2005 Ultraman World Championships:
Day One Report

By Chris Kostman

2005 Ultraman Webcast Home (many more slideshows) / All 2005 Race Results

Today, November 25, 2005 marked the start of the 21st anniversary Ultraman, a three-day stage race triathlon which circumnavigates the Big Island of Hawaii. Twenty-six athletes are entered in this 2005 edition of the race: six solo women, 17 solo men, and one three-person mixed relay team, the first relay team in Ultraman history. The 26 athletes represent Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, and seven American states: CA, CO, HI, TX, MN, NJ, and VA. Today’s route featured a 6.2 mile ocean swim from Kona south to Keauhou, followed by a 90 mile bicycle ride which finished at 4,000 feet atop the volcano known as Kilauea. All three days feature a 12-hour time limit.

Slideshow One: Pre-Race Activities

The race got underway at 6:30am at the Kona pier, where Hawaii’s other famous triathlon, Ironman, also begins. The water was relatively calm and the skies mostly overcast as the 24 athletes sunk into the water and began their journey while their support crews looked on. Each swimmer was escorted by a personal crew vehicle in the form of a kayak or outrigger canoe. Their route would take them south with the sun coming up behind the volcano island on their left as they headed towards their destination, Keauhou Bay. As they went south by sea, the rest of us went south by car to await their arrival at the swim finish. I was lucky to be taken out onto the water by the water course director in a zodiac boat for a half hour. As in all ultra races, many of the athletes quickly spread out as they each chased their personal goals.

Slideshow Two: Swim Start

Down the coast at Keauhou, the sun broke through the clouds and we awaited reports from the swim course. Less than a mile from the finish, at the left turn into the bay, was one of the swim course safety boats. It would call the finish line each time a swimmer and escort boat passed by.

As the swimmers began arriving, it was clear by their finishing times that the course was not fast today. But, it wasn’t terrible, either. First out of the water was Martin Raymond, age 43, of Canada in 2:33:38, followed by the lead woman, Shanna Armstrong, age 31, of Texas in 2:55:45. Shanna was the 2003 Ultraman champion and also, that year, broke the then seemingly unbreakable swim course record set in 1989 by Tina Bischoff, a former English Channel record holder. This year Shanna was about 12 minutes slower than 2003. She’s almost not been in the water much in the past two years as her focus has been ultracycling. In October 2004 she completed the Furnace Creek 508 bicycle race on a mixed two-racer team, then she and her teammate completed the Race Across AMerica in June of 2005. Next year she plans to race RAAM solo, so Ultraman this year is a nice change of pace for her before she gets back onto the bike full-time.

Next from the ocean was Alexandre Ribeiro, age 40, of Brazil in 3:03:13. He was the men’s champion of the 2003 Ultraman, so many are wondering if both he and Shanna will repeat their victories from two years ago. After the Brazilian came Gary Wang, age 38, of Corte Madera, CA in 3:26:28. Following Gary the athletes departed the water and mounted their bicycles in pretty rapid, seemingly continuous succession as the clock ticked away. All wanted to get on their bicycles and attack the 90 mile course, with 9,000 feet of elevation gain, as soon as possible, in order to hopefully finish before the day’s twelve hour cut-off. Sending them and the rest of the athletes on their way with some extra aloha was Cow-Man, the local luminary who is a many-time veteran of both Ultraman and Ironman.

Mention must be made of the Nickles family of Virginia. I first got to know them in 1993, when they competed as a four-person team in the Race Across America, a race I directed from 1992 through 1996. Brothers John and Philip teamed up with their father Peter and friend Jason and placed second overall in the 1993 Team RAAM. I hadn’t seen most of them since that year until reconnecting here at Ultraman. This year Philip, age 40, and the patriarch of the family, Peter, age 67, would be competing, along with Robert Martin, age 36, who is married to Aletta, Philip’s sister and Peter’s daughter. Brother John, a former champion of Ultraman, is on hand as support crew, along with Aletta and many others of the near and extended Nickles family. Philip and Peter are veterans, with Peter hoping to avenge a DNF from 1999 when he crashed badly on day two, while Robert, who jokes he’s required to compete now that he’s part of the family, is here as a rookie. They’re all good people and I’m pleased to spend time with them again a dozen years after our last meeting.

Speaking of personal connections, rookie entrant Mike Rouse, age 53, of San Diego, is a Badwater Ultramarathon veteran who just learned to swim in the past few years. It’s a pleasure to see him here expanding his horizons by crossing over into a related ultra endeavour. As the promoter of the Badwater Ultramarathon and Furnace Creek 508 events, it’s always a treat to run into “my athletes” at other events, especially ones that are quite a bit different (yet the same, of course) from those we organize in Death Valley each year. I’ll also mention Cory Foulk, a Big Island resident and regular at Ultraman, who, like me is a four-time entrant in the Ironman Revisited Triathlon on Oahu each year in August. That event retraces the route of the original Ironman, held there from 1978 through 1980 in the same format as Ultraman: with personal support crews and an “out on the open road” approach to the course. More info on that race is at www.challengededathletes.org.

Another Ironman Revisited veteran is Christina Hijjawai, age 34, a firefighter from Greenbrae, CA. Last year Ultraman she got violently sick during the swim and missed the cut-off. This year she came back determined to complete the course. Her day got off to an excellent start as she was the second female, and 8th overall, to exit the water, with a time of 3:39:07. Like the rest of the field, she headed out onto the bike course looking great and motivated.

Slideshow Three: Swim Finish

But today would prove to be far more challenging than last year’s swim, as she crashed on her bicycle about halfway through the bike course. With one hand holding a water bottle, her front tire blew out and she went down, hard, flipping over the handlebars and doing a somersault onto the road. Miraculously, after medical inspection, she was able to remount her bicycle and complete the bike course. She crossed the finish line with a black right eye, swollen face, and with road rash on both shoulders and both knees. She’s a tough, beautiful warrior and we all hope she can continue with the race tomorrow. If not, no doubt her quest will resume in 2006.

Slideshow Four: Bike Course

Fastest on the bike, and overall for the day, was Gary Wang, with a bike time of 5:22:44 and a combined time of 8:49:12. Being strong in the water, then dominant on the bike, proved a day one winning combination for this Ultraman veteran. Wang was beaten, so to speak, by the three racer relay team, Team Bourne. Their swimmer, Stefan Reinke, completed the swim in 2:42:12 (2nd overall), while their cyclist, Ultraman veteran Peter Bourne, completed the bike course in 5:59:21 (5th overall), for a combined time of 8:41:34.

Moving into second place overall was the Brazilian Ribeiro, with a bike time of 5:49:04 and a total time of 8:52:17, putting him just three minutes behind Wang. At the finish, Ribeiro complained of having been sick and vomiting multiple times on the bike course. Third today was Michael Hanreck, age 30, of London, with a total time of 9:01:13 in his rookie Ultraman effort. Falling back from his first out of the water position was the Canadian Raymond with a total time of 9:09:45, good enough for 4th overall. At the finish line, Raymond said "that water was just tough out there. I felt sorry for everybody in the water today."

First among women, and 5th overall, was Armstrong, completing the day three minutes slower than in 2003, but looking very fresh and ready to do more damage on the bike tomorrow. The second female was the indomitable Hijjawi with an impressive total time of 11:00:43, followed by UK passport holder Suzy Degazon of Puerto Rico. A seven-time Ultraman finisher, she has completed more Ultraman races than any other woman. Today she posted a 4:07:08 swim, 7:02:23 ride, and a total time of 11:09:31, so she’s on her way, one can hope, to an unprecedented 8th finish.

Topping her record for finishes, though, is 13-time Ultraman finisher Yoshihiro Chijimatus, age 40, of Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Today he posted a 4:02:25 swim, 7:12:14 bike, a total time of 11:14:39, and 14th place across the line.

One athlete, Leslie Holton, age 37, of Pine, CO, missed the time cut-off at the end of the day, though she did complete the course. She may continue the next two days, but her time and place will remain unranked.

Slideshow Five: Bike Finish

Every person here has a unique story and experienced a similar panorama of emotional and geographic highs and lows, ocean currents, wind, heat, humidity, and much more. Ultraman is an odyssey based upon the Hawaii concepts of aloha (love), ohana (family), and kukua (help). It’s truly a pleasure and an honor to be here to enjoy and support the remarkable efforts made by all the athletes, support crews, and race volunteers. Tomorrow’s race begins in just six hours, so it’s time for some shut-eye now.

Stay tuned for more slideshows and reports from the Big Island!