After three weeks of competition, the fourth edition of the Swissultra Triathlon is history. Austrian Norbert Lüftenegger has set a new world record for 20 times the Ultratriathlon distance (Double Deca), Swiss Eva Hürlimann for 10 times the distance (Deca). Walter Eberle from the Principality of Liechtenstein was the first handicapped athlete to finish the Deca Ultratriathlon.
The crowd in Panevezys saw two finishers in the men's field, who beat the 20-hours-mark and a fantastic new world record from the polish athlete Robert Karas at the Double Ultra Triathlon. In the woman's category, Alina Ranceva from Lithuania won the IUTA world championship race in an exciting battle with the current world champion at the Triple-Ultra-Distance Marie Veslestaul from Norway.
The IUTA World Championship 2020 will take place in Virgina, USA. After the Deca in Hawaii 2004 it is only the 2nd time a WC will be in the United States of America. The Double Ultra Triathlon is dated to 1st until 4th of October 2020. More information will be published soon at http://www.usaultratri.com.
There have been a few attempts now to spread the world of Deca into the UK. This was the latest event organised by Claire Smith and her Brutal team and saw the now customary selection of events for athletes to select from. The IUTA classified events were the continuous Deca and Quin.
Sensation at the 28th Triple-Ultra-Triathlon in Lensahn/Germany. Mareile Hertel set a new world record on the triple ultra triathlon distance.
The third race of the IUTA World Cup took place at the very charming and beautiful Rogner Bad Blumau in Austria. With 69 athletes at the Double, Triple and Quintuple Ultra Triathlon it was one of the biggest Ultra Triathlon Events ever.
The IUTA-familiy sorrow for the founder of the first ever held Ultra Triathlon in the world. Our friend Dr. Raymond "Ray" Sheppard died at the age of 73 in June 2019 after a brief illness. Together with his wife Nancy he organized the Double Ultra Triathlon in Huntsville, Alabama, USA from 1985 until 1996. Above you find the official tribute and obituary … rest in peace.
Rait Ratasepp, born in 1983, is an exceptional athlete from Estonia. In the last few years Rait has finished in the Top 10 of the IUTA-Worldcup-Challenge. In Emsdetten 2019 Rait broke the very strong Double Ultra Triathlon World Record from Robert Karas and finished the race in 19:42:57 hrs! Congrats! Rait enjoys a very high reputation even far over the Estonian border. Read more in our interview with this very popular athlete.
59 athletes at the start line, 44 at the finish line and one world record – that’s the result of the fourth Double Ultra Triathlon in Emsdetten/Germany.
The Canadian Jean Pierre Morin is known to most of you as IUTA president, but he was also an ultra triathlete with eleven successful participations and he organized the "Double" in his hometown Levis. We talked to him about the beginnings of the IUTA until the last election and his "ultra" experiences in more than 20 years.
Myrna Saliba (62), credits being diagnosed with "osteoporosis" for her sports career. From huffing and puffing running 3 minutes in a row at 8km/h in 2000, the multinational athlete went on to run over 20+ marathons, discovered ironman, and set her eyes on even bigger goals: ultratriathlon. In 2019, Myrna will attempt her longest race ever: The Quintuple in Switzerland.
1st race of the IUTA cup is complete: The Florida Double Anvil which took place on March 8th and 9th, 2019 in Lake Louisa Park, in Clermont, FL. Clermont is a small town just outside of the more popular city of Orlando. Clermont actually has some hills and elevation as is evidence on this race course which has a bike loop containing about 150ft (46 m) elevation per loop totaling an approximately 4,500 ft of climbing during the bike (1,370 m). Most people think of Florida as a flat terrain, edged with beautiful beaches and warm temperatures. But Clermont adds some altitude to the warm weather.
Henning Olsrud, born in 1986, is the first athlete from Norway who has won the IUTA World Cup. He finished four races in 2018 and was always on the podium. Right at the beginning of season Henning was able to win the Double Anvil in Florida and finished with the second best time ever at the Quintuple Day in Switzerland. We talked with him about his achievements in the past year.