The Ironman is special. A race for some, a right of passage for most. Every October people of all shapes and sizes from around the globe travel to the Big Island of Hawaii to do battle with the big swells, hellacious winds and stifling heat of the lava fields. The conditions are beyond severe, but the people who choose to seek out the finish line on Alii Drive are more than up to the task. This book is big because the scope of the Ironman is big beyond belief. Big dreams, big landscape, big emotion, big drama. The book you are holding in your hands is meant to take you inside the Ironman and to motivate, inform and inspire. If you have been to Kailua-Kona as an athlete, or if it is your life-long goal to complete the Ironman, before your next workout leaf through the pages of this book.

Hopefully, you'll be motivated to go harder and longer than ever before. Twenty-five years ago, in 1978, Commander John Collins created the Ironman as a way to find out who was the world's fittest athlete. In the process, he created an event that changes people's lives forever. Book jacket.