Luke McKenzie has a chance to win his third Ironman race this year. Welchy, Reilly, Heather and I were trying to remember if any MALE has won three or more Ironmans in one calendar year. (Sorry, but Roth is out after they dropped the M-Dot)
We thought Tinley might have done it the year he did the seven Ironmans in the “IM Series” and we also thought that Ray Browning might have won 4 one year. Lots of women have won more than three, so we only want to hear about the men.
It’s tough to find records on IM events outside of Kona from the 80’s so let us know if you remember -
Z
PS - Good luck to Luke this weekend - Welchy says if he wins he’ll have the Aussie record for IM wins in a season beating his record of two!
Lots more races and therefore less competition in certain events. So comparing across generations is meaningless. There are dozens of pros that could win 3 races a year if they picked their races differently.
Not taking anything away from Luke, he’s one of those dozen - one of the best athletes of this generation.
Check out www.xtri.com as they have the best race database.
Hey Tom, Its a little unfair to throw out all of the non-M-dot events when asking this question.
During the 80’s events like World’s Toughest, Cape Cod, Midwest Classic, EmbrunMan, Sater Sweden, Triple M in Sydney, etc. were all good paying events so attracted some of the very top male athletes in the sport at that time.
Also if you won 3 M-Dot events in a year back then you won nearly every M-Dot event that year. In the 80’s there were only about 6 (NZ, Aust, Japan, Roth, Canada, Hawaii) right??? I won the Ricoh IM In L.A. but it was a oncer and was 2/100/20 miles.
But to answer your specific question - I have no idea! I can barely remember what races I did let alone what all the other guys did. I’ll forward your question to ST to see if he can enlighten us!
Cheers, Scott
Scott - I agree with you - the early years of triathlon included MANY great events that were the same distance but did not have the M-Dot. It’s always tough to compare athletes of different generations with all the changes that our sport as seen in the past 30 years.
I talked to Huddle yesterday in Canada, and he said about the same thing you did - He can’t remember who might have won more than 2 long distance races as no one back then distinguished M-Dot from the other great long course events! (O course, he also does not remember as he’s getting old, but this was a good excuse)
So maybe we can figure out if male athlete won more that 2 M-Dot races and also if anyone won more the 2 (Ironman Distance races) in a calendar year.
Thanks again - Hope to see you racing again soon. Z
did mark win zofingen, nice and kona the same year? not 3 IMs, but* the* three big ultras in the world at that time. did he win them all in a calendar year? i believe so, in 1993.
I agree with Skid re: “early” long distance events–they were tough, eclectic and attracted the best competition. Why whitewash their history in an Mdot-centric view?
To suggest that a comparison of events or performances “across generations is meaningless” is just naive. Regardless of period contexts many things within the human condition are universal.
If anything, the competition at ALL events is much higher now than in previous decades due to the growth of the sport and resulting depth of talent.
Regarding the specific question about winning 3 ultra distance events in one jan-dec calendar, I don’t think I did it. A quick scan of the old files reveal a few years where I had two victories (IM or other IM dist) and a 2nd or 3rd place.
Perhaps Ray Browning?
To win any three IM distance events in a single 12 month period would be considered a great feat.
Did Allen win IM Japan the year he won Zofingen+Nice+Kona?
Not that it was “that long ago” but I thought Peter Reid was really really close in 1999…1st in Oz, 1st in Austria and 2nd in Kona…gotta love the consistency of those run splits.
Ironman World Championships Iron Distance 23 Oct 1999 2 0:50:46 4:41:39 2:47:56 8:22:54 Ironman Austria Iron Distance 18 Jul 1999 1 0:48:28 4:25:08 2:35:21 7:51:56 Ironman Australia Iron Distance 2 May 1999 1 0:50:11 4:44:47 2:48:13 8:23:10
Did Allen win IM Japan the year he won Zofingen+Nice+Kona?
Not that it was “that long ago” but I thought Peter Reid was really really close in 1999…1st in Oz, 1st in Austria and 2nd in Kona…gotta love the consistency of those run splits.
Ironman World Championships Iron Distance 23 Oct 1999 2 0:50:46 4:41:39 2:47:56 8:22:54 Ironman Austria Iron Distance 18 Jul 1999 1 0:48:28 4:25:08 2:35:21 7:51:56 Ironman Australia Iron Distance 2 May 1999 1 0:50:11 4:44:47 2:48:13 8:23:10
Well spotted Dev to compare an Austrian (40k) 2:35 to a Kona 2:47. You are right!
Well - Luke took second today after leading the race until mile 25, so I guess the record of Two - M-Dot races in one calendar year is still the mark to beat. Thanks ST and Skid for your comments and history insight! If you have contact with Ray, ask him how many IM wins he had in one year!
Craig Alexandar said it best at last year’s St. Croix talking about Mike Pigg who attended the race on it’s 20 anniversery. “My heroes going up were the Pro triathleles like Mike, Scott Tinley, Scott Molina and Dave Scott. They inspired me to become a triathlete and I want to thank them for being pioneers of the sport.”
Crowie had just set the record for the most wins in St. Croix breaking Pigg’s record of 4 victories. It’s great to see the the Pro athletes of today working hard to be “Like the Ledgends” of old.
Man - who would have thought in 1983 at Penrod’s in Ft. Lauderdale that we would be talking about “the history” of triathlon! Now that was a great race between ST and Skid, but another story for another thread!
Austria 2:35 = Kona 2:47…add 8 minutes for the extra 2K and then add in the effect for heat and all three of his run splits that year were pretty even!
I agree with Skid re: “early” long distance events–they were tough, eclectic and attracted the best competition. Why whitewash their history in an Mdot-centric view?
To suggest that a comparison of events or performances “across generations is meaningless” is just naive. Regardless of period contexts many things within the human condition are universal.
If anything, the competition at ALL events is much higher now than in previous decades due to the growth of the sport and resulting depth of talent.
Regarding the specific question about winning 3 ultra distance events in one jan-dec calendar, I don’t think I did it. A quick scan of the old files reveal a few years where I had two victories (IM or other IM dist) and a 2nd or 3rd place.
Perhaps Ray Browning?
To win any three IM distance events in a single 12 month period would be considered a great feat.
ST
I think Gina Ferguson has won 4, if you allow for 366 days as a year. Challenge Wanaka, something else?, IMWestern Australia, then Wanaka again this year, followed up by IMNZ a few weeks later. 4-1/2?
OK so Gina is a girl, but she performs better than most men!
