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An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance
triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...
races organized by the
World Triathlon Corporation The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a sports event promotion company owned by conglomerate Advance Publications, that produces the Ironman Triathlon, Ironman 70.3, the 5150 series of triathlon races, and other sports events. History In De ...
(WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
completed in that order, a total of . 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 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 The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualificatio ...
. Held in Kailua-Kona, the world championship has been held annually in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
since 1978 (with an additional race in 1982). Originally taking place in Oahu, the race moved to Kailua-Kona in 1981 and it continues today. The Ironman World Championship has become known for its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and
television coverage Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
. There are other races that are the same distance as an Ironman triathlon but are not produced, owned, or licensed by the WTC. They include The Challenge Family series' Challenge Roth and the Norseman Triathlon. The event series is owned by The Ironman Group, which is owned by
Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, a ...
, following the acquisition from the Wanda Sports Group in August 2020.


History

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 ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' 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 Mission Bay is a human-made saltwater bay located south of the Pacific Beach community of San Diego, California created from approximately of historical wetland, marsh, and saltwater bay habitat. The bay is part of the recreational Mission Bay ...
, 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 Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the distri ...
Roughwater Swim (), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (; originally a two-day event) and the Honolulu Marathon (). Until that time, no one present had ever done the bike race. Collins figured by shaving off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the
Aloha Tower The Aloha Tower is a retired lighthouse that is considered one of the landmarks of the state of Hawaii in the United States. Opened on September 11, 1926, at a then astronomical cost of $160,000, the Aloha Tower is located at Pier 9 of Honolulu ...
, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon. Prior to racing, each athlete received three sheets of paper listing a few rules and a course description. Handwritten on the last page was this exhortation: "''Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life''", now a registered trademark. With a nod to a local runner who was notorious for his demanding workouts, Collins said, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call ''him'' the Iron Man." Each of the racers had their own support crew to supply water, food and encouragement during the event. Of the fifteen men to start off in the early morning on February 18, 1978, twelve completed the race. Gordon Haller, a US Navy Communications Specialist, was the first to earn the title Ironman by completing the course with a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, 58 seconds. The runner-up John Dunbar, a US Navy SEAL, led after the second transition and had a chance to win but ran out of water on the marathon course; his support crew resorted to giving him beer instead. With no further marketing efforts, the race gathered as many as 50 athletes in 1979. The race, however, was postponed a day because of bad weather conditions. Only fifteen competitors started off the race Sunday morning. San Diego's Tom Warren won in 11 hours, 15 minutes, 56 seconds. Lyn Lemaire, a championship cyclist from Boston, placed sixth overall and became the first "Ironwoman". Collins planned on changing the race into a relay event to draw more participants, but ''Sports Illustrated's'' journalist Barry McDermott, in the area to cover a golf tournament, discovered the race and wrote a ten-page account of it. During the following year, hundreds of curious participants contacted Collins.


Valerie Silk and WTC

Around 1979 Collins no longer wanted to direct the Ironman race and approached Nautilus Fitness Center owners Hank Grundman and Valerie Silk about taking over control of the race. Grundman previously had extended his club's facilities to many of the Ironman competitors. Following the couple's divorce in 1981 Silk received ownership of Ironman. That year she moved the competition to the less urbanized
Hawaii Island Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...
(called the Big Island) and in 1982 moved the race date from February to October; as a result of this change there were two Ironman Triathlon events in 1982. A milestone in the marketing of the legend and history of the race happened in February 1982. Julie Moss, a college student competing to gather research for her exercise physiology thesis, moved toward the finish line in first place. As she neared the finish, severe fatigue and dehydration set in and she fell, just yards away from the finish line. Although Kathleen McCartney passed her for the women's title, Moss nevertheless crawled to the finish line. Her performance was broadcast worldwide and created the Ironman mantra that just finishing is a victory. By the end of that year the race had maxed out at 1,000 participants, with a lottery used to fill the field while turning away another 1,000 interested participants. In 1990, with the help of Lew Friedland, Dr. James P. Gills acquired and purchased the Hawaii Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand for $3 million from Silk. With the Ironman brand, Gills established the
World Triathlon Corporation The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a sports event promotion company owned by conglomerate Advance Publications, that produces the Ironman Triathlon, Ironman 70.3, the 5150 series of triathlon races, and other sports events. History In De ...
with the intention of furthering the sport of triathlon and increasing prize money for triathletes. A number of non-WTC full distance triathlons have been held since the mid-1990s. The limited number of WTC-sanctioned events, and the limited number of entries available per race, have combined with a growth in the sport that has created demand for these non-trademarked events. Many of them share the , , format with the Ironman triathlon. Originally, many used the Ironman name. Due to aggressive trademark protection, most of these races no longer use the word "Ironman".


Today

The Ironman format remains unchanged, and the Hawaiian Ironman is still regarded as an honored and prestigious triathlon event to win worldwide. People completing such an event within the strict event time cutoffs are agreed to be recognized as "Ironmen"; the plural "Ironmans" refers to multiples of "Ironman" as a short form of "Ironman Triathlon." In the triathlon community an Ironman is someone who has completed a race of the appropriate distance, whether or not it falls under the aegis of WTC.


Swim Smart Initiative

In 2013, Ironman piloted the "Swim Smart Initiative" in North America and brought with it some notable safety related changes to the Ironman format. These changes included new rules regarding swim course formats, water temperature regulations, pre-swim warm ups, wave starts, and additional rescue boats/watercraft (paddle-boards, kayaks, etc.). The Swim Smart Initiative also introduced "resting rafts" so that athletes may leave the water to rest without being disqualified.


Ironman World Championship

Over time the popularity of the sport of triathlon grew, and the annual race on the Big Island became The Ironman World Championship. In 1983, admission to the race began following a qualification based system, whereby athletes had to obtain entry to the race by competing in another Ironman race and gaining a slot, allocated on a proportional basis. The Hawaii race consists of a swim in the bay of Kailua-Kona, a
bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...
ride across the Hawaiian lava desert to Hāwī and back, and a
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
run along the coast (from Keauhou to
Keahole Point Keāhole Point is the westernmost point of the island of Hawaii. The Kona International Airport was moved here from directly north of the town of Kailua-Kona in 1970, when the previous smaller airstrip was converted into the Old Kona Airport Stat ...
and back to Kailua-Kona); finishing on Alii Drive. The most recent Ironman World Championship took place on October 6, 2022 and was won by Gustav Iden of Norway in 7:40:24 and Chelsea Sodaro of the United States in 8:33:46. The current Ironman Hawaii course record was set in 2022 by Gustav Iden (Norway), whose winning time was 7 hours 40 minutes 24 seconds.
Daniela Ryf Daniela Ryf (born 29 May 1987) is a Swiss triathlete. She is the titles holder of the Ironman World Championship of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021; and of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship of the 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Ryf compe ...
(Switzerland) set the women's course record in 2018 with a winning time of 8 hours 26 minutes 18 seconds. Amateur triathletes can qualify for the World Championship through placement in one of the other Ironman series of races. Entry into the race can also be obtained through various contests and promotions, or through the Ironman Foundation's charitable eBay auction.


Ironman series

There are over three dozen Ironman Triathlon races throughout the world that enable qualification for the Ironman World Championships. Professional athletes qualify for the championship through a point ranking system, where points are earned based on their final placement in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events. The top 50 male and top 35 female professionals in points qualify for the championship. Amateur athletes qualify for the championship by receiving slots allocated to each age group's top finishers in a qualifying event. The Ironman qualifying events include:


Europe

* Ironman Austria in Klagenfurt, Austria * Ironman Barcelona in Calella, Spain * Ironman Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark * Ironman Emilia-Romagna in Cervia, Italy * Ironman France in
Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
* Ironman Gdynia in Gdynia, Poland * Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. * Ironman Hamburg in
Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
* Ironman Haugesund in
Haugesund, Norway Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and souther ...
*
Ironman Lanzarote An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely conside ...
in Puerto del Carmen, the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
, Spain * Ironman Sweden in Kalmar, Sweden * Ironman Switzerland, in Thun, Switzerland * Ironman Tallinn in
Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
* Ironman UK in Bolton, United Kingdom * Ironman Vichy in Vichy, France * Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain * Ironman Wales in Tenby, Wales * Ironman Ireland, in Youghal, Ireland


North America

* Ironman Alaska in
Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the ...
* Ironman Arizona in
Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...
* Ironman Boulder in
Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...
* Ironman Canada in Penticton, Canada * Ironman Chattanooga in
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
* Ironman Cozumel in
Cozumel, Mexico Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán ...
* Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach, Florida ( Haines City, Florida in 2018) *
Ironman Lake Placid Ironman Lake Placid (sometimes referred to as Ironman USA) is a triathlon race owned by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) that takes place in Lake Placid, New York and the surrounding Adirondack Mountains. It is the longest-running Ironman tr ...
in
Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh ...
* Ironman Los Cabos in
Los Cabos, Mexico Los Cabos () is a municipality located at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, in the state of Baja California Sur. It encompasses the two towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo (the municipal seat) linked by a thi ...
* Ironman Louisville in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
* Ironman Maryland in Cambridge, Maryland * Ironman Mont-Tremblant in
Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for its ...
, Canada * Ironman North American Championship in
The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with p ...
* Ironman Penticton in
Penticton, BC Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration population ...
, Canada * Ironman St George in St George, Utah * Ironman California in
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
* Ironman Tulsa in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
* Ironman Wisconsin in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...
*
Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualificatio ...
in Kona, Hawaii


South America

* Ironman Mar del Plata in Mar del Plata, Argentina * Ironman South American Championship on Florianópolis, Brazil


Africa

* Ironman African Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa


Asia

* Ironman Gurye in Gurye, South Korea * Ironman Taiwan in Penghu, Taiwan * Ironman Malaysia in Langkawi, Malaysia * Ironman Philippines in Zambales, Philippines * Ironman Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan


Oceania

* Ironman Australia in
Port Macquarie, New South Wales Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Se ...
, Australia * Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in
Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
, Queensland, Australia * Ironman Western Australia in
Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
, Australia * Ironman New Zealand in Taupo, New Zealand


Specifications of the Ironman races


Notable Ironman triathletes


Men

*
Mark Allen Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...
** 6-time winner of the Ironman Hawaii (joint men's record) ** 5 consecutive victories in Hawaii (overall record) * Jan Frodeno ** Current record holder for the fastest time for all iron-distance races (7:27:53 at Zwift Tri Battle Royale in 2021) (not a WTC event). *
Tim Don Timothy Philip Don (born 14 January 1978 in Isleworth, London) is a triathlete from the United Kingdom. Career Don is the son of former Premier League referee Philip Don. He competed in the London Youth Games where he represented Hounslow in th ...
** Official WTC-brand world record for fastest Ironman in Brazil 2017 with a time of 7:40:23 * Dave Scott ** 6-time winner of the Ironman World Championship (joint men's record) * Scott Tinley, two-time winner, three-time Ironman World Series Champion and most top ten finishes. *
Luc Van Lierde Luc Van Lierde (born 14 April 1969 in Bruges) is a former athlete from Belgium, who has been competing in triathlon since 1990 and who has been a professional triathlon coach since 2009. Athletic career Van Lierde's international career starte ...
** First European male winner of Ironman Hawaii ** Holder of all-time record until 2011 (7:50:27 in 1996 Ironman Europe) ** Set the Hawaii course record (8:04:08) in 1996, which held until 2011


Women

*
Natascha Badmann Natascha Badmann (born 6 December 1966) is a professional triathlete from Switzerland. She is a 6-time winner of the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005 ; in 1998 she became the first Euro ...
** First European female winner of Ironman World Championship ** 6-time winner of the Ironman World Championships * Mirinda Carfrae ** Three-time winner of the Ironman World Championship (2010, 2013, 2014) ** Reached the podium in 6 of 7 attempts at Ironman Hawaii (silver: 2009, 2011,2016; bronze: 2012; DNF: 2015, 2016) ** Women's record-holder for the overall Kona course (8:52:14, set in 2013) and the run course (2:50:38 in 2013) *
Paula Newby-Fraser Paula Newby-Fraser (born 2 June 1962 in Harare) is an Ironman triathlete and duathlete. Biography Newby-Fraser was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and raised in South Africa, where she was a nationally ranked swimmer as ...
** 8-time winner of Ironman Hawaii (overall record) ** 4 consecutive victories in Hawaii ** 24 Ironman victories overall (overall record) ** Nicknamed "The Queen of Kona" *
Daniela Ryf Daniela Ryf (born 29 May 1987) is a Swiss triathlete. She is the titles holder of the Ironman World Championship of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021; and of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship of the 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Ryf compe ...
** Winner of the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Ironman World Championship ** Eighth woman to earn more than one Kona title ** Set a course record of 8:26:18 (2018) ** Fastest female Ironman distance triathlon bike time: 4:26:07 (Kona, 2018) ** Official WTC-brand Ironman world recordrecord over all WTC Ironman-branded ("M-dot") races only holder: 8:26:18 (Hawaii, 2018) *
Chrissie Wellington Christine Ann Wellington (born 18 February 1977) is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion. She holds, or held, all three world and championship records relating to ironman-distance triathlon ...
** Winner of the Ironman Hawaii World Championship at her first attempt, less than a year after turning professional ** 3-time successive and 4-time overall female winner of Ironman Hawaii (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011) ** Former female Hawaii course record holder: 8:54:02 (2009) ** Current female record holder for the fastest time for all Ironman distance races (8:18:13 at Challenge Roth in 2011) ** Holds the two fastest-ever women's times over the Ironman distance triathlon: 8:18:13 (Roth, 2011), 8:19:13 (Roth, 2010). ** Fastest female Ironman distance triathlon marathon run time: 2:44:35 (Roth, 2011) ** Greatest number of sub-9 hour times (nine, five more than Paula Newby-Fraser's previous record) ** Undefeated over the Ironman distance triathlon ** First winner of the Ironman World Championship from the United Kingdom


Ironman world records

The designation of "world record" is unofficial due to lack of course certification as well as World Triathlon Corporation not maintaining official world record status.


Ironman 70.3

In 2005, WTC instituted the Ironman 70.3 race series. This shorter course, also known as a Half Ironman, consists of a swim, bike ride, and run. As with the Ironman series, it consists of a number of qualifying races at various locations worldwide ending in a world championship race with athletes drawn largely from top finishers in the qualifying events. For amateur athletes, some 70.3 events acted as qualifiers for the full Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. However, the 2015 qualifying year marked a large de-emphasis on using certain Ironman 70.3 series races as a path for amateur athletes to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. The change was made to accommodate for the increased number of qualifying slots created from the full Ironman events which had been recently added. For professional triathletes, up to three 70.3 events can be used to accumulate points to be put towards their championship qualifying point rankings.


Ownership and trademark

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, a ...
, the parent company that owns WTC and subsequently the Ironman brand, pays royalties to
Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz. The company is a wholly ow ...
for use of the Ironman brand. As part of the licensing agreement both Marvel and the former owner Wanda agreed to not use the "Iron Man" and "Ironman" trademarks in ways that would suggest an association with the other or cause brand confusion. World Triathlon Corporation CEO Andrew Messick has stated that the agreement has been in place for decades and the royalties paid are "not material to the business."
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...
first appeared in 1963, whereas the first Ironman triathlon was raced in 1978. The Ironman Triathlon logo is a trademark of the
World Triathlon Corporation The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a sports event promotion company owned by conglomerate Advance Publications, that produces the Ironman Triathlon, Ironman 70.3, the 5150 series of triathlon races, and other sports events. History In De ...
. The WTC has also registered the trademarks for "Ironman," "Ironman Triathlon," "M-Dot," and "70.3." WTC has licensed the Ironman name for use, such as in the line of Timex Ironman wristwatches.


Notes


References

*


External links


Ironman.com

World Triathlon Corporation

k226.com - Directory of all other non-WTC 'Iron-distance' races
{{WTC Ironman World Championship Navbox Sports competitions in Hawaii Recurring sporting events established in 1978 1978 establishments in Hawaii