An ultra-triathlon covers more distance than an ITU 'long course,' or Ironman™ triathlon. The term generally refers to all triathlon events with a distance that is a multiple of the Ironman Triathlon, which consists of 2.4 miles (3.86 km) of swimming, 112 miles (180.25 km) of cycling, and a full marathon (26.2 mi or 42.2 km) of running.[1] The most common distances are the double, triple, quadruple, quintuple and deca triathlon.[2] Unlike a standard triathlon event, an ultra-triathlon event may not necessarily involve the three component disciplines of triathlon (swimming, cycling and running) in direct consecutive order, but may instead consist of multiple consecutive individual triathlons performed on consecutive days,[3] or may involve disciplines out of the usual order, such as the Enduroman that goes run-swim-bike to allow crossing of the English Channel.[4]
The first ultra-distance race was held as a double in Huntsville, Alabama (USA) in 1985, and since then the distances have been expanding.[5] While 20x and even 30x events have been held, the DECA, or 10x event, either in the 'continuous' version (swim-bike-run), or in the 'one-per-day' version is typically the longest distance that can be found on the race calendar every year.[2] In 2020 and 2022, the swissultra DECA continuous was the IUTA World Championship over that distance.[6][7]
The IUTA (International Ultra Triathlon Association) is the official governing body of Ultra Triathlon.[8]
Standard distances
edit| Distances | Swimming | Cycling | Running |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Ultratriathlon | 3.86 km (2.40 mi) | 180.25 km (112 mi) | 42.2 km (26.2 mi) |
| Double Ultratriathlon | 7.6 km (4.7 mi) | 360 km (220 mi) | 84.4 km (52.4 mi) |
| Triple Ultratriathlon | 11.4 km (7.1 mi) | 540 km (340 mi) | 126.6 km (78.7 mi) |
| Quadruple Ultratriathlon | 15.2 km (9.4 mi) | 720 km (450 mi) | 168.8 km (104.9 mi) |
| Quintuple Ultratriathlon | 19 km (12 mi) | 900 km (560 mi) | 211 km (131 mi) |
| Deca Ultratriathlon | 38 km (24 mi) | 1,800 km (1,100 mi) | 422 km (262 mi) |
| Deca One-Per-Day (10 days) | every day 3.8 km | every day 180 km | every day 42 km |
| Ultraman 3 days | Day 1 - 10km (6.25mi) | Day 1 - 145km (90mi), Day 2 - 276.1km (172.5 mi) | Day 3 - 84.3km (52.7 mi) |
| Ultra 355 3 days | Day 1 - 5km (3.1mi) | Day 1 - 120km (75 mi), Day 2 - 180km (112 mi) | Day 3 - 50km (31.25 mi) |
| Double Deca Ultratriathlon | 76 km (47 mi) | 3,600 km (2,200 mi) | 844 km (524 mi) |
| Triple Deca Ultratriathlon | 114 km (71 mi) | 5,400 km (3,400 mi) | 1,260 km (780 mi) |
World records
editMen
edit| Distance | Athlete | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single |  Kristian Blummenfelt |
7 h 21 m 12 s | 2021 Cozumel[9] |
| Double |  Robert Karaś |
18 h 44 m 38 s | 2019 Panevėžys[10] |
| 3x | Robert Karaś |
30 h 48 m 57 s | 2018 Lensahn[11] |
| 4x |  Søren Højbjerre |
53 h 41 m 00 s | 1993 Szekesfehervar[10] |
| 5x | Adrian Kostera |
67 h 45 m 51 s | 2022 Colmar[10] |
| 5x Day |  Rait Ratasepp |
49 h 32 m 49 s | 2022 Buchs[10] |
| 10x |  Kenneth Vanthuyne |
182 h 43 m 43 s | 2022 Buchs[10] |
| 10x Day | Rait Ratasepp |
99 h 49 m 47 s | 2024 Vinni[citation needed] |
| 20x |  Vidmantas Urbonas |
437 h 21 m 40 s | 1998 Monterrey[10] |
| 20x Day |  Norbert Lüftenegger |
241 h 36 m 45 s | 2019 Buchs[10] |
| 30x |  Dirk Leonhardt |
959 h 03 m 00 s | 2020 Bruchköbel[12] |
| 30x Day |  Jozsef Rokob |
356 h 33 m 17 s | 2013 Lonato del Garda[10] |
| Ultraman |  Simon Cochrane
|
19 h 48 m 47 s | 2023 Noosa Heads |
Women
edit| Distance | Athlete | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single |  Anne Haug |
8 h 02 m 38 s | 2024 Roth[13] |
| Double | Sabina Bartecka |
22 h 55 m 19 s | 2024 Bad Radkersburg[10] |
| 3x | Alicja Pyszka-Bazan |
36 h 13 m 55 s | 2024 Lensahn[10] |
| 4x | Astrid Benöhr |
59 h 15 m 00 s | 1993 Szekesfehervar[10] |
| 5x | Alexandra Meixner |
84 h 44 m 29 s | 2018 Buchs[10] |
| 5x Day |  Eva Hürlimann |
66 h 52 m 22 s | 2018 Buchs[10] |
| 10x | Christine Couldrey |
247 h 07 m 21 s | 2018 New Orleans[10] |
| 10x Day | Alexandra Meixner |
137 h 23 m 43 s | 2022 Buchs[10] |
| 20x |  Laura Knoblach |
633 h 41 m 39 s | 2019 León[14] |
| 20x Day | Alexandra Meixner |
279 h 37 min 48 s | 2016 Buchs[10] |
References
edit- ^ "Ultratriathlon". Web.comhem.se. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ a b "IUTA | International Ultra Triathlon Association". www.iutasport.com.
- ^ Murphy, T.J. (18 November 2013). "The Triple DECA Ironman: One Man's Journey Through 30 Days of Non-stop Ironman Racing". LAVA Magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Arch to Arc Triathlon". Arch to Arc.
- ^ Meier, Dani (2018). Go Hard or Go Home. Sportwelt Verlag. p. 224. ISBN 978-3941297432.
- ^ "Swissultra – the ultra triathlon race in Switzerland".
- ^ M. Gruebele et al., 'Mastering the DECA', ISBN 979-8368240114
- ^ "IUTA | International Ultra Triathlon Association". Iutasport.com. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ "IRONMAN Cozumel 2021 results". 21 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Records - IUTA | International Ultra Triathlon Association". Iutasport.com. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ "Ergebnis 2018". Triathlonlensahn.de. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ^ "Dirk Leonhardt finisht 30-fache Langdistanz und holt sich den Triathlon-Weltrekord". 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Results - Challenge Roth 2024". Retrieved 2024-09-09.
- ^ "Boulder woman breaks women's world record for a Double Deca Ultra Triathlon". KUSA. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-05.