Ironman Triathlon and Triathlon at Olympic

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a (3.86 km)swim, a (180.25 km) bike and a marathon 42.195 kilometer run, raced in that order and without a break. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the race, where the Ironman race starts at 7:00 AM, the mandatory swim cut off for the (3.9 km) swim is 2 hours 20 minutes, the bike cut off time is 5:30 PM, and all finishers must complete their marathon by midnight.

The name Ironman Triathlon refers to both the original Ironman triathlon and the annual Ironman World Championship. Also called Ironman Hawaii, the world championships of the event, held annually in Hawaii since 1978 with an additional race in 1982 and are now preceded by a series of qualifying events. Ironman Triathlon became known for its grueling length, harsh race conditions, and television coverage.

The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay. Among the participants were numerous representatives of both the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers. On this occasion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins pointed out that a recent article in Sports Illustrated magazine had declared that Eddy Merckx, the great Belgian cyclist, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. CDR Collins and his wife Judy Collins had taken part in the triathlons staged in 1974 and 1975 by the San Diego Track Club in and around Mission Bay, California, as well as the 1975 Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in Coronado, California. A number of the other military athletes in attendance were also familiar with the San Diego races, so they understood the concept when Collins suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long distance competitions already on the island: the Waikiki Rough water Swim (3.86 km), the Around Oahu Bike Race (185.07 km) and the Honolulu Marathon 42.195 km.

There are 27 Ironman Triathlon races throughout the world that enable qualification for 2012 Ironman World Championships. Professional athletes qualify for the championship through a point ranking system, where points are earned based on their final placement in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events. The top 50 male and top 30 female professionals in points qualify for the championship. Amateur athletes qualify for the championship by receiving slots allocated to each age group's top finishers in a qualifying event. Olympic Triathlon Tickets are easily available at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange is a single point which offers you the Olympic Triathlon Tickets at very cheap rates. Olympic Tickets Resale also offers you a charming returning at Sport Ticket Exchange.