Our Perspective on Triathlon History
Dear… Friend of Triathlon,
Our perspective about triathlon history? I feel we have been reliving the last 47 years as we have read through our files. Thanks to you we may have begun to inventory it. We have much too much to make the task easy.
I have come to have a long view of the history of triathlon. Who would think that two non-athletes in their mid-30’s would happen to plant the seed of a rediscovered sport in a setting that would spur its popularity. John and I began two years of regular exercise in Coronado, California. We continued those activities when we moved to a tropical island in August of 1975. The decade and our location were ideal. Television likes to film in Hawai’i too. Our long distance triathlon took root there. I summed it up for myself one day last year. What was going on in our world between 1973 and 1980? How did it happen that Judy Collins and John Collins became links in the chain of events that led to the growth of the sport of triathlon?
Amateur Sport in the 1970’s and the 1900’s
Aerobic Sport in the 1970’s
Participation in endurance events was very popular in the 1970’s – Marathons, the lure to qualify for the Boston Marathon, The Western States 100, the Ride and Tie in the Sierra Nevadas, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Century Rides and Double Centuries by the League of American Wheelmen (LAW), the beginnings of the Bike Centennial that led to the Bicycle Race Across America (RAAM), the Iditarod sled race, the prize offered for the first bicycle-powered airplane to cross the English Channel, the routes published for the Bicentennial Year – 1976 – so that families could cross the U.S. on bicycles or horses, Long Slow Distance (LSD) running, channel swims and other long distance swim events. Back-packing and hiking were very popular too. In the 1970’s the numbers of long-distance hikers increased on the 2000 mile long Appalachian Trail and on the 2600 mile long Pacific Crest Trail.
Amateur athletes and multi sport activities
Multi-sport aerobic events had been around since at least the 1900’s, in the U.S. and in 1898 in France, for two examples. Bicycling had become very popular in the 1880’s. Amateur sport experienced a boost at the time of the revival of the Olympics in 1896. At the turn of the Century there were Trois Sports in France with bicycle, run and water legs – by swim or by boat. Medley was a popular sport. The World Champion at one time was a member of the New York Athletic Club. He completed successive 1/4 mile distances of walking, running, biking, riding, swimming and rowing in 16 Minutes, 27 seconds. Many sports competitions were one-of-a kind, run by private amateur clubs, community groups or a lifeguard group.
Before “Cross-training” had a name
Most individual recreational athletes in the 1970’s spent their time on a single sport. Some activities were sanctioned or regulated by a group such as the Amateur Athletic Union in the U.S. There was a popular belief that training in more than one sport hurt the performance of elite athletes. Some non-elite amateur athletes were discovering on their own that training in more than one sport improved their performance in all.
The influence of a tropical setting
John and I were newcomers to regular exercise in 1973. We were older. By 1978 we were ages 42 and 39. We were not fast but we could last. We and our friends in Honolulu had noticed something. When we trained in more than one sport we improved our times in competitions. I remember my surprise when I dropped my time in a run that I did after a swim meet. Then I did a best time in a swim after a hard bike ride. Those first-hand experiences paralleled my ongoing interest in triathlon. Biking, running and swimming renewed my pleasant memories of doing those activities in my childhood in Hawai’i and California. This was the 1970’s. We read about people power, Long Slow Distance, things home-grown. We had warm ocean waters, trade-winds. We lived on an island. We had to contribute to the community. We had to make our own fun. It all came together in The Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon.
Aloha,
Judy Collins
Judy Collins and John Collins, Ironman Founders
Judith MacGregor Collins
John Fletcher Collins
Founders
Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon 1978
Portobelo Panamá Triathlon 1998
Inductees
Ironman Hall of Fame 1998
USA Triathlon Hall of Fame 2013
©ThisWasTriathlon, JMC 2021