KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – Some call it a race. Others call it an elaborate way to work off Thanksgiving turkey. Some say it’s the best way to time travel back to the origins of the sport.

Ultraman was born in 1983 as a sacred triathletic circumnavigation of Hawaii’s Big Island. In a post-Thanksgiving celebration, acolytes of extreme aerobic obsession begin at dawn Friday with a 10km swim from Kailua Pier to Keauhou Bay. Then they hop on their bikes and ride 90 miles south, culminating with a 4,000-foot climb from sea level up to Volcanoes National Monument. Day two is a 171.4-mile bike from Volcanoes, through Hilo, up a 3,000-foot hill to Waimea and the Parker Ranch, then up and over the spine of the 3,400-foot Kohalas and down to Hawi. Day three is a double marathon on the Queen K Highway from Hawi to the old airport at Kailua-Kona. When it’s over, contestants have covered 320 miles, 12 climate zones, and dipped into reserves of strength and character they might never reach anywhere else on earth.

Unlike the booming Ironman crowd, Ultraman is an intimate time travel trip to the way things were at the beginning of our sport. Race director Jane Bockus, who nurses this event like a precious child, limits the entrants to 35 persons selected as much for character and spirit as for talent and draws entrants from all continents. Each entrant must have their own support crew with van, just like the original Ironman events, thus leading to the limited fields that travel on the scenic, narrow Big Island highways.

Past winners include stars like Scott Molina, Gordo Byrn and Jonas Colting. But the heart of Ultraman consists of a special caravan of mostly anonymous ultra distance gypsies who bond and spread the aloha spirit through their aerobic pilgrimage.

Still, despite all the aloha, ohana and kokua that Ultraman emanates, and the absolute lack of prize money, Ultraman has more often than you’d suspect broken out into a furious battle. In 2006, Jeff Landauer whipped Navy SEAL David Goggins by 10 minutes. In 1999, Canada’s Tracy Preston held off a furious charge by Cecilia Ramos by a razor-thin for Ultraman margin of 45 seconds. In 2004, ITU long distance World Championship silver medalist Jonas Colting was so zonked by his first double marathon he missed breaking Holger Spiegel’s 1998 course record by 27 seconds. And, in the ultimate victory of chivalry over the competitive killer instinct, Woody Woodruff stopped during the 1986 Ultraman to give a prolonged kiss to Ironman Hawaii race director Valerie Silk and lost the win by five seconds.

This year, with the withdrawal of 2-time Ultraman champion Monica Fernandez due to the flu, undefeated four-time Ultraman women’s champion Shanna Armstrong of Lubbock Texas, is a heavy favorite to add another notch to her Ultraman title belt. In contrast, with the absence of three-time champion Jonas Colting of Sweden, the men’s contest seems wide open. The most intriguing aspect to the battle is the return of two legendary champions after a decade’s absence.

Peter Kotland, born in the Czech Republic, honed in his youth as a cross country skier, and a pro triathlete for 12 years, achieved cult status in 1997 by closing the three-day Ultraman with an astounding 5:33:57 double marathon. That’s back-to-back 2:46:58 marathons, a pace good enough to win the world famous Comrades’ Marathon in South Africa and unheard of at the end of two and a half Ironmans. Now, at age 36, Kotland is back and thinks he can break the Ultraman race record of 21:41:22 set in 1998 by Holger Spiegel -- if conditions are right.

Erik Seedhouse of Great Britain, the 1996 champion, the only other man besides Kotland to break the 6-hour mark for the final day’s double marathon, is also back. Eight years older than Kotland and retired from pro triathlon since 1999, Seedhouse has more modest goals – breaking 7 hours for the run.





Here is the odds breakdown.

The men

Peter Kotland, USA 7-2

Kotland’s one Ultraman effort set a course record that fell by 11 minutes the next year. His run record is hallowed ground – and as unlikely to fall as Cy Young’s 500-plus pitching victories set in Major League Baseball’s dead ball era. The question is can Kotland match his old form after a decade of middling-to-average Ironman performances? Kotland says he has improved his 1997 swim (2:54:38) and bike (13:24:16 – an hour slower than Jonas Colting’s mark) and says he will run about 5:45 and guarantees he won’t run a second slower than six hours. The other factor in his favor – he is a decade younger than his top four challengers.


Alexandre Ribeiro, Brazil 5-1

The 43-year-old Brazilian is Mr. Ultra Reliable. He has won twice (2003 and 2005) and finished second last year. His best time of 22:20:26 is 39 minutes off the course record, 28 minutes slower than Kotland’s best, and better than anyone else in the field. His 2:40:30 best swim is equal to Kotland, and 20 minutes back of 1996 winner Erik Seedhouse and perennial contender Marty Raymond. His best Ultraman bike is 25 minutes better than Kotland and 31 minutes faster than Seedhouse’s 1998 best. Upset with his slow swim last year, Ribeiro has worked hard in the pool and is ready for battle.

Tony O’Keefe Canada 7-1

This 47-year-old Canadian military officer took three straight Ultraman second place finishes from 2002 through 2004. What makes him dangerous now is his progression. He worked his overall time down from 24:27:37 in 2002 to 22:24:03 in 2004, just 43 minutes back of Colting – and Spiegel’s course record time. His 2:40:55 swim, 13:09:05 combined bike splits and 6:34:07 run mark him a possible spoiler for Kotland’s return if the Czech Republic legend is off form.


Erik Seedhouse, Great Britain 9-1

Seedhouse, now 44, is a scientist working with the Canadian Forces Environmental Medicine Establishment. In plain terms, he’s working on the physiology needed to get astronauts home alive from a three-year Mars mission. The 1996 Ultraman champ ran 5:57:36 to win, but says he’s hoping to crack the 7-hour mark and, since he put his bike in mothballs for nine years after retirement, doesn’t think he will contend for the win. But he will start out front, assured he can come close to his 2:20:33 best swim.


Miro Kregar, Slovenia 12-1

The 46-year-old Slovenian finished second in 2001 with an Ultraman PR of 23:15:58 – 1 hour 40 minutes off the course record. With a slow 3:27:31 swim and an awful 14:49:57 bike combination, his excellent 6:27:58 run last year could only salvage 5th place. Miro seems ready to avenge his off year and make the podium.

Gary Wang USA 22-1

This 41-year-old engineer who can bike like a demon but swims and runs like an ordinary man, has fallen in love with Ultraman and has placed 6th, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd and 9th since 2001. A sure bet for top 10, he is a long shot for another podium.


Marty Raymond Canada 25-1

His exuberant 46-year-old fitness and sports instructor from Ontario, Canada can swim like a fish, bike decently, but struggles manfully on the run. Inspired by fellow Canadian O’Keefe, Marty managed a 5th in 2003, 6th in 2004, 5th in 2006 before fading to an off-form 14th last year.


The women

Shanna Armstrong Lubbock, Texas 1-1

This 33-year-old massage therapist, 4-time Ultraman champion, 2006 RAAM solo woman winner, 3rd place in the 2008 Badwater ultra run, and a former Furnace Creek 508 cycling winner broke into Ultraman by taking down Tina Bischoff’s swim record in 2003, dropped her own a run from 9:05:23 in 2006 to 8:25:00 in 2007 and last year brought her Ultraman PR to within an hour of Tina Bischoff’s 1989 course record of 25:45:51. Armstrong anticipated a competitive boost toward the record from the return of two-time Ultraman women’s champion Monica Fernandez of Morocco, but Fernandez pulled out with pneumonia. A much improved Suzy Degazon, 44, finally cracked the 30-hour mark last year with a 29:46:49, but remained three hours behind the former Texas high school baton twirler.


Suzy Degazon, Puerto Rico 17-1

Under the coaching of husband Al Wiscowitz, Degazon took on several double century bike rides and cut over an hour from her Ultraman PR last year with a 29:46:49 finish.