Ultraman (endurance challenge)


Ultraman is a three-day, 515 km multisport race modelled on the one held annually on the Big Island of Hawaii which is now called the Ultraman World Championship. "Ultraman" is a branding for events affiliated with the Hawaii original. Each race is divided into three stages over three days: The first is a 6.2-mile ocean swim from Kailua Bay to Keauhou Bay, followed by a 90-mile cross-country bike ride, with vertical climbs that total 6,000 feet. Stage two is a 171.4-mile bike ride from Volcanoes National Park to Kohala Village Inn in Hawi, with total vertical climbs of 4,000 feet. Stage three is a 52.4-mile 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, but encouraged to continue racing each day as participants.
This event attracts athletes who seek to explore the extreme in physical and mental abilities. The race is limited to 40 athletes on an invitation-only basis and attracts participants from around the world, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, 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 community.

History

The first Ultraman Triathlon was held in 1983 and organized by Curtis Tyler, Alex Smith, and Conrad Will. Among the group Curtis Tyler served as original race director with the goal of having more than just a competition but an event which focused on the guiding principles of Hawaiian culture.... "aloha", "ohana", and "kokua". In 1992 Tyler turned over Ultraman to Jane Bockus on the condition that there never be prize money. Jane Bockus, often referred to as "Ultra Momma", has kept the event the same with the exception of a course change in the years 2001 & 2002 with a start and finish in Kailua-Kona instead of the around the Big Island format. In 2017, Ultra Momma handed over the reins to her Assistant RD, and Sheryl Cobb took over as Race Director, with her husband David as Assistant RD. In 2018, David Cobb was added as Co-Race Director along with Sheryl.
Popularity of the previous course remained for many years, and things changed little until the 2018 Kilauea eruption. During the eruption, lava covered part of the race course in the area of "Red Road", a favorite section of the Day 2 course. The 2018 course was altered to account for this course blockage: Day 1 became an out-and-back course, ending back at T1 in Keauhou Bay; Day 2 became a challenging ride from Kona up and over the "Saddle" before meeting up with the old course, ending at Kapaa Park near Hawi; Day 3 remained unchanged, running from Hawi back to Kona. For 2019, the Day 1 course will return to the old Kona to Volcano course. Day 2 will need to alter slightly to account for the lava on Red Road, but will start in Volcano and end in Hawi as usual, and Day 3 will remain the same.
In 1993, a second Ultraman was organized in Canada which served as a qualifier event to gain entrance to Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii until 2014. A third event, Ultraman United Kingdom began in 2011 and was held in Wales for three years. Ultraman Florida launched in the Orlando region in 2014. Ultraman Australia launched in 2015 and was held in Noosa for three years. Ultraman Canada will return as a qualifier in July 2019, and Ultraman Arizona is set to launch in March 2020.

Results

YearSexPlaceAthleteAgeNationalityTime
1983Men1Kurt Madden2821:41:02
1983Women9 Ardis Bow2726:57:45
1984Men1Scott Molina2424:49:01
1984Women13 Lyn Brooks3633:15:24
1985Men1Kurt Madden3022:11:04
1985Women3 Ardis Bow2925:44:51
1986Men1Jim Freim4025:43:21
1986Women23 Sherri Wellis3833:31:19
1988Men1Gary Shields3324:42:01
1988Women18 Manako Mizuntani2835:41:14
1989Men1Gary Shields3423:14:56
1989Women8 Tina Bischoff3125:45:51
1990Men1Gary Shields3522:19:16
1990Women25 Angelika Castaneda4731:27:45
1992Men1Don Newman3326:20:23
1992Women------:--:--
1993Men1Hans-Juergen Schley3725:50:38
1993Women13 Hiroe Fukushima2534:19:52
1994Men1Daniel Schallmo3723:50:34
1994Women------:--:--
1995Men1Kevin Cutjar2923:19:39
1995Women22 Tracy Preston2532:25:37
1996Men1Erik Seedhouse3222:51:36
1996Women-------:--:--
1997Men1Peter Kotland2521:52:51
1997Women14 Tracy Preston2734:08:00
1998Men1Holger "Holgie" Spiegel2621:41:22
1998Women19 Tracy Preston2830:53:03
1999Men1John Nickles3522:46:27
1999Women17 Linda Bialla3629:19:00
2000Men1Uros Velepec3422:15:08
2000Women10 Monica Fernandez3328:08:09
2001Men1Uros Velepec3422:44:30
2001Women10 Monica Fernandez3327:56:54
2002Men1Gordo Byrn3323:24:56
2002Women12 Conny Dauben2728:32:59
2003Men1Alexandre Ribeiro3822:20:26
2003Women6 Shanna Armstrong2927:31:51
2004Men1Jonas Colting3121:41:49
2004Women16 Lauren Fithian4632:03:16
2005Men1Alexandre Ribeiro4024:32:28
2005Women4 Shanna Armstrong3128:03:34
2006Men1Jeff Landauer3924:30:47
2006Women9 Shanna Armstrong3228:13:11
2007Men1Jonas Colting3421:59:44
2007Women8 Shanna Armstrong3226:43:24
2008Men1Alexandre Ribeiro4321:49:38
2008Women10 Shanna Armstrong3426:25:03
2009Men1Alexandre Ribeiro4422:10:12
2009Women7 Shanna Armstrong3525:48:46
2010Men1Mike Le Roux3421:55:57
2010Women5 Amber Monforte3224:07:11
2011Men1Alexandre Ribeiro4622:09:54
2011Women6 Amber Monforte3324:42:02
2012Men1Alexandre Ribeiro4722:51:12
2012Women3 Amber Monforte3425:29:09
2013Men1Miro Kregar5123:42:07
2013Women3 Hillary Biscay3524:30:50
2014Men1Tobias Winnemoeller3523:28:14
2014Women7 Yasuko Miyazaki3725:40:49
2015Men1Mike Coughlin4221:44:18
2015Women15 Staci Studer4228:29:28
2016Men1Inaki De La Parra3322:34:18
2016Women6 Kate Bevilaqua3924:44:04
2017Men1Rob Gray4122:19:49
2017Women9 Steffi Steinberg3626:02:27

WR COURSE 515
Antonina Reznikov from Israel Eilat finished first place overall Ultraman israel 2019 515 km. and approved a new World Record Ultraman course among woman with a result of 22:36:55
http://www.ultramanisrael.com/
Peter Vabrousek from Czech republic holds the World Record 21 hours and 16 minutes in Ultra Czech 2019 515 km
https://ultraczech515.cz/

Ultraman Events

As of June 2020, there are four existing Ultraman Triathlons. Ultraman Florida, Ultraman Canada and Ultraman Arizona all serve as qualifiers for Ultraman World Championships