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O n 14 October it was once again time for the big race - the IRONMAN World Championship, which was car-
Oried out for the 24th time on the island of Hawaii. With the Olympic triathlon events in Sydney this year, Hawaii did get some'competition', but ordy in a positive sense.
The Olympic distance triathlon consists of a 1.5 k swim, 40 k bike and 10 k run and the race is over is less than 2 hours. In Hawaii the course record, which is held by Luc van Lierde, is 8:04.08. So we can talk about two completely different events, which place totally different demands on the athletes. Only a few manage to do well in both the short and long distance events.

and physical challenge either by qualifying at a race during the year or by winning a lottery siot. That Hawaii is really one of the toughest endurance sports is proven by the fact that one of the worid's best bike pros, who has successfully competed eight times in the 'Tour of Pain', the famous bike tour through France, came to the Big Island in the Pacific this year in search of pain. Udo Bölts, the Telekom pro, decided to become unfaithful to his sport, in order to test the linüts of his body.

Since 1996, when while on vacation he met Lothar Leder, it has been his greatest wish to compete in the Ironman on Hawaii. The two of them first just biked together, but then Bölts went along for the swim and the run. "That's when 1 decided: I'm going to try it." (Spiegel 41/2000)
Udo Bölts, who for many years had helped jan Ullrich, win- ner of the Tour de France, did not only try it out, but he also finished 168th in a time of 10:02.41. To select the IRONMAN Hawaii as his first triathlon was already very courageous, but then to finish in that time is unbelievable. The bike splits of the triathletes, whose performances on the bike are often belittled, were also sensational. A total of 7 triathietes had faster bike splits than the bike pro from Heitersberg. On the flight back to Frankfurt Bölts told me that never in his long career as a bike pro had he experienced such winds and the pains during the marathon were brutal if not even unbear- able.
Another indication that this event, which triathion junkies make a pilgrimage to, is one of the toughest sport events is the fact that very many short-distance triathletes, who very suc- cessfully complete their 51.5 k, either arrive at the finishing- line in the dark or they 'dry up' between NELH (Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii), better known as Energy-Lab, and Alii Drive in the midst of the expansive lava fields. For Hawaii, you have to be able to qualify first, but then to sur- vive there is another story. Especially when the shi... trade wind MUMUKU hits you from the side with a velocity of more than 90 k/h - as it did this year. 1 was a victim of this wind that frequently changed its direction (5:23 compared to 4-40 in Klagenfurt). This year it is said to have been the worst it's ever been, as many-time starter (17 times) and finisher (10th place) Ken Glah (short in the front long in the back - referring to his hair) said in the finish area. Last year is sup- posed to have been the most 'pleasant', but 1 can tell you - it was so stormy that even if the winds had been only half as strong as they were, that would have been enough for me.

What else makes the Hawaii IRONMAN what it is? The out- rageously high prices that change almost every day ($5 one day for a fax, $7 the next day), the continuous change from hot-humid temperatures to air-conditioned-cold tempera- tures, swim training in the morning among the hyped-up ath- letes exchanging thoughts and stories about accumulated kilometers, the exaggerated check-in procedure and the Americans who think they are so important the excessive and ever-present marketing of the IRONMAN, the awards ban- quet that is something between the Oscar ceremony and an open-air religious event, the long flight from Europe - cer- tainly not these things.
lt is the uniqueness, the history of its origin that is steeped in legend, the rough and therefore unique conditions, the tri-