Ultimate Challenge – Ultraman World Championship
By Zac Grace: The Ultraman World Championship is one of a kind of triathlon that puts the endurance level of the fittest athletes on test during the three days it is held. It is a race that covers 320 miles and stages the best athletes of the world in a rare event of its kind that is held annually in the island of Hawaii. The 28th Ultraman World Championship is about to start, it will be held November 23-25, 2012. So let’s get to know it a bit before we tune in.
Format: The basic format of the competition has been the same throughout the three decades the Ultraman Championship has taken place. It is divided among three stages. The first step requires the athletes to swim through ocean from Bay of Kailua to Keauhou Bay covering a distance of around 6.2 miles followed by a 9 mile bike ride that has to endure vertical climbs of around 6000 feet on the way.
Then come the second stage from the Volcanoes Park to the Kohala Village where the athletes need to ride their bikes through 4000 feet vertical climbs and finally the athletes need to cover a distance of around 52 miles in the third stage double marathon race.
Rules: The first part of the first stage, i.e., the ocean swim race needs to be completed within five and a half hour and the rest part in the next six and a half hours. Similarly the second and the third stages are needed to be completed in twelve hours each and the inability to do would lead to the disqualification of the participant.
Participants: All the athletes from across the world can apply to be a part of this event. But only odd forty participants are selected and invitation is send to each of them. It is mandatory for all the selected participants to cross the age of twenty before the stage one of the race starts.
History: Originally conceived by Curtis Tyler, Conrad Will and Alex Smith, the Ultraman Championship was first held in the year 1983 and instantly gained too much popularity. It was started to serve love, family and help as a mark to the Hawaiian culture of aloha, ohana and kokua.
The significant part of the race was that there was no prize money and all the participants participated just to test their mental and physical abilities and to celebrate the spirit of the game. Jane Bockus took over as the race director in 1992 replacing Tyler and henceforth has not made any major modifications in the format of the game.
The World Championship is one of the most popular races of its format. With two more Ultramen races held at Wales in Great Britain and in Canada, the race is no longer a forty participant race. Rather many more participants and their families can be a part of this.
Though there is no prize many, still the single reason to be a part of this mega event draws the best of the best athletes from all the corners of the world is the way sports gets celebrated. The Ultraman Championship is seen not as a competition between athletes but the competition with one’s own self.
Author Bio: This article was written by Zac Grace who writes for Bont.com, triathlon cycling shoes manufacturer whose shoes are used by top athletes, including the winner of Tour de France.
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