Thirty-seven years have passed since Gordon Haller became
the first athlete to cross the finish line of what would evolve to be,
arguably, the planet’s toughest single-day sporting event. The Ironman
triathlon was—and is—140.6 miles of insanity-inducing fitness hell.
But Haller set precedence and answered a dream that over
100,000 athletes attempt to replicate on a yearly basis. The Ironman’s 2.4-mile
swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile marathon leaves only the best athletes
standing (barely), only after it has grasped them in its claws of suffering and
crushed every energy source their bodies have to offer.
“I had two friends running with me, carrying water and
coke,” says Haller of his finish on Feb. 18, 1978. “When we crested the last
hill on Diamond Head, I could see the finish line two miles ahead. Barring a
real fluke, I knew I had won it. When I crossed the finish, they asked me if I
was in the race—I said, ‘I was,’ and they said, ‘Well, you’re done.’ Not
exactly Mike Reilly’s famous, ‘You ARE an Ironman!’”
Haller was one of 15 athletes who arrived in Waikiki to face
a challenge originally proposed by Honolulu-based Navy couple John and Judy
Collins, combining Hawaii’s three toughest endurance races—the 2.4-mile Waikiki
Roughwater Swim, the 112-mile Around-Oahu Bike Race and the 26.2-mile Honolulu
Marathon. And the rest is history.
“We designed the Ironman to be a challenge to the finish,
not a race,” explains Haller, who is a present-day programmer analyst at
Wal-mart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. “It proved to be a
challenge for all. Only two didn’t finish, and one of them chose to be support
for another participant.”
Haller recently spoke with SI.com about winning the
first-ever Ironman world championship in Kona, the evolution of endurance
racing, how to get through the "Final Hour" and much more.
On the first Ironman:
“I had a really good team supporting me—a masseuse, cook, two drivers,
surfboard guide and a couple of pacers. I had good nutrition, fluid intake, and
confidence in the team and myself. I knew I was the fastest and most
experienced cyclist, and the only one to have done the actual bike race. I also
knew I was the fastest marathoner. I was worried about my swim, but trusted my
guide. The swim went great and I finished in the middle, place-wise. I had the
fastest ride and was in second by the end of the ride. … After catching [John
Dunbar] at 15 miles and several other times, I realized I was running faster
than he was. At 21 miles, I beat him by 35 minutes over the last five miles.”
Take us through the
race (strongest/weakest segments and issues faced): “In the run, I had to
stop a few times for muscle cramps and [have] them massaged. I also had to make
a few bathroom stops. At least I was getting fluids. When I stopped for a
bathroom break on the bike, I was shocked to feel how difficult it was to walk
after riding that hard. It had me a little worried for the run.
“The only equipment problem was the gearing on the bike—not
low enough for the climb over the top of the island. I switched to my other
bike and made the climb easily. [My] strongest segment was the last 5.2 miles
of the run.”
Layout of the course:
“The race was held on Oahu. The events and distances were taken from the main
event of each sport. The swim was the Waikiki Roughwater Swim course, held
every Labor Day. The run was the Honolulu marathon course, held the first
weekend of December. The bike ride was a two-day stage race starting in Haleiwa
on the north shore—it was 115 miles. We shortened it to 112 and started at the
end of the swim and ended at the start of the marathon course.”
On crossing the finish for the first time: “I was feeling
really strong over the last 5.2 miles after I passed John—I ran the last 5.2 in
about 30 minutes. The last 3/4-mile was straight and flat. [It’s] always
exhilarating finishing the marathon.”
On training for the
first Ironman and how he’s evolved: “After the Marine Corps Marathon in
November of ‘77, I won a race in the Mojave Desert. Then, I returned to Hawaii
and tried to run the Honolulu Marathon. I dropped out at 6 miles due to
sciatica. A friend watching the race told me—at that point—that there was a
race invented for me. I started training with a little swimming, a lot of
Nautilus weight training and a lot of biking. In February, I cut the swimming
and bike down and ramped-up the running. I ran 187 miles in the first two weeks
of February, rode only 20 or 30 miles and only swam six times, for a total of
8,000 meters.
“These days, my training is mostly cycling, followed by
consistent swimming two or three days a week. The running is harder as my
joints are feeling the years, so I walk a lot to make up for reducing the
running. I still strength train one to three times a week.”
What makes the Ironman championship arguably the most
difficult single-day sporting event in the world: “It’s combination of
things—heat, humidity, wind and hills. Many participants make it harder by
training too hard during the week leading up to the race. The same factors that
make the race tough sap their strength before they ever start the race.”
The mental emotion
that takes place while racing the Ironman World Championship: “Beginning
with difficulty in sleeping the night before, one has to get up very early and
do all the pre-race preparation. It’s really exciting checking in at the pier,
getting the numbers on, preparing the bike, and talking to friends and
strangers. The media is everywhere, asking questions—a minor distraction, [but]
a distraction is kind of welcome. It keeps the mind off how nervous you are.
“When the cannon goes off, it’s a frenzy of action. I try to
stay on the outside of it and get into my rhythm. I concentrate on form and
breathing. When I get that under control, I think about pace and enjoy the view
until the end of the swim. … Then, the frenzy begins again in T1. My emotional
state varies depending on how the swim went. Usually optimistic, my mood can
change in a hurry depending on how the ride is going. I start calculating
numbers and splits in my head—pacing is important. The run is where I start
philosophizing. Between 13 and 19 miles, one begins to question why we are
there. This is where we find out what we are made of. If I can get to 19, I can
smell the barn and pick up the pace.
“In the last hour, the lights in town are visible and the
noise becomes audible. Turning the corner on Palani Road, it’s all downhill;
pace quickens as the crowd cheers. Turning onto Ali’i Drive, the noise is so
loud you can’t hear, you just feel like you’re floating and there’s no longer a
feeling of effort. You realize that you will once again be an Ironman. [It’s]
like no other feeling I’ve ever had.”
On the “Final Hour”
(16th hour): “I still like to stay and watch the rest of the finishers
until midnight. The crowd is so knowledgeable and really wants the finishers to
finish in time. And, they will stay after midnight to cheer for those who
didn’t quite do it fast enough, although [they’re] still covering the distance.
These are the people we made the race for; the challenge of being able to do
it. This may be the only time they get the chance.”
How the race has
evolved since the first Ironman: “We designed the Ironman to be a challenge
to finish; many people still want to do it as a challenge. [But] most of the
people who actually get to do Kona are able to race it—seems to be little room
for non-competitive participants.
“Entry fees are exponentially up. The race has become a
series of races worldwide, still leaving very little chance for most people to
do it.”
Hopes for the Ironman
following the first race and prediction for the future: “In 1978, there was
no IWC, HTC, WTC, USAT or any other owner, or governing body. We had no idea it
would ever get this big. If we did, we would be rich today. Valerie Silk had an
inkling it would grow, but I don’t think even she could envision what it is
today. She was, however, responsible for the initial exponential growth. She
was very nurturing and wanted the Ironman to be a safe and great experience for
endurance athletes. When she sold it to WTC, the Ironman took a different
direction—very commercial, but again, exponential growth. … It will be
interesting to see what the recent sale of the Ironman brand to Dalian Wanda of
China will do to the sport.
“There are so many Ironman branded races; they may have
glutted the market. There are other racing series that are more reasonably
priced and growing in popularity. They could be a competition for our triathlon
dollars.”
Personal racing
history: “My first tour of duty in the Navy landed me in Hawaii. The
weather was so nice and the running boom was just taking off in 1972, so I went
a little crazy with my running, cycling and swimming. I was named runner of the
year three times in the ‘70s in Hawaii. I won the Maui Marathon twice with
course records. In ‘75, I finished third in the National AAU 50 km road
championship. In ‘77, I finished fourth in the military division and 16th
overall in the Marine Corps Marathon. In ‘81, my teammates and I won the CIOR
Military Pentathlon world championship.”
Present-day life:
“Currently, my wife, Beth, and I participate in endurance sports, mostly
triathlons. There is a small, but growing, enthusiastic endurance-centric
community here in Northwest Arkansas. On non-race weekends, we just like to go
for long rides, maybe do a little swim workout. We socialize with our endurance
sport friends. I swim, bike, run and lift regularly, but don’t get upset if I
have to miss a workout. At 65, I don’t want to overdo it. … We are about to
become grandparents for the first time.”
Outlook/advice for
the 2015 Ironman World Championship competitors: “Pay attention to pacing,
fluids and nutrition. It gets deceptively hot due to the humidity. Whether it’s
your first Ironman or not, enjoy the trip and stay in the moment. If you’re
struggling late in the evening, it will be a good time to do some
soul-searching and find out what you’re made of.
On Sunday, write down everything you can remember of the
race and how you felt and coped with the discomforts. If you find you’re going
so slow on the run that you could walk faster, then walk for a while. It’s not
how fast you go; it’s how slow you don’t go.”