There are not many more ways to show how proud you are of an accomplishment outside of getting a tattoo. To permanently ink yourself means you must be proud of the accomplishment it, most likely, took a lot of hard work to achieve. The Ironman Triathlon is one of the biggest races in the world. It happens many times a year so if you miss your opportunity the first time, you will have another chance.

People that compete in the Ironman must be an all-around athlete as the race requires athletes to compete in biking, swimming and running to complete the race.

What is an Ironman

The Ironman is a race put together by the World Triathlon Corporation. The Ironman starts with a 2.4-mile swim, moves to a 112-mile bike ride and then it finishes with a marathon which is 26.22 miles. This is considered one of the most difficult races in the world and as you might guess, there are no breaks between segments.

For this event, there is a time limit of 17 hours so if the racer isn’t finished at that point, they don’t get to complete it. Races generally start at 7:00 am. You get 2 hours and 20 minutes to finish the swimming portion of the race. You get 8 hours and 10 minutes to finish the biking portion and you get 6 hours and 30 min for the marathon.

Needless to say, this is no easy feat. Therefore, the Ironman tattoo is a popular one. It’s also known as the M-Dot. This looks like a thick ‘M’ with a red dot over it.

History of the Ironman

You might be wondering, “Who is the nut case that created this race?”. Well, believe it or not, people actually enjoy doing this and are always looking for new ways to test themselves. The original idea for the Ironman came up during the Oahu Perimeter Relay in 1977. During this ceremony, representatives from some of the top clubs for running and swimming were there discussing whose athletes were more fit. During this discussion, U.S. Navy Commander John Collins mentioned that he read in a Sports Illustrated magazine that the great Belgian cyclist, Eddy Merckx, had the highest oxygen uptake of any athlete that was ever measured.