Gordon Haller (born 1950) is the winner of the first

Ironman Triathlon 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 consid ...

Biography

Haller grew up in

Forest Grove, Oregon Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland, Oregon, Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area . Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in ...

and earned a degree in physics at Pacific University. On Oahu, Hawaii in 1978, Haller competed in Navy Commander John Collins’ race which combined the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Race, and the Honolulu Marathon. Of the 15 competitors, 12 finished what today is called the Ironman, and Gordon Haller was the first champion, with a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, 58 seconds. In 1979, Haller placed fourth behind winner, Tom Warren. Haller commented about the success of Ironman, nearly 30 years later in a 2007 interview with ''Competitor Magazine'' "It’s just an amazing experience... certainly something I didn’t expect to have happen way back in the beginning."

References

External links

The Competitors Radio Interview with Gordon Haller

ACTIVE.COM Ironman's first champ, Gordon Haller, looks back 25 years
1950 births American male triathletes Ironman world champions Pacific University alumni Living people People from Forest Grove, Oregon Sportspeople from Washington County, Oregon 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-triathlon-bio-stub