Ironman Triathlon | Ironman | Iron Man Competition | Triathlon | Ironman Hawaii 2009 | Iron Man Triathlon | 2009 World Champions Craig Alexander and C

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 miles (3.86 km) swim, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break.

The Ironman Triathlon, or The Ironman Triathlon World Championships, or Ironman Hawaii, is both the original Ironman triathlon and the annual world championships of the event, held annually in Hawai’i since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It was made famous by its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and television coverage.

The idea for the original Ironman 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. Ironman Triathlon was the first major competition to extend the distance to an extreme endurance event. The first Ironman Triathlon was held on February 18, 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii, repeated in 1979 and 1980.

The most recent Ironman World Championship took place on October 10, 2009. Qualifying for the World Championship is achieved through placement in one of the other Ironman races or some Ironman 70.3 races. Qualification can also be via simply finishing a race and winning a lottery position (200 slots).

The current Ironman Hawaii course record was set in 1996 by Luc Van Lierde (Belgium), whose winning time was 8 hrs 4 mins 8 sec. Chrissie Wellington (Great Britain), set the women’s course record in 2009 with a winning time of 8 hrs 54 mins 2 sec.

The Ironman 2009 Series features the same races as the 2008 series starting with Ironman Coeur D Alene June 21, 2009 and ending with the Ironman World Championship 2009 on October 10, 2009. The 2009 world champions were Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington, who set a new course record of 8:54:02 for women.

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