Expo site in Kailua-Kona. Wednesday and. Thursday there will be race briefings in German, Japanese and English. The first day of the Ironman Hawaii will be held in English, where the course and the rules will be explained. Thursday is then the day of the Underpants Run, a charity event that has its origins in a 1998 campaign to poke fun at the shameless European athletes, especially from the American point of view, who display their swimwear at all times in restaurants, supermarkets, or other inappropriate public places. Friday is the check-in of the competitors’ race materials (bike, helmet as well as the two transition bags) at the transition area at Kailua Pier. For the participants the race day starts on Saturday morning at 04:45 with the marking of their upper arms with their individual start number.
The race starts in four starting groups from 06:25 a.m. to 07:10 a.m. in Kailua-Kona with the 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim out to sea and back, the starting gun fired by an old cannon. This is followed by the bike leg through the lava fields north on the Queen K Highway with the turnaround in Hawi. After 180.2 km (112 miles), the bike will be exchanged for running shoes in Kailua Kona. The marathon leads up to the Natural Energy Lab , a research station for the use of ocean energy, and ends with the finish on Aliʻi Drive in Kona.
The official Ironman World Championship program will end with the closing banquet and awards ceremony on Sunday evening.
Qualification
In 2018, there were 40 Ironman competitions worldwide where qualification to the Ironman Hawaii was possible [4] . Until 2015, amateurs could also qualify in select half-distance events (Ironman 70.3) qualify. The number of Hawaii qualifying slots awarded to amateurs per event depends on age group and varies among Ironman events. First-place finishers in each age group at Ironman Hawaii are traditionally eligible to earn a starting spot for the following year without further qualification.
Until 2003, the top-15 male and female professional triathletes from the previous year were also eligible to earn a starting spot without additional qualification. [5] From 2004 to 2006 the top 10 of the previous year were directly qualified, [6] from 2007 to 2011 still the top 3. From 2007 to 2011, the remaining top-10 professional triathletes were also required to successfully compete in one additional WTC-licensed event. [7] For the other professional triathletes, there were a varying number of separate so-called "Pro-Slots" at the qualifying competitions, through which they could acquire a starting place with a corresponding placing.
Beginning in September 2011, the "Kona Pro Ranking System" (KPR) was introduced to qualify for Ironman Hawaii – for the first time for 2012 – which allowed professional triathletes competing for a total of 650.000 US dollars prize money in Hawaii, since then obliged to participate in several WTC-organized or licensed competitions per season. The first-place woman and first-place man in Hawaii will each receive 8000 points, the winners in Frankfurt, Texas, Florianopolis, Cairns and Port Elizabeth will each receive 4000 points, and the winners in the other Ironman races will each receive 2000 points. Other finishers receive a correspondingly reduced number of points. At Ironman 70.3 races, depending on the race, 500, 750 or 1500 points are awarded to the winner. [8] The best five results per athlete, among which at least one must be an Ironman, are added together. The forty male and twenty-eight female athletes who finish in such a high position are given the opportunity to purchase a starting place for Ironman Hawaii at the end of July each year. At the end of August, all pro slots not taken at the end of July, as well as ten additional slots for male starters and seven additional slots for female starters, will be offered to the next best-placed professional triathletes. In addition, ten professional starting spots are held for the winners of the previous five years, although they must complete one more Ironman within the qualifying period before earning a starting spot. Another ten professional starting places are reserved for the male and female winners in Frankfurt, Texas, Florianopolis, Cairns and Port Elizabeth. [9] The twelve-month qualifying period for professional triathletes begins annually on 1. September.
On 31. In July 2015, the WTC announced the 10. October 2015 in Hawaii qualified professional triathletes known: from Switzerland were Daniela Ryf, Caroline Steffen and Ronnie Schildknecht and Jan van Berkel, from Austria Eva Wutti and Michael Weiss and the German professionals Julia Gajer, Diana Riesler, Britta Martin, Mareen Hufe and Jan Frodeno, defending champion Sebastian Kienle, Nils Frommhold, Andreas Bocherer, Christian Kramer and Maik Twelsiek represented. [10] [11] By the end of August, it was clear that Andreas Raelert and Boris Stein, as well as Astrid Stienen, would also qualify. Lisa Hutthaler and Sonja Tajsich, who also qualified, cancelled their start due to injury. A total of 10. October 2015 99 professional triathletes (57 men and 42 women) on the entry list.
Including the amateurs, the starting list for Ironman Hawaii 2015 comprised 2378 athletes. [12] Entry fees were US$775 in 2014, [13] for 2016 they are US$850 plus. 6 % service fees [14] (for comparison: 1986 100 US dollars with about 1000 participants, [15] 1993 245 US dollars with 1350 participants and 2005 450 US dollars with 1743 starters. [16] ) The average age of participants in the race in 2009-2014 was ca. 42 years. In 2015-2017, the starting field consisted of approximately 71% male and 29% female participants. [17]
For Ironman Hawaii 2014, qualification for amateurs was also still possible at the following races of the Ironman 70.3 series: Mandurah, Auckland, St. Croix, Hawaii, Maryland and Wiesbaden. [19] For Ironman Hawaii 2015, the Ironman 70 offered.3 Kraichgau is still the only middle-distance triathlon to offer 30 qualifying spots for Hawaii, [20] for Ironman Hawaii 2016, there were no more qualifying spots available via competitions over other distances.
In addition, until 2015, 200 starting spots were awarded annually through a lottery. [21] Participation in the lottery was possible for 50 US dollars per year, since 1990 the chance of winning could be increased by an additional membership for another 50 US dollars in the Passport Club. As of 2012, the chance of winning for repeat participants was additionally increased via the Legacy program. [22] Lottery winners could subsequently compete for the regular entry fee (2015 US$850 plus. 6% fees) to purchase a starting spot. [23]
Course outline
Swimming
Pacific Ocean swim of 2.4 miles (3.86 kilometers), leading from the Kailua Pier in the bay of Kailua-Kona clockwise in the form of an elongated rectangle in a southerly direction to a turnaround point at the halay point and then back to the start area. Wetsuits are not allowed in Hawaii, the water temperature in the Kailua Bay is with typically 26 °C clearly above the limit of 24 °C. Athletes who leave the water 2:20 h after their start or later are not allowed to continue the race. [24]
Up to and including 2003 there was still a common mass start for all athletes. [25] From 2004 the professional triathletes started 15 minutes before the amateurs, [26] from 2011 30 min. [Since 2012 the male professional triathletes start five minutes before the female triathletes, the amateurs initially started in a common group another 25 minutes later. [28] Since 2014, the male and female amateurs also start in separate starting waves. [29] [30] In 2015, the starting waves were spread even further apart: the male amateurs started 25 minutes after the female professionals, with the female amateurs starting another fifteen minutes later. [24]
Cycling
The 180.2-kilometer (112-mile) bike course runs south to the first turnaround point, then back through Kona and north along the Kona and Kohala coasts on the Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway and Akoni Pule Highway to the second turnaround point in the small town of Kona Hawi and the same distance back to Kona. The course consists of a number of small hills with climbs of up to six percent and lengths ranging from a few hundred meters to ca. 1.5 km. Approximately 1500 meters of altitude must be climbed. The highest point of the course is about 200 meters above sea level.
Slipstreaming is generally forbidden at the Ironman, a minimum distance of 10 meters corresponding to five bike lengths [24] (pros: twelve meters) has to be kept (from 2004 to 2014 7 meters, corresponding to four bike lengths) [31] . When overtaking, the athlete in front must be passed within 20 s, who must then restore the minimum distance within 20 s. After an overtaking maneuver, the rider must immediately rejoin the race and keep to the right-hand lane. Violations (including "littering," d. h. throwing away litter outside the refreshment points) will be given Race marshals penalized with yellow or blue cards, then the athlete has the next Penalty box to visit. In case of a yellow card (z. B. due to "blocking" by disregarding the right-hand driving ban), the athlete can continue the race immediately after naming his start number ("Stop&Go"), in case of a blue card only after the time penalty of five minutes has expired (2014 [31] still four minutes). Athletes who do not stop at the next Penalty Box stop, receive more than two warnings or have not finished the bike course at the latest 10:30 h after the race start, will not be allowed to continue the race. [24]
Running
The 42.195-kilometer run course (corresponding to the marathon distance) first runs south to Keauhou to a first turnaround point, then back north through Kona on the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway (on which the bike course also runs) to the second turnaround point, at the so-called Natural Energy Lab , and from there back to Kona along the same route. The finish is on the Aliʻi Drive. [24]
All athletes must have completed the marathon by midnight at the latest. This leaves a total of 17 hours to cross the finish line. In addition to "drafting," "blocking " and "littering," z. B. also the acceptance of foreign help, not closed chinstraps of the helmets on the wheel, unauthorized equipment (also MP3 players and cell phones) and missing starting number on the run distance and/or. on the bike will be punished by the race marshals.
History
The first multi-discipline swimming, cycling and running events in France date back to the 1920s. The jogging craze of the mid-1970s led to similar such multi-events in southern California, where the name triathlon was also first used, but connections to the French events are unknown.
1972 to 1975 – Prehistory in San Diego
Because of the Mission Bay lagoon in the middle of San Diego, the combination of swimming and running on the beach had become popular there as an endurance sport, they held competitions in Modern Biathlon (the American name for "biathle"). The Dave Pain Birthday Biathlon Has been such a small amateur race since 1972, with the disciplines of 4.5 miles (7.242 km) of running and a quarter mile (402 m) of swimming.
Jack Johnstone, then in his mid-thirties and a former competitive swimmer, participated in 1973 and 1974 and subsequently wanted to host a biathle himself. Through the San Diego Track Club, he came into contact with Don Shanahan, who had similar ideas and suggested the integration of a bicycle race. Johnstone was skeptical, since like most Americans he did not own a bicycle at all, but accepted the proposal and, together with Shanahan, organized the first Mission Bay Triathlon. Supposedly, the sign maker who was to make the winner’s trophies asked Johnstone for the correct spelling of the term "triathlon," which at the time was not yet in any dictionary. [32]
In the late afternoon of the 25. September 1974 launched the first Mission Bay Triathlon. 46 competitors competed in the 6-mile (9.656 km) run, 5-mile (8.047 km) bike, and 500-yard (457 m) swim courses. Due to the twilight, car headlights on the beach illuminated the last meters of the swim course. The winner was Bill Phillips after 55:44 minutes. Johnstone himself finished sixth, Shanahan did not participate due to injury and took over as race director. Among the "finishers" were seven members of the Coronado Navy Swim Association (CNSA), including Commander John Collins with his wife Judy and their children Michael and Kristin.
A good nine months later, Stan Antrim, coach of the CNSA, together with Bob Weaver, then organized the Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon, in which, however, cycling was chosen as the opening discipline. [33] Also involved here were the Collins, who after their 1978 transfer to Hawaii, co-founded the Ironman were.
1977 to 1981 – Beginnings in Oʻahu and naming
- The Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles/3.86 km),
- the Around-Oahu Bike Race "Ride around the Island" (115 miles, originally a two-day race) and
- the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles/42.195 km).
Shortening the course by three miles made it possible to start the bike race at the swim finish and have it end at Aloha Tower , the traditional marathon start. The naming is based, according to one account, on Collins’ remark in Founders Round:
"Whoever finishes first, we’ll call him the Iron Man."
"Whoever crosses the finish line first, we will call him the Man of Iron."
Early on the morning of 18. February 1978, 15 men started the event, which was expressly declared to be a personal challenge and not a sporting competition. Judy Collins had to withdraw her intention to participate at short notice. Each participant had been required to organize a personal support team including an individual support paddler on the swim leg, support car on the bike leg, and food on the bike and run legs, [35] a rule that was maintained as it was for the two subsequent events. Twelve participants reached the finish line. John Dunbar, a former SEALs soldier and student at the University of Honolulu , entered the run with a twelve-minute lead over Gordon Haller, a fitness enthusiast and marathon runner from Honolulu. Haller succeeded several times to catch up with Dunbar Finally he passed him and became first "Ironman" in 11 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds. [36]
Word of mouth was enough for 50 athletes to sign up the following year. Due to bad weather, the event had to be postponed by one day to Sunday, so that finally, as in the previous year, only 15 participants dared to take part in the adventure. A new edition of the duel between last year’s winner Gordon Haller and John Dunbar was expected. After Haller – left alone after 40 minutes by his companion paddler who was frightened by the choppy sea – only finished the first discipline after 112 minutes due to his disoriented zigzag course, and John Dunbar lost more than 30 minutes to the then 28-year-old Tom Warren from San Diego in the squalls on the bike course, the latter was able to win without any danger in 11:15:56 hours. Lyn Lemaire, championship cyclist from Boston, was actually in second place after the bike leg, finishing sixth overall and first "Ironwoman". Journalist Barry McDermott learned of the race, and three months later Sports Illustrated published his ten-page report. [37] The photos for the article had been contributed by Peter Read Miller. [38] Collins’ original plan to add a relay race to the race to facilitate the recruitment of supporters [35] was rendered unnecessary by the high response to the article.
As a result, John Collins was contacted by hundreds of interested parties. However, unable to continue organizing the race, he and his wife Judy approached a couple friend of theirs, Valerie Silk and Hank Grundman. Already at the second edition, the two had supported John and Judy Collins in organizational aspects as well as with helpers, accordingly the official event name since 1979 was "Nautilus International Triathlon" after the Grundmans’ fitness chain. [39] The only conditions Collins set were that he would be granted free starting rights at all times, as well as the promise to always have a couple of starting places alongside the elite starters for the common man to be ready, because these individualists had created the race. [40]
Collins was contacted by ABC, who were interested in making a TV report about the event. Collins agreed on the condition that this would not cost him any money. He warned editors, however, that he thought the event was "about as exciting for spectators as watching the grass grow" and then heard no more from ABC. [41] In the end, a camera crew really did travel to Honolulu. His then on 23. March in the program Wide World of Sports The contribution shown in the photo caused a renewed increase in attention to the race. From the previous year’s experience, the swim start was from San Souci beach at approx. 5 km was moved to Ala Moana Beach in Honolulu, where an offshore reef makes for less rough seas. Out of 108 starters, 95 athletes reached the finish line. In 9:24:33 hours, U.S. athlete Dave Scott won for the first time, who subsequently made a decisive mark on the race as a serial winner, later together with his compatriot Mark Allen, for a decade and a half.
1981 to 1989 – a myth emerges
The further increase in participant interest due to media attention and traffic problems in the big city of Honolulu prompted organizer Valerie Silk to search for a more suitable venue: in 1981 she moved the event from Oʻahu to the lava fields of the less densely populated Big Island. [42] At the same time, each athlete no longer had his or her personal support crew to take care of catering u. a. took care to organize: Organizer Valerie Silk recruited 950 volunteers , [41] nearly three times as many as participants. Accepting outside help was no longer permitted from now on.
Joseph Kasbohm, in 2:59:48 h, became the first participant in the event’s history to run the final marathon in under three hours. [43] 73-year-old Walt Stack set the longest finisher time for all times in 26:20 h – starting the following year, a finish time was specified in the race announcement. [15] ABC again showed a television report of the event, which had now grown to 326 starters, with thousands of spectators lining the start and finish areas. One of the rules at the time was that participants had to be weighed at four different aid stations on the bike and run course: in order to prevent damage to health, participants were to be removed from the race if they lost more than ten percent of their weight registered before the competition. [44] It was surprising how many athletes weighed more after several hours of competition than before: Some participants had used saunas and similar tricks to ensure that they did not weigh too much during the weigh-in three days before the competition. [42]
February 1982
On 6. February 1982 the last edition took place in the spring. Valerie Silk meanwhile took care of the event alone. The fitness chain was taken out of the event name, Valerie Silk had herself Ironman just as Ironman World Triathlon, under which she promoted "her" triathlon since then, [45] [40] to protect as a trademark. Silk was able to win Budweiser with its newly launched Bud Light for 15.000 US dollars [46] as title sponsor win. For the first time the M-Dot-symbol, the lettering Ironman used in capitals with a dot above the ‘M’: a logo that Valerie Silk had a graphic artist design for her for $75, [47] and became her trademark. Famously, ABC’s February 1982 TV report: Julie Moss, who was leading the women’s race, collapsed due to dehydration just before the finish line and Kathleen McCartney won. Moss eventually picked herself up and crawled to the finish line on all fours as the second woman to do so. [48]
If ABC had taken itself in the two years before always some months with the preparation of their film material, this time the report was already sent two weeks after the race, Moss and McCartney were even studio guests of Jim McKay. [49] This broadcast from Wide World of Sports became the event with the highest audience rating in 1982, [50] [51] the audience response was so high that it was repeated several times. [52]
Without Moss’ dramatic finish the Ironman in the spring 1982 would have become even possibly the last: the film agency "Freewheelin Films", over which also the contact to Budweiser had come, had traveled even with a camera crew to Kona – without this with the ABC team equipped with exclusive rights before – and filmed in addition to the ABC team its own report with Bruce Dern as a commentator. [53] [54] As Moss scrambled across the finish line, ABC confronted Silk about what they saw as production errors caused by the other film crew and threatened to sue for damages – which would have put Silk over the top financially at the time. [52] But Moss’ moment of worldwide fame gave Silk the leverage to sign a three-year contract with ABC that would pay her 100.000 US dollar brought, to lock. [46]
A summary of the ABC report shown in the ZDF sports report now made the event known to a wide television audience in Germany as well. Soon the first triathlon events were organized in Germany, including in Essen, Kehl and Immenstadt. The tageszeitung later wrote: "The stumbling Julie Moss became the symbol of a sport that, more than any other physical exercise before it, pushes people to their limits – and sometimes beyond them." [55] The moving images motivated Mark Allen, later a six-time winner here from 1989 to 1995, to participate in the fall for the first time himself. Already in the following year he occupied the third place.
October 1982
Since the 9. October 1982 the Ironman Hawaii starts in the fall. The reasons for the postponement were on the one hand to avoid the spring storms and on the other hand to allow many athletes living in northern latitudes better preparation possibilities in training due to the weather conditions. For the first twenty years, the Saturday in October closest to the full moon was chosen to make it easier for the athletes to find their way around after sunset at 6:00 p.m. With Manuel Debus from Nuremberg, who is actually a passionate show jumper, and his friend Detlef Kuhnel from Roth, two Germans also wanted to participate. Finally, Valerie Silk decided to allow participants from outside the U.S. to compete for the first time and sent them entry forms. [56]
There was (still) no sporting umbrella organization that would have wanted to have a say in the use of the word "world championship" in the interests of fairness among the organizers – so Valerie Silk of the United States Patent and Trademark Office had the term Ironman Triathlon World Championship as a brand [57] – this was the name of the Ironman Hawaii later in the result lists. Debus finished as the 331st. after 12:42:19 h, Kuhnel after 14:48:16 h as 623rd. After 12:57:11 h the Swiss Rene Friedli ran in, on 23. July 1983 he organized with the 1. Swiss Triathlon in Zurich the second European long distance triathlon after the Triathlon International de Nice on 20. November 1982.
If there had already been over a hundred triathlon events over a wide variety of distances in the USA before Julie Moss’ spectacular finish, [58] [59] their number now grew abruptly, [60] Bud Light sponsored eleven of them in 1983 alone, and the winner in each case was given a start at the Ironman in Kailua-Kona. [61] There were also free riders: in Penticton, Canada, Lynn Van Dove on 20. June 1983 the Canadian International Ironman Triathlon Championship Valerie Silk got wind of this and made sure that van Dove renamed her event at short notice. [62] The contact between the two women continued, and four years later van Dove became a licensed partner of Valerie Silk. There were many innovations at Ironman Hawaii in 1983: Valerie Silk introduced the Ironman Lottery according to the idea of John Collins to give everyone a chance to participate in Ironman Hawaii. [63] 320 starting places were allocated in this way in 1983, [50] but initially exclusively for participants from the USA. However, the vast majority of athletes had to qualify athletically from 1983 onwards. There were several options for proof: those who had been in the top 50% of the two 1982 events, [64] had top finishes in special qualifying races in the U.S., or could prove corresponding individual performances in swimming, cycling, or marathon races were allowed to register. Valerie Silk justified the move in the inaugural issue of California magazine Triathlon from the spring of 1983 with it that she would get 5000 registrations for the event, but could only admit 1000 participants. [65] At the last event on 9. October 1982 there had already been 775 finishers, including 50 women.
On the posters, the event now called itself for the first time Ironman Triathlon World Championship. [45] Cut-off times were also introduced for the first time in 1983: those who did not finish the swim after 2 h or the bike later than 10½ h after the starting gun were not allowed to continue the race, and the finish time was shortened to 17 h. [66] Dave Scott was able to repeat his victory of 1980 in a hard fight against the previous year’s winner Scott Tinley with a lead of 32 seconds. 710 men and 115 women finished. Valerie Silk had to send cancellations to about one thousand people who wanted to start, and on the bike course the first participant was disqualified for drafting. [67] But also dark sides came to light: one hundred athletes struggled with flat tires – unknown persons had scattered thumbtacks. [68] Kona businessmen offered a reward for clues to the perpetrators of the crime. [69] [70] Valerie Silk sold for 145.000 US dollars a 49% share in her company "Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation" to the lawyer Don Carlsmith from Honolulu as a silent partner, in order to be able to pay her ex-husband his share in the company. [52]
In 1984, contact was made with Timex, who not only wanted to act as a sponsor, but also secured the right to use the Ironman logo on their watches from 1986 onwards. [71] Later Timex had sixty different variants of watches in its assortment, [72] even the U.S. president wore such a watch, of which there were between 500.000 and one million copies were sold annually, which is now exhibited in the National Museum of American History. [73] The Czech Vaclav Vitovec was the first participant from the Eastern Bloc in the year when the Warsaw Pact countries boycotted the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Dave Scott won for the fourth time in his fifth participation – with a lead of almost 25 minutes over the second placed Scott Tinley – and declared that this had been his last Ironman. [Karlheinz Morath, a cross-country skier from the Black Forest, and Hannes Blaschke, a twenty-four-year-old from Immenstadt, were the best Germans, finishing thirteenth and fourteenth, respectively. Hanni Zehendner – at that time reigning German champion – was the first German woman to finish Ironman Hawaii in 13:19:20 h. Also among the finishers was the dentist Joachim Fischer from Heigenbruck, who became the founding president of the German Triathlon Union the following year. From 1984 Valerie Silk acted as chairman of the board of her company Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation and appointed Kona resident Kay Rhead as race director.
Because of the increased interest outside the USA Valerie Silk started to look for possible qualifying races. [75] On 24. March 1985, in Mission Bay, a suburb of Auckland, the "Double Brown Ironman New Zealand" – initially still over the distances of 2 miles (3.2 km) swim, 100 miles (161 km) bike and 20 miles (32.2 km) run – held as the first race outside the USA under license of Valerie Silk, as the second qualifier outside the USA started on 30. June of the same year the Japan Long Distance Triathlon at Lake Biwa.
1985 was another turning point in its history as the last Ironman Hawaii without prize money for the first place finishers. Valerie Silk was adamant that all additional funds would be spent on improving the quality of the competition. Dave Scott had already said after his victory in 1984 that this could cause Ironman Hawaii to lose its top athletes, [76] and boycotted Ironman Hawaii in 1985 together with the stars of the time Mark Allen, Scott Molina, Scott Tinley, Rob Barel and others. The Triathlon International de Nice, initiated by Mark McCormack in 1982, attracted in 1985 not only with 75.000 US dollars prize money the triathlon celebrities, his date was for this only three weeks before Hawaii. [77] Only Scott Tinley decided to do a double start at short notice and was able to repeat his victory of 1982 in the absence of well-known competitors. Carl Kupferschmid from Arosa and Hannes Blaschke from Allgau, who founded a travel agency around Ironman Hawaii two years later, took advantage of the absence of the stars and finished third and second respectively. Fourth. Klaus Barth, a breaststroke swimmer who was a member of the German Olympic team in 1968 and has since moved to Long Beach, finished eighth.
In the women’s race, Paula Newby-Fraser of Zimbabwe made the podium for the first time in 1985. She finished third in 10:31:04 h – and in the following decade and a half became the all-dominant figure among women: Until 1996 she participated twelve times in a row and won eight times.
Marvel Comics had been trying since 1983 to assert its rights with reference to its "Iron Man" comic book character, published since 1963. [78] After Valerie Silk had already registered the trademark rights for the word-picture-mark "Ironman", it was agreed after some time that Silk would only use the term "Ironman" together with "Triathlon" in the future. [79] In August 1986 the 1983 initiated triathlon was held in Penticton Canadian Ultra Distance Triathlon as Ironman Canada’s third license partner outside the USA.
In 1986, prize money was distributed for the first time at Ironman Hawaii, donated by an anonymous donor 100.000 US dollars were to be awarded. [80] [81] Dave Scott rescinded his retirement announced two years earlier and improved the best time set by Tinley in his absence the previous year to a then stellar 8:28:37 h. Behind Mark Allen and Scott Tinley, Klaus Barth was the best German in fourth place. Canadian Patricia Puntous , already second in 1983 and 1984, was the first woman to cross the finish line but was disqualified for drafting. Winner became thereby before their twin sister Sylviane Puntous the only 24-j?hrige Paula Newby Fraser, which remained in the new record time 9:49:14 h as the first woman under the border of ten hours. [82]
On the 20. June 1987 Valerie Silk was under 50.000 spectators at the European Championships in Middle Franconia, the newspapers wrote afterwards of "standing ovations" which they had given to organizer Detlef Kuhnel – who had himself competed in Hawaii in 1982 and 1983. [83] From 1988 Kuhnel became with Ironman Europe the fourth license partner of Valerie Silk outside the USA. In 1987, the prize money at Ironman Hawaii was changed to 150.The entry fee, which was 100 US dollars for the last five years, was raised by 50%. Wolfgang Dittrich from Neuss was the first athlete to come out of the water. Mark Allen later took the lead, with 16 kilometers to go his lead over Dave Scott was 4½ min, then he collapsed and Dave Scott managed his sixth and last win in Hawaii. [84] In 748th place in 12:38:59 h Martin Engelhardt ran in, who had just taken over the DTU lead from Joachim Fischer.
Kay Rhead, race director since 1984, died in January 1988, Debbie Baker was appointed by Valerie Silk as her successor. [85] From the 1985 initiated Toohey’s Great Lakes International Triathlon in Forster, as Ironman Australia, the fifth qualifying race outside of the USA. In the USA at that time there was still the possibility to prove his qualification times by times from individual swimming, cycling or marathon races besides the participations in other Ironman races. [64] A first attempt by Valerie Silk to find a buyer for Ironman Hawaii ended in court. [86]
Dave Scott cancelled his participation the night before the race due to knee problems, Mark Allen was set back with technical problems on the bike course. Scott Molina, of all people, who had caused an uproar in Nice by testing positive for steroids, [87] celebrated his first and only victory in Hawaii. [88] "German Rambo" Dirk Aschmoneit was best German on seventh place. Paula Newby-Fraser beat her own course record by 25 minutes on the bike course and with a total time of 9:01:01 h made it clear that the nine-hour mark – which had only been broken by a man at the eighth edition – could also be broken by women.
Wolfgang Dittrich led the 1989 race this time even until the marathon. The legendary "Iron War" ensued, an eight-hour head-to-head race between Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Scott had won six times in the last nine years, but Mark Allen in his sixth attempt succeeded for the first time in relegating Dave Scott to second place: Although the latter managed an incredible personal best in 8:10:13 h, Allen won by 58 seconds, which he was able to carve out at the end on a slight climb, in the new record time of 8:09:15 h. [89] [90] Both Mark Allen’s run time (2:40:04 h) and Dave Scott’s (2:41:03 h) represented the fastest run times at Ironman Hawaii for the following 27 years (it was not until 2016 that Patrick Lange beat Allen’s time by 19 seconds with 2:39:45 h). Jurgen Zack was seventh at his first start in Hawaii, Wolfgang Dittrich tenth, Dirk Aschmoneit nineteenth.
1990 to 1997 – Internationalization
In 1990 Valerie Silk sold her company Hawaii Triathlon Corporation including the rights to the brands Ironman and Ironman Triathlon World Championship for 3 million US dollars [46] to James Pitzer Gills. By this time, Silk had built a network of twenty-one qualifying races in the U.S. alone, [91] plus the five licensing partners outside the U.S., the lottery, and partners such as z. B. Timex, which paid for the use of the logo. 950 volunteers in 1981 had become 3500 in the meantime. [40] Gills named the company in World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and, supported by Lew Friedland, expanded the business around the brand in the coming years. [72] Every year, new qualifiers were added around the globe, the Ironman logo emblazoned from clothing, sunglasses, scales u. v. m.
Mark Allen managed his second win in Kailua-Kona in the absence of the injured Dave Scott, [92] Erin Baker was fastest woman for the second time. Jurgen Zack was again the fastest German in eighth place. Dirk Aschmoneit finished thirteenth, Wolfgang Dittrich – again fastest swimmer – eighteenth. Since 1990, the run course no longer runs through the airport but through the turnaround point at the Natural Energy Lab.
Mark Allen celebrated his third consecutive win, Paula Newby-Fraser triumphed this time over Erin Baker and won for the fourth time. Wolfgang Dittrich again came out of the water first and was able to defend his lead again until the run course, this time finishing fifth best German. After ten years of cooperation with ABC, NBC became the new media partner, coverage of Ironman Hawaii doubled to 90 minutes. [93] Gatorade replaced Bud-Light as title sponsor.
Paula Newby-Fraser now also became the first woman to break the nine-hour barrier at Ironman Hawaii, setting a women’s record time of 8:55:28 h that could not be broken until 2009. Wolfgang Dittrich was again first out of the water, but was overtaken on the bike by Jurgen Zack – who set a new course record on the bike course – and this time switched to the run course in second place. In the end Dittrich and Zack finished fourth and fifth. Mark Allen won after a duel with the Chilean Christian Bustos on the run course in new course record with 8:09:08 h. Sharron Ackles became new race director.
1992 David Yates became CEO of WTC, disputes between the commercial WTC and the umbrella organization International Triathlon Union (ITU), founded in 1989 as a non-profit organization, began. In most countries, state funding for competitive sports is primarily paid for Olympic sports; triathlon was only a candidate for inclusion in the Olympic competition program at that time, and the ITU feared that the WTC’s use of the term "triathlon" for Ironman Hawaii, without consulting the federations, would lead to a loss of competitiveness Ironman Triathlon World Championship The IOC was under the impression that there was a lack of organization within the young sport. ITU President Les McDonald proposed to draw up a contract, according to which the Ironman Hawaii should be considered officially as a world championship for the next ten years, in order to enable all organizers to apply for the organization of world championships within their triathlon competitions – Yates rejected any co-determination: "We were there first."94] Am 4. June 1992 started first in Playa Blanca, from the following year in Puerto del Carmen with the Ironman Lanzarote the second Qualifier in Europe.
For the fifth time in a row, the same picture presented itself: Wolfgang Dittrich was the first athlete to switch from the swim to the bike course, Mark Allen overtook him in the further course of the race and crossed the finish line as the winner. New in 1993 was, that Wolfgang Dittrich only let pass the Finn Pauli Kiuru and finished in 8:20:13 h and third. For the first time a German finished on the podium. [95] [96] Jurgen Zack beat his own record on the bike course in 4:27:42 h and finished fifth. With Holger Lorenz in eighth place and Olaf Sabatschus in tenth place, two more German men finished in the top ten, Lothar Leder was fourteenth. Paula Newby-Frazer won for the sixth time, setting the 17-year course record for women on the bike course in 4:48:30 h. Fastest German woman – at her first start in Hawaii – was Ute Muckel in twelfth place.
In the absence of Wolfgang Dittrich and Mark Allen, Jurgen Zack took the lead a few seconds behind Ken Glah on the run course, but was ultimately beaten by Australian Greg Welch, who was the first non-US American to win in 8:20:27 h, as well as Dave Scott, who finished second in 8:24:32 h, a best time in the M40 senior category, and Jeff Devlin. Behind Zack in fourth place, Olaf Sabatschus, only 23 years old, and Lothar Leder in fifth and sixth place initiated further German top results. Four more Germans followed in places twelve to sixteen. Fastest German woman was again Ute Muckel on sixth place. Sabine Westhoff was eighth and Ines Estedt ninth. Jon Franks was the first wheelchair user to take part in the race. [Among the spectators was also Kurt Denk, a tour operator from Hesse, who from the following year included the organization of trips of German-speaking athletes to Ironman Hawaii in his offer and in 2002 created the Ironman Germany in Frankfurt. [98]
The women’s competition of the Ironman Hawaii 1995 ended in an exciting and tragic final for Paula Newby-Fraser: Long in the lead, she collapsed only 400 meters before the finish line and, dragging herself to the finish line more than 20 minutes after the winner, missed the podium in fourth place for the only time up to then. [99] Fastest German woman was again Ute Muckel in seventh place, Katja Mayer was fourteenth. Lars Jorgensen (USA) was the first to leave the Pacific Ocean after 46:44 min, setting the swimming best time valid until 2017. [100] On the bike course, twenty-four-year-old Thomas Hellriegel stormed past the favorites with a new bike record in his first start in Hawaii. But five kilometers before the finish he had to let Mark Allen pass him. Allen was thirteen minutes behind at the transition to the run course, but was finally able to celebrate his sixth and final title. [101] Rainer Muller-Horner, also competing for the first time, finished third. Jurgen Zack and Lothar Leder finished seventh and eighth respectively. In total, nine German men were among the first twenty-one to cross the finish line. Gatorade was title sponsor of Ironman Hawaii for the last time. Conflict with the ITU escalated, with the ITU threatening to ban athletes competing in Ironman Hawaii with its "self-proclaimed world championships" from all ITU races and calling on the U.S. Triathlon Association (USAT) to deny Ironman Hawaii approval.
Again Thomas Hellriegel – top favorite after Mark Allen’s retirement – put pressure on the bike and beat his bike record from the previous year in 4:24:50 h – a best time that lasted for nine years afterwards. Belgian Luc Van Lierde, the reigning runner-up in both the short- and long-distance events on a wild card for the first time ever competing in an Ironman, kept up the pace but faced a three-minute time penalty in the transition area. Hellriegel increased his lead to 4:40 minutes, but van Lierde came back and overtook Hellriegel in the same place as Mark Allen in the previous year. [102] [103] [104] Van Lierde won with 110 seconds ahead of Hellriegel as the first European at Ironman Hawaii. This was the first time that a rookie who had never competed in Hawaii won in Kailua-Kona. Van Lierde increased the course record for the next 15 years to now 8:04:08 h. Alexander Taubert was sixth. In the women’s race Paula Newby-Fraser won for the eighth and last time in 9:06:49 h. However, while she was serving a three-minute time penalty, Natascha Badmann from Switzerland, her future successor, had taken the lead on the run course. Ute Muckel was fifth woman and thus achieved the best placing of a German woman on Hawaii so far. The Swiss Bettina Ernst – 1984 Olympic gymnast – was eighteenth. Katja Mayer, Katja Schumacher and Heike Funk took nineteenth, twenty-one and twenty-two place respectively. In Zurich, at the now third European Qualifier, 40 Hawaii starting places were awarded for the first time – although in 1996 still under the name "Euroman".
The Year of the German Athletes: Thomas Hellriegel (8:33:01 h), Jurgen Zack (8:39:18 h) and Lothar Leder (8:40:30 h) occupied the men’s podium in the absence of Luc van Lierde. This was the first time that three athletes from a single foreign country took all podium places. [105] With Holger Lorenz and Alex Taubert in eighth and ninth place, half of the top ten came from Germany; within little more than half an hour of the winner, seven other German men followed in 15th through 23rd place.
Canadian Heather Fuhr was the best in the heat and won with a marathon time that was 15 minutes faster than the other top 5 women. The battle for 4th place was dramatic, with Sian Welch and Wendy Ingraham completely dehydrated and exhausted, crawling on all fours to reach the finish line. [106] From a German point of view the women’s race was less successful: Ute Muckel was the first woman out of the water after 49:57 min with a new course record on the swim course, but on the run course she had to stop an Ironman for the first time. Natascha Badmann and Paula Newby-Fraser also paid tribute to the climatic conditions, which with extremely high temperatures under cloudless skies and strong winds made for the slowest finishing times of the decade, and abandoned their races on the bike and bike course respectively. Running distance from. Fastest German woman was Katja Mayer on place 19, also Katja Schumacher did not finish this time.
On 15. May 1998 WTC, USAT and ITU reached a settlement: WTC would be entitled to use its registered trademark Ironman Triathlon World Championship to use the brand name, without the WTC claiming to consider this in the sense of a world championship regulated by a sporting umbrella organization. In return, the ITU undertook to allow drafting only in elite and junior races, but not in competitions with classifications in age groups. [107] [108] Lew Friedland replaced David Yates as CEO of WTC.
1998 to 2013
In 1998 it looked at first like a repetition of the German success of the previous year: In a race accompanied by extreme storms, Jurgen Zack – despite a flat tire at kilometer 90 – switched to the running course first shortly before last year’s winner Thomas Hellriegel. With stomach cramps, however, the last twelve kilometers became a hike for Zack, who eventually spat blood as 246. crossed the finish line. [109] Peter Reid from Canada won ahead of Luc van Lierde, Lothar Leder repeated his third place with the fastest marathon of the race ahead of Christoph Mauch from Switzerland. Thomas Hellriegel and Rainer Muller-Horner finished eighth and ninth respectively. Lars Jorgensen (USA) was the first to leave the Pacific Ocean after 46:41 min, but because he finished the race early (DNF) this time was not recognized as an improvement of his swim course record. [110] Natascha Badmann won her first of six Ironman Hawaii races (2000 to 2002, 2004 and 2005). After five subsequently less successful participations, partly with crashes and race interruptions, she succeeded in 2012 – now at the age of 45 – in 9:26:25 h an excellent sixth place as well as a best time in the senior class W45. Defending champion Heather Fuhr beat the course record, which has stood since 1990, on the running course in 3:04:02 h. Katja Schumacher was the fastest German woman in twelfth place. At the twentieth anniversary, the initiator of the premiere, John Collins, was again among the finishers in 16:30:02 h, a total of six of the fifteen starters of the premiere event were among the participants, seven more of the athletes from 1978 were on site.
On 5. August 1999, the Ironman USA in Lake Placid was the first race over the Ironman distance with this brand name under license from the WTC on the mainland of the USA. Unchanged, however, was the possibility in the USA to compete via qualifiers under other names and – except for the "Vineman Triathlon" – over shorter distances such as z. B. Saint Antony’s Triathlon, Wildflower Triathlon, Gulf Coast Triathlon, Blackwater EagleMan, u. a. and a middle-distance race in Kailua-Kona in May. [111] The fourth European Qualifier started in Klagenfurt. In the lottery, which has existed since 1983, in addition to 150 starting places for participants from the USA, for the first time there are also 50 places for participants from outside the USA. [112]
In 1999, Lothar Leder, in the lead on the bike course, was the victim of a controversial disqualification: he was accused of using the slipstream of a press vehicle. [113] [114] Luc van Lierde repeated his victory of 1996. The Swiss Christoph Mauch and Olivier Bernhard finished fourth and fifth respectively. Best German in sixth place was the winner of 1997, Thomas Hellriegel, in the absence of Jurgen Zack, who dropped out due to a herniated disk. Six German men were represented in the top 20. Fastest German woman was again Katja Schumacher in fifteenth place. Jodi Jackson (USA) set the course record on the swim course in 48:43 min, which is still valid today.
Peter Reid could repeat his victory from 1998. In 2000 Luc van Lierde, winner in 1996 and 1999 and runner-up in 1998, caused a sensation by cancelling the race only two days before it started. Possible connections with stricter doping controls previously announced by the WTC caused the rumor mill to bubble up. [113] In his following starts in Hawaii in 2001 and 2003, van Lierde dropped out of the race, only in 2007 he competed again and finished seventh. The start of the professional cyclist Udo Bolts, who was expected to pulverize the course record on the bike course, also attracted a lot of attention. Bolts dosed his strength carefully and finished in 10:02:41 h as 168th. With Normann Stadler, Lothar Leder and Thomas Hellriegel three Germans finished third, fourth and fifth. Nicole Leder finished one place ahead of Ute Muckel fourteenth. For the first time WTC showed the Ironman Hawaii as a live stream on its website.
Despite a three-minute time penalty, last year’s runner-up Tim DeBoom was the first American to win the race since Mark Allen’s last success in 1995, while Thomas Hellriegel finished third and made the podium for the fourth time. With Normann Stadler, who was in the lead from kilometer 80 to 160, in fourth place, Lothar Leder in fifth and Andreas Niedrig in seventh, four Germans were in the top ten, the Swiss Christoph Mauch was tenth. Also third was Nina Kraft from Braunschweig, who even led on the bike for 120 km and became the first German woman in the history of Ironman Hawaii on the podium. Dave Scott started again at Ironman Hawaii, but dropped out on the bike course. Peter Reid, Jurgen Zack, Stefan Riesen , Katja Schumacher and Luc van Lierde also dropped out of the race. [115] The transition from bike to run was moved to the old airport, and the bike and run courses were also changed and have since each had an additional loop through Kona to allow local spectators to see the athletes more often.
2002 Tim DeBoom was only the third man to defend his title in untypical Hawaii weather with rain in the morning at the bike start. Thomas Hellriegel was in the lead until the halay point of the race and finished fourth. [116] With Alex Taubert in fifth, Markus Forster in seventh and Olaf Sabatschus in tenth, there were again four Germans in the top ten. Behind Natascha Badmann, who already celebrated her fourth title, Nina Kraft finished second this time. The Austrian Kate Allen was seventh woman, the Swiss Karin Thurig and Sibylle Matter eighth respectively. Ninth. The total prize money was from 325.000 US dollars to 429.000 US dollars, DeBoom and Badmann each received 100 US dollars.000 US dollars. Diana Bertsch replaced Sharron Ackles as Race Director.
In 2003, Peter Reid and Lori Bowden were the first married couple to celebrate a double victory at Ironman Hawaii. For the first time, the men’s and women’s titles went to competitors from the same country, but one other than the U.S. [117] Reid thus became the first man after Dave Scott and Mark Allen to win three times in Hawaii. Bowden first secured her title with a furious marathon run ahead of Natascha Badmann and Nina Kraft, who finished second and third in a neck-and-neck race eight seconds apart. On the bike course, Nina Kraft, who was in the lead, had previously been set back by a controversial three-minute time penalty for drafting. [After eight kilometers Kraft again took the lead, but was overtaken by Bowden after 15 kilometers. Karin Thurig finished sixth. For a long time even a German double victory seemed possible: Normann Stadler was in the lead until kilometer 20 on the run course and finally missed the podium only by 45 seconds. Sixth and seventh place were taken by Jurgen Zack and Faris Al-Sultan. Thomas Hellriegel, in eleventh place, failed to make the top ten for the first time and thus the prize money ranks. In total, nine German men finished in the top twenty-two, Jan Sibbersen was "first out of water" with a new course record. Chris McCormack, the 1997 short-distance world champion and then world leader for 26 months, switched to the Ironman distance the previous year and did not drop out this time, finishing in 114th place. The second transition area was moved to the Kinkamehameha Beach Hotel. For the professional triathletes, the WTC introduced a new slipstream rule in 2003, the "Stagger Rule" – it allowed them to race immediately behind each other, but with a two-meter lateral gap. [119]
In 2004 Normann Stadler changed to the run course with a 20 min lead after a terrific run to the front on the bike course and celebrated as the second German the victory on Hawaii. Behind Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan and Alexander Taubert were second and third for a long time, but then had to let last year’s winner and later runner-up Peter Reid pass. The second fastest bike time was delivered by ex-professional cyclist Kai Hundertmarck, who was the fastest amateur on the 16. ran to the finish in third place overall. Nina Kraft was the first woman to cross the finish line – despite a four-minute time penalty for drafting – with a lead of more than 26 minutes over Natascha Badmann, but three weeks later she admitted to doping with Epo, and in addition to returning the prize money she had to serve a two-year ban. [120] The best German women were Tina Walter from Urbach and Nicole Leder from Darmstadt in ninth and tenth place. Chris McCormack dropped out again on the run course, in total more than a quarter of the pros, including Thomas Hellriegel, dropped out of the race this year, 154 starters did not finish. A sensation was caused by the American Christian Dadowski, who carried his damaged bike on his shoulders for 12 km after a collision with a judge and crossed the finish line after 16:09:48 hrs. [121]
Both transition zones were again on the pier. The "stagger rule" introduced the previous year no longer applied, but the WTC reduced the minimum distance to the athlete in front on the bike course from ten meters to seven meters. [25] However, the time penalty was now four minutes instead of three minutes previously.
Ben Fertic had replaced Lew Friedland as CEO of WTC, and the conflict with ITU broke out anew: WTC not only kept its reduction of the drafting rule from 10 m to 7 m, introduced the previous year, also in 2005, [6] it now also announced its own set of rules [122] deviating from those of USAT. [123] [124] [125] The ITU then decided – also because of the lack of recognition of WADA’s anti-doping rules at Ironman Hawaii – to no longer approve any triathlon events of the WTC worldwide. [126] [127] [128] [129]
In 2005, Faris Al-Sultan, then 27 years old from Munich, was the third German to win by a clear margin, crossing the finish line with a Bavarian flag in 8:14:17 h – the fourth fastest time in Hawaii up to that time. Al-Sultan had come out of the water in third place and quickly moved into the lead, but was overtaken after 160 km by Torbjørn Sindballe, who clocked 4:21:36 h to beat Thomas Hellriegel’s nine-year-old bike best time. On the run course, Al-Sultan again quickly took the lead. [130] Defending champion Normann Stadler retired in tears after two bike mishaps. The Olympic runner-up of Sydney 2000, Stephan Vuckovic from Reutlingen, finished tenth. Chris McCormack finished in the top ten for the first time in 8:23:52 h in sixth place. Natascha Badmann won the women’s race for the sixth and last time with a time of 9:09:30 h. Kate Allen, Olympic champion of Athens 2004, was fifth woman, Katja Schumacher from Heidelberg finished sixth. With Ford, Ironman Hawaii had a title sponsor again for the first time since 1995, the prize money was increased to 580.000 US dollars had been raised. [131]
After an agreement was reached in March with the governing body "USA Triathlon" concerning. After the ITU sanctions, the WTC turned to the International Court of Justice to clarify whether it could call the Ironman Frankfurt now "Ironman European Championship" and the triathlon in Clearwater "Ironman 70" [1] on the basis of their trademarks registered before the founding of the ITU.3 World Championship" may call. In April 2006, the CAS lifted the sanctions of the ITU with reference to the contracts existing since 1998, in which the ITU granted the WTC the right to use its trademarks, without the WTC thereby claiming to organize world or European championships in the sense of a competition regulated by a sporting umbrella organization [107]. [133] [134] However, the WTC kept the drafting rule reduced to 7 m also in 2006 [135] and in the following years [136] [137], although they determined themselves that even a competitor racing with a distance of 10 m to the athlete in front still has to apply about 10 to 15 watts less power. [138] Until 2014 [31] the drafting rule at Ironman Hawaii remained reduced to 7 m, only in 2015 the WTC raised the minimum distance again to 10 m. [24]
The 2006 competition was almost cancelled due to earthquakes a few days earlier. [139] [140] Normann Stadler repeated his 2004 triumph with the time of 8:11:56 h, setting a new course record on the bike course in 4:18:23 h in the process. Defending champion Faris Al-Sultan finished third behind Chris McCormack. After the contest, both Stadler and Al-Sultan accused McCormack of deliberately irregular behavior, and there had even been near fisticuffs. [141] [142] [143] Kate Allen again crossed the finish line as the fifth woman, as in the previous year, Natascha Badmann was tenth with stomach problems. The DTU used Stadler’s victory, pointing out that he was involved in their anti-doping system just like Al-Sultan, to increase pressure on the WTC to sign WADA’s anti-doping code. [144]