33 Ironman triathlons in 33 days–a case study

Abstract

This case report presents the performance of an athlete who completed for the first time in history the total distance of 33 Ironman triathlons within 33 consecutive days. The athlete finished the total distance of 7,458 km (i.e. 125 km swimming, 5,940 km cycling and 1,393 km running) within a total time of 410 h and a mean time of 12 h 27 min per Ironman distance. During the 33 days, the athlete became slower in swimming (r2 = 0.27, p = 0.0019), transition time 1 (r2 = 0.66, p < 0.001), and transition time 2 (r2 = 0.48, p < 0.0001). However, in cycling (r2 = 0.07, p = 0.13), running (r2 = 0.04, p = 0.25) and overall race time (r2 = 0.10, p = 0.069), the athlete was able to maintain his performance during the 33 days. The coefficients of variation (CV) for the split times in swimming, cycling, running and overall race times were very low (i.e. 2.7%, 3.2%, 4.7%, and 2.7%, respectively) whereas the CV for transition times 1 and 2 were considerably higher (i.e. 25.5% and 55.5%, respectively). During the 33 days, body mass decreased from 83.0 kg to 80.5 kg (r2 = 0.55, p < 0.0001). Plasma [Na+] remained within the reference range, creatine kinase, blood glucose and liver enzymes were minimally elevated above the reference range after four of five stages where blood analyses were performed. This case report shows that this athlete finished 33 Ironman triathlons within 33 consecutive days with minor variations over time (i.e. even pacing) in both split times and overall race times. This performance was most probably due to the high experience of the athlete, his pacing strategy and the stable environmental conditions.

What is the age for the fastest ultra-marathon performance in time-limited races from 6 h to 10 days?

“…In a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon, race time was related to both the number of finished Triple Iron triathlons and the personal best time in a Triple Iron triathlon (Herbst et al 2011). Also for triathlon distances longer than the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon, previous experience seemed important for a successful outcome (Knechtle et al 2014a, b). In the longest inline marathon in Europe (111 km), the "Inline One-Eleven" in Switzerland, age, duration per training unit and personal best time were the only three variables related to race time (Knechtle et al 2012d).…”

What predicts performance in ultra-triathlon races? &ndash; a comparison between Ironman distance triathlon and ultra-triathlon

“…Pacing during both an Ironman and an ultra-triathlon seems predictive for overall race time. 5 , 29 , 71 – 73 Pacing during a multi-stage ultra-triathlon such as Deca Iron ultra-triathlon seemed highly predictive. 29 In a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon held for 10 days, the daily time for each Ironman distance triathlon increased during the race (ie, positive pacing) where day 1 was the fastest (762 minutes) and day 10 the slowest (943 minutes).…”

Self-Selected Pacing During a World Record Attempt in 40 Ironman-Distance Triathlons in 40 Days

“…Triathletes push their limits as much as the ultra-runners with completing daily an Ironman-distance triathlon for as many days as possible. While the longest scientifically verified self-paced event was 33 Ironman-distance triathlons in 33 days in summer 2013 [7], we present here the pacing in the first and only athlete to complete a scientifically verified (all data collected and open available for detailed analysis) self-paced world record attempt to finish 40 Ironman-distance triathlons within 40 days held in autumn 2019. We also investigated potential predictor variables for split disciplines (i.e., cycling and running) and overall performance.…”

“…While distances of 2× to 10× Ironman are regularly held, only one official race of 30×Ironman-distance triathlons was ever held in autumn 2013 [6]. To date, only one athlete went beyond the 30 days in a self-paced event completing 33 Ironman-distance triathlons in 33 days also held in summer 2013 [7].…”