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Event
Information:
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: 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.
This
event attracts athletes who seek to
explore the extreme in physical and
mental abilities. The race is
limited to 35 athletes on an
invitation-only basis and attracts
participants from around the world,
including Brazil, Canada, Italy,
Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia
and the United States. Racers must
have reached their 20th birthday
prior to the start of stage one.
Each racer must be accompanied by an
individual support team of at least
two people over the entire course.
Many support team members are
volunteers from the Big Island
community.
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.
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