The Ironman Hawaii saw its premiere on February 18, 1978: 15 athletes – all men – started in Honolulu on the challenge of combining three popular island competitions: the 3.8-kilometer Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the 180.2-kilometer Around Oahu Bike Race and the 42.195-kilometer Hononolulu Marathon. Gordon Haller was the fastest of the 12 finishers, completing the race in 11:46:40 and becoming the first Iron Man to be written in two words at the time.
The learning curve is steep for a new event – course records tumbled early on, including on the Big Island where the race moved in 1982. The record lasted the longest after Luc van Lierde’s victory in 1996 in 8:04:04 hours. And finally: The records tumble again with the advent of new technologies …