Samson Hershenson, of West Plains, recently traveled to Tulsa to compete in the Certified Piedmontese Beef IRONMAN. Hershenson finished the grueling race with a time of 16:22:47.
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 (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.20 km) run, raced in that order. It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.
Most Ironman events have a time limit of 16 or 17 hours to complete the race, course dependent, with the race typically starting at 7:00am. The mandatory cut off time to complete the 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim is 2 hours 20 minutes. The mandatory bike cut off time for when an athlete must have completed their swim, transition and bike varies generally between 10 hours and 10 hours 30 minutes from when an athlete began their swim. The mandatory run cut off varies between 16 and 17 hours from when athlete began their swim. Many races will also have intermediate bike, run, and transition cut off times specific to each race venue. Any participant who completes the triathlon within these time constraints is designated an Ironman.
The name "Ironman Triathlon" is also associated with the original Ironman triathlon what is now the Ironman World Championship. Held in Kailua-Kona, the world championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978 (with an additional race in 1982). Originally taking place in Oahu, the race moved to Kailua-Kona in 1981, where it continues today.The Ironman World Championship has become known for its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and television coverage.
Other races exist that are of the same distance as an Ironman triathlon but are not produced, owned, or licensed by the World Triathlon Corporation. Such races include The Challenge Family series' Challenge Rothand the Norseman Triathlon.
The event series is owned by The Ironman Group, which is owned by Advance Publications, following the acquisition from the Wanda Sports Group in August 2020.
The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oʻahu Perimeter Relay. Among the participants were 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. On this occasion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins pointed out that a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine had declared that Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. Collins and his wife Judy Collins had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club in and around Mission Bay, California, as well as the 1975 Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in Coronado, California. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with the San Diego races, so they understood the concept when Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island: the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 mi or 3.9 km), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 mi or 185 km; originally a two-day event) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.219 mi or 42.195 km).
