On February 18, 1978, 15 competitors came to the shores of Waikiki, Hawaii to take on the first-ever IRONMAN challenge. That ... very first race would go on to set the stage for what IRONMAN would become: not only the most-challenging single-day sporting event in the world, but a brand symbolizing the belief that "Anything is Possible.” In 2011 IRONMAN shifted its focus from licensing its name to events to buying the races back in order to provide a consistently high-end experience to athletes globally. In November of 2015, IRONMAN was purchased by Dalian Wanda, and Wanda Sports Holding was created to bring together three entities aimed at becoming the world’s leading sports business. (Infront, IRONMAN, and Wanda Sports China). Over the past few years, IRONMAN has expanded beyond triathlon, purchasing running, cycling, and mountain biking events all over the world to diversify and grow its position as the worlds leading endurance sports platform. Most recently, the Dalian Wanda Group began a 10-year partnership with the Abbott World Marathon Majors, an association of the organizers of the world’s greatest running races in the world’s greatest cities: Tokyo, Boston, Virgin Money London, BMW BERLIN, Bank of America Chicago and TCS New York City Marathons. This partnership supports the future growth of this series into new global markets. In 2017, IRONMAN acquired Competitor Group Holdings. With their more than 30 world-class events including the flagship Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, CGI events see over 600,000 athletes each year. IRONMAN’s family of events now provide more than one million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports. We now have 235 events in a portfolio of brands, including 40 IRONMAN races, 106 IRONMAN 70.3 races, and many other running, road cycling, and mountain biking events throughout 50 countries. read more