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Birth of a sport
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It was May of 1979. The San Diego Track Club had been staging low-key swim-bike-run events for five years, but people weren’t exactly breaking down the doors to gain entry. Ironman #2 was in the books – with the same sized field (15) as IM #1. There was a race in Los Alamos called “triathlon”, though it was conducted as three separate time trials and scored as a cross-country meet. The “sport”, if that’s what it could be called, was going nowhere . . . and then everything changed.

“He was taking the gale head-on now, but at least the stinging rain had stopped and his mind was still working. Keep concentrating, Tom Warren told himself. Still 20 miles to go, most of it into that awful wind, the same gale he had been fighting for 120 miles and almost nine hours. The bass drum in his leg was getting louder, and his head flopped sideways.

“Up ahead stood a man and his wife, paunchy, middle-aged Hawaiian tourists, watching a spectacle outside their ken. Past the astonished couple the runner stumbled, shirtless, eyes down, concentrating to avoid delusion and shock. Finally the tourist could be quiet no longer. “Go, Iron Man!” he shouted. “Go, Iron Man” Tom Warren, age 35, shuffled off. Still 20 miles to go. And the others were back there chasing him."

So began Barry McDermott’s transcendent feature in the May 14, 1979 issue of SI - and a sport was born. To understand why, go to www.cooltri.com and read for yourself.

Lew
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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To understand how much of a catalyst the McDermott article really was, consider the following piece of history. Below is a list of triathlons with the longest current "streaks" - those with the greatest number of consecutive renewals (absent cancellation for act of god):

IN THE FIVE YEARS PREDATING MCDERMOTT ARTICLE: Total of 2

1978 - Ironman Hawaii

1978 - Newport Beach Triathlon. Newport Beach, California. Began life as the Human Race Triathlon.

IN THE THREE YEARS IMMEDIATELY AFTER ARTICLE: Total of 24.

1979 - Black Hills Triathlon. Olympia, Washington. Began as a half-ironman, has since switched to shorter distances.

1979 - Music City Triathlon. Nashville, Tennessee. Also began as a half-ironman, switched to Olympic distance in 1980's.

1979 - Topeka Tinman. Topeka, Kansas.

1979 - YMCA Triathlon. Cancelled twice in recent years because of flooding. Wilmington, North Carolina.

1979 - Super Frog Triathlon. San Diego, California. Originally limited to military personnel. Open to public for past several years.

1980 - Nepean Triathlon. Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. Generally acknowledged as the first triathlon downunder, still perking along.

1980 - Heart O'Dixie Triathlon. Point to point, ending at the Neshoba County fairgrounds in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

1980 - Cypress Gardens Triathlon. Run, bike, swim. Madhouse sprint, with a teen-aged Nick Radkewich one of the early winners. Cypress Gardens, Florida.

1980 - LaPorte Triathlon. LaPorte, Indiana.

1980 - Smith Falls Triathlon. Smith Falls, Ontario.

1980 - Wausau YMCA Triathlon. Wausau, Wisconsin. First race was one week before first Menomonie Tinman.

1980 - Menomonie Tinman. Menomonie, Wisconsin. Half-ironman.

1980 - Muncie Endurathon. Muncie, Indiana. Half-ironman from the start.

1980 - Hamlin Beach Triathlon. Began as a half-ironman, now conducted at shorter distances. Rochester, New York.

1980 - Blackwater Eagleman Triathlon. Oxford, Maryland. Created by WWII flying ace Fletcher Hanks as the Oxford International Triathlon; original distances were 2.4-mile swim, 20-mile run, 50-mile bike. This streak has a asterisk, as the 1996 version was a late cancellation.

1981 - Longmont Triathlon. Longmont, Colorado. Pool swim.

1981 - Maine Tinman. Camden, Maine.

1981 - Mark Mellon Memorial Triathlon. Gaylord, Michigan. Always contested as 1k swim, 50k bike, 10k run.

1981 - Sylvania Triathlon. Sylvania, Ohio. Initially conceived by local Vic Tanny club. Vic Tanny planned to drop in 1985, so Team Toledo picked up the torch. Initial distances were 700 yard swim (the length of the small lake), 26-mile bike, 10-mile run. Olympic distance since the mid-1980's.

1981 - River Cities Triathlon. Shreveport, Louisiana. Sponsors include Bicycle Sports, owned by windtunnel expert John Cobb. Lance Armstrong once held course record.

1981 - Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. San Francisco, California. Founders disagreed along the way - now there are two "Alcatraz" races.

1981 - Dutch Open Championship Triathlon Long Distance. Almere, Netherlands.

1981 - Yuma Tinman. Yuma, Arizona.

1981 - Triatlo de Rincon. Rincon, Puerto Rico.

Lew
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks, good article. Here's what I'm wondering: suppose you took the starting field from Kona 2002 and had them do that race, in those exact conditions... What do you think would happen?
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Re: Birth of a sport [pyker] [ In reply to ]
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If conditions were the same, the race would have been a zoo. Remember, every athlete in the original two IM's had his or her own support vehicle. Numerous wrecks, athletes drafting support vehicles (their own or others), a highly incensed local populace, and probably even a fist fight or two. SI wouldn't have touched it, but it probably would have been the germ for a series on Fox.

Lew
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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heh heh
the fistfights probably would have started with the bajillion "paddlers" out on the water (one per swimmer, right?)
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Re: Birth of a sport [pyker] [ In reply to ]
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Besides the problems with each contestant providing his own paddler for the swim, and support for the bike and run, the swim conditions were worse than Utah last year, 50 mph winds and 6 foot swells. Gordon Haller's surf board guy had to be rescued by the only boat in the water as he was blown out to sea, probably cost him the race as he couldn't see the course buoy for the sea.

Since about 60 showed up for the race but only 15 started because of the conditions (remember, no wet suits), I suspect about the same percentage wouldn't start. It was pretty bad.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks
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Re: Birth of a sport [Frank Day] [ In reply to ]
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Reminds of me those fish stories from long ago - there actually was a fish that got caught, but the size thereof has expanded a bit over the years. According to McDermott - whom we must accord some degree of credibility, given the fact that he was there and we were not - 28, not 60, "said they would do the race". The race was postponed for a day because of the storm, and the next morning, 16 showed up at the beach.

Lew
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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Uh, I was there.

I am not exactly sure of the number but I think it was closer to 60 who showed up on Saturday (or who had signed up with John). The number who showed up on Sunday was considerably smaller but i was one of them. 15 started, i was one of them.

Journalists are notorious for not letting facts get in the way of a good story but 28 could be correct. My name is in that story and he managed to get my occupation wrong. sounded good though. John (or Judy) Collins probably knows.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks
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Re: Birth of a sport [Frank Day] [ In reply to ]
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The article implied the bike course was not exactly fixed (as in, pick-your-own route). How did that work?
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Re: Birth of a sport [Frank Day] [ In reply to ]
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I had no idea you ever did more than ride your bike around the neighborhood! How did I miss the fact you showed up for an Ironman, whether or not you finished is irrelevant, I just never knew you were into it at any level, much less the Ironman level. Wow!



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: Birth of a sport [pyker] [ In reply to ]
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The route was simply the one road around the island, stopping at the Aloha tower to start the Honolulu Marathon Course. Everyone knew it and make a wrong turn you simply went further.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks
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Re: Birth of a sport [yaquicarbo] [ In reply to ]
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I actually finished in '78. I went back in '79 to see how fast I could do it. I thought a sub 12 was possible and since the previous year was won at 11:45 I had big hopes (the first and probably last race for which I have ever had big hopes) but injured my knee during the swim (doing the old breast stroke), took a half hour in the shower to try to warm up before starting the bike, over an hour stopped on the bike due to mechanicals from the rain, etc. etc. conspired to my dnf.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks
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Re: Birth of a sport [Frank Day] [ In reply to ]
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Cool Frank! We never knew.

For those of you fairly new to the sport, a great reference is the book, "Iron Will", by Mike Plant. Excellent history of the Ironman.

According to that, February 18, 1978, 18 men signed up and 15 started and 12 finished. (p. 64). In 1979, 50 people paid their $8.00 to John Collins and 28 showed up on the Saturday, but due to the weather, they postponed it until the next day. Eighteen showed up that day and 15 started the race. (p. 76)

Extra credit if you can name the winners of the first two years.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Birth of a sport [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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1978: Gordon Haller
1979: Tom Warren & Lyn Lemaire

Lemaire remains the only woman to have finished in the top 10 overall in Hawaii. Extra credit for the name & place of the woman with the next best overall finish. Extra extra credit for how she did in that race compared to her significant other.

Lew
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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>>Extra credit for the name & place of the woman with the next best overall finish. Extra extra credit for how she did in that race compared to her significant other.<<

Wasn't that Lori in the top 20 the year she won? Or was it Paula, who might have beat Huddle that year.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Birth of a sport [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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In 1988, Paula finished 11th overall in 9:01:01. She passed SigO Paul Huddle in the last half of the run - he finished 16th o/a in 9:04:55.

Interestingly enough, however, their combined performance was equaled by Erin Baker and Scott Molina in the same race. Molina won in 8:31:00, while Baker was 28th overall in 9:12:14. If scored cross-country style, Paul and Paula had 27 points to Scott & Erin's 29, but Scott & Erin won on combined time - 17:43:14 to 18:05:56.

Lew
Last edited by: Lew: Apr 2, 03 8:58
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Re: Birth of a sport [Lew] [ In reply to ]
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Ah, to have a team rematch today! Scott and Erin v. Paula and Huddle. I think it would still be really close.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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