MEDIA RELEASE
WHO
Each year, approximately 110,000 athletes participate in Ironman/ Ironman 70.3 Qualifier Series worldwide for their chance to qualify. In 2010, 7,339 athletes entered the Ironman Lottery, which awards 150 slots to U.S. citizens, 50 slots to international athletes and approximately five slots to physically challenged athletes.
PURSE
A total prize purse of $560,000 is distributed among the 10 professional male and female finishers. The first-place male and female finishers each receive $110,000, while the second place finishers receive $55,000. A total of $20,000 are made available to professional athletes.
2009 CHAMPS
Returning champions Craig Alexander, of Australia, and Chrissie Wellington, of Great Britain. Alexander joined an elite group of competitors to become only the fourth man to defend his crown at the event. Wellington finished 23rd overall and secured her third- consecutive World Championship title. Wellington’s winning time broke the course record of eight-time Ironman World Champion, Paula Newby-Fraser, of Zimbabwe, with an overall time of 8 hours, 54 minutes and 2 seconds.
COURSE RECORDS
Men – Luc Van Lierde (BEL), 8:04:08 in 1996
Women – Chrissie Wellington (GBR), 8:54:02 in 2009
BY THE NUMBERS
During the course of the race, more than 235,000 cups; 46,600 bike bottles; 20,000 gallons of fluid replacement, cola, water and soup; 66 cases of bananas and 261 bottles of sunscreen are used, provided by more than 5,000 volunteers along the 140.6-mile course. Throughout the day, athletes receive encouragement and cheers from more than 20,000 spectators.
THE ‘AVERAGE’ IRONMAN
“Average†is a word not typically associated with Ironman athletes. Considering the accomplishments and abilities of athletes ranging from Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington to Robert McKeague, Charles Plaskon and Ricky James, it will take quite a fitness explosion for the media to refer to Ironman athletes as, well … “Average Joes.â€
With this preoccupation on extraordinary feats, it is easy to overlook the fact that most competitors hold more in common with the general population than one might expect. They are doctors, attorneys and firemen. They may even be your neighbor.
Of the approximately 1,800 athletes participating in this year’s event, 72 percent are male and 28 percent are female. A total of 983 athletes are participating in Kona for the first time.
The countries most represented are the United States, Germany and Australia.
Some of the areas of occupation with the highest percentage of athletes are: accountants, students, attorneys, consultants, sales man- agers and scientists. Other athletes are: writers, artists, dentists and architects.
The male 40-44, 35-39 and 45-49 are the age groups with the highest number of athletes.
The youngest athletes scheduled to compete are Konoka Azumi, 21, of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan and Brandon Perea, 19, from Hilo.
The Ironman World Championship boasts more than 30 athletes over the age of 70, including this year’s oldest registered competitors, Harriet Anderson, 75, of San Carlos, Calif., and Lew Hollander, 80, from Bend, Ore.
You could be thinking, ‘‘I could do that, but what does it take to train?’’ Never fear, there are average times for this, too. Triathletes train an average of seven months for Ironman. The average hours per week devoted to training for Ironman generally fall between 18 and 30-plus.
By Gender SEX = F 530 27.5% SEX = M 1396 72.4%
By Category CATEGORY = MPRO 68 3.5% CATEGORY = WPRO 53 2.8% CATEGORY = M18-24 41 2.1% CATEGORY = M25-29 95 4.9% CATEGORY = M30-34 170 8.8% CATEGORY = M35-39 245 12.7% CATEGORY = M40-44 265 13.8% CATEGORY = M45-49 197 10.2% CATEGORY = M50-54 133 6.9% CATEGORY = M55-59 68 3.5% CATEGORY = M60-64 51 2.6% CATEGORY = M65-69 27 1.4% CATEGORY = M70-74 23 1.2% CATEGORY = M75-79 9 0.5% CATEGORY = M80+ 1 0.1% CATEGORY = W18-24 27 1.4% CATEGORY = W25-29 45 2.3% CATEGORY = W30-34 69 3.6% CATEGORY = W35-39 80 4.2% CATEGORY = W40-44 77 4.0% CATEGORY = W45-49 66 3.4% CATEGORY = W50-54 41 2.1% CATEGORY = W55-59 33 1.7% CATEGORY = W60-64 23 1.2% CATEGORY = W65-69 12 0.6% CATEGORY = W70-74 2 0.1% CATEGORY = W75-79 1 0.1% CATEGORY = MHCYCLE 3 0.2% CATEGORY = WHCYCLE 1 0.1%
By Country: CNTRY = ARE 1 0.1% CNTRY = ARG 13 0.7% CNTRY = AUS 152 7.9% CNTRY = AUT 37 1.9% CNTRY = BEL 47 2.4% CNTRY = BMU 3 0.2% CNTRY = BRA 32 1.7% CNTRY = CAN 97 5.0% CNTRY = CHL 1 0.1% CNTRY = CHN 1 0.1% CNTRY = COL 3 0.2% CNTRY = CZE 4 0.2% CNTRY = DNK 19 1.0% CNTRY = ECU 2 0.1% CNTRY = ESP 23 1.2% CNTRY = EST 2 0.1% CNTRY = FRA 48 2.5% CNTRY = FXX 4 0.2% CNTRY = GBR 63 3.3% CNTRY = GER 214 11.1% CNTRY = GLP 1 0.1% CNTRY = GTM 1 0.1% CNTRY = HKG 8 0.4% CNTRY = HUN 4 0.2% CNTRY = IRL 3 0.2% CNTRY = ISR 2 0.1% CNTRY = ITA 15 0.8% CNTRY = JPN 65 3.4% CNTRY = KOR 11 0.6% CNTRY = LIE 1 0.1% CNTRY = LUX 1 0.1% CNTRY = MEX 17 0.9% CNTRY = MYS 4 0.2% CNTRY = NCL 4 0.2% CNTRY = NLD 18 0.9% CNTRY = NOR 7 0.4% CNTRY = NZL 34 1.8% CNTRY = PAN 4 0.2% CNTRY = PHL 2 0.1% CNTRY = POL 1 0.1% CNTRY = PYF 1 0.1% CNTRY = QAT 1 0.1% CNTRY = REU 1 0.1% CNTRY = SAF 1 0.1% CNTRY = SGP 5 0.3% CNTRY = SVK 3 0.2% CNTRY = SVN 2 0.1% CNTRY = SWE 7 0.4% CNTRY = SWI 58 3.0% CNTRY = THA 1 0.1% CNTRY = TUR 1 0.1% CNTRY = TWN 1 0.1% CNTRY = UKR 1 0.1% CNTRY = USA 862 44.7% CNTRY = ZAF 9 0.5%
— Find out more:
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