Day 63

Gawd, not much self improvement going on here at the moment!  I apologise and be prepared for a burst, I've been stockpiling some topics!

So I like to exercise, I feel joyous if I've had a good run (especially in the bush), energised by a long bike ride and relieved that I can bust out a km in the pool, and managing to breathe on both sides!  I have a friend who is a Running Man.  Literally.  He's progressed from Iron Man's to Ultramarathons.  Which he does with as minimal impact as possible to the family, texting updates often along the way, and no doubt smiling for much of it as well.  We all just know that he does these runs and even though we're so incredibly proud of him, it's only when his wife shares with us that he drinks coke on the last 15kms or so of his these races which is his last caffeine/sugar hit,  and there is no turning back to water/goo's once he's on the coke, then the physical reality of what he's putting his body through becomes apparent.

I have other people in my world, who's partners have done or are about to do Ironman Hawaii.  I get teary just watching any footage on TV let alone supporting someone you love, as they put themself through such an emotional and physical challenge, especially if you're there and part of the buzz and hype of this incredible event.  So I thought I'd find a bit about it....

So what is the Ironman Hawaii?



On February 18, 1978, John and Judy Collins, triathletes from California, introduced triathlon to Hawaii by creating and staging the first endurance triathlon, the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon, a swim/bike/run course that circled the island of Oahu. 


The event consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight.


The fastest time ever recorded for finishing the race was 8:04:08 1996 by Luc Van Lierde (Belgium).  That's just wrong isn't it!


The 2010 Ironman Hawaii Triathlon will take place October 9, 2010 and it will be 34th Ironman triathlon event held in Hawaii. It will also be the world championship competition for the International Ironman Triathlon Series. 


Amazing, huh!


Heaps of luck Matt!