A Brief History of the Ironman World Championships

Updated OnSeptember 9, 2013

1998

  • At 20th Anniversary, race founder John Collins finishes in 16:30:02 after a 19-year hiatus from Ironman racing
  • Six of original 15 finishers compete. Race's original winner, Gordon Haller, finishes in 14:27:01
  • Canada's Peter Reid, 29, claims first Ironman Triathlon World Championship title in 8:24:20
  • Natascha Badmann takes women's race in 9:24:16

1999

  • Canadian Lori Bowden breaks marathon course record with a 2:59:16 on her way to women's crown -- 9:13:02
  • Luc Van Lierde, who still holds course record set in 1996, wins second title in 8:17:17
  • Lyn Brooks, 51, becomes first person to finish 20 consecutive Ironman World Championship races with time of 14:44:20

2000

  • Wind conditions are some of worst ever. Some competitors are even knocked off their bike and out of the race.
  • Peter Reid (8:21:01) and Natascha Badmann (9:26:17) both win second titles

2001

  • Three weeks after September 11, American Tim DeBoom, returns Ironman crown to the U.S. for the first time since 1995 -- 8:31:18

2002

  • Tim DeBoom (8:29:56) and Natascha Badmann (9:07:54) repeat as champions
  • Norton Davey, 84, becomes Ironman's oldest starter ever

2003

  • Peter Reid, second a year ago, reclaims title in 8:22:35
  • For the first time, 20 slots are auctioned off on E-bay to raise more than $400,000 for the Kona YMCA

2004

  • Natascha Badmann wins her fifth title in 9:50:04
  • Germany's Normann Stadler wins his first Ironman World Championship in 8:33:29

2005

  • Natascha Badmann races to sixth Kona crown in 9:09:30, edging Michellie Jones by only 2:21
  • Faris Al-Sultan becomes the third German to win in Hawaii, claiming the title in 8:14:17
  • 80-year-old Robert McKeague of Illinois becomes the oldest athlete to cross an Ironman finish line, with a time of 16:21:55
  • Californian Sarah Reinertsen is the first female amputee to finish, clocking in at 15:05:12

2006

  • Normann Stadler (8:11:56) sets a bike-course record in 4:18:23 to beat Australian Chris McCormack by less than two minutes
  • Michellie Jones cruises to her first championship in 9:18:31

2007

  • After starting his seventh World Championship, Chris McCormack finally crosses the tape first, winning with a time of 8:15:34
  • Less than a year after turning pro, Chrissie Wellington runs the second-fastest marathon in women's IMWC history and stuns the field to claim the title in 9:08:45

2008

  • Following his second-place finish a year earlier, Australian Craig Alexander takes over on the run and wins his first Ford Ironman World Championship crown with a time of 8:17:45
  • Despite having to borrow an inner tube from a fellow competitor to fix a flat, Chrissie Wellington makes it two in a row as women's champion. She sets the women's run course record with a 2:57:44 marathon, finishing the race in 9:06:23
  • Ironman celebrates its 30th year of racing in Hawaii