History of the IRONMAN Hawaii

The IRONMAN Hawaii is the ultimate event for each Triathlon freak on this earth. A competition that is exerting an incredible fascination on athletes and spectators alike, as traced in the following story about the origins and the development of this unique triathlon event.

When the IRONMAN fever has reached Kailua-Kona, not high temperatures are hereby meant but rather a hot flash up to a delirium. Ironman and triathlon are magic words that are causing shiny eyes not only to the Hawaiians. “Triathlon is so hip in Hawaii that it is almost too much. IRONMAN menus in each restaurant, IRONMAN cocktail at the bar, IRONMAN T-shirts on muscular bodies and big bellies, IRONMAN cups, IRONMAN pizzas and exorbitant IRONMAN prices”. So the comment of an Ironman Triathlon insider and repeated finisher that brings the magic of the Triathlon of all Triathlons to the point. A point that is not easy to retrace when you are an outsider. You have to have experienced the Ironman with your body and soul, and be it only as a spectator.

The idea of the IRONMAN arose, like so many other things in life, from a funny idea. 1977, during the yearly military endurance competitions taking place on the island Ohahu, the Marine officer John Collins was having a dispute in a bar in Hawaii with some of his pals about the question which sportsman, the runner, the swimmer or the cyclist was the toughest endurance sportsman. The topics of discussion were the 2,4 miles swim in the ocean at Waikiki, the 112 miles cycle race on the island of Ohahu and the marathon run of Honolulu. With the hours going by and the alcohol consumed increasingly, and also due to the fact that no sports discipline could have been agreed upon, the breaking idea came that the toughest sportsman would the one who is able to achieve all three disciplines in the shortest time possible. The IRONMAN idea was born!

Considering the nearly 250'000 Ironman freaks worldwide who are trying every year to qualify for one of the 1'800 start places in Hawaii, it seems pretty weird that at the first IRONMAN held on February 18, 1978 only 15 athletes appeared at the Waikiki beach for a starting fee of three US dollars only.

Six years later, there were already more than thousand athletes to try the burdensome 226 kilometers.

But triathlons weren't new at the time in the history of mankind. Already in 708 B.C., the classic pentathlon (sport with 10 disciplines) was the peak of the antic Olympic games. Pierre de Coubertin, who had created the Olympic games of the modern times in 1896, had taken up the idea of a competition with several disciplines and let take place title bouts in modern pentathlon in 1912 for the very first time.

But let us go back to the IRONMAN. 12 of the 15 participants finished the first competition which had been won by Gordon Haller in 11.46.58 hours. Most of the 15 athletes were assisted by their personal escorts. There were no provision stations on the bike circuit, each one had to look for himself. Curious things happened then compared with today, as there were sportsmen who ate at takeaways while others only took sweets or even asked people passing by if they had got something to eat. Most of all, drinking enough was a problem in the beginning. The American Dunbal, leading athlete over a long period of time, had to experience exactly this problem. Because he didn't drink enough, he had fallen behind on the race circuit and had to give up with muscle cramps.

A year later, the race director to be, Valerie Silk sponsored the competition with her legendary “Nautilus” Fitness club that had to be postponed one day due to the bad weather. The agitated sea at Waikiki Beach didn't allow the swim the following day neither, so it was decided that the swim be realized in a protected bay. Of the 30 registered athletes, 15 went to the start; 14 men and the first woman jumped into the agitated waters of the bay near the Ala Moana Park on January 14, 1979. The winner this time was Tom Warren. He needed one half hour less than Haller despite the difficult circumstances. Lynn Lemaire – the first woman winner – had been around for 12:55:38 hours before passing, exhausted but happy, the finish line.

But the one really responsible for the great success of the IRONMAN to come in the future was a reporter of the famous US magazine “Sports Illustrated”. He wrote an interesting article in which he made winner Warren to a cult figure. The echo was not long to come. In January of the following year, already 106 athletes, men and women started, of which 95 reached the finish line. The winner was a man who would durably shape the IRONMAN in the following 17 years: Dave Scott, a 27-year-old California swim teacher. At his first of total six IRONMAN wins, the American clearly broke the magic barrier of 10 hours as the very first man. “The man” needed 9:24:33 hours for the 226 kilometer event, while Robin Beck on the womens' side needed 1:21:24 hours for her win and undercut the best time by over 90 minutes. With ABC, a TV broadcast station discovered the extraordinary sport event for the first time. The transmission of the third IRONMAN holding in “World Wide Sports” was the most successful of the year for the broadcast station.

Despite of the moving to Kailua-Kona for reasons of security, the number of participants constantly increased. There were 304 men and 22 women at the fourth IRONMAN held in 1981 which generated 299 finishers. The winner was prominent: John Howard, participant of the Olympic games with the US racing cycle team in the years 1972 and 1976. However, Scott's best time of the previous year remained untouched: Howard needed 9:38:28 hours. A record of the special sort had been established by Walt Stack who, with his 73 years, was the eldest finisher with 26:20 hours. Nearly thousand assistants provided for a smooth proceeding of the event.

In 1982 the organizers witnessed a novelty: Following the great interest, the IRONMAN was carried out in February as well as in October. The winners then: Scott Tinley before Dave Scott in spring, Dave Scott before Scott Tinley in autumn, which explains the big popularity of the two triathletes up to date. For the first time, the number of participants had been limited to 850. Meanwhile, the triathlon boom had also reached the US continent; in the same year, already 200 triathlons were carried out in the United States and the first ones also in Europe. The distances though were shorter than in Hawaii.

The womens' rate was also increasing continuously. 1983, they were already 14 percent of total 964 starters. The sisters Sylvianne and Patricia Puntous won, and on the mens' side, Dave Scott won again in a sprint decision only 33 seconds ahead of Scott Tinley. 835 athletes made it to the finish line in less than 17 hours before the end of the control.

In 1984 Dave Scott undercut the nine hours bench mark for the first time at his fourth win with murderous 45 degrees Celsius: 8:54:20 hours. It had been looking different en route, though. Mark Allen was leading after the cycling with over eleven minutes advance, but slowed down drastically on the race court. The temperatures had taken their toll: of 1036 starters, 903 only had reached the finish line.


Following the big run on the IRONMAN Hawaii, qualification competitions were held in USA in 1985 – three years before Europe. For the first time, a Swiss reached the podium as first European at the most prestigious triathlon event of the world: Carl Kupferschmid. With 9:26:32 hours, he set up the best time ever of an European on the Pacific island. Already then, the Eastern Swiss preferred the warm regions to the cold and wet Swiss weather. So, in 1992 he emigrated to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. With the absence of Dave Scott, Scott Tinley won once more. For the first time, start sums of 100 dollars were charged – another record for events of this sort.

In 1986, the commercial success let the organizers pay out a 100'000 Dollar prize money to the first 15 men and women, which led to another premiere: professional and amateur triathletes were starting together for the first time and in an official way at the IRONMAN Hawaii. While a known face, Dave Scott was passing the finish line as the first one for the umpteenth time, the remarkable era of Paula Newby Frazer was about to begin on the womens' side. The Zimbabwe woman had an impressive start as a winner as she broke the 10 hour bench mark with 9:49:14 hours.

The never ending duel between the the two multiple winners Scott and Allen hit an unexpected peak in 1987. 14 kilometers preceding the finish line, Mark Allen was leading with four and a half minutes advance. Then Dave Scott started one of his irresistible chases and made the impossible: he took away another 11 minutes from his rival and realized his sixth win – a performance remaining unreached up to date. The performance of the woman winner Erin Baker was impressive, too. With a time of 9:35.25 hours she had reached the finish line as 26th of all participants. For the first time, a German, Wolfgang Dittrich was the fastest swimmer. He needed only 50:41 for the 3,8 kilometers in the agitated waters. Carl Kupferschmid was 17th that year, and Müggi Müller won the M-40-valuation in 9:54:26 hours and became 64th in the overall result. The fact that there were still a few start places to be drawn made place to a lot of creativity. Donations of up to 100'000 dollars were transferred to the accounts of charitable institutions by wealthy triathlon fans provided the name of the donor figured on the Ironman starting list.

In 1988 the IRONMAN can look  back on a development that many organizers would want themselves for their events. The ten-year-anniversary was being celebrated accordingly. Gordon Haller, the winner of the premiere was the only one in the field who had finished all IRONMANS ever having taken place. But Gordon had nothing to do with the top ten race. With its increasing popularity and the commercial success going hand-in-hand, the triathlon sport had long become a profession. And Scott Molina (winning time 8:31 hours) ahead of Michael Pigg were experts at that time. However Mark Allen had been thrown back on the fifth place due to two bike failures. But the American supremacy was not as evident as in the beginning. In Europe the performance level was increasing constantly – also because of the fact that for the first time, one had to qualify for a starting place in overseas in Roth, Germany. Also, the women become stronger and stronger. The winning time of Paula Newby Frazer of incredible 9:01:01 hours had been sufficient for rank eleven on the mens' side.

The technical novelties at the bike that were not only being applied to the trendy new sport but also to the conservative street bike sport were absolutely revolutionary. The victory of Greg Lemond at the Tour de France in 1989, the most important bike race of the world, was legendary. In the end time trial on the Champs Elysées, the American took 58 seconds from the leading Laurent Fignon and passed him also in the overall result with 8 seconds, the tightest win in the 86-year-old history of the Tour de France. Also because of the technical novelties on his bike, borrowed to the triathlon sport, namely the stretched sitting position on air handle bars as well as wheel discs. Lemond was the first one to take use of those novelties. The pictures of his breathtaking victory went around the world and gave birth to a new era in the racing cycle sport. Only some conservative minds at the direction of the world cycle sport association were trying with all means to repress the developments that gave new inputs to the bike sector. Fortunately the triathlon had been untroubled by such prohibitions at least until the abolishment of the drafting interdiction. Yet that had never been an issue at the Ironman. In autumn of the same year, only a few traditionalists were not driving with air handle bars on the bike race circuit of the 11th Ironman. Again, the competition had been dominated by the Allen - Scott duel. In the last rise Allen managed to increase his already high speed and left his rival behind him. Up to date, the times made by Allen (2:40) and Scott (2:41) remain unequaled.

However, the German Wolfgang Dittrich provided for the show at the top during the whole competition. As fastest swimmer and cyclist the man from Neuss could only be caught up and passed by feet after approx. six kilometers. The performance of the Swiss Triathlon champion, Roy Hinnen was remarkable: with a time of 8:55:57 he finished on rank 28.

In the following years, the Europeans became stronger and stronger which first showed only in the increasing number of classified among the first 100. The winners were still Mark Allen (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993) and Paula Newby Frazer who broke the womens' nine hour bench mark for the first time in 1992 with a time of 8:55:31 hours.

Only in 1994, thus 16 years after the first holding of the IRONMAN, the Australian Greg Welch managed to win the famous race as the first non-American. However, Allen's race record of 8:09:06 hours in 1992 remained untouched. Paula Newby Frazer won for the seventh time already.

1995 must have been like a culture shock for the Americans. Not fewer than four Germans were leading the closing marathon. The youngest, Thomas Hellriegel, was only 24 years old and an absolute beginner on top of that; that had never happened before. Until five kilometers before the finish line he could hold his advance; then the much more experienced “Terminator” Allen arrived, assured his sixth triumph and had as much wins as Dave Scott. However, the finishing of Paula Newby Frazer has been much more impressive. On the finish, she had an advance of one minute on Karen Smyers. That would have been largely sufficient had Frazer's organism not nearly collapsed a few hundred meters before the finish line. The South African woman needed almost half an hour before achieving the remaining 600 meters with her last resources. However, her announcement that this race had been her very last IRONMAN was not to be taken seriously.

1996 finally was the year for an European victory in Hawaii. Not the Germans made it but the Belgian Luc van Lierde. After a never ending leading job Thomas Hellriegel was passed by European champion van Lierde only five kilometers before the finish line and therefore missed the title “first European IRONMAN winner”. Van Lierde's time: 8.04:08 hours – an incredible best time that remains unequaled up to date, after Lothar Leder had, in the same year, made the IRONMAN distance as first triathlete in Roth under 8 hours (7:57:02). Paula Newby Frazer could also celebrate a remarkable comeback with her eighth win. It was long believed that power-woman Natascha Badmann would win at her first Hawaii appearance.

But Newby Frazer was neither stopped by a drafting time penalty nor by the Swiss beginner – Badmann, who got second ranked could hold the title of the best European. Bad luck for the Geneva man Pierre-Alain Frossard: As 16th he not only missed the last qualifying place available but also his entry at the IRONMAN 1997.

But Frossard did not give up, on the contrary. In the following year, he could improve his result with two places – after a brilliant qualification with the win at the IRONMAN SWITZERLAND in Zurich, carried out for the very first time. Hence, the Swiss athlete was the best Swiss on the Pacific island for the second consecutive time.

The Germans got their victory in 1997 with Thomas Hellriegel; on the womens' side, the Canadian Heather Fuhr won. The two Swiss favorites though did not have the best of all times. Indeed, Natascha Badmann and Olivier Bernhard had to give up for reasons of  health, Bernard after 1994 and 1996 already for the third time.

1998 had been the most successful year for the many Swiss IRONMAN participants. Natascha Badmann won as first Swiss and inhabitant of the ancient continent. The best triathlete overseas was not Olivier Bernhard but Christoph Mauch who finished fourth and therefore realized the second best result after Carl Kupferschmid in Hawaii. And this after a pretty unfavorable training: mid May he had got deep abrasion wounds at the thigh as he fell from the bike. Mauch had to stop training for three weeks, which resulted in a competition break of nearly two months. Only in August he could get back to his form. He won the Swiss championship title on the Olympic distance but achieved only rank 26 at the world championships in Lausanne after a bad swim performance. A bad flu in September affected the preparation for the IRONMAN which had been won by the Canadian Peter Reid.

Mauch was able to confirm his performance in 1999. Again, he reached the finish line as fourth – six seconds ahead of Olivier Bernhard who had finished the IRONMAN in Hawaii successfully as fifth. The big absent was the winner of the previous year, Natascha Badmann who renounced to the participation in favor of the Olympic triathlon premiere. Instead, the Canadian Lori Bowden won for the first time; on the mens' side, Luc Van Lierde won for the second time. The record time of the Belgian of 1996 (8:04:08) has not been equaled up to date. For how long, is a question of the weather – and a whole armada of young triathlon talents who cannot wait to put their names in the golden IRONMAN book.

Two years after her first win in Hawaii Natascha Badmann stood on the very top of the podium for the second time in 2000. On the mens' side, the winner was Peter Reid. Of all athletes, the Canadian could best cope with the strong winds prevailing this year. Just like Natascha Badmann, he also won for the second time in Hawaii after 1998. Christoph Mauch reached the finish line as sixth after two fourth places. Olivier Bernhard who had won in Zurich gave up the race after the cycling race because of problems on the Achilles' tendon.

Two years after her first win in Hawaii Natascha Badmann stood on the very top of the podium for the second time in 2000. On the mens' side, the winner was Peter Reid. Of all athletes, the Canadian could best cope with the strong winds prevailing this year. Just like Natascha Badmann, he also won for the second time in Hawaii after 1998. Christoph Mauch reached the finish line as sixth after two fourth places. Olivier Bernhard who had won in Zurich gave up the race after the cycling race because of problems on the Achilles' tendon.

Again, Natascha Badmann won in 2001 and could therefore hold her title from the previous year. It was her third victory in Hawaii. After 1995 it was again an American, Tim de Boom who stood on top of the podium. Christoph Mauch got 10th as best Swiss. In Zurich also, Mauch was the best Swiss with rank two after Olivier Bernhard had to give up the race after 2 km. In Zurich, the Hungarian Peter Kropko finished as glorious winner on the Landiwiese.

In 2002, Natascha Badmann won once again in Hawaii ahead of the German Nina Kraft and the Canadian Lori Bowden. Natascha Badmann had passed for the third consecutive time as first woman the finish line in Kona. The two Swiss ladies Karin Thürig (8.) and Sibylle Matter (9.) were classified among the ten first. On the mens' side, Tim de Boom could repeat his win of the previous year. The Canadian Peter Reid got rank two, ahead of the New Zealander Cameron Brown. Olivier Bernhard had to give up the race as well this year in Hawaii, but could get on top of the podium for the third time in Zürich. Christoph Mauch who got second behind Olivier Bernhard, finished the competition as 18th, 31 seconds behind the best Swiss, Bruno von Flüh.

In 2003, the Canadians Lori Bowden and Peter Reid won the 25th IRONMAN Hawaii. Natascha Badmann had to let the victory to the Canadian after an exciting race. After three years of victory, the quadruple IRONMAN Hawaii winner Badmann finished second ahead of Nina Kraft.

Kraft got an advance of over five minutes on Bowden and Badmann at the swim, but had to let the leadership to Badmann after a 3 minute time penalty. Badmann got on the run circuit as first, but the German could put herself back on top after 8 km; however, she got passed by Lori Bowden after 15 km. The exciting duel between Badmann and Kraft for the second rank had been won by the Swiss, despite her stomach problems. “But I have fought like a lion, a tiger and a panther altogether”, she said to Radio DRS then.

Peter Reid won the race ahead of the Belgian Rutger Beke and Cameron Brown of New Zealand. Reid could put himself at the top during the marathon and by so doing assured himself the third victory in Kona. Olivier Bernhard who had won for the fourth time in Zürich in 2003 got 19th in Kona. Christoph Mauch, second in Zürich, gave up the competition  after the cycling race.

The IRONMAN Hawaii 2004 was to remain unforgettable because of the German victory as well as the sensational disqualification of the womens' winner: on the womens' side, the favorites were the second placed of the previous year, Nina Kraft (the only woman to have stayed under the nine hour bench mark in 2004), Natascha Badmann and previous year winner Lori Bowden. On the mens' side, the favorites were Peter Reid (titleholder), Simon Lessing (media darling and rookie in Hawaii) as well as Luc van Lierde and Rutger Beke (second the year before).

The start had been chaotic: The starting signal could not be given because the first athletes started to crawl, and the leading kayak drove in the triangle by mistake, which resulted in a time loss for the swimmers to follow.

Already after 120 km of cycling, the German Normann Stadler had outdistanced the rest of the group and could not be caught up till the end.

On the womens' side, a similar clear race could be observed: Nina Kraft took over the leadership very quickly after having come out of the water as third. Her rivals Badmann and Bowden stayed minutes behind, Karin Thürig was 18 minutes behind the top preceding the marathon. After 8:33:29 hours respectively 9:33:25 hours, the two German winners of the IRONMAN Hawaii were set: Normann Stadler and Nina Kraft. The most successful Swiss woman was again Natascha Badmann. She finished with 9:50:04 hours and reached rank two with this performance. Best Swiss man was Stefan Riesen on rank 20 (9:24:40 hours). The circumstances were very tough in 2004, which was shown by the highest drop out rate ever on the professional side: incredible 28% gave up, 154 starters did not reach the finish line. Hawaii proved once again how hot and tough it is to manage the 226 km.

But not only the weather shocked the triathletes: The Hawaii 2004 woman winner, the first German woman to bear this title, was convicted of doping and disqualified. She has been penalized with a two-year-ban until November 12th, 2006.

This news made a lot of athletes concerned and also soiled the spirit-of-sports idea of the IRONMAN. A gleam of hope was therefore the heroic action of the American Christian Sadowski: He put his bike that got broken by a collision with the judge's motorbike on the shoulder and “walked” the remaining twelve kilometers of the bike circuit. With his attitude - “the most important thing is not to win but to participate” - he became the hero of the day and reached rank 1534 with 16:09:48 hours.

In 2005, a German won again: Faris Al-Sultan, the 27-year-old athlete with Iraqi origins who reached rank three already in 2004 to everybody's surprise. Al-Sultan was so fast that he always arrived  too early at the aid stations and hence did not get anything there yet. Title holder Norman Stadler had a lot of breakdowns and misfortune all the way. After the first bike breakdown he managed to take on the pursuit of Al-Sultan who was hurrying ahead, but the second breakdown at his circle put a point to his race. The New Zealander Cameron Brown, who was third  placed in 2003 managed to climb on the podium next to Al-Sultan in 2005. Peter Reid, the IRONMAN Hawaii winner 2003 got third. The best Swiss result was made again by Stefan Riesen; he could improve his rank of the previous year as well as his time and got 16th.

Natascha Badmann, the Swiss titleholder was able to catch on the Olympic second placed of Sydney, the Australian Michelle Jones, even though Jones could build up an advance on Badmann at the marathon of 14 minutes.  The more experienced of the two athletes won after an excellent marathon the IRONMAN Hawaii for the sixth time (9:09:30 hours). Jones could hold her big advance on the others and got already on rank two at her first start with an astonishing time of 9:11:51 hours. Karin Thürig reached the second best Swiss result with rank 12. Already at the IRONMAN SWITZERLAND, the Swiss cycle champion could achieve an incredible result: she drove in a world class time and realized a new circuit record on the bike circuit (4:48:08). She finished the IRONMAN SWITZERLAND in 9:10 hours.

2007 hasn't been a good year for Switzerland in Kona. The previous year's winner Natascha Badmann fell from the bike and got severe injuries at her shoulder. Even though the Swiss athlete went on immediately following the accident, she had to quit later due to heavy pain. When it became clear that the six-time winner wouldn't be able to defend her title, Chrissie Wellington won the race in an amazing way with a time of 9:08:45 just before the American athlete Samantha McGlone. The English lady's victory came as a surprise as the 30-year old athlete realized only her second Ironman in Hawaii.
On the men's side, Stefan Riesen got the best Swiss result with the 16th rank (8:38:35) after Ronnie Schildknecht and Matthias Hecht both have abandoned the race. Due to the fact that the favourites Norman Stadler and Faris al Sultan couldn't finish the race neither, the Australian Chris McCormack has been able to realize his big dream thanks to a sensational running time and won with 8:15:34.

After the fourth rank obtained by Ronnie Schildknecht the year before, the Swiss athletes travelled to the island with big expectations in 2009. But due to the extreme heat, they could not tie up with their top performances. Matthias Hecht became the best Swiss, meanwhile on the 10th position, with the good 13th final rank (8:37:29). Ronnie Schildknecht had a good start swimming but soon realized on the bike that he wouldn't be able to confirm his good result of 2008 and ended up with the 18th rank. The race has been won by the previous year's winner Alexander Craig (8:20:21), who could successfully defend his title just like Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom did years ago.
On the women's side, Chrissie Wellington realized the Hattrick and set a new circuit record with 8:54:02, undercutting the hitherto bench mark of Paula Newby-Fraser by nearly 2 minutes. After Sibylle Matter had to renounce to her start, Monika Lehman classified herself as best Swiss on rank 26 (10:05:21).
The Swiss professionals Natascha Badmann and Stefan Riesen both gave up the race.


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