A Brief History of the Ironman World Championships

1988

• Paula Newby-Fraser becomes first women to break five hours on the bike. Wins in record-breaking 9:01:01

1989

• Following an eight-hour, neck-and-neck race, Mark Allen accelerates in the final two miles to edge Dave Scott by 58 seconds and win in 8:09:15
• Paula Newby-Fraser inches closer to becoming first woman under nine-hours -- 9:00:56

1990

• World Triathlon Corporation formed after veteran triathlete Dr. Jim Gills buys Ironman
• Alterations to the race course take it to the south end of Alii Drive and along the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Road

1991

• Mark Allen makes it three-in-a-row -- 8:18:32
• Paula Newby-Fraser takes her fourth title -- 9:07:52
• 1,312 finishers is an Ironman record

1992

• Mark Allen wins unprecedented fourth consecutive title in record time of 8:09:08
• Paula Newby-Fraser becomes first woman to eclipse nine-hour mark -- 8:55:28

1993

• 35-year-old Mark Allen races to fifth consecutive title in 8:07:45
• Paula Newby-Fraser joins Dave Scott as only people with six Kona victories -- 8:58:23

1994

• Paula Newby-Fraser makes it seven with fourth consecutive title -- 9:20:14
• Australian Greg Welch comes in at 8:20:27, four minutes, five seconds ahead of 40-year-old Dave Scott
• Dr. Jon Franks becomes first wheelchair competitor in race's history. Franks misses bike cutoff time, but completes entire 112-mile bike course using a hand-powered bike

1995

• Mark Allen returns to Ironman World Championship after one-year hiatus and claims sixth Ironman title in seven years finishing in 8:20:34
• Karen Smyers passes Paula Newby-Fraser with less than a quarter-mile left in race to win in 9:16:46
• Headwinds on the course reach up to 45 miles per hour
• Darryl Haley, 6'5", 300 lbs., former NFL offensive lineman, becomes largest athlete to ever complete the race

1996

• Belgian Luc Van Lierde, becomes first European athlete to win the event, setting the current course record in his initial Ironman with a time of 8:04:08
• Paula Newby-Fraser wins eighth Hawaii Ironman title in 9:06:49, running down Iron-rookie Natascha Badmann of Switzerland during the latter part of the marathon

1997

• Strong headwinds averaging 30 mph slow the bike, and cloudless skies with temperatures in the low 90s combine to produce the slowest finish times in a decade
• Heather Fuhr of Canada claims first Ironman title in 9:31:43
• Physically-challenged division debuts. John MacLean of Australia becomes first athlete to power a hand-crank bike and wheelchair to an official finish
• Jim Ward competes as the first 80-year-old in race history

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