THE IRONMAN TRIATHLON COMMUNITY
1977 – 1989: Men and women, together, helped Ironman to make its way in the first 12 years. Alphabetically they were athletes, businesses, coaches, clubs, family, fans, friends, locals, magazines, newspapers, professionals, public employees and officials, radio, scribes, sponsors, television, television viewers and volunteers! Every single person involved contributed to the success of Ironman. Two names made a huge difference in the visibility of the IM Triathlon away from the Islands. Barry McDermott of Sports Illustrated wrote an article in 1979 that was seen by Bob Iger at ABC Sports who then encouraged “Wide World of Sports” to cover the event and the Collinses said yes to ABC cameras at the 12 January 1980 Iron Man.
HELP FROM FRIENDS
The volunteers who helped Judy and John Collins put on the triathlons in Honolulu were Kristin and Michael Collins and Shipyard and Swim Club friends – Steve Clendenin, Dave Drum, Lew Felton, Bill Larson, Dan Richardson, Harold Sexton, Bill Walden – and the boat driver from the Outrigger Canoe Club.
THE DATE MISTAKE
The 1978 triathlon date had been picked because it was an open weekend on the swim and run calendar for the year. The Honolulu Marathon was mid December, the Perimeter Relays were mid January, thus the mid February date for the first triathlon. Marathon Clinic advice was to space long distance events 4 weeks apart. Off season was from after the Marathon until the beginning of the Honolulu Marathon Clinic the first week of March. In 1982 there were two Ironman triathlons in Kona, one in February, the other in October. The Triathlon has been held in October ever since. Good move. Judy Collins expected to see a small turnout on 18 February 1978 with an equal number of women and men. She planned to be one of them. The women – and men – they had expected to see might have taken part if the dates had been in October, say, and not in the rainy and windy months of January and February.
STRANGERS
The athletes both years were mostly strangers to Judy and John. In 1978 they recognized three from the Waikiki Swim Club, two from Coronado CA. The Collinses knew the phone number of one, the Coronado friend who lived nearby. There was a meeting at the Collins house on Wednesday before the triathlon in 1978. Not everyone was there. Entry forms were handed out at the Saturday morning swim at Ala Moana Beach Park or at a run event. The “Iron Man” trophy was picked up at the Collins home on Sunday 19 February 1978. There was an Awards ceremony in 1979 on a Monday evening because the triathlon had been delayed until Sunday. It was held at Honolulu harbor dockside of the the Hokūle’a, the Polynesian Voyaging canoe. Judy and John Collins would have a chance to talk to some of the 1978 athletes for the first time at Kona in 1988.
TRIATHLON VOLUNTEERS
There were IM volunteers on O’ahu and Hawai’i whose names are not on record. In Honolulu there were volunteers on the support teams for the individual athletes. The minimum was one driver in one vehicle. For example, Jeff Cleve was the support vehicle driver for Michael Collins in 1979. Nautilus-sponsored athlete Gordon Haller was reported to have 6 on his support team. At least one athlete had a masseur at the bike-run transition at Aloha Tower. In 1978 and 1979 the support teams carried the electrolyte drink that was supplied to each athlete in powder form, Gookinaid. The driver carried dimes for public phones. The “team” called in the athlete location on the bike course to the volunteers at the tracking center at Pearl Harbor. That was a room with a big map of the island. Support vehicles for athletes were familiar to those who ran in the O’ahu Perimeter Relays put on by the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club each year.
AID STATION VOLUNTEERS AND SOME EARLY ’80’S NAMES
In 1981 Silk and Yamaguchi replaced the triathlete support vehicles with aid stations. Each volunteer on the course wore a colorful Triathlon shirt for that year. The hundreds of volunteers became thousands as the race grew. Silk and Yamaguchi were helped by many to establish Ironman on the Big Island. Among them were Bob Herkes, Bob Laird, Mo and B’Gay Matthews, Curt and Lesley Tyler and Vince Yim.
HAWAIIAN TRIATHLON CORPORATION
It was Race Director Valerie Silk who put Ironman Triathlon on a business footing as Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation (HTC). Ironman grew fast during Silk’s decade at the helm. The new sport of Ironman Triathlon was on its way when Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation sold Ironman in December 1989.
[See Also “Overview of the early Ironman years 1974 – 1989 <thiswastriathlon.org>]
Judith MacGregor Collins 2023
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