Today
The Ironman format remains unchanged, and the Hawaiian Ironman is still regarded as an honored and prestigious triathlon event to win worldwide. Although thousands of athletes worldwide compete at an Ironman event each year, the vast majority aim simply to just finish the course if they are first timers, or set a personal record if they've raced this distance before. Only very talented athletes realistically compete for a spot in Hawaii, and just finishing an Ironman race is often the highlight of many triathletes' career.
People completing such an event within the strict event time cutoffs are agreed to be recognized as "Ironmen": the plural "Ironmans" refers to multiples of "Ironman" as a short form of "Ironman Triathlon." In the triathlon community an Ironman is someone who has completed a race of the appropriate distance, whether or not it falls under the aegis of WTC.
Read more about this topic: Ironman Triathlon
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“A good book is the best of friends, the same today and for ever.”
—Martin Tupper (1810–1889)
“Even today a crude sort of persecution is all that is required to create an honorable name for any sect, no matter how indifferent in itself.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“What
Reply can the vast flowering strike from us,
Unless it be the one
You make today in London: to be married?”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)