Completing an Ironman: For professionals like Jan Frodeno (middle), everyday business, for some amateurs the highlight of their sports career.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/BELGA
If you want to start at the Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii, you not only need a six-pack and strong endurance values, but also a powerful credit card. But there is also a cheaper way. What do I really need?
Eonce Ironman Hawaii. This is the dream that triathletes dream. Cost what it may. Once at the Kailua-Kona pier, set off on a journey that includes a 3.8-kilometer open-ocean swim, 180-kilometer bike ride through lava fields, and a marathon in the sweltering heat. Triathletes sacrifice a lot for this: time for training and lots and lots of money.
Achieving the dream costs more every year, and this year the price has skyrocketed to levels that are staggering for even the most well-off triathlon clientele. If you want to make it to the Ironman Hawaii, a race that operates as a world championship for professionals and age group amateurs, you have to develop at least a semi-professional level of training over years and then qualify in a race somewhere in the world.
