Ironman 1978: A Bet Made at an Awards Banquet, 15 Starters
Ironman history starts with a debate between runners and swimmers at a race awards banquet in Hawaii. In February 1978, 15 competitors plunge into the water at Waikiki to settle it. 12 make it to the end, and the first one will be called the “Iron Man.”
By the PacePoster desk · · 3 min · 7 sources
01Who is the fittest?
The scene is a 1977 awards banquet for a relay around the island of Oahu. At the table, runners and swimmers argue: who is in better shape? John Collins, a U.S. Navy officer, adds a third candidate. He cites, the military paper Stars and Stripes tells it, a *Sports Illustrated* article saying cyclist Eddy Merckx had the highest oxygen uptake ever measured. What if cyclists were the strongest?
02Three races in one
Collins invents nothing. He proposes stringing together three events that already exist on Oahu: the Waikiki rough-water swim (2.4 miles), the round-the-island bike ride (112 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). He and his wife, Judy, already know triathlon: they raced in some in San Diego in the mid-1970s.
Brag for the rest of your life!
03Ironman history in one sentence
The bet fits in a sentence: whoever finishes first will be the “Iron Man.” Collins's exact words vary from one account to another. Active.com and Bleacher Report credit him with these: “Whoever finishes first, we'll call the Ironman.” Others report only the idea. The rule sheet handed to each competitor ends with a rallying cry: “Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!”
0415 at the start
On February 18, 1978, at Waikiki, 15 competitors take the start. The program: an ocean swim, a bike ride around the island, then a marathon to Kapiolani Park in Honolulu, where the finish is judged. Each athlete brings his own support crew, in charge of following and feeding him. 12 will finish.
05Haller, 11:46
The winner is Gordon Haller, 27. His time differs by source: 11:46:40 for USA Triathlon and TriZone, 11:46:58 for Active.com. According to USA Triathlon, he posts the best bike split of the day and runs his marathon in 3:30.
John Collins finishes too, in a little over 17 hours (17:00:38 according to TriZone). The man who started the bet saw it through.
Sources for this story (7)
Every fact was cross-checked in at least two independent sources. Where they disagree, the story says so.
- First Annual Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon : autorisation, bulletin d'inscription et guide de l'athlète (1978) — archives trihistory.com (PDF)
- 12 finishers of original 1978 Hawaii Ironman inducted into Hall of Fame — USA Triathlon (2023)
- Ironman competition co-founded by Navy officer in 1978 — Stars and Stripes (2008)
- A Brief History of the Ironman World Championships — Active.com (2013)
- Respect the Race: everything you wanted to know about Ironman — Bleacher Report
- 40 years of Ironman — TriZone (Shawn Smith, 2018)
- Why We Started the Iron Man — Judy et John Collins, thiswastriathlon.org (2021)
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