History

In the meantime the Ironman Hawaii got very popular and it became the official world
championship. Furthermore, there are now many Ironmans all over the world
Since 1988 you have to show very good results in your age-group category at one of the normal
Ironmans to qualify yourself and get a start slot for Hawaii.

General Requirements
Aside this endurance they need a lot of power.
The discipine is also very important, then triathlon is one of the most time intensiv sports and needs
lot of motivation.
Altough this conditions are in a way the foundation, but a triathlet must also have some talent. It’s
like the dot on the i.
Furthermore they must like the pain.

Material
Maybe you wonder about, how the change their cloths, in between the different disciplines. The
answer is, they, or most of them, don’t. There are skin-suits, which cover the body from over the
knees until the shoulders. The material is high tech, it is water-repellent to minimize the water
resistance while swimming. Out of the water, the suit drys very fast, furthermore the weight is
under 150grams. An other way is, to swim in shorts, and pull a top over, in the transition-zone.

But at most of the other Ironmans, when the watertemperature is below 22 degrees, the athlets
wear a neopren. It protect from cooling out, and makes you faster, beacause lifts you up, and
improve the position, and minimize the water-resistance.

I think, the most important material ist the bicycle.

Beacause the prohibition of riding in the slipstreem of another athlet, they use Time Trial bikes.
They are different in the geometry, race comfort, wheigt, and aerodynamics by comparison to
normal roadbikes. In most cases the Time Trial bikes have a disc wheel in the back, but the wind in
Hawaii can blon very powerful, so the athlets risigne it.

Another special thing are the Time Trial-Helmets. They are built in a very aerodynamic form.

On the last piece of the Triathlon, they only need two running-shoos, and maybe a head and
sunglasses to get protection of the burning sun.

Race Day
Now, we goes back to the Ironman Hawaii. For almost every abitionated triathlet, it’s the biggest
goal to start ones in his live in Hawaii.
It is already a huge performance to finish a normal Ironman. The age-group athlets needs between
9 and 17 houres. And in every category the best of the best, get a ticket for Hawaii. So in Hawaii, the
starters are the winners and top-position-finishers of all the normal Ironmans from all over the
world.
Asaid of this problem, it’s very expansive. Normaly if you can get a slot for Hawaii you like to
acclimate you, and train near Hawaii.