Ahead of the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships on Saturday 10 October, World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) has released a series of statistics that put the iconic event in context.
On 18 February 1978, 15 competitors took on the original challenge that has become the Ironman. Included in the list of pre-race instructions were these final words of encouragement: "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!"
In 2008 Ironman celebrated its 30th anniversary in style. Now WTC is gearing up for the 31st anniversary of the sport’s biggest event. The following statistics were sent in by event timer Marc Roy, and give some of the numbers ahead of this Saturday’s race:
By gender:
Female: 508, 27.4% of the field.
Men: 1345, 72.6% of the field.
Total: 1853
There are 58 countries represented. Across the total field there are 395 first time Kona competitors (just over one fifth of the total field).
There are 7 birthdays on race day. The youngest competitor on the day is 20 year old Ryann Fraser of Canada. Meanwhile, Australia’s Robert Southwell will try to become only the second 80 year old to finish an Ironman.
WTC also details the share of race participants by category (male/female pro triathletes, age-groupers). Full details of the pre-race statistics can be found online.
