Ultraman Canada
is a qualifying event for the
Ultrman World Championship. The
Ultraman World Championship is a
three-day, 320 mile (515-km) annual
endurance race held on the Big
Island of Hawaii. The race is
divided into three stages over three
days: The first is a 6.2-mile
(10-km) ocean swim from Kailua Bay
to Keauhou Bay, followed by a
90-mile (145-km) cross-country bike
ride, with vertical climbs that
total 6,000 feet. Stage two is a
171.4-mile (276-km) bike ride from
Volcanoes National Park to Kohala
Village Inn, with total vertical
climbs of 4,000 feet. Stage three is
a 52.4-mile(84-km) double-marathon,
which starts at Hawi and finishes on
the beach at the Old Kona Airport
State Recreation Area. Each stage
must be completed within 12 hours or
less. The swim portion of stage one
must be completed in 5.5 hours or
less. Participants who do not reach
the finish lines within the time
limits are disqualified.
The first Ironman
was held on February 18, 1978 in
Hawaii, fifteen men started and 12
men finished. After an article in
Sports Illustrated in 1979, entries
increased in 1980 to 108. In 1982,
the United States Triathlon
Association and the American
Triathlon Association were born and
merged together later that year to
form the national governing body
called the United States Triathlon
Association. And in 1983, the first
Ultraman World Championship was
held.
The Ultraman
Challenge has been held annually
since 1983 over Thanksgiving weekend
as an extreme offshoot of the
Ironman. The Ultraman is a
sanctioned triathlon by the
Triathlon Federation/USA and takes
the components of the Ironman to the
limits. The popularity of races such
as the Ironman and Ultraman helped
to establish the triathlon as an
Olympic sport. The Olympic Committee
included the triathlon as an event
during the 2000 Summer games in
Sydney, Australia, in the form of
swimming, biking and running.
