The official website of the Ultraman World Championship says that its competition “is an athletic odyssey of personal rediscovery; As such, it is the next step in the challenge of human resistance.” In short: the so-called Ultraman 515 (because of the 515 km it consists of) is crazy to put an athlete's endurance to the limit.
The challenge is practically inhuman, within the reach of very few: only 40 chosen people in the world are admitted each year – they need to finish a previous Ultraman as a qualifying ticket – to cover the 515 km of the perimeter of the big island of Hawaii in three consecutive days, combining the three triathlon disciplines: a swim (10 km), two cycling stages (421 km) and two consecutive marathons (84 km).
And with a limitation of 12 hours maximum per day. Whoever exceeds is eliminated. The 2023 edition takes place next weekend (November 24-26) in Hawaii.
Who came up with this physically and mentally wild test? There were three American triathletes, Curtis Tyler, Alex Smith and Conrad Will, who in 1983 decided to give a twist to the toughness of the Ironman, the extreme triathlon created five years earlier, which attracted thousands of brave people and boasted of being the sporting event. more beast, with its 3.86 km of swimming, 180 km of cycling and 42.2 km of running. Some distances that the trio of Ultraman's fathers left in little with their challenge...
They gave the extreme test a content and meaning rooted in Hawaiian culture. Thus, Tyler, as race director, wanted Ultraman 515 to be, more than a competition, an enriching human experience of collaboration, of brotherhood, based on the guiding principles of “Aloha” (love), “Ohana” ( family) and “Kokua” (help). That is, the triathletes needed their mutual support to overcome extreme distances and climatic and geographical conditions, and thus achieve an extraordinary achievement. And without the incentive of a financial prize for the winner; the lucrative incentive would offend the gods...
In addition to the enormous distances to be covered in a maximum of 12 hours a day, the Ultraman participant must face adverse environmental circumstances: swimming in open waters of the Pacific Ocean, pedaling with a headwind, and running with a suffocating heat and humidity that make Hawaii's Big Island a Turkish sauna. The weather forecast for the Ultraman World Cup weekend points to a maximum temperature of 28ºC and a relative humidity of 67% to 75%, which gives a muggy temperature of 36ºC to 38ºC. In addition to winds of 10-15 km/h.
The first day of competition (Friday, November 24) awaits the 40 intrepid triathletes with a 10 km swim from Kailua Bay to Keauhou Bay, starting at 6:30 in the morning. With just enough time to take a breath and change the neoprene for the jersey and helmet, they must then get on the bike to complete 145 km, with a cumulative elevation gain of 2,600 meters, reminiscent of the volcanic origin of the archipelago.
“The problem will be finishing each day, starting with the first,” sighs Miquel Àngel Domínguez (54), one of the two Spaniards among the 40 registered, along with the Galician Ismael Franco (54). With 37 years of experience as a physiotherapist, Domínguez knows very well how a human body suffers at full capacity. That's why he faces Ultraman with respect. Especially the first day. “You swim in the open ocean and you never know what you will find… Although they tell me that there are only turtles, but no jellyfish or sharks.”
Given his first experience in Kona, Domínguez has consulted with triathletes who have passed through Hawaii, such as Valentí Sanjuan (10 Ironman in 10 days) and Roger Lacaci (3 Ultraman, 4 Ironman, 4 Titan Desert). “They tell me that the first 7 kilometers are bearable, but that the last 3 can be complicated because there is a lot of waves and wind,” the Granollers physiotherapist worries, although he knows that he will have an “escort” by his side (it is mandatory) in a kayak to provide you with food and drink, and assist you in case of emergency, during the more than 4 hours that you will be in the water. “I would like to do it in 4-4h30; In Florida [where he qualified for the world final] I completed it in 4h12m, but it was a lake…”, Domínguez is encouraged.
The beating of the first day is completed with the aforementioned 145 km of cycling. To get an idea: it is like a mountain stage of the Tour, with a similar distance and a somewhat lower gradient (2,600 m compared to 4,000-5,000 in the French round), although with the addition of wind and rain, “which there will be insurance,” says Domínguez. “I'm screwed by this, the bike is not my strong point… But it will be more epic. I hope to do it in less than 12 hours, if I'm not out." His fear is being eliminated in the first round.
The second, on Saturday the 25th, “is a hell of a pain, much harder than a mountain stage of the Tour or the Giro,” according to Domínguez. It is 280 km, from the Volcanoes National Park to Hawi, the northern end of the island, with climbs of 1,200 meters. “What scares me the most is the physical beating, the bogeyman starts playing tricks… But I think I can do it. If I make it through the second day I finish it, because what I am best at is running.”
The icing on the cake, on Sunday the 26th, is a savagery that is scary just to imagine: running a double marathon, 84 km, in less than 12 hours, to test the last drops of resistance and, above all, mental capacity. “It is a competition against yourself, it is very tough, with the wind and humidity it becomes very complicated,” says Ismael Franco, a Telecommunications engineer from Lugo who is also facing his first Ultraman in Hawaii. Like his Galician colleague, Domínguez is especially wary of heat, humidity and muggy conditions. “And all on asphalt, on a road open to traffic, passing cars and trucks. And with 600 m of slope, which is not much, but at that height they are already heavy…”
The first kilometers of the double marathon are downhill, but it has its share of torture: "It breaks your feet and nails because you are braking," discovers Domínguez, who to face the mammoth distance will resort to two tricks: he will use two sets of shoes to avoid blisters (you will change them after the first 42k), and you will combine jogging with walking, which is known as caco (walk-run). “Randy Latza told me this at the Ultraman in Florida: he ran 4 km and walked one, and I did 9-1 and he beat me an hour…! That way you recover and don't lose as much."
The worst thing, according to Domínguez, "is having pain... You have to avoid chafing, you can't wear new shoes or clothes, you have to put Vaseline on your groin, joints and nipples, on your neck and neck to avoid rubbing against the neoprene because it burns." the skin with the salt water, and also on the buttocks from the friction of the saddle.”
Wise advice to minimize pain and suffering in the challenge of your life. His little obsession. “Having them knock me down would be very hard. This race doesn't have to be for me. If I don't finish it, I'll come back. I can't leave it halfway. I will give everything,” Domínguez promises. No one beats stubborn people.
