2009 Ultraman World Championships

One additional event occurred over Thanksgiving weekend that we haven't been able to give justice to yet. Instead of feasting on a massive Thanksgiving dinner spread, 37 triathletes and one relay team prepared to embark on a journey that makes the Ironman seem tame by comparison. The 2009 Ultraman World Championships began on Friday, November 27 and over three days took the competitors on a 320-mile tour of the Big Island.

Entrance into the Ultraman World Championships is by invitation only, with over 50% having participated in a prior Ultraman competition. Many of those individuals represented foreign nations, with participants coming from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia, Slovenia, Ireland, Switzerland, and the US. Unlike in Ironman, Ultraman competitors are allowed to have crew members helping them out on their journey. A paddler accompanies the Ultraman through the swim portion and the crew follows in a van for the bike and run portions, carrying fuel, extra tires and other gear that might be needed.

Before the sun even came over the mountains the day after Thanksgiving, the Ultraman participants were preparing for a 6.2 mile swim from Kailua Pier to Keauhou Bay.




About 2.5 hours later, the leaders began to arrive at Keauhou Bay for their transition from the swim to the first portion of the bike course. Up next was a 90-mile bike ride from Keauhou to Volcano, with over 7,500 feet of climbing. According to reports, this segment of the competition was brutal, with a stiff headwind leading to a major increase in times compared to prior years. Several participants barely slid under the day's cut-off time.

The competitors then were able to get a rest and some fuel before tacking Saturday's 171.4 mile bike ride from Volcano to Hawi, passing through Hilo, Waimea and parts of the Kohala range. Based on comments from the participants, conditions were more favorable for this portion of the ride, so aside from being a long ride, it wasn't nearly as strenuous as the previous day's ride.

After sleeping in Hawi for the night, the competitors were ready for the 52.4 mile run (a double marathon!) from Hawi through the lava fields to Old Airport in Kona.

Miro Kregar was the first Ultraman to reach the finish line with a run time of 6:20:07 - an amazing time for such a distance.

Miro had started the day in second place and needed to beat Alexandre Ribeiro by approximately 40 minutes in the run portion to win the competition. So all Miro had left to do was wait and see how long it took Ribeiro to finish the run course.

Ribeiro crossed the line approximately ten minutes later to claim the Ultraman victory, 22:10:22 to 22:39:14.

On the women's side, Shanna Armstrong finished first with a time of 25:48:46, only the second woman ever to finish under 26 hours. In addition, Ann Heaslett broke the run course record by 35 minutes with a time of 7:12:07.

The next day, the oldest Ultraman finisher, Ellis Andrews stopped by the store to say hello, accompanied by his crew. He was moving amazingly well for someone who had just completed such a taxing event. And he was all smiles as he talked about the experience, which is less about competition and more about aloha (love), ohana (family), and kokua (help).


Congratulations to all of the finishers, including those who stopped by the store from time to time - Ellis, Sheena, and Suzy! Ultraman was an amazing event to witness!