Caption: "Power It." After finishing the swim at Haikou's Nandu River, an athlete runs thru the showers in the transition area (TA) and onwards to the bike section. Despite the Ironman name, many participants and pros in this active-lifestyle event are women.
Caption: "Together Stronger." Swimmers prepare in the early morning at Haikou's Nandu River for the swim-portion of the Ironman China competition. Teams and friends often travel and compete together, especially in the co-event 70.3 Ironman China which is part of a 31 event-series held around the world
Caption: "Always higher." Participants from all around the world and especially Asia come to Ironman China in Haikou City "International Tourism Island" to bring out the best in themselves and also for a chance to go to Kona, Hawaii for the key Ironman race.
Caption:Ironman China airs on ESPN International, Universal Sports.Don't miss the dramatic coverage of Ironman China, presented by K-Swiss, which begins appearing on ESPN International and it's networks beginning July 18th and will run through September 4th. Check local listings for the times in your area. The show will also appear on Universal Sports.Two-time Danish Olympian Rasmus Henning and Australia's Charlotte Paul would eventually win the Ironman race. There will also be a quick recap of the Ironman 70.3 event, which was won by Aussies Chris McCormack and Amanda Balding.
Caption: Brad Dillon, Director of Photography Ironman China, based in Singapore, visits Haikou City at Crown Spa Resort Hainan to supervises motorcycle camera crew training for ESPN International filming of race in collaboration with Haikou TV.
Bikes, Motorbikes, and Lots of Practice"It was a thrill to come to Haikou at the invitation of Peter Henning, the tv producer for Ironman China. Peter has filmed and produced the Tour De France for over a decade and is an old hand at doing sports filming. As we are an international competition, the expectations on us are very high to produce a well-organized event for the athletes and also to show the event to the fans at home and around the world. For our ESPN broadcast, there are over 20 million viewers around the world. We partnered with the local Haikou television crew, who had never filmed before from a motorcycle, and held a training session for them prior to the race. I film extensively in Singapore and around Asia, and it is not easy work to film from a moving motorcycle. Safety is first, and we were impressed to see the impressive motorcycles and skilled riders from the local motorcycle club that were helping with the race. After an afternoon of training, our tv crew was excited and ready to go!" said Brad Dillon, Ironman China photography director.
Caption: At five-star Crown Spa Resort Hainan local performers celebrate at the Ironman China awards banquet. 732 participants participated in the inaugural Ironman China race at world-class resorts and Haikou City infrastructure.
Article caption: by Ironman China staff writer
First Things First: What I Do When I Arrive in Haikou
"I fly from San Diego to China and I really enjoy my time in Haikou for the Ironnman China race. It's a great stepping stone to the main Ford Ironman competition in Kona Hawaii. I have been organizing events for over a decade and it is a real pleasure to develop this international competition here in China.
I must say though, that my first stop after I arrive, is not the swim, bike or run race course. It's DC Cheng, the computer mall in the middle of Haikou City. I am a gadget-geek and I love seeing all the new computers, mobile phones and other gadgets available here. On my last visit, after visiting the pearl shop with my required list from my wife back home in the U.S, I couldn't help getting the latest mobile phone at DC Cheng. I went back two times, unfortunately the second time I went with friends who easily convinced me to buy a new smartphone!" said Murphy Reinschreiber, event director.
Caption: 70.3 Ironman China is known as a "destination" event because athletes, friends and family come both for the event and tourism. Hainan's local culture offers a cheerful island atmosphere at the awards banquet held outside in warm short-sleeves weather at five-star Crown Spa Resort Hainan.
Caption: "Jiggy w'it." Kids splash and dance to celebrate at Haikou East West park where Ironman China competitors finished the run portion of the race, often coming in close to midnight, even though their test of endurance had started in the early morning coconut-island sunlight of Hainan.
Ironman China is a"Destination Event" at Haikou, Hainan: International Tourist Island
Ironman China is held in Haikou, Hainan, China each year. It is part of a famous triathlon event called Ironman that started in Hawaii, U.S.A., and now is held in over 33 countries around the world. Although Ironman is considered even tougher than the Olympic triathlon, the fame of Ironman is not only about swimming, cycling and running the farthest. Actually, the competition started amongst friends and to this day it is the energy of athletes, friends and family in sport competition that is the true spirit of the event. Haikou, an international tourist island, is the first to hold the event in China. The beautiful weather, clear skies, and combination of modern-city infrastructure and charm of historic and rural villages make this a unique"destination" event for athletes, family and tourists visiting the city.
Ironman: A History That Began With a Challenge amongst Friends
Why does she do it? Tereza Mazel is a 36-year-old Canadian woman who has won the Ironman in Korea and was fourth in the race in the state of Florida, USA. She came to Haikou in 2009 for the Ironman China race, saying,"I heard that the bike course was very scenic and interesting, and overall the race sounded great from friends who had done it." Tereza joins a long Ironman history of friends doing challenges together. "The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams) in Hawaii, USA. Among the participants were numerous representatives of the two local sports clubs, the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers." In many ways this is similar to the growing local Haikou and Shanghai Bike clubs working closely with Ironman China.
The Ironman Triathlon was the first major competition to extend the distance to an extreme endurance event. One of the founders, John Collins pointed out that a recent article had declared that Eddy Merckx, the great European cyclist from Belgium, had the highest recorded "oxygen uptake" of any athlete ever measured, so perhaps cyclists were more fit than anyone. He suggested that the debate should be settled through a race combining the three existing long-distance competitions already on the island. The debate was on, who is the greatest athlete? Together with some friends, they wrote up the rules, "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life."
With a nod to a local runner who was notorious for his demanding workouts, Collins said, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man." Today, in Haikou another local cyclist, Shenghai Wu,is maybe starting his own legend, he is riding his bike around Hainan for 24-hours non-stop as a challenge. He will then attempt 36-hours in January. Maybe he is starting his own Iron"life."
Author: Ironman China staff writer
Rasmus Henning, 2009 Ironman China champion and two-time Olympic triathlon athlete from Denmark poses with five-star Crown Spa Resort staff, saying about the Haikou racecourse,"The conditions are pretty similar to Hawaii." (Photo credit: Crown Plaza)
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