• John Collins (Age Group Athlete)
• Frank Day (Age Group Athlete)
• John Dunbar (Age Group Athlete)
• Ian Emberson (Age Group Athlete)
• Henry Forrest (Age Group Athlete)
• Gordon Haller (Age Group Athlete)
• Archie Hapai (Age Group Athlete)
• Dan Hendrickson (Age Group Athlete)
• Harold Irving (Age Group Athlete)
• Tom Knoll (Age Group Athlete)
• Sterling Lewis (Age Group Athlete)
• Dave Orlowski (Age Group Athlete)

The original “Iron Man” — as it was called then — was the creation of Judy and John

Collins, members of the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame Induction Class VI, who had

participated in the Mission Bay Triathlon in San Diego in 1974, known as the start of

modern triathlon in the U.S. Their goal with the event was to create an endurance sports

challenge combining swimming, biking and running that offered athletes the opportunity to

race longer than anything they’d done before.

The last page of a three-page rule book written by Judy and John Collins and given to each

Hawaii Ironman Triathlon race participant reads the now famous tagline: “Swim 2.4 miles!

Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!”

Fifteen competitors — with their own support crews and no aid stations — started the race

on Feb. 18, 1978 on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i with the chance to complete the event and

brag for the rest of their lives. Twelve finished, led by Gordon Haller, John Dunbar and

Dave Orlowski.

Archie Hapai recorded the day’s fastest swim split in a time of 57 minutes, 35 seconds,

followed closely by Ian Emberson, who was a member of the Waikiki Swim Club. Hapai,

then a 31-year-old student at the University of Hawaii and a decorated Vietnam veteran,

entered the race after a DNF during a 26-mile open water swim a month prior.

“I don’t remember all of the reasons I did the [Ironman], but not finishing the Molokai to

Oahu swim along with the faith of my fellow club swimmers probably had something to do

with it,” Hapai said in previous interviews.

Then a 27-year-old Navy Communications Specialist, Haller rode the day’s fastest bike split

in 6 hours, 56 seconds to cut into Dunbar’s lead. Dunbar, then a 24-year-old former U.S.

Navy SEAL, started the run with a 13-minute lead.

Haller ran a 3 hour, 30 minute marathon along the race route to Honolulu's Kapiolani Park,

where he finished in the quiet evening without spectators, TV cameras, or a public-address

announcer screaming his name — far different than the spectacle of today’s IRONMAN

World Championships.

He earned the inaugural victory in 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds and would go on

to finish more than 20 IRONMAN events.

“We were just a bunch of ordinary guys who decided to do it. And other people saw that and

decided to do it, too,” Haller said in a previous interview about the race.

Orlowski, then a 22-year-old U.S. Marines veteran, finished third in 13 hours, 59 minutes,

13 seconds. He famously rode the bike in a pair of cut-off jean shorts so he could carry

cash in his pockets to buy food and drinks during the ride. He’d go on to race 29 IRONMAN

events and frequently spoke about the impact triathlon had on his life. Orlowski passed

away in 2020 after a lengthy battle with leukemia.

“It does so much for people, and it’s done so much for me in building my life,” Orlowski said

in a previous interview. “When you cross that finish line … it changes your life.”

After the inaugural race, the original 12 competitors would go on to accomplish many other

feats in and out of endurance sports.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Tom Knoll finished sixth at the inaugural race. He’d go on to

run nearly 200 marathons and ultra-marathons and twice led cross-country charity runs. In

1983, Knoll ran across the U.S. for the Sunshine Foundation and in 2008, he and his son

Warren ran 3,300 miles coast to coast in the Freedom Run Across America to support

Challenge Athletes Foundation, Wounded Warrior Foundation and the Sunshine

Foundation. Knoll passed away in 2018.

Henry Forrest, who finished seventh in the race, completed five more IRONMANs and

retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after serving 20 years and reaching the rank of first

sergeant. Forrest passed away in 2008 from pancreatic cancer.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Frank Day, finished eighth and would go on to invent the

cycling training tool, Power Cranks.

A two-time Olympian, Bennett, 46, took fourth at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and finished 17th at the London 2012 Olympic Games. A North Palm Beach, Florida, native, Bennett began competing in triathlons when she was 10 years old, and in 1994, was named USA Triathlon’s Junior Triathlete of the Year. She earned the silver medal at the 2003 World Triathlon Championships and a bronze in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Bennett was the U.S. team’s second alternate for the first Olympic Games triathlon in 2000 in Sydney and was the first alternate for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Bennett also competed on the IRONMAN 70.3 circuit, winning her IRONMAN 70.3 debut in 2009 in Augusta, Georgia, and followed that with a fifth place at the 2009 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Bennett was named USA Triathlon’s Elite Female Triathlete of the Year in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Today, she and her husband, Australian Olympic triathlete Greg Bennett, own and operate Bennett Endurance High Performance, based in Boulder, Colorado. 

A longtime age-group triathlete, Cens-McDowell, 75, has won multiple triathlon races of all distances, including the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, half-Ironman, Olympic distance, and sprint triathlons. She won 11 first place age group titles at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, and 3 second place finishes in 17 races there. She set two age group records in Kona and a personal best was 10:58 in the 45-49 age group. In one of these races, a stress fracture of her fibula developed into a complete fracture halfway through the marathon and she still finished in second place. Lesley won seven national titles at USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships and she was chosen as USA Triathlon Masters Triathlete of the Year in 1991, earning a trip to Japan to compete there on behalf of the US. She qualified for four Olympic distance World Championships and competed in three: Avignon, France; Orlando, Florida; and Manchester, England. She won a place on the podium in all three races. Lesley came to triathlon from a background of tennis, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and then running. She was featured in Sports Illustrated: “Faces in the Crowd” in two separate issues. She now splits her time between homes in West Chester, Pa., and Holualoa, Hawaii, just upslope from Kona on the Big Island.

A Wisconsin native and an All-American track and cross-country runner for the University of Wisconsin, Jorgensen, 35, won the USA’s first Olympic gold medal in triathlon at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, capping a stellar — and unlikely —triathlon career. After graduating with her accounting master’s degree and CPA license, Jorgensen hadn’t planned to pursue sport professionally and was working as an accountant at Ernst & Young in Milwaukee when she received a phone call from Barb Lindquist, founder of USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Recruitment Program, who noticed her running and swimming talent and urged her to compete in triathlon at the elite level. After learning the basics of the sport, Jorgensen earned her elite license in her first competitive triathlon. She went on to collect three podiums in her debut professional season — earning the title of 2010 USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year — and ultimately punched her ticket to the Olympic Games London 2012. She’d then go on to become the first woman to win a world title after a perfect undefeated World Triathlon Series season, to hold onto a 12-race World Triathlon Series winning streak, and to win the Olympic test event followed by a gold medal the following year at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Since she won gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Jorgensen has captivated fans of running, and in 2017, she announced she was pursuing a bold new goal: win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. 

Plant, 78, has won several USA Triathlon age group national titles including seven Olympic-distance triathlon titles, two standard-distance duathlon (run-bike-run) titles and four aquathlon (swim-run) titles. He won Competitor Magazine’s Master’s Triathlete of the Year Award in 1998. He took first place in the 75-79 age group at the 2018 ITU World Championships in Queensland, Australia. For years, Plant has represented the age group Team USA at World Triathlon world championship events and is one of the most decorated age group multisport athletes in the world, having won more world medals across all the on-road multisport disciplines than any other athlete. Plant has also earned six age group podium finishes at the IRONMAN World Championships. 

Cherie Gruenfeld is a 13-time IRONMAN world champion, multiple age group course record holder and a three-time IRONMAN 70.3 world champion. She is the founder of Exceeding Expectations, a San Bernardino-based nonprofit that encourages at-risk youth to move their lives in a positive direction using triathlon as a vehicle. The program prioritizes education, and through the support of generous donors, Gruenfeld has been able to ensure that money will never be an obstacle for “EE Scholars” who are accepted into college.

Dick and Rick Hoyt are the first push-assist team to be inducted into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame. The father-son team complete triathlons, marathons and other endurance events together. Rick Hoyt, who was born with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia, communicates using an interactive computer. The duo started racing together in 1985, when Rick was a teenager, and have since completed more than 1,000 endurance events together. “Team Hoyt” became the first duo ever to complete the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 1989, and repeated the feat in 1999. Over three decades, they have paved the way for the countless push-assist teams around the world who participate in endurance sports today.

Mike Plant was an original multisport journalist who created the only body of photographic work that still exits from 1974-1980. Plant covered triathlon, and did, starting in 1974, for a variety of publications, including national press. He has had the opportunity to work on several books including writing the best book on Ironman, Iron Will (1986) and co-authoring the best-selling triathlon book in history with Scott Tinley. Plant was arguably one of the finest writers in the sport of triathlon with no less than 100 published articles. He was also the founder of Running and Track Club News and co-founded TriHistory.com with Scott Tinley. Plant competed in IM and 200 other Tri events. He was a contributing partner in marketing and PR for USTS and stayed involved in with Triathlon as a Public Relations and marketing person, talking about Triathlon any chance he had for over three decades.

Hunter Kemper is the most decorated U.S. male triathlete in history. He is the only American and one of only two male triathletes in history to have represented his country at the first four Olympic triathlon competitions. He placed 17th in the sport’s debut in Sydney in 2000, ninth in Athens in 2004, seventh in Beijing in 2008 and 14th in London in 2012. Kemper also represented the U.S. at two Pan American Games, taking home silver in 1999 and gold in 2003. He earned a record seven USA Triathlon Elite National Championship titles and is one of only two American men to be ranked No. 1 in the world, which he accomplished in 2005. He won the 2007 Haul to the Great Wall Series, was named the 2005 U.S. Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, and is a five-time U.S. Olympic Committee Triathlete of the Year. Kemper continues to be involved in the multisport community, volunteering and promoting youth triathlons across the country and appearing at Olympic-themed community events in his hometown of Colorado Springs. 

Through nearly 40 years of service, Mike Reilly has become the world’s most famous endurance sports announcer. Best known as the “Voice of IRONMAN,” Reilly has called the finishes of more than 160 IRONMAN triathlons, 1,200 races and more than 2 million athletes. Reilly was a leading representative of Saucony shoes throughout the 1980s and supplied the Saucony product line to Road Runner Sports in Del Mar — now the largest running store in the country. He participated and announced some of the first triathlons ever held on Fiesta Island in San Diego in the ‘80s. His passion for triathlon and announcing grew, and in 1989 he announced his first IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He went on to spend the next 30 years announcing millions of athletes at the finish line of IRONMANs worldwide, and continues to do so today.

Donna Smyers has competed in triathlon since 1985, topping age-group podiums for several decades and in all disciplines. Her resume includes four USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship titles, two ITU Age Group World Championship titles, six age-group IRONMAN World Championship wins and an IRONMAN 70.3 age-group world title. She was named USA Triathlon Masters Triathlete of the Year in 1998 and 2002. Smyers suffered a quad tendon rupture and repair in late 2012, but was back on the podium at the national and international levels — including world titles at the ITU Age Group Sprint World Championships and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship — by 2014. Off the race course, Smyers practices physical therapy in Adamant, Vermont, with a focus on athletes of all levels. 

James “Jim” Ward was an icon in the USA Triathlon age-group community, winning six USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship titles and three age-group world titles. He began competing in triathlon in his late 60s — an inspiration to many older athletes — and won his age group as the most senior competitor at the 1994 IRONMAN World Championship at 77. In addition to his success in racing, he also contributed to the multisport community as chair of the Senior Task Force of the USA Triathlon Age Group Commission. A retired U.S. Army Colonel and World War II veteran, Ward passed away in 2000 at 83 years of age. He was training for his next triathlon.

Harriet Anderson has completed more than 100 triathlons over the past 20 years. A three-time national champion and age-group world champion at the 2001 ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships, Anderson has competed in all distances from sprints up to ultra-distance events. Her first IRONMAN was in 1989, and she has finished the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, 21 times, claiming age-group wins 11 times. Anderson won her age group at the IRONMAN World Championship every year from 2006 to 2013 and holds the record as the oldest female competitor to finish the event at 78 years of age.

Roger Brockenbrough is one of the most decorated male age-group athletes in multisport. He has won 20 USA Triathlon National Championship titles over the last 30 years, as well as several silver and bronze medals. Brockenbrough has excelled in both triathlon and duathlon events, winning a combined seven ITU World Championship titles and five silver medals. He has also medaled at seven IRONMAN events, winning his age-group four times. Brockenbrough began his triathlon career in 1986 with his oldest son and organized triathlon events in the Pittsburgh area, serving as a volunteer at youth triathlon and running races in the area. He was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and was featured on “TV Made Me Do It” in Canada in April 2009, an episode that was filmed at IRONMAN Wisconsin.

Ken Glah has competed in more than 70 IRONMAN events in his career, and celebrated his 32nd consecutive start at an IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 2015. His best finish at the IRONMAN World Championship was third in 1988, and he raced to nine additional top-10 finishes there. Glah is a six-time IRONMAN champion, claiming victory at IRONMAN Brazil in 1998, 1999 and 2000, IRONMAN New Zealand in 1992 and 1993 and IRONMAN Canada in 1993. In addition to his accomplishments at the IRONMAN distance, Glah has also won national and world titles in short- and long-course triathlon events. In 2002, he founded Endurance Sports Travel, providing support to 2,000-plus athletes and their friends and family members at 28 locations around the world.

The No. 1 world-ranked triathlete in 2001 and 2002, Siri Lindley’s career includes 12 ITU World Cup victories and the 2001 ITU World Championship title. Lindley also won gold at the 2001 ITU Aquathlon World Championships and silver at the 2000 ITU Duathlon World Championships. She claimed USA Triathlon’s 2001 Triathlete of the Year award and raced to a USA Triathlon Elite National Championship title in 1998. Lindley is now a successful triathlon coach and has worked with top-ranked athletes, including 2004 Olympic Games bronze medalist Susan Williams and multiple-time IRONMAN World Champion Mirinda Carfrae. Lindley served as a color commentator for NBC’s Olympic Games triathlon coverage and was inducted into the Brown University Hall of Fame in 2007 for achievements as a collegiate athlete in field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse.

Bill Bell (Palm Desert, Calif.) has been competing in multisport events for more than 30 years, having entered his first race in 1982. He completed his last full IRONMAN triathlon at age 78, but still competes in multisport events at age 92. A member of the USA Triathlon Century Club, his list of 300-plus completed triathlons includes 32 IRONMAN triathlons, with 19 of those at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and 41 IRONMAN 70.3 events. Bell won his age group at the IRONMAN World Championship in 1994-1997 and 1999. He also won his age group in the 1983 and 1985 Ultraman races and the World’s Toughest Triathlon in 1987, 1991 and 1992.

An elite athlete for nearly two decades from 1995-2012, Tim DeBoom (Boulder, Colo.) is best known for his performances at the IRONMAN World Championship, winning the overall title in 2001-02 and finishing as the top overall U.S. finisher for six years. Before his elite career, DeBoom was the top age-group finisher at the ITU World Championships in 1993-94. DeBoom owned a production company from 2009-12, producing events such as the SOMA and Marquee Triathlons. He has written a monthly column for Triathlete Magazine since 2008 and works with his former sponsors PowerBar Nutrition, Shimano and Pearl Izumi as a consultant with a focus on product development and athlete recruitment.

Paving the way for thousands of athletes, Dan Empfield is the founder of Quintana Roo and inventor of the triathlon-specific wetsuit, which first sold in early 1987. He also created an innovative system of bike fitting now known as FitInstitute Slow Twitch (FIST) — recognized globally by most major bike manufacturers. As a race director, Empfield resurrected the U.S. Triathlon Series, hosting 21 events between 1997-99. He co-authored a membership initiative in 2005 in relation to USA Triathlon’s election processes, which amended the bylaws to improve the process moving forward. Empfield is the founder and owner of Slowtwitch.com, and completed his first triathlon in 1980.

Karen McKeachie (Ann Arbor, Mich.) has a storied career as a 15-time national champion and a six-time world champion. She was named USA Triathlon’s Overall Triathlete of the Year in 1999, the only 40-plus female age-group athlete to be awarded the honor, and was the USA Triathlon Masters Triathlete of the Year in 2000. McKeachie was the overall winner of the 2011 Trek Women’s Triathlon in Howell, Michigan, and at 58 years, 5 months, 8 days, is believed to be the oldest athlete ever to win her gender outright in a race with 200-plus finishers. A prolific race director of running races, triathlons and marathon swims, McKeachie also co-founded Triathlon Today magazine (later Inside Triathlon) and created the first-ever women’s bike saddle.

One of the most familiar names in wheelchair racing, Carlos Moleda is seen as a pioneer for the sport. A Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient, Moleda was injured in the line of duty and was paralyzed in 1989. After an introduction to triathlon, Moleda became the first handcycle athlete to break 11 hours at the IRONMAN World Championship and won the division four times. He is a seven-time national champion and also won the Buffalo Springs Triathlon, the only wheelchair qualifier for the IRONMAN World Championship, twice. Moleda has helped to develop rules for paratriathlon events, and he completed Race Across America in 8 days, 9 hours on a four-person handcycle relay team.

The bronze medalist at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Susan Williams is the only American triathlete to win a medal at the Olympic Games. Before transitioning to an elite athlete in 1997, Williams was a champion age-group triathlete who logged the fastest time at the 1996 ITU World Championships. In her return to age-group racing, she clocked in as the fastest overall woman at the 2011 USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance Nationals in Burlington, Vermont. An All-American high school swimmer and captain of the University of Alabama swim team, she continues to participate in the sport as a coach and serves on the USA Triathlon committee to develop qualification criteria for the Olympic Games and the Pan American Games.

Madonna Buder (Age Group Athlete, Spokane, Wash.) is widely known as Sister Madonna or the Iron Nun. She has won 11 U.S. national titles, including eight at the Olympic-distance race at USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals, and she is also a 16-time world champion. In addition to her collection of national and world titles in Olympic-distance events, she has also captured 12 age-group wins at the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. She was named the 1999 USA Triathlon Grand Masters Triathlete of the Year and was considered a competitive rival of fellow Hall of Fame inductee Ethel Autorino.

Creators of the Ironman Triathlon in 1978 in Hawaii, John and Judy Collins (Contributors, Coronado, Calif.) served as race directors of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii in 1978-79. The pair are Ironman finishers themselves, John completing the 1978 Ironman and Judy participating in the 2003 Ironman Revisited on the original Oahu course. Both competed in the first-ever triathlon in the U.S. in San Diego in 1974 along with their 12- and 13-year-old children. Taken with the sport, they convinced their masters swim coach to start the longest-running triathlon in the world (Coronado Optimist Sports Fiesta Triathlon in 1975). They were inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 1998.

Known for his cycling prowess, Mike Pigg (Elite Athlete, McKinleyville, Calif.) dominated Olympic-distance racing in the U.S. for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He became the first men’s ITU World Cup winner in 1991 in St. Croix. His credentials also include three-time triathlon national champion and two-time USOC Male Triathlete of the Year. He competed in the Ironman World Championship for five straight years from 1985-89, recording his best finish (second) in 1988 behind Scott Molina. A current resident of Humboldt County, Calif., he remains active in community affairs, acting as the race director for a local youth triathlon and serving a term as chair of the county school board.

Tom Warren (Contributor, San Diego, Calif.) is considered triathlon’s first folk hero and he has been involved with the sport from the early days in the 1970s. As the winner of the 1979 Ironman Hawaii, he was featured in the pivotal feature in Sports Illustrated, written by Barry McDermott, which helped inspire a generation to participate in the sport. In 1989, he finished third in his age group at the event. He also won the 45-49 age group at USA Triathlon’s Age Group Nationals in 1989-90. As an event director, he produced a wildly popular three-leg event called Tug’s Swim-Run-Swim from 1975-85.

Introduced to triathlon by her masters swim coach, the legendary Dave Scott, Missy LeStrange went on to post a decorated career as an age-grouper following her first race in 1980. The three-time USA Triathlon Masters Triathlete of the Year (1994, 1995, 1997) honoree won 14 age-group titles at the Ironman World Championship, two USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship titles and an Olympic-distance age-group world title. LeStrange also served as a member of the USA Triathlon Age-Group Committee from 1992-97 and helped develop a number of organizational programs empowering youth, women, seniors and paratriathletes. She is currently a member of the USA Triathlon History Project.

Jim MacLaren is considered by many to be the forefather of the sport of paratriathlon. After his left leg was amputated below the knee following a 1985 accident, MacLaren finished the 1989 Ironman Hawaii in 10 hours, 42 minutes — a record that stood for 11 years. A second accident, this one at the 1993 Orange County Ironman, left MacLaren a quadriplegic. A fundraiser for MacLaren following the second accident led to the creation of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has raised over $40 million to help disabled athletes stay in the game of life through sport. The winner of the ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2005, MacLaren passed away in August 2010. The growth of paratriathlon and its inclusion in the 2016 Paralympic Games is a testament to his legacy.

Broadcast across the nation on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” Julie Moss’ crawl to the finish line of the 1982 Ironman World Championship endures as one of triathlon’s most iconic moments. Determined to finish second in the race after collapsing 15-feet short of the finish and being passed by winner Kathleen McCartney, Moss inspired thousands of athletes around the globe to compete in the sport during its infancy. After racing competitively as an elite, Moss continued to contribute to the sport as a broadcaster and motivational speaker. Moss returned to compete in Kona last year alongside McCartney to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this memorable moment. Moss and McCartney also recently collaborated to form a motivational speaking company, Iron Icons: Inspirational Speakers.

Mark Allen is recognized as one of triathlon’s all-time greats, having captured six Ironman World Championship titles between 1989-95. His final victory came at age 37, making him the oldest champion in the event’s history. Allen also excelled at Olympic-distance racing, winning the first-ever ITU World Championships in 1989 in Avignon, France, by more than a minute. Between 1988-90, Allen put together a winning streak of 20 races. Over the course of his competitive career, which ended in 1996, Allen earned a podium finish in 90 percent of his races. He was named Triathlete of the Year six times by Triathlete magazine, and in 1997 Outside magazine tabbed him “The World’s Fittest Man.” He currently coaches athletes in over 50 countries through MarkAllenOnline.com and is an award-winning author for the book he co-authored with Brant Secunda titled “Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You.”

Ethel Autorino stands as one of the most decorated age-groupers in U.S. multisport history. She is a 10-time age-group winner at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship and went on to capture six gold medals and one silver as a member of Team USA at the ITU World Championships between 1990-2000. In her first-ever Ironman World Championship, she posted the women’s 50-59 age-group record in 1986 and in 2000 set the women’s 70-74 age-group record. A resident of Piscataway, N.J., Autorino was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” for her 2000 Ironman performance.

Bob Babbitt has helped push the sport of triathlon to new heights through a myriad of contributions over the past 25 years. His work in the world of multisport media began when he co-founded the popular endurance sports publication Competitor Magazine in 1987 and launched Competitor Radio in 1990 alongside fellow triathlete Paul Huddle. Babbitt has co-authored books with the likes of Mark Allen and Julie Moss and also authored “30 Years of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship.” Additionally, he is the creator of the Columbia Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series and is the co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has raised over $32 million to help disabled athletes over the past 19 years. He was the 10th inductee into the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame and was presented with the Shoemaker Media Awareness Award by the Paralysis Project of America. Babbitt has completed more than 300 triathlons, including six Ironman events.

As an athlete, best-selling author and entrepreneur, Sally Edwards has constantly displayed the passion and the plan to get America fit. She has founded six fitness-related businesses, including Fleet Feet Sports, YubaShoe Sport Snowshoes and current ventures such as Upbeat Workouts, an iPhone app for runners. Edwards has written 23 books on sports, fitness and health, including the popular title, “Triathlons for Women.” As an athlete, Edwards is a 16-time Ironman finisher and set a Master’s world record in the event in 1988. She is a former winner of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and ran in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Edwards has served as the national spokeswoman for the Danskin and Trek Women’s Triathlon Series since 1990. She has a streak of 150 last-place finishes in the Danskin and Trek events so that no other woman has to finish last. Edwards was inducted into the Triathlete Hall of Fame in 1999.

Scott Molina stands as one of the most decorated triathletes in the history of the sport. Among his 104 professional triathlon victories are six USA Triathlon Elite National Championships — including four straight from 1983-86 — the 1988 Ironman World Championship and a pair of World’s Toughest Triathlon titles. He posted 50 U.S. Triathlon Series victories and recorded more than 200 total podium finishes over the course of his career. Born in Pittsburg, Calif., as one of seven children, Molina married fellow professional triathlete Erin Baker in 1990. The couple has three children and one grandchild. He resides in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he has worked as a triathlon coach since 1995.

With nearly 100 career multisport victories, Scott Tinley ranks as one of the winningest triathletes of all time. After discovering the sport as a student at San Diego State in 1976, Tinley became a two-time Ironman World Championship winner, topping the podium in 1982 and 1985. He is a member of the Triathlete and Ironman halls of fame. Additionally, Tinley is a pioneer in off-road triathlon and continues to co-own and manage the longest running off-road triathlon in the world, Scott Tinley’s Adventures in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Tinley, a doctoral candidate, continues to stay close to professional and amateur sport as a researcher, college lecturer, marketing consultant, columnist, writer and participant. He resides in Del Mar and Gaviota, Calif., with his wife, Virginia and two children, Torrie and Dane.

Arguably the most decorated female age-grouper in U.S. triathlon history, Susan Bradley-Cox is the only athlete to be a member of Team USA at every ITU Age Group Olympic-distance World Championship contested — from 1989-2010. In all, Bradley-Cox has participated in 22 ITU world championship events, earning 18 medals and 11 age group world titles. At the national level, she has competed in 25 USA Triathlon National Championship events and owns 11 national titles. Bradley-Cox was second in her age group at the 1986 Ironman World Championship, setting a masters’ record in the process. Since beginning her triathlon career in 1982, she has competed in more than 200 triathlons. Bradley-Cox was named USA Triathlon Grand Masters Athlete of the Year in 1997 and 1998 and was selected as Masters Triathlete of the Year by Triathlete magazine in 1997.

Additionally, Bradley-Cox has served as the head coach of the Wildcat Masters Swim Team at the University of Kentucky for 19 years and has served as the Lexington (Ky.) triathlon coach for the Kentucky Leukemia/Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training for 10 years. She is also a founding member of the steering committee for the Susan Bradley-Cox Tri for Sight Triathlon, which donates all proceeds to eye research at the University of Kentucky. Bradley-Cox resides in Lexington, Ky.

Already an accomplished endurance athlete, Dave McGillivray directed his first triathlon in 1982 — the Bay State Triathlon in Medford, Mass., which drew the sport’s biggest names of the 1980s. Since then, McGillivray has served as the race director for more than 150 triathlons, including the Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon, which debuted in 1983 as what is believed to be the first ultra-distance event in the continental U.S. Additionally, McGillivray directed the second-ever ITU World Championship in 1990 in Orlando, Fla., and the 1998 Goodwill Games Triathlon in New York City.

His New England Triathlon Series, which was comprised of one race in each of the six New England states, was one of the first triathlon series in the United States. McGillivray served as a member of the Tri Fed USA Board of Directors for seven years, was a member of the ITU Technical Committee for five years and has directed a number of ITU World Cup events in Bermuda and St. Thomas. McGillivray entered the 1980 Ironman after reading about the event in a 1979 Sports Illustrated article; he went on to complete the race eight times.

Personally, he also completed the New England Run, a 1,522-mile triathlon around New England to benefit the Jimmy Fund of Boston. For 32 straight days, McGillivray swam a mile, biked 80 miles and ran 20 miles before finishing in front of 60,000 people in Foxboro Stadium. Also the director of the Boston Marathon, which he competes annually at night after his duties of race director have ended, McGillivray is the owner and president of Dave McGillivray Sports Enterprises, Inc. He resides in North Andover, Mass.

One of triathlon’s most recognizable names, Dave Scott’s career began with inception of the sport in 1976. Scott is a six-time Ironman world champion, crossing the finish line first in Kona in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1987. Well known for his epic duels with Mark Allen, Scott was the first-ever inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 1993 and celebrated his induction in 1994 by coming out of retirement to place second in Kona at the age of 40. Scott also finished fifth at the 1996 Ironman World Championship at the age of 42. He also was inducted into the Triathlete Hall of Fame in 1999.

A native of Davis, Calif., Scott currently resides in Boulder, Colo., where he coaches many multisport athletes, ranging from age-groupers to elites. Additionally, Scott continues his athletic and business passions through his involvement in corporate presentations, clinic presentations, marketing, instructional DVDs and as an author for numerous publications. Scott’s father, Verne, is also a member of the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame.

In 1982, Jim Curl, along with fellow inductee Carl Thomas, began the U.S. Triathlon Series. The USTS distance evolved and led Curl and Thomas to create what is now known as the Olympic distance (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run). Through the series, Curl has produced over 150 triathlons internationally, and his involvement includes the creation of the Reebok Women's Triathlon Series and events that have become some of the larger races in the U.S., such as St. Anthony's Triathlon and the Accenture Chicago Triathlon.

Barb Lindquist began her athletic career as a swimmer. She competed for Stanford University and was a member of the U.S. National Team until 1991. In 1996, she began her professional triathlon career and has been an integral part of the sport ever since. Lindquist was a member of the USA Triathlon World Championship team for 10 years, and in 134 career races, she won 33, stood on the podium 86 times and finished in the top 10 114 times. She was ranked first in the world from February 2003 through 2004, and placed ninth at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Though she retired from racing in 2005, she continues to contribute to the sport, first as the coach of the Under-23 National Team and now as the USAT Collegiate Recruitment Program Coordinator.

Paula Newby-Fraser is considered one of the greatest triathletes to ever have competed. She has won more Ironmans than other legends like Mark Allen, Erin Baker and Dave Scott. Newby-Fraser won eight Ironman World Championships between 1986 and 1996 and has 24 total Ironman career wins. The world record she set for the Ironman distance stood for nearly 15 years.

Newby-Fraser has earned multiple honors in addition to her championship titles, as she was named "Professional Sportswoman of the Year" in 1990 by the Women's Sports Foundation, the "Greatest Triathlete in History" by Triathlete magazine in 1999, and "Female Pro Athlete of the Decade" by the L.A. Times for the 1980s. She also was named one of the top five professional female athletes of the past 25 years (1972-1997) by the United States Sports Academy.

The Ironman triathlon would not be where it is today without Valerie Silk. Silk served as the owner, president, CEO and race director for the Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation (now the World Triathlon Corporation) throughout the 1980s. She negotiated multi-year sponsorship agreements and network coverage through ABC's Wide World of Sports. She also increased the volunteer base by over 2,500 volunteers and developed merchandising and licensing divisions for Ironman products and services. Ironman grew internationally, as Silk developed qualifying races in other countries, as well as the IronKids Triathlon Series.

When Thomas was the vice president of marketing at Speedo Swimwear in 1982, he joined Jim Curl to create the U.S. Triathlon Series. The series quickly spread from the original five cities to 12 nationwide.  The format of the series and the distance was considered ideal for Olympic competition, and Thomas predicted that by the time triathlon was an Olympic sport, "hundreds of thousands of athletes will have competed at the Olympic distance" worldwide.

In 1984, he founded CAT Sports, Inc., creating network televised special events for a number of sports and acting as the executive producer of over 25 televised triathlon events for ESPN, NBC and other national syndications. Thomas also served as the first treasurer of the International Triathlon Union.

One of the sport's early age group stars, Judy won seven national triathlon titles, two duathlon national titles, four triathlon world gold medals, and five duathlon world gold medals. She was instrumental in establishing the USAT Women's Committee and annual women's breakfasts at major national and international races. She persuaded the Danskin Series to become USAT-sanctioned and inspired thousands of women to become involved in the sport.

She was tragically killed while biking in 1997. Her award was accepted by her husband Dennis Flannery.

President of Tri-Fed from 1984 to 1989, Jon Gray Noll teamed with Verne Scott to establish the foundation of the National Governing Body. His accomplishments include the establishment of the first set of competitive rules and the first true set of event production standards, while putting the organization's business plan in place. He also helped rebuild the organization's structure and bylaws to conform to the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.

He was instrumental in creating the NGB's first magazine (Transition Times) and securing its national distribution, and he also created the Tri-Fed National Championship as a separate race. His final act in office involved appointing the delegation that helped create the International Triathlon Union and the ITU World Triathlon Championship.

Based out of his bedroom office and on a shoestring budget, Verne Scott worked tirelessly to put everything, big and small, in place for the establishment of the Triathlon Federation (USA Triathlon) in the 1980s. Rules, event production standards, sanctioning process, championships, meetings, membership, magazine, without Verne nothing would have been completed.

Although his son, Dave, may be the most famous athlete in the family, Verne had his share of age group wins. After retiring as Executive Director of Tri-Fed in 1987, Verne returned to his full time responsibility as a professor at University of California-Davis until his retirement in 1989 at age 65. He continues to swim and work out three to four times per week, coaches swimming classes for beginning adults, plays golf, and serves as a volunteer for community service activities.

Karen Smyers is one of the most versatile women in the history of triathlon. Over her professional career, she accumulated seven national triathlon titles (including six in a row), one national duathlon title, three ITU Triathlon World Championship titles and one victory at Ironman Kona. Her 1995 double of winning at Kona and returning five weeks later to capture the ITU triathlon world title is perhaps the single most remarkable achievement in the sport to date. Karen was also a Pan American Games gold medalist and a three-time USOC Triathlete of the Year.

She continues to serve as an inspiration through her coaching, writing, speaking, and sharing her story of surviving cancer.

Sheila is considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes in history and is one of only a handful to have ever risen to the top in three separate sports. After a successful swimming career, which included a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, Sheila made the move to triathlon. She won silver at the 2003 Pan American Games, gold at the 2004 ITU World Championship, and earned podium finishes at 10 ITU World Cups - including three wins.

She is the only U.S. woman to make two Olympic triathlon teams, finishing 6th in 2000 and 23rd in 2004. Not content to walk away from sports, Sheila sought a new challenge in 2005 and quickly began to excel in the sport of modern pentathlon. After three world cup podiums, Sheila made history by making her fourth Olympic Games – in three sports. She finished 19th at the Beijing Olympics.