As with many things, the idea of Ironman started with a friendly debate. In 1977 a group of naval officers began to question which type of athlete was most fit - the swimmer, the cyclist, or the runner. To settle it, Commander John Collins cobbled together a race that combined the three major endurance races on the island of Oahu (where they were all stationed) - the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 miles), and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). Being the resourceful Navy man that he was, CDR Collins figured out that if he shaved three miles off the bike leg and ran it counter-clockwise, it could start at the end of the swim and finish at the traditional starting line for the marathon.
With the distances agreed upon and a rudimentary set of rules in place, on February 18, 1978, fifteen athletes competed in the very first “Ironman” - the named coined by CDR Collins for the winner of the race.
That distinction went to George Haller, with a winning time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 58 seconds.
In 1981 the race was permanently moved to the Big Island of Hawaii to get away from the traffic and congestion of Honolulu. While the move was rooted in praticality, it also had a profound effect on the nature of the race. There were no longer just 140.6 miles to conquer for each athlete, there were the elements.
The miles and miles of lava fields along the Kona coast introduced heat and strong winds into the race equation, making it the world’s signature man-versus-nature test of endurance, stamina, and heart.
The out-and-back swim is an elongated triangle stretching out from Kailua pier south to a turnaround vessel just over a mile away.
The bike is also an out-and-back, heading north up Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway to the turn around in Hawi.
The run heads south out of transition, turning around at Keauhou. It then goes north along the Queen K Highway before heading back south to the most famous finish line in sports along Ali’i drive.