40
In 1977 some friends who competed in sports were debating
which sport was the most difficult: the Waikiki rough water
swim; the 180 km round Oahu bike race or the Honolulu
marathon. They couldn’t agree so in the end one of them
suggested that they should try them all, one after the other,
on the same day!
‘We’ll call whoever finishes first the Ironman,’ said John
Collins, one of the friends.
The group decided to call the competition Ironman and in
1978 the first such competition was held in Hawaii. Only 12
competitors took part. Today, many Ironman competitions
are held all over the world each year. It always starts with
four kilometres of swimming, followed immediately by 180
kilometres of cycling. It concludes with running a marathon,
a race of just over 42 kilometres. This is all done without
Ironman
